RDWorks Learning Lab 51 Beam Setting for Beginners part 2
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- čas přidán 23. 07. 2024
- If you own a Chinese laser cutter this little series of videos about me learning how to use the free software provided, may solve the problem of trying to learn from a virtually unreadable manual.
I am nothing to do with RD Works, I am not an instructor and I am no expert. This series will document the essential bits of many hours of trial and error - Věda a technologie
I don't have an engineering degree but I think I know I am one at heart. I am self taught by troubleshooting problems and why they happen. You know, so the same mistakes are not made over and over again.
Thank you for taking the time to explain how and "why" the laser tube must be set up this way. Bravo my friend, bravo.👏
Hi Brian
This video was done 5 years ago now and I have made a lot of mistakes between now and then.....but that's the nature of self education and discovery.. Beam setting has always been a particular hate of mine (and many others) and I wrestled with the problem for a few years trying to fully understand it and find ways to make it simpler and more accurate. I went through a phase of believing that a red laser beam to copy the invisible laser beam would solve the problem. Wrong. I got to Mk8 and gave up. All close but not perfect enough. The real soloution and understanding happened about 2 years ago when I designed an adjustable head mounting bracket.
All I can say is take a look at Learning Lab #192 and 193
czcams.com/video/6aNwKhTRnd8/video.html
Here there is a beam setting masterclass and a demonstration of my design changes to make beam setting simple, quick and perfect.
Best wishes
Russ
Thank you for this video. I really needed this bit of theory and the diagrams to fully wrap my brain around this process. It has literally been a few days that I've been at it after replacing the tube. Learned a couple of tricks too like the wire spacer to set the distance of the mirror to the mount and I didn't understand the proper alignment of the tube itself relative to the #1 mirror..
This is a long way back in my learning journey and I have experimented with several different ways of beam setting after this to find a simpler, logical and foolproof way of doing it.. If you wish to add your email address in longhand form to disguise it ( spongedotworthyatgooglemaildotcom) I will send you a written text to guide you through the process
Best wishes
Russ
After playing with my new machine, I had to come back to this page and the previous video to make sure I have the machine aligned correctly. My machine having a longer and wider bed 55 inches X 36 inches, has made accuracy even more important. Thanks so much for this video tutorial.
Hi Scot
Glad to see you have your machine in a state where you are now worried about beam alignment. That must be the last step to success?
Best regards
Russ
With the more powerful machine in my shop, (130 watt laser tube,) I did my first 1 foot by 1 foot test with some engraving and some cutting. I had the machine vented outside but this machine does leak smoke a little. Got the neighbors very upset and even had the fire department make a visit. Lucky they didn't know it was me or I may have gotten into trouble. The landlord made it very clear that I was to never run this machine again unless I have the smoke issue 100% contained. I ordered 2 charcoal filters but good thing for me is that I am about to start making HEPA filters. I have all the equipment and materials to make large HEPA filters that will be the pre-filters to the final charcoal filters. I will definitely be posting my results on the RDWorks forum when I finish. Right now I just watched the dohicky video's again and have bought your amazing dohickeys and as I will be waiting until the charcoal filters arrive, I can start on the power testing. I did also just order a 32mm lens with holder and 3 copper mirrors to boot. I noticed that I am having trouble getting through .18 inch with the 2 inch lens so the smaller beam should be an improvement.
I couldn't even imagine being able to do this without your valuable lessons. Once again, Thank You Russ. You are an inspiration to so many people and will be for decades to come.
Ooops!!!
1390? :) how many watts is your cutter?
Thanks for this video. I had messed up my alignment and this process helped me get it back to where it should be.
Hi
In theory it should work for everyone but it's always good to get feedback to confirm it
Many thanks
Russ
really great videos, thank you. I just bought the "red" 60w version and found out of the box, I can barely cut properly through 2mm acrylic. I am going to start with checking the mirrors first this weekend, so thanks, these videos helps a lot !
Hi Andre
You could spend a lot of time playing with mirrors and get no benefit. If you go to my youtube messages and send me your email address I'll let you have a dxf file for a VERY simple checking tool that another corespondent has shared with me.
