Beware 2 Watt laser not centered with spindle

[Dljones10]

Just letting potential buyers beware that the 2 watt spindle is not centered with the spindle and based on tech support there is no way to adjust it. I was given a work around which isn't perfect. If all you plan on doing is burning images and centering is not critical than you will be all right. That is what I did for the longest time while learning the CNC machine. Then I thought I would try and create shadow in my engraving and that is when I discovered the laser being off center. I engraved the eagle, removed the V-bit, attached the laser and reran the engraving. That is when I discovered a problem. Rechecked my center and it was still spot on. I then created a circle and burned it 4 times with the laser rotated 90 degrees each time and you can see the pattern it created from being off center. I colored the circles so I could see them easier. I attached a photo of my test results.

Here is the solution I received from Next Wave.

"Thank you for contacting us. Unfortunately, over time, we have found that the stem that comes off of the laser head is not always 100% in line with the actual laser diode inside the laser head. Because of this, there are certain, minor adjustments and compensations that may need to be made to correct the laser from being the 3/32" off.

You will want to position the laser where you want it and then take a piece of tape (marker seems to fade away over with use) and mark the laser head and the router - so that the laser head is positioned the same way every time it is used.

Once that is established, then you will need to compensate for the off measurement either physically by adjusting the work piece or you can make the necessary adjustments in the laser file itself.

This should solve the 3/32" measurement discrepancy."

The problem with this is I have a spindle that the laser is attached to and it spins very easily and the cable going to the laser is flexible and it is difficult to get the laser in the same position every time. Close but not right on. The cable and laser can easily be bumped by re-centering or from a hold down that will knock it off center. The base of the laser module only sits above the material .01 inches.

I am just putting this out there for others who may consider this laser and may find this as a potential problem. Unfortunately I haven't found another solution other than buying a cheap laser from Banggood or ebay. And then it wouldn't be as convenient with the Shark and Vectric software.

Hope this helps.

Dave Jones

[mcsteve]

Wow. That is insane. Will they not return the laser head and replace it with one that IS lined up?

[Dljones10]

No, they said it is what it is. I was a week or two out of Warranty.

[Rando]

Daaaaaang....that is so uncool!

so have you drilled a hole somewhere and made some mechanical thing to make it stay at least in one misdirected position?

After all, it's out of warranty! What are they gonna do....not accept the warranty claim they've already denied? Yeah.....

Makes you wonder why they bothered to go to the trouble of making it mount in the spindle if they weren't going to actually
CHECK that it was aligned. (Hanz and Franz call them) Engineering Baaaaabies!

At least it's still shining brightly...keep the smoke off the lens and don't run it at 100% for long, if ever, and it'll last longer.

Hope you find a workable solution to the silliness.

Rando