Settings
Setting power, speed, focus, material tests and air assist correctly.
Air assist for lasers: airflow, pump and how to use it
What air assist does when laser cutting, how much air you need, when to use less air for engraving, and how a pump differs from a compressor.
Laser material test: test grids for the right settings
Test grids for power, speed, line interval, cutting and focus: how to set up material tests in LightBurn and xTool Studio and how to document them.
Lowering the focus per pass: cutting thick sheets cleanly
Why the focus is off on multi-pass cuts, how focus lowering in xTool Studio and Z Step per Pass in LightBurn work, and which starting values to test.
Setting laser parameters: power, speed and line interval
Power, speed, passes, line interval and frequency: how laser parameters relate, with starting values for 10 W to 40 W diode and CO₂ lasers.
Setting the laser focus: focal length, focal point and cutting
Focal point, focal length, manual and automatic focus: how to focus your laser correctly, go deeper when cutting and defocus on purpose.