Sadly you are one of many that write to me with this story. My first question is how do you know you have a 60 watt tube? A typical 60 watt tube will be 1200mm long. If yours is a usual ebay purchase there could be two main issues.
Firstly your tube may only measure 1000 mm long in which case you have a 50 watt tube and secondly most (not all) are fitted with B grade tubes that work, but not very well, and may have a very short service life.
It's very likely that you do not have a ammeter fitted as standard. I urge you to by a ebay cheap 30mA meter for next to nothing. I have shown how I fitted mine on czcams.com/video/xDZmuxq5BEM/video.html That way you will know how hard you are driving your tube. 50 watts should be 20mA max and 60 watts 22mA max. The problem you may have is that when you can't cut what you want, you will be tempted to wind the power up to 100%. DONT. Don't go above 65% until you have an ammeter fitted.
The other reason you may struggle with cutting is to do with the 2" focal length lens that will probably have been supplied If your setting piece sets the nozzle about 19 or 20mm above the work surface then it's a 2" lens. If it's a 6mm gap then you have a 1.5" focal length lens. There are several videos that explain whats going on with lenses
czcams.com/video/WbBPps42iHc/video.html
czcams.com/video/1yMAr75h5O8/video.html
czcams.com/video/61bGzWicRRk/video.html
Don't rush with your new toy. There will be some frustrations but if you take your time and learn about the details you will be able to use it to much greater effect. I have had mine a year now and I am still learning.
Good luck and enjoy
Best regards
Russ
thank you so much for the time taken to respond. will send you an email.
Thanks for showing us how it's done (right)!
Great information it works awesome even on my behemoth 6x8 foot table mine seems a bit more touchy needs much smaller movements
On the long axis Y 8 foot not as much on the X at 6 that being said it still took a good little while to get everything just right
I am super new to this. Your videos are very informative but I'd like to actually SEE where your adjustments are being made on your mirrors for adjustments. I am a visual learner. Thank you so much for your videos though. They are super helpful for my new laser brain :)
Hi Kitt.
Never forget that this is a record opf me learning , so many of my early self education seemed perfectly sensible at the time but as I travelled further in my journey I developed a better understanding and created better techniques.
One of the key modifications I have made to my machines is to make a new head mounting bracket that allows you to adjust the head in Y and Z This makes precision setting REALLY simple If you take a look at this recent video of me changing a tube on one of my machines, About half way through it goes through a simple procedure for adjusting X.Y and most importantly the Z axis.
see czcams.com/video/V_ehGE51rH4/video.html
Best wishes
Russ
I totally understand. We are always learning. :) I will check out your other video. I have been binge watching your videos. Haha. Very informative, THANK YOU!
When you say your adjusting the screws or tweeking stuff, im not sure what your actually doing.
@@frgfrk1
Hi Kitt
Light bouncing off mirrors is exactly like snooker or billiard balls bouncing off a cushion. Different machines have different ways of adjusting mirrors. Some have 3 screws in the shape of an L and some have 3 screws in a triangular pattern. The L shape pattern are the easiest to understand and adjust because in essence you don't touch the the middle corner screw . If you screw the top adjuster clockwise your beam will tip down and if you screw the other extreme corner your beam will move left/right... I think this is reasonably well explained in the video.
Best wishes
Russ
Hello once again Russ,
I have started to fit the larger (80mm) laser tube to my 'China Blue' machine and have not come across any problems in fitting it into the case. However, I have come across a couple of problems that may or may not be peculiar to my particular machine.
In one of your beam alignment videos, you suggest using the back panel of the tube bay as a datum on the premise that the machine is probably 'jig built' and like to be parallel. However, the back panel on my machine is not fixed at the top and replies purely on the stiffness of the fold at the bottom to keep it upright. I think that I will probably use another datum point such as the outer frame using strong magnets as I believe that member to be a better one as it is welded box section.
Another peculiarity is that the aperture in the back panel for the laser path from the first mirror is too high. The bottom of the circular hole lines up approximately one quarter of the way up the mirror housing projection. There is probably still enough room for the laser beam to go through it but it does raise the question as to why it should be so.
