Before I smash my k40 with a sledge hammer can someone help me figure out why in the world I cannot get my design aligned? I made my design in Inkscape. I lined up the laser beam with the very corner of the paper. The circular design is centered and goes from edge to edge of the paper. Somehow it is not centered when it’s engraving. Any alignment help? I watched Scorch’s alignment video multiple times. My alignment is off by a good 3 mm.
I usually draw a thin X with a pencil right in the center of the piece I’m engraving and then I would hit the center button and check the laser beam at low power and the red dot module to see if it lands right on the X (I also check the corners).
Doesn’t the center button just send the laserhead to the center of the work area? I haven’t been able to get it to line up with the corner or the center very well. Should I mark home on my bed somehow?
It will help to have an origin jig. May have to wait until you get your new bed. But I create one by placing a piece of 3mm ply firm into the corner where the origin is and cut a corner using lines along the 0-y and 0-x directions. That way the corner that you cut out will be at the origin (0,0).
For etching on round things I do like @ttaago does and find the center of the object to be engraved and then get the laser head and the object lined up on the center.
So in this case, get the laser head to the center of the design and then move your piece until low power test fires hit the center mark on your work piece.
Ned, I found your old discussion of an origin jig in another post. How do you cut along 0-x and 0-y? Do I just make a file with a line on the top and left edges and tell it to cut that? I think that this would result in what you are saying as long as I shove the ply all the way into the corner.
