Newly installed 3040

[DukeEuphoria]

Hi all
Picked up a shiny new cutter on Thursday and have spent the last few days trying to get it to do as it's told.
Not entirely sure Ive been sucessful.

The drive from Halifax to London doesn't seem to have done the machine any good. The first mirror had come loose on its mountings necessitating an entire re-align.
I've got it set up (as far as I can tell) pretty well, with the laser spot striking very close to the center of all the mirrors.

But I'm having to use what seem to be ridiculous settings to cut 3mm acrylic, 100% power and less than 5mm/sec. Clearly something isn't right.
So, a couple of questions if I may.

1) The lovely "HPC Laser Ruler", is intended to measure from the top of the workpiece to some part of the head assembly, could anyone point me at the correct part so I can make sure I have my focus correct.

2) What kind of settings should I be using for a smooth cut through 3mm black acrylic.

3) I've noticed a small faint blur on the 3rd mirror, is there a good way to clean it without damaging the surface ? Could this be the source of my troubles ?

Anything else you think I should know ?

Many thanks.

Ian

[DukeEuphoria]

Goodness. Sounds like you're getting a lot more effective cutting power out of your tube than I am out of mine.
At 90% power 7mm/sec almost cuts through, 5mm/sec just manages to cut. No way I could up the speed to 20 and get anything more than a deep score.
The settings sheet as emailed to me by the lovely peopel at HPC said I should be using 100% power and 6mm/sec for 3mm perspex.
You sure you've only got a 40w tube in there ? Could Igor have been upgrading whilst nobody was looking ?

I'll try to get some isopropanol and wipe the mirror gently. it's only a small blur and it's not near the center. May be having some effect.

That said, the machine does seem to do as it's told for the most part.

epicyclic card.jpg

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[HPCLaser]

Hi Ian The Ruler on your machine is from the top of the material youre going to cut to the flat ali plate ontop of the y axis -with a yellow sticker on.
you can tweak it by upto 3mm 57-62mm play a little it makes the cut narrower and when you reach the optimum it will also cut faster ....
ATB Chris -cool card can I have one for the samples board at the show ????

[DukeEuphoria]

Aye, I think I need to poke the machine a little more.
It's close, but not perfect. Curse those naughty road bumps and their misaligning nature.

I can cut some more cards if you'd like one, though the gears are rather sloppy. I'll try to get them smoother and then pop onein the post.