On another topic, several of us have written to ask you for various plans. Could you not open a download site for all of the different files and perhaps a forum? If it is a matter of cost, I would be glad to host it on my website.
Hi Peter
The only time the tube stability is important is if your head is fixed. It will then be important to move your tube in a parallel manner. Any suitable reference will be OK. The angled frame of the enclosure is pretty stable.. The exit from the tube has got to be at the same height as mirror 3 in the head and it follows that mirror 2 must be at that same height also. If you measure mirror 2 height to the Y rail , does that align with the hole in them back. plate? I seem to remember when I upgrade my machine, I looked at the 80mm diameter tube, and decided I was going to have trouble with mirror centres and the new tube centre. . If the hole in the tube enclosure rear panel needs opening, that's no bad thing because you really need line of sight to mirror 2 from the back of the machine so that you can adjust mirror 1. These machines are assembled in a factory where the place is staffed by people that have no understanding what these machines really do. They are thrown together and a few slightly higher skilled "people" jiggle the bits around to make then sort of work. The concept of QA is alien to the Chinese unless its drilled in by Western culture , as in the Apple assembly plants for example.. QA is something YOU are responsible for.. I like to regard these machines as a pre-assembled DIY kit. This is open season for you to exploit your engineering skills and fix a few of the unfinished issues.. This beam alignment is fine up to mirror 3 but is sketchy about the alignment of the Z axis and the importance of finding the sweet spot on mirror 3. If you watch the installation of the new acrylic head I have recently fitted, the reasons and method of aligning Z is better explained..
Any drawings I create for release are posted to the www.rdworkslab.com forum . If you need additional unpublished items that may be useful to you , add your email to a separate comment . I get a copy of the comment in my Gmail so I will immediately remove your comment from public view.. I am a very insular individual with a VERY low www profile (apart from You Tube) and I do not belong to forums or want to run anything other than this You Tube channel. I already get enough comments and email traffic to consume several hours a day.
I might appear on video to be doing this for public good, but in truth this is selfishly all about me learning ( I greatly enjoy the challenge) and providing material for my other hobby which is video editing. Although I am happy to share creations I try to give enough detail for others with capability to be stimulated into developing their own versions.. Some of my creations are not makeable by the majority of followers, the Dohicky for instance, and that puts right back to the manufacturing I retired from. My latest acrylic head transplant could get me into deep manufacturing issues but I hope I am successfully using standard parts that can be obtained from certain places in China. That video will be released in the next few days when I have completed all the information pack of drawings, parts list, and purchasing details That's the admin detail I'm trapped into completing to successfully share this design. All this will either be available directly from myself or the drawings and data sheet will be posted on the forum I mentioned.
Thanks for your kind offer
Best wishes
Russ.
on my machine, the entire panel that the tube rests on, can slide left/right by 10mm, and back to front by about 4mm. Its a Preenex Laser 60 watt, cheap chinese laser, but i'm having fun with it.
Excellent! I was wondering when you would upgrade your laser. I think I'll be buying one as well. I'm looking forward to seeing the results!
Thanks!!
-Seth
+CenterFire
Hi Seth
Having wrung every last milliwatt out of that machine I felt the time was right to upgrade form a donkey to a Ferrari. There are still a few issues to explore but what results are you specifically interested in. Remember I play mainly and use a little. Yours is business mine is purely pleasure.
Thanks for the appreciation
Russ
+SarbarMultimedia Russ, I think with all of the upgrades you've done to your machine, a more powerful laser was a wise choice. As of now, I have no real need for a more powerful laser. I'm mostly making jewelry by cutting thin sheets of exotic hardwoods and for that my stock laser tube works well enough. However with twice the wattage, I should be able to cut twice as fast. Having the capability to cut thicker pieces of wood is also appealing to me for use on other projects. I would certainly appreciate it if I could use your drawings in the future to make the clamps and laser housing.
-Seth
+CenterFire
Just updating drawings at present but no problem when you want them. You have my email address or message me on you tube.
+SarbarMultimedia Awesome! Thank you Russ!
It is very useful to follow you along your journey.
I figured out my machine's beam is tilted. It is OK by the cuts along the X axis, but not by the Y axis (app. 2.5° towards -X).
