English

Engraving objects larger than laser work area

Categories:
Laser
19
1
See translation
01-03

I have watched the video tutorial showing how to use Print and Cut to create alignment marks to break a project into multiple parts. Brilliant feature! But as a noob I have a couple of questions:

Am I correct in thinking that the laser must have limit switches so the controller can determine the absolute position of the laser?

 

Assuming this is correct, then I also expect you must use the jog arrows to align the laser to the alignment marks (rather than manually moving the head as I do sometimes).

 

Finally - my project is engraving, not cutting a part larger than my laser’s work area, so I don’t want to engrave extraneous markings for the alignment points. However I do have some areas where holes will later be drilled, so I can put the alignment marks in those locations. But unlike the video where the alignment marks could be placed on opposite sides of the work, using these holes means the marks will be closer together and not in a nice orthogonal pattern. It seems to me that the Print and Cut feature ought to still work (and my application is not super critical) - but I’d appreciate confirmation on this.

 

FYI my laser is an Elegoo Phectda 20W and while it doesn’t come with limit switches I do have them on order and can wait to do this job until they’re installed. I will only need to cut the design into two pieces in order to fit it within my laser work area.

C
    • "Am I correct in thinking that the laser must have limit switches so the controller can determine the absolute position of the laser?"
      
      That’s the easiest way to get repeatable position for origin. You may be able to manually home by positioning the laser head at the physical limits of the frame at the origin corner for your machine before turning on. However, the reality is that repeatable homing position isn’t super important for print and cut as long as you go through the alignment process for print and cut properly.
      
      "Assuming this is correct, then I also expect you must use the jog arrows to align the laser to the alignment marks (rather than manually moving the head as I do sometimes)."
      
      You must use jogging controls exclusively. No direct movement of the laser head by hand unless you’re working with a closed-loop setup with the controller.
      
      "using these holes means the marks will be closer together and not in a nice orthogonal pattern. It seems to me that the Print and Cut feature ought to still work (and my application is not super critical) - but I’d appreciate confirmation on this."
      
      The greater the distance of the marks, the less impact of any alignment error. Note that you don’t necessarily need to burn the marks onto the material if you have natural positions on the engraving you could otherwise align to. For example, if you happen to have areas where there’s a crossing of two lines.
      
        See translation
        Reply
      Collect
      Report