I purchased these super cheap harbor freight lasers and moddled up a quick way to hold. Would plan on saving the offset in a macro when I select “Workspace Home”
Any suggestions on how to get a thinner beam?
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I have no suggestions about getting a thinner line other than to test different focal distances. But I wanted to point out a potential issue I had when I was doing something similar. You need to test to make sure the router moves perpendicular to your spoil board. Put a mark at the center of the cross of your laser, then move your router up and down. Make sure the cross does not wander from the mark. In my case (Primo) the cross did move, signaling to me that I had a problem.
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Nice!
Wouldn’t you need to put them in an angle to get the cross aligned with the bit? Or isn’t that your intention?
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Or make them vertical and accurately measure the offset and a custom button for
G92 X(offsetX Y(offsetY)
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Hey Patrick,
You have at least 4 options:
Buy better laser with a thinner line (obviously)
Buy better lenses
Choose one side of the line as the reference like this
Create a shadow like I did with this index card for a thicker laser like yours
Good Luck,
-Dave
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@Davejavu Thats so simple yet so clever! Will try that method out. Spent a total of $6 on these since Harbor Freight is having a liquidation sale.
@Dreyfus That is my plan indeed! Will have them triggered to turn on after I home my z to the work piece. Then when I home XY it will save with offset and turn them off and move bit to new origin.
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Some other tips (that you probably already knew)
- The laser MUST be perfectly vertical. If it’s at all tilted, then your line will move based on the height.
- Even if you make the line thinner, for accuracy, you should use the edge instead of the middle. You might be able to get the width down to a millimeter, but that gives a whole millimeter for inaccuracy.
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