Following your instructions I've readjusted the mirrors but since its head can't be adjusted I ran out of options.
Measured all the dimensions of the head and figured out the beam approaching the head too low, therefore I can't tilt the 3rd mirror backwards enough to correct the beam's path, or it hits the lens' tube...
So I raised the tube and readjusted again, but the beam now is hitting the head far from centre (and can't be adjusted horizontally nor vertically). I can't get the data from the manufacturer how high the tube supposed to be by default, so this hit and miss adjusting just doesn't seem to make sense anymore.
So I came up with an idea:
what if I make a concentric jig to insert the red dot pointer into the head pointing upwards (lens removed obviously) and adjusting the mirrors in a reverse order to hit the laser tube at the end and try to make the tube standing parallel along both planes?
What do you think about it Sir?
Beam alignment can be a pig.
You along with several others have advocated this idea. Yes it will get all your mirrors aligned so that you can see the laser tube output window. But then you have the problem of the tube axis not matching the axis of your red pointer . It may then be possible to get the beam to centre on mirror three with a scorch mark by adjusting the back end of the tube. But this is still not a logical method.
The only easy way that works every time very quickly is to centre the beam on mirror 1 by adjusting the tube.position (axial alignment is not important)
Get the Y axis parallel in both planes by this 3 step method
1)With mirror 2 at front of machine adjust mirror 1 so that beam is somewhere near centre of mirror two. Dont get too fussy because this is only to make sure the beam is not miles off target.
2) Replace the tape on mirror 2 and move it to Y=0. Now burn a feint scorch mark. THIS IS THE TARGET BURN.
3) Move mirror 2 to Y max and then adjust mirror 1 so that the burn mark matches the target burn.
After repeating step 2 and 3 for a second time you should have perfect Y axis alignment
Decision time.
If your beam is not well centred on mirror 2 horizontally you CANNOT now adjust the mirrors. You will have to decide if your system will allow you to MOVE mirror 2 to CATCH the beam from mirror 1 dead centre. Most machines have some sort of adjustment at mirror 2.
Having succeeded with the Y axis
you must repeat this same 3 step procedure for the X axis by adjusting mirror 2
Decision time.
If the beam is not centered VERTICALLy onto mirror 3 you have to consider how to make it central. The easy way is to make the head adjustable (as I have done) so that you can again CATCH the beam. If you cannot do this then you must raise or lower your tube by the correct amount. THIS MUST BE DONE IN A PARALLEL MANNER. The only way you will achieve this is to put packing blocks under each end of the tube to perfectly fill the gap between floor and tube bottom. Now you can add or subtract the SAME dimension from each pile to reset your tube height. DO NOT ADJUST the mirrors or you will upset axis alignments
Question: Are you sure you are aiming at the right point for mirror 3? See czcams.com/video/ELeqP3tHlp0/video.html fro the 12 minute point
Hope this helps to clarify a few issues for you
All best wishes
Russ
Thank you for helping me.
Yes, actually the mentioned video gave me the idea to check for the reason I'm running out of options at mirror3. YES.
-measured the bore centre from the head's mount: 18mm
-beam hitting height: 15mm
-my calculation for the beam height to hit the centre of the tube in a true angle, having mirror3 displaced from the casing equally 1mm should be 22mm...
BTW my laser tube has adjustable stands and measured from the housing it was panning upwards towards mirror1 about 1.5mm. After some approach, when I made the beam adjusted perfectly I always got the beam hitting the perspex test piece tilted. That was the time I've started all over again realigning the laser tube first and the rest after following your order.
Where I am now:
-the beam is hitting the dead centre of mirror1
-Y alignment is OK, beam hitting almost the centre of mirror2 at any position (same spot)
-beam is hitting mirror3's bore at any X-Y position (same spot too), horizontally at the centre, but vertically too low (lower than it hit before I've realigned the laser tube) to make it possible to adjust mirror3 to have my beam perpendicular to the table AND to find it's way out the nozzle.
-Why I came up with the idea to reverse the order of the adjustment is that I have no idea how hight to set the laser tube to hit the head at a good height, but since my head is the only fixed point in this system it seemed to me it could make sense.
