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What is the name of this unit on the mirror heads?

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Laser
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2023-05-15

I don’t have this mirror alignment tool on my laser. I’m trying to figure out if I can 3d print it to help me align better but confused about how it is angled as no picture is clear enough that i find.

Is it just the same size as the mirror hole and turned 45°?
I have made a prototype of this kind of jig but after using it I thought maybe I used the wrong pivot point to turn it. The pivot point I used is marked yellow on the picture.

The second picture is showing how mirror 2 looks through the jig on mirror 1. It looks like the center of the jig wouldn’t hit the center on the mirror but maybe it’s the angle messing up my head.

Can anybody explain this to me?

C

    • Miller

      2023-05-16
      Someone is going to chime in here and correct me if I’m wrong, but as I see it, that “unit” as you named it, is simply something to put your “sticky tape” onto as a target for alignment, and help keep your mirrors clean of burn residue. At least that’s what I assume they are for. And again, in my interpretation of this device… it is just a round hole at 45 degrees to the mirror, but now perpendicular to the beam. As long as your beam is hitting the same spot, as you move your mirror from its closest to its furthest point along its travel… then your beam is in alignment with your gantry (at least in that axis). And as long as your mirror is directly behind that device, and aligned as closely to the center of the mirror as possible… you can move on to the next mirror.

When I was dialing in my K40, it too, did not have these projections on the mirror mounts. But I went in a different direction. I found online, a device that could simply clip onto the round mirror mount of the factory K40 mirrors. Seen here:
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      • Miller

        : Instead of using painters tape or masking tape or post-it notes, or anything else that would leave a sticky residue, I cut pieces or strips of manila file folder and used them to find center of my mirror which was just behind this clip on device. Once mirrors 1 and 2 were aligned, I designed and printed another device that clipped onto the laser focus head, directly in front of mirror 3:

      • Miller
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        @Miller

        : A little different shape and design, but it allowed me to slip a strip of file folder in front of the hole, and move it each time I wanted a new “mark” from the incoming beam. Once I achieved a centered mark at both the leftmost and the rightmost position of my gantry, I only needed to make sure the lens focus tube was perfectly perpendicular to the work surface. No sticky residue on the mirrors or lens, and I still have them if I need to freshen up my alignment at another time. I apologize if this information does not answer your question… but it was just another approach to achieving perfect (or close to it) laser alignment. At least on my K40. Just throwin’ it out there.

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