3 thoughts on “Laser Repaired (again)

  1. This kind of damage is caused when the laser is operated with crud on the lens. The beam heats up the crud, and the heat damages the lens, and things spiral quickly out of control as the lens stops being transparent to the beam. The vaporized lens material then deposits on the mirror and ruins that, too.

    The crud on the lens is caused by cutting (or engraving) materials that generate a lot of smoke and flying ash. This includes some kinds of plywood, when it’s thick enough or glue-heavy enough that the beam has to move slowly and a lot of charring is seen on the edges.

    I try to guess from the laser calendar how heavily it is being used, and then I try to visit the laser and clean the optics before it can get out of hand. I’m not always there at the right times. People who routinely cut big jobs or messy jobs need to learn how to clean the optics and do it after (or even during) their jobs.

  2. Also a not eon cutting thick plywoods – the glue in the ply melts and gets on the mesh working space making it black and sticky.
    To prevent this put some other sacrificial material under it that won’t get cut though all the way., such as another layer of the plywood

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