Discussion of June '17 update

[johnse]

@palmercr

And if it rotates the head isn’t there the possibility the beam will miss the entry window and etch the coating off the side of the head?

I doubt the beam density is sufficiently high at that point. IIRC the beam is about 5mm prior to focusing.

[markwal]

I think even the video showed it not working fast or with high precision. It drove the coffee mug all the way into the end and only then did it detect. With that amount of signal, it looks like you have to hit something both hard and when you’re still intending to move quickly.

So from the little info in the video, my guess is that little bumps near corners aren’t going to be detected. Also, if the mug was narrower at the bottom, it’d have a good chance of tipping it over.

It might work better than the video, but in my view the video doesn’t promise very much and while more than most laser cutters, I’d still go with “limited actual utility”. Certainly more is in the hopper, but my guess would be that this wouldn’t be high on the list since there are other more pressing matters (full dimension cuts, for example, which I imagine isn’t until all campaign orders are shipped).

[GrooveStranger]

@markwal

Certainly more is in the hopper, but my guess would be that this wouldn’t be high on the list

If head strikes won’t damage the machine, and the user can force re-calibration with the power off/move head to center trick, then yeah, the priority is probably really low.

[ihermit2]

@GrooveStranger

If head strikes won’t damage the machine, and the user can force re-calibration with the power off/move head to center trick, then yeah, the priority is probably really low.

I would describe that more as manually calibrating for the machine instead of forcing a calibration.