RDWorks Learning Lab 36 Mk2 laser pointer and mirror setting

If you own a Chinese laser cutter this little series of videos about me learning how to use the free software provided, may solve the problem of trying to learn from a virtually unreadable manual.
I am nothing to do with RD Works, I am not an instructor and I am no expert. This series will document the essential bits of many hours of trial and error

[brodds]

I just bought an sl-1060 dsp 100 watt. I'm using RDworks and trying to align the mirrors but the pulse is too powerful, it just fries my receipt paper. How do I turn down the power on the pulse? I'm using a Ruida controller rvd6442g.

[MilanKarakas]

I hope you already found why current going up and down. Some people found that potentiometer is probable cause.

[LucidFX.]

Hey Russ. Where does one get one of those energy meters?

[jackallens]

HI i wanted to ask a question about the one ive purchased. I started running it recently (where everything was reinstalled and aligned prior to purchase ) but i cannot get the laser to cut through mdf or acrylix even when power is set at 80% on rd works and around min 80% on the laser. any advice on what im doing wrong. thanks. love your videos by the way, very useful for a newbie.

[jamesbabcock]

LMAO, now I get it. Patients has not been my strong suit.

[mateusz]

Did you consider adding beam combiner? not only you would have upgraded pointer but it could help with aligning mirrors if installed perfectly. I do have one from light object it is good, but i know i didn't do it perfectly. would be fun to watch someone put as much effort as you to document it. Is is quite expensive though . Mount + combiner about 150$

[pmgodfrey]

I have a few questions, but first should mention that I am not new to high powered lasers, but have never owned a CO2. I only have experience with multi watt laser display systems -- and one where I assisted in the repair of an Nd:YAG silicon wafer marking system.

I've recently started watching the series you have on this unit, but have yet to watch all of them. I am, at some point, considering purchasing either a unit similar to this or may go the route and procure the parts and build my own (because that's the fun part!).

Is there an advantage to using a Coherent or Synrad RF type CO2 over a High Voltage tube (other than cost)?

Would you be better off mounting the tube directly on the x-axis using only one mirror (obviously it would increase the size of the machine), but it would make alignment easier and should, in theory, increase the power and also the focusability of the beam? If not, what if you were to spend quite a bit more on better optics that had a higher reflectivity in the 10.6 μm wavelength...

Is it possible to incorporate some type of fiber optics into a design like this?


Thanks -- and you're videos have been very helpful so far. I just have to convince my wife that this is a must have "toy". :)

[synergie]

Russ,

Is your lens absolutely flat on the top or is it convex?

After watching your video, I took my lens out and it is slightly concave on one side and convex on the other, and was fitted by the factor with concave at the top.
So my lens appears to be a Positive-meniscus type



I found this reference on Piano-convex lenses and how flat side down is better



And it appears for the meniscus lens that the meniscus side needs to also be face downwards

(see the diagram half way down the page)

and here


and here



So... With my lens it also appears to be in the machine the wrong way up, so I will swap it over and try running again.
However I doubt it makes a noticeable difference.

BTW. One other thing I did while the lens was out, was to get it to focus the light from the LED lamp in the ceiling of my workshop (which has 4 point source LEDs in it), and I measured the focal distance to get a sharp image projected onto the bench and it appears to be around 51 or 52 mm


As far as I can see the meniscus lens is supposed to be better than the Piano convex type.
So they appear to now be putting better lenses in these machines as well as enhancing other things.