I’ve had my laser for about two weeks now in operation and i can’t seem to get it to cut properly through any material. Even on 1/4 inch plywood.
I’m running the latest software version on my onefinity controller and light burn. I also changed the s value on light burn to 1000 as I had seen on other videos to ensure it runs at 100 percent power and not the default 25 percent.
I had my laser run a 1/2 inch circle on 1/4 inch plywood at 4 passes of 10 inches a minute and 100 percent power with a z axis step down of 0.025 I done that twice for a total of 8 passes and it still did not mark the bottom side of the board.
Im starting to wonder if my laser is working properly or if there is another setting that I have missed in setting the laser up.
Unfortunately a 7W laser is an “engraving” laser. You are not going to have great success in using it to cut.
That said, I love mine and use it to engrave. I have thought of buying a much larger stand alone laser but recognize I likely would not use it that often. Meanwhile I am happy with the JTech for what it was intended.
I often cut 1/8" or 3mm ply using the 7w laser 6 passes 10 ipm @ 100%. Material link below. I just placed my order for J -tech’s 14w or dual 7w’s, hoping for being able to cut 1/4".
I think you will ultimately be happier if you add a k40 or similar for laser cutting tasks. The lower powered lasers are as noted for engraving, and they do a fantastic job of that. Cutting is possible but definitely a more time consuming operation and occasionally finicky depending on different types of wood, and scorching can be a problem as well.
Have you considered adding some form of air assist of you wish to use a diode laser to cut? Using my ortur “20 watt” (more like 5…ish?) I am able to generally get good results in 1/4 wood and sometimes thicker using a walmart aquarium pump and tubing blowing through a 3d printed adapter and a drilled out 3d printer nozzle.
I thought i had a picture of it in action but i guess i dont. You can see the 3d printed adapter that just friction fits to the laser body in the first picture inbetween the laptop and laser, and the simple doublebarrel adapter I use for the air pump. Air assist will greatly increase the success of diode laser cutting. Total cost is next to nothing, under $15. A better pump might get better results but as long as you’re clearing debris and ash from the laser kerf and evacuating the smoke i doubt it will matter much.
I have also cut colored acrylic without any issues with this. I can’t say i recommend it as a practical matter, but it does work. The jtech being a much better unit should return accordingly superior results.
Thanks for the reply. I too am extremely happy with my 7w and hoping to be twice as happy with a 14w. My shop is too small for a stand alone laser, so I love being able to switch from routering to lasering on the 1F. I added the air assist nozzle to my dual 7w order. I have an air compressor nearby and 1/4" ply in stock, so when they arrive tomorrow I’ll let you know the results.
