Any tips for aligning the laser for parts which were partially cut and removed?

[Stephen Barnwell]

I'm making some cut wood pieces and using casting resin to fill the interior cuts. And it occurred to me that the whole process could be greatly simplified if I could cut the voids first, then pour over the resin, run the whole sheet through my planar to remove the excess resin, and then go back and cut out all of the individual pieces from the sheet.

The only tricky part would be aligning the sheet for the second round of cuts. I need to get about 1mm precision in either direction. Also a lot of the sheets are different sizes, though I suppose I could cut them to a few standard sizes if anyone has any ideas for a jig. Any suggestions?

[Steve Altemeier]

The laser bed has a slightly raised lip around the outside.  So, you might be able to make a jig that fits securely into one corner (right angle), and use this for the two different passes.  You would still need to line up your origin each time, but I am assuming that the machine displays its position, so you could keep track of the precise position used for your origin on the original cuts, and confirm this by pulsing the laser to create a small dot on your stock and see if it is within tolerances between the first and second cuts.  I've never tried it though, so maybe this wouldn't work...

On Sat, Jun 16, 2018 at 2:31 PM, Stephen Barnwell <metatro...@gmail.com> wrote:

I'm making some cut wood pieces and using casting resin to fill the interior cuts. And it occurred to me that the whole process could be greatly simplified if I could cut the voids first, then pour over the resin, run the whole sheet through my planar to remove the excess resin, and then go back and cut out all of the individual pieces from the sheet.

The only tricky part would be aligning the sheet for the second round of cuts. I need to get about 1mm precision in either direction. Also a lot of the sheets are different sizes, though I suppose I could cut them to a few standard sizes if anyone has any ideas for a jig. Any suggestions?

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Asheville Makers" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ashevillemakers+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to ashevillemakers@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Zak Smolen]

Also, for jigs, you could secure your jig with bolts through the grate. If you want any sort of precision you'll want to cut down to standard sizes first, otherwise lining things up will be impossible.

It depends on the actual size of your project, but from what I'm imagining I'd cut a "frame" out which holds your standard-sized blank (which you'll have to precut), and bolt that frame to the bed. If you use your starting point at one of the hard corner stops then you would be able to locate them pretty easily.

Second idea I have is to include some scrap locating nubs/holes on the piece. So, assuming your standard size is a rectangle, you'd have a rectangle with an extra nub with a screw hole in two corners. Then you can bold/locate it on the bed that way with no need for a framing jig.

Trying to aim precisely via the red aiming diode won't get you the accuracy you're looking for, so that's why I'd recommend some sort of jig. Also, I'm not sure but the new software might have a "move to X/Y" functionality which would make lining things up easier.