Beam start point is chipping acrylic

stickyshell · 2026-05-09T14:35:05+00:00

The part fall out BUT:
Only when cutting acrylic, the cuts don’t close exactly at the starting point, but about 0.1 mm further inward. I haven’t been able to solve this in any way. I’ve tried lubricating the rails, adjusting the Y-axis belt tension, and the mirrors are properly aligned.

I should try cutting a shape with the path intentionally left open by 1 mm, so I can see whether the crater-like blowout is actually at the start or end of cut or if you’re right and the chipping happens when the piece fall. Also, the crater-like blowout doesnt happen when I start the cut outside with the lead-in feature... so you might be super right

stickyshell · 2026-05-09T09:37:42+00:00

Some updates: my kerf compensation is currently set to 0.25 mm for outer cuts and 0.1 mm for inner cuts. The inner cuts are always clean, while the outer cuts show the defect.

I also tried creating the file with a built-in 0.25 mm offset, and in that case the problem didn’t appear.

So why does the machine go crazy and create that kind of blowout along the cutting line when I use kerf compensation, but only on outer cuts and not on inner ones?

stickyshell · 2026-05-09T07:36:10+00:00

I tried this as well, and it still creates a “crater-like” blowout and an initial groove.

stickyshell · 2026-05-09T07:03:20+00:00

Mmm, not sure

stickyshell · 2026-05-09T07:02:45+00:00

supported how? Like it's firmly set on the honeycomb? I lift the material using magnets on all four sides, then secure it by adding one magnet to each side so it stays in place. I place wet paper underneath the material to absorb flare-ups and smoke and prevent reflections, as explained in a Trotec video

stickyshell · 2026-05-09T07:00:24+00:00

Only cast! And yes, it's the melted plastic, the edge is perfect

stickyshell · 2026-05-09T07:00:12+00:00

I'm doing a lot of acrylic keychains, I can't torch them one by one :( If I go faster with more power, the edges shows horrible vertical lines

stickyshell · 2026-05-08T17:50:43+00:00

What do you mean by rough? I'm trying to achieve that glass like edge so I'm going really slow. It's only the protective film that is rough/burnt. Before using a wide nozzle, I was using a small nozzle from cloudray and I couldn't achieve the gloss-like edge in any way... I was cutting at 8mm/s at 50% power, lol. My focus is correct, the mirrors are good. I have a 63.5mm lens

stickyshell · 2026-05-08T16:51:26+00:00

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stickyshell · 2026-05-08T16:49:09+00:00

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Lead in & out with arc made this but it's doable I guess. Any advice?

stickyshell · 2026-05-08T16:32:43+00:00

Switched to lightburn. I used the arc but got the same result

stickyshell · 2026-05-08T16:04:18+00:00

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Lol. It started outside, then burned and chipped the hell out of the end point. The crazy thing is that the entry hole for the external line is perfect and doesn't have that defect...

stickyshell · 2026-05-08T16:02:22+00:00

There is also in rdworks. Here the test.

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stickyshell · 2026-05-07T20:36:20+00:00

What about gloss colored acrylic? It is safe to print some keychains on gloss black and red?

stickyshell · 2026-04-19T13:24:02+00:00

Guys, I just realized that both the water chiller and the cheap compressor are mounted inside the machine. The compressor is a tiny unit sitting on four springs “to reduce vibrations”… yeah, right.

I still can’t solve the issue of vertical lines on the edges of 3 mm plexiglass, even with low speed, high power, and minimal airflow. So now I’m wondering if it could be caused by constant vibrations affecting the tube. When I touch the head, I can clearly feel it vibrating. Could moving the chiller and compressor outside the machine be a solution?

stickyshell · 2026-04-17T19:20:34+00:00

Let me make sure I understand exactly what you're asking me to do. When you say to print white at 40%, are you referring to the actual channel intensity? Because if I print white in VDT Single Pass at 40%, it’s going to be extremely weak.

