Set Laser 2 Offset

If you have a DSP laser with dual laser tubes and dual laser heads, the directions below will help you set your Laser 2 Offset values.

Laser 2 Offset

The X and Y fields beneath the Enable Laser 2 Offset switch in the Device Settings window are used to compensate for the distance between two laser heads. By shifting output to the 2^nd laser head by specified X and Y values, output from Laser 2 will line up with output from Laser 1.

Follow the instructions below to measure the distance between Laser 1 and Laser 2 and apply appropriate offsets.

1. Before beginning this process, make sure Enable Laser 2 Controls is toggled on.

   

2. Load an inexpensive, expendable material into your laser's bed. Make sure it is large enough for both laser heads to mark it at once. Position it beneath both laser heads.

3. Use the Draw Lines tool to create a short, perfectly vertical line in your LightBurn workspace.

   Tip

   Hold Shift while drawing to ensure the line is perfectly vertical.

4. Assign the vertical line to a layer set to Line Mode.

5. In the Cut Settings Editor, enable both Laser 1 and Laser 2, and apply appropriate settings to mark the vertical lines on the material without cutting through.

   

6. Select Current Position as your Start From mode.

7. Press Start to mark the lines on the material.

8. Measure and record the distance between the lines.

   

9. In the Device Settings window, turn on Enable Laser 2 Offset.

10. If Laser 2 is farther from your machine's origin than Laser 1, enter the measured distance between the lines as a negative value in the X field. If it is closer to the origin, enter the distance as a positive value.

    

    Note

    The machine's origin is the location it homes to when it first starts.

11. Rotate the vertical line 90 degrees to make it horizontal.

    Tip

    Press the . key to rotate objects 90 degrees clockwise.

12. In the Cut Settings Editor, add a Sub-Layer to the layer the horizontal line is assigned to.

13. You'll now have two Sub-Layers. Keep both set to Line Mode.
14. Disable Laser 2 for the first Sub-Layer, but enable it for the second Sub-Layer. Disable Laser 1 for the second Sub-Layer.
15. On the second Sub-Layer, apply appropriate settings for Laser 2 to mark your material.
16. Select Current Position as your Start From mode, and make sure the first laser head is positioned over the material.
17. Press Start.
18. If you measured the distance between the vertical lines accurately in Step 8, each horizontal line should line up perfectly in the X dimension.
    • If they are misaligned and the output from Laser 2 shifted in the opposite direction of what you expected, reverse the sign of the X dimension Laser 2 Offset in the Device Settings window. In other words, if the value is positive, make it negative, or vice versa.
    • If they are misaligned but Laser 2 output was shifted in the correct direction, repeat Steps 1-8, taking care to measure as precisely as possible.

19. If the horizontal lines are aligned in both the X dimension and the Y dimension, the process is complete. If they are aligned in X but misaligned in Y, measure the distance between the 2 lines.

    

20. If the line output by Laser 2 is farther from your machine's origin than the one output by Laser 1, enter the measured distance between the lines as a negative value in the X field. If it closer to the origin, enter the distance as a positive value.

    Note

    The machine's origin is the location it homes to when it first starts.

21. Mark the horizontal lines again to verify alignment.

    • Reverse the sign of the Y offset if output was shifted in the incorrect direction.
    • If output was shifted in the correct direction in Y but is still misaligned, reset the Y offset to 0 and repeat Steps 17-20.

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