-I'll try to measure the desired entry-point on the head from the baseplate tomorrow as a last option. More or less it should be at the same height at both ends of the machine.
Reread my gibberish, it might not be clear enough, sorry for my english.
To make the long story short:
The plate separating the laser tube from the working area can be removed, so I'll start to measure heights from the Y-axis rails since those must be even.
From there I can define the vertical position of the beam to hit the head at the right spot AND the actual height of the laser tube.
Will see where will I get from there...
And I think I'll make myself a set of mirror-mounts since these I have are just crap. I need sliding surfaces for parallel adjustment because those slots are anything but precise...
and -following your recommendation- will make the head adjustable too.
If you would like to private message me with your email address I will send you a video that might help you.
Best regards
Russ
I'll do. Thank you in advance.
absolutely the best mirror aligning video on the web! thank you! could you tell me where I could buy the laser tube supports you have, they are perfect, exactly what I have been looking for, Thank you.
Hi Ed
Thanks for the kind words. This was on my first machine and beam setting was one of the most feared and misunderstood elements of a gless tube laser machine. By the time I did this video I had probably upset my mirrors purposely more than 50 times trying to find better ways to set the beam and overcome the fears. At the time I thought I understood how beam alignment worked but during the intervening 7 years since this was done, I have learnt so much more about lenses. laser beams and perfect beam setting. Although I have 5 various lasers in my workshop, they are "toys" that allow me to do research on the many aspects of laser technology...........I do no production. I have modified my machines to make beam setting simple and error free as I now understand fully how it all works.There are a couple of more recent videos that I would advise you to watch
czcams.com/video/6aNwKhTRnd8/video.html
and
czcams.com/video/tvNfAg-cOLA/video.html
If you are still interested in the DXF files for my adjustable clamps then you can contact me privately with this form and I will send you the file.
forms.zohopublic.eu/ndeavorlimited/form/K40XtreeemLaserCutterContactRussSadler/formperma/k2Cn0QN5ChpazfTMAUw25lZ-FKpjZa96TQWHjv3ntOg
Best wishes Russ
Hi! I have owned my chinese laser for about 2 years. In that time I was not confident enough to correctly align the beams. This week, I stopped everything to level my machine, watched your video, and aligned the mirrors. The dots are on top of each other on x and y like you suggest, and the vertical is as close as I felt I could get. Running a test cut on 1/8 plywood, I was able to cut through at speed 10 and power 60 on the left 1/3 of the bed. Beyond that, it was not making it through the wood. I have a picture of this. I went back to the tube alignment, and took a picture of the dot on the tape. It is not a solid dot, but a circle within a circle. Can you tell me what is wrong?
Hi Melissa
The power with you beam should be like when you shine a flashlight at a wall. There will be an intense bright centre and light feathering off to noting at the outside.. Thus your beam should produce a dark intense centre spot and not circles. My first guess is that you have a tube labelled K H laser. Sadly, CZcams canned their private messaging service a few months ago but you can attach your email to another comment and it will be autocopied to my gmail. I will immediately delete your comment from public view and write back to you. We will need to exchange pictures to resolve this issue.
Best wishes
Russ
@@SarbarMultimedia I have a thunderlaser tube. my email is hwcraftnight@gmail.com
I am getting a crescent shaped burn on the wood when i pulse ? approx 1/8 inch wide like a sliver moon?
Hi Scott
Your beam is being reflected off the inside of your lens tube. At this stage in my learning journey I did not understand the real importance of the beam setting in the Z axis. Your machine will almost not have the adjustment needed to to enable this setting to be performed accurately and easily. The only way you will be able to do it is by physically adjusting your tube which is a VERY difficult and laborious way of beam alignment. If you watch one of my more recent videos I go through the principles of beam setting in great detail for all 3 axes.
see m czcams.com/video/6aNwKhTRnd8/video.html
and a footnote video
czcams.com/video/wS1qgmv8HTU/video.html
Aligning the AXIS of the beam with the AXIS of the lens is ultra important.
Best wishes
Russ
Thank you so much for your quick response and heading me in the right direction
for this machine you have the parts list, such as co2 tube, laser head set, mirrors, good video congratulations
Hi Rogelio
I am a bit puzzled by your comment. Is this a question about parts because you plan to build your own machine?
