Loading And Processing Materials; Focusing - Universal Laser Systems VLS2.30 User Manual

Loading and Processing Materials

Before laser processing material, you will need to load material into the laser system and then focus the laser
system onto the top surface of the material.
Loading Material
Open the top door to the laser system and place material to be laser processed onto the engraving table. You
may need to manually move the support table down to allow clearance to fit thicker materials into the machine. If
you are cutting, you can also use the cutting table (use of this accessory is described in the accessories section of
the manual).
CAUTION: Material to be laser processed must fit completely within the machine so that the top door to the
laser system can be closed. The access door is safety interlocked and will not allow the laser to operate if the
access door is not fully closed.
Position the material so that it is aligned with the graphics to be engraved, cut or marked. There are a few
methods that can be used to accomplish this. One method is to use the rulers on the laser system processing
table and the corresponding rulers in the preview window of
the UCP to align your material with the graphics in your laser
job file. It is often useful to push the material up against the
rulers and position your graphics accordingly before printing. A
second method is to use the relocation feature in the UCP to
move your graphics to your material. A third method is to use
fixturing to position your material. This is especially useful for
odd shaped materials. The laser system can even be used to
create the fixturing. For example, fixturing can be made out of
acrylic by placing a piece of acrylic against the rulers in the
laser system and cutting the shape of the material to be laser
processed out of the acrylic. You can then place the material
in the cut out to position it accurately.

Focusing

Once you have positioned the material, you will need to focus the laser system by adjusting the Z axis up or down
until the top surface of the material to be laser processed is at the focal plane of the lens installed in the laser
system. This can be done in one of three ways.
The first focusing method is to use the calibrated focus tool provided with the lens kit. Every lens kit is
provided with a calibrated focus tool so make sure to use the one provided with the lens being used.
Manual focusing steps:
1. Manually move the focus carriage out over the material to be laser processed.
2. Move the engraving table manually up or down in the Z axis as necessary until
base of the focus tool can be placed on the top surface of the material to be
laser processed and the wedge shaped notch at the top of the focus tool can
be placed as shown with the edge of the carriage fitting in the corner of the
notch. Laser processing results are very sensitive to focus so pay close
attention to the fit of the focus tool.
3. Remove the focus tool from the material processing area.
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