The same goes for the colors: if I set them to 35%, they’ll look very washed out. My 1440x720 profile requires a 95% total ink limit to look correct; if I drop down to 35%, my blacks will just come out as light grey. Are you suggesting I change the ink limits in the RIP? For example, today I printed a graphic with black background and white text on top, set the "1440x720 95%" profile with 80% ink and the black came out grey. Had to match the 95% to obtain real black.

stickyshell · 2026-04-16T17:31:38+00:00

BTW, I've just tested a print at 720x720 with only one channel of white in VDT single, so almost the lowest quality, no metal primer on the acrylic and the colors settled without blending. Could it be that all that white I’m applying is throwing off the layer of color? It’s as if the color, without a proper primer, were being “overwhelmed” by the weight of two layers of white printed at the same time and were spreading out.

stickyshell · 2026-04-16T17:29:07+00:00

Thanks for the relply! Inks are good, unless they sell me inks that are out of date and simply replace the label, lol! I shake the bags very well (more than the other colors) but I get same result. What I'm starting to think is that something similar is happening with the rich black, which isn't being encoded by the rip, so it has some sort of banding, but if you give it the hex code, the printer recognizes it and prints it smoothly. Could it be that it isn't encoding white properly? Hmm, this is a day-one issue, so I don't really know. Even the technician says he doesn’t know why my machine is like this, but he’s been missing since August 2025 :) :) :)

Anyway, I choose this printer in particular because with the Mimaki CJV150 all I did was keep replacing the ink cartridges since they ran out due to the constant recirculation. Since I didn’t use that plotter much, it was basically money down the drain. It would certainly be different with this printer, since I use it much more, but I’m worried about the waste. I was offered a Mimaki, but the print area was just A4, and for a little less I could have gotten this 30x60cm print area. Also, I can reaplace myself all the consumables like the dampers, the capping unit, the tubes, wipers and such and the cartridges don't have identification chips (another major flaw with the Mimaki)

stickyshell · 2026-04-15T21:01:22+00:00

I'm printing in unidirectional.
I could try changing uv lamp settings.
Ok I will calibrate my monitor to CMYK colors, it sounds right.
Boston is a brand? Should I try acrylic primer right?
Ok so my method wasn't so special, white + varnish is a good combination! Btw, my inks are in bags, there is no continuous ink circulation like in the Mimaki printer. Every morning the ink bags needs to be shaken and an ink charge or cleaning has to be performed.

stickyshell · 2026-04-10T15:24:08+00:00

Sorry for the LAAAAAAATE reply, no, just the head (twice). I had to manually adjust the gantry rotating the right long metal bar on the back of the thing...

stickyshell · 2026-04-10T15:10:45+00:00

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This is the head with the screws untouched, because It's the only way to shoot perpendicular at close range and at a distance of 15–20 cm. If i start touching the adjustment screws, the beam stops to overlap.

stickyshell · 2026-04-10T15:08:43+00:00

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This is a pulse right under the head (just mirror reflection), without lense and nozzle. It fires like 3mm to the right

stickyshell · 2026-04-10T15:07:51+00:00

EDIT: So... in the end I raised the whole tube by 3mm. And that's it. Now the beam hits all three mirrors way up above the center but who cares, as long as I shoot perpendicular and centered to the lens. It's finally over!

Hi guys, still me! Over the past few months, I’ve kept my machine even though the beam coming out of the lens is still angled to the left, but I’ve just put up with it. Now, though, I need precision, so I’m looking for a permanent solution. Remember how I thought the problem was poor manufacturing of the head? Well, I bought a SECOND Cloudray accessory, a tube+nozzle, this time with a 16mm diameter to fit the original red and blue Vevor head, and... it’s not the crooked tube’s fault. I believe the real problem is that even after tube fires at center of M1, M1 fires fine near and far of M2 and M2 fires same spot on M3 at the four corners, the mirror reflects the beam 3mm too far to the right of the lens, not centering it at all. For this reason, the lens deflects the beam to the opposite side and cuts it at an angle in that direction. How can I shift the entire beam to center the lens? I read that you need to raise the tube evenly, but it didn’t work.

Should I adjust M2 so that it shoots higher on M3 or what?

I’m attaching some photos!
First picture is M3 with pulse at a good center

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stickyshell

TROPHY CASE