Best wishes
Russ
Oh my God what a nightmare I don’t have an engineering mind like you
Hy. I am new in this line of work, can you recommend me a laser machine which can do light things like key rings?i want to cut 4 mm playwood with the machine. Thanks in advance!
Hi Timotei
For your 4mm plywood cutting and engraving keyrings you will not need more than 60 watts power.. It really depends on the budget you have to spend. It sounds like a 500x300 work area would be fine for you but the problem is they will probably only be available on Ebay at a reasonable price ($1200 to $1500). They will claim to be 50 watt machines but they will be B grade 40 watt tubes. For about another $400 you will be able to fit a new A grade 60 tube and power supply.and finish up with a cost effective 60 watt machine. If you go for the next size up it is 700x500mm. It will claim to have a 60 watt tube but will have a B grade 50 watt tube fitted. You will pay $1800 to $2000 and you will still have to spend that $400 for a new tube and power supply.. Ant machine from E bay will in the end be a bargain but YOU will have to put effort in to make it work well.. There are two alternatives to this approach. Either to buy directly from China which will mean a long delay, a machine that will comply with the specification but may still require a little attention to get it running well. By the time you have paid for transport, customs duties including VAT it will probably work out 15% to 20% more expensive but you finish up with a better quality machine. The second alternative is to buy through a proper import company who rebadge the machine and support it. It will be a plug and play machine that you will be able to use from day 1 but for this service and level of quality you will pay about $4000 to$5000 for a 600x400mm machne with a 60 watt tube.. This will be a top quality machine ready fro production and with proper service support..
As I said, it all depends on your budget, your requirements and the compromised that you do or do not wish to make. Write again in another comment with your email address when you have looked around and need some advice on you machine choices. I will delete that comment and send you an email response.
Hope this helps
Best wishes
Russ
?
Hi Russ my stylecnc laser set to one speed and power wont take effect any change on the rdworks how can i do a factory reset?
Hi Miguel
Do NOT touch factory reset. The factory may not have saved working settings and then you will be deep in brown stuff!!!!
I suspect that you may have DEFAULT ticked beside the speed and power windows . Make sure these are UNTICKED. Do you still have a problem?
Best wishes
Russ
@@SarbarMultimedia i try default and undefault still same speed and power nothings change the settings. Its irritating i used to operate the epilog and very simple t
But this one omg got so many factor that go wrong. And the origin wont take effect either it is a nightmare this stylecnc and i try calling china bt is 3am over there and cant get any support so theres the 24hrs support
@@llesco693
Hi Miguel
Just at present I can't help either. It's 01:30 hrs here and I am just off to bed because I have got to be up at 6am to drive about 200 miles tomorrow. I will be back about 4pm UK time . Are you working Saturday? Do you have Skype on your phone?. Add a disguised email address to another comment so that I can contact you Look at the top left corner of RDWorks and there is a version number of the software . It will be V8.01.??. What is your issue number?
Here is a stable version 38 for you to download and install because I suspect your version is less than 38
www.dropbox.com/s/8xugiag5alqlp4v/RDWorks%20ruida%20issue%2038.rar?dl=0
Best wishes
Russ
ps these are only problems and all problems are fixable.
Danger you know mine was so off I hit my lap top screen 2 times
Hello Sarbarmultimedia, I am completely new in this area (laser cutting machine° I am interested in buying one from a Chinese company, but I have no idea which one is good or not. The size I am interested in is 1300/900 mm approximately. Please can you put in contact with a dealer or the name of a machine? Thank you in advance. (for acrylic wood glass etc..)
Hi
I recently came across this very nice looking machine that has all the requirement of a quality machine at a very reasonable price. I don't know where you are but you will be able to contact the manufacturer through Ebay.
www.ebay.ca/itm/Laser-Engraving-machine-6090-100W-WIFI-Ruida-CNC-Laser-Wood-Co2-Marking-Engraver/303133646398?hash=item46942c5e3e:g:kaQAAOSw7E5cvs7T
It is a jungle out there when trying to buy a machine. You could always contact Cloudraylaser.com for a quote on one of their machines because they only sell top quality products from trusted suppliers. However I think you will find it hard to better the machine I have linked above.
