How come your laser head is not at a 90° angle anymore?

If you’ve had a collision between the laser head and your material, it may have been with a lot of force. As a result, the laser head may no longer be completely perpendicular. If the laser head is not completely perpendicular to the table, it can affect your cutting and engraving results. For example, you will have less power or a shadow line, a second line next to your cutting or engraving line, will appear.

Checking that your laser head is at a 90° angle

First, you are going to check if the laser head is not perpendicular to the table. Place the laser head approximately in the middle of your work area. Place something in your work area, under the laser head, that is completely flat and has the same height everywhere. For example, a piece of acrylic. Take a right-angle square tool and place it on the acrylic against the laser head. Ensure you check it does not touch the autofocus mount because that will give a distorted image. If it is the case that the right-angle square tool does touch it, it is best to remove the lens shaft from the laser head.

The first thing you do is disconnect the autofocus sensor. At the top of the sensor is a black plug with a silver ring. Twist the ring and then you can pull up the plug. You also remove the air hose from the air connector. There is a blue ring on the air connector. Press this and while pressing the blue ring, pull the air hose out of the connector. Unscrew the brass-colored bolt on the front of the laser head and make sure you are holding the lens shaft, so it does not fall.

Once the lens shaft is out of the laser head, you can put the right-angle square tool back against the laser head. If it fits nicely, the head is perpendicular. If there is some space between the head and the right-angle square tool, you will need to adjust the laser head.

On the left side of the laser head are 2 Allen bolts. With these, you can adjust the laser head. You will need to loosen both Allen bolts a little. Don’t unscrew them entirely, a few twists are enough. If these Allen bolts are a little loose, you have some leeway on the laser head so you can adjust it squarely. That is done by pushing against the laser head.

If the laser head is perpendicular, you can retighten the Allen bolts securely. If you have had to adjust the laser head perpendicularly, you should check the mirror alignment again. The laser beam now enters the laser head in another way and will also reach the lens with a different trajectory, causing the laser beam to land on your material differently.

If you cannot work this out, please send us a ticket and we will help you.