Best wishes
Russ
bat the test you 've change the original laser and the mirror ??
if you do the test with original material ?? only correct laser ??? , and the mirror original are so bad thanks
When you are done with your adjustment you can sell your machine for 20k
Hi Mark
I spent many hours experimenting and thinking even after this video., I finally devised a simple foolproof method of setting mirrors when I fully understood how they worked.
There's you tearing your hair out and me relaxing by our pool on a 26C warm night here in Rhodes. Do I care? Well yes......not about you but about that machine you are just about to take a hammer to!!!!
I do have a written procedure but at present I may not be able to access it. Let me hunt around on the kit I have brought with me to see if its immediately to hand. I'll get back to you shortly.
Best wishes
Russ
Lucky you
Try this
The principle is very simple . and easy when you have confidence. I know that fear of never getting your machine to work again. I had it the first time I took a mirror off to modify it.
Set your max power button to about 15% That way when you press the pulse button you will not blow a hole in your target. The aim is to scorch a mark so it may take two or three pulse pushes to get the mark.
Aim your laser beam at the CENTRE of mirror 1. The angle and alignment of the tube is not too important because mirror 1 is able to deal with the error. Now concentrate on mirror 2.
SETTING THE Y AXIS
Step1 SITING
Drive mirror 2 to the front of the machine and adjust mirror 1until the burn mark is somewhere near the centre of the mirror (it does not have to be perfect, within 2 or 3mm is OK) This just to make sure your beam hits the mirror.
Step 2 TARGET BURN
New target. Bring mirror 2 close to mirror 1 and produce a scorch mark This is your TARGET.
Step 3 MATCH THE TARGET
Drive mirror 2 to the front of the machine and adjust mirror 1 until the scorch mark coincides with the TARGET.
You will find it difficult to achieve this first time so repeat steps 2 and 3 until you achieve near perfection. Once you have achieved this YOU CANNOT TOUCH MIRROR 1 again.
Hopefully if the Chinese have set your machine correctly the burn you have on mirror 2 will be within 2 or 3 mm of the mirror centre. If not, we will have to discuss the options of how to get that burn mark to the centre of mirror 2.
SETTING THE X AXIS
I am very sure that your number 3 mirror is poorly designed just like mine and many other gold heads I have encountered. If you look at my videos you will see a black line across the entry hole to the head. If you aim for the centre of the hole you will find the Z axis will be very wrong. Draw a line about 3mm above centre and that is where you will be trying to aim your beam. Lets call that point A
Step1 SITING
Drive mirror 3 to the far end of the gantry and adjust mirror 2 until the burn mark is somewhere near A This just to make sure your beam hits the mirror.
Step 2 TARGET BURN
New target. Bring mirror 3 close to mirror 2 and produce a scorch mark This is your TARGET.
Step 3 MATCH THE TARGET
Drive mirror 3 to the front of the machine and adjust mirror 2 until the scorch mark coincides with the TARGET.
You will find it difficult to achieve this first time so repeat steps 2 and 3 until you achieve near perfection. Once you have achieved this YOU CANNOT TOUCH MIRROR 2 again.
Now you will identify a major problem. The dot is not on A You immediately think to adjust mirror 2 to put it into the right place WRONG. YOU CANNOT TOUCH MIRROR 2 again. You must stop and think how to get the dot onto A. I have modified my head mount so that I can move the head to put A into line with the beam. I suspect your head is not adjustable. The only option is to go right back to the tube and move it so that the beam finishes on A. That is a VERY tricky setting and why I made my head adjustable. Do you keep fiddling with the tube position or make the head adjustable? Your choice. I think this is a major design fault with these machines.
Mirror 3 and the Z axis alignment is the most important one you have to make. Most think this is the easy axis but it is the most difficult.
First understand what the "sweet spot" is for mirror by watching
czcams.com/video/eSjNsK2sjNo/video.html
Take a look at this from about 24minutes
czcams.com/video/jVGByifge_Q/video.html
This will step you through the important principles for setting the Z axis