WASTELAND PROPS
Choose the closest pattern. You will be taken to the step that isolates it.
Step 1 of 8 — Safety
The next step checks the frame — twist first, then the rails, then gantry squareness. Do all mechanical work with the machine unplugged.
A twisted cabinet puts a diagonal into the four corners: two opposite corners agree with each other and disagree with the other two. No mirror setting can take that out, so get the machine flat first.
Power off. Zero a digital angle gauge on the gantry with the gantry at the front, then push it back by hand and read it in the middle and at the back.
Enter the front and back readings.
Slide a strip of paper under the right roller at each point and compare the drag.
Pick a feel for each point.
Record all four lens-seat burns in the head test to get a direction for the feet.
Never force a rail to fit. If the gantry binds when you raise one end of a rail, the cabinet is twisted. Fix it at the feet, re-test, and only then trim the rail to suit the gantry.
Right-side beam: Mirror 2 is on the right end of the gantry; near = gantry back.
Fit the cyan circle to the reference ring. Detection runs when you release it.
This runs the correction in the simulation only. It shows the exact turns to make — then turn the real screws on your machine by those amounts.
Turn the real screws on your machine by these amounts, then pulse again to check.
If near and far overlap but the middle does not, suspect a bent or misaligned Y rail — not a mirror.
Tape Mirror 3, pulse with the head at both ends of the gantry, and bring the two dots together with Mirror 2's screws.
Fit the cyan circle to the reference ring. Detection runs when you release it.
This runs the correction in the simulation only. It shows the exact turns to make — then turn the real screws on your machine by those amounts.
Turn the real screws on your machine by these amounts, then pulse again to check.
After alignment, verify at the other end of the gantry. A residual that changes with Y is mechanical.
Tape the nozzle tip, press it to leave an exit indent, then pulse at bed centre and centre the burn on that indent.
Do this with the lens out first. If the burn is centred lens-out but off with the lens in, the lens is the cause, not Mirror 3 — the Lens and nozzle step proves it.
Fit the cyan circle to the reference ring. Detection runs when you release it.
This runs the correction in the simulation only. It shows the exact turns to make — then turn the real screws on your machine by those amounts.
Turn the real screws on your machine by these amounts, then pulse again to check.
Mirrors aligned. If the beam is still off-centre, shift the laser tube to bring it in — moving the tube shifts the whole beam sideways; it does not change any angles.
Checking where the beam lands…
Each press shifts the tube 0.25 mm and the model slides with it — watch the tube move and the whole beam path follow. These are the same values as the Tube Y / Z nudge sliders in Setup, and the two stay in sync. Shifting the tube clears earlier pulse marks, so re-pulse near and far afterwards: both fresh dots will have moved together by the same amount.
When the near and far dots sit together on the centre ring, the beam is centred. The four-corner test is next — it proves the whole bed, not just one tape.
The test that tells mirror error from frame error. Take the lens out, tape the lens seat and the nozzle tip, pulse once in each corner, then record where every burn landed.
Enter the diameters of the circles you traced — the burn is measured against them.
After each change — a foot, a mirror — re-pulse the four corners and save a round. The trend shows whether you are going the right way.
Press “Fire all four” — the beam pulses once in each corner, and the four marks are compared.
| Corner | Off left–right | Off up–down |
|---|---|---|
| Run the four-corner test | ||
With the head test passing lens-out, fit the lens and prove it. A lens sitting off-centre or tilted bends the beam into the nozzle wall; turning it 180° shows whether the lens is the cause.
Tip tape at each corner, one pulse each. Small, round, centred and equally dark everywhere is the finish line.
Side view through the head. Entry height moves the lens seat and the lens-out tip together but hardly moves the lens-in tip. A tilted Mirror 3 moves everything more the further down you go. A lens off-centre moves only the lens-in tip — which is exactly what the 180° turn isolates.
The report gathers your tape photos, gaps, the frame checks, the head test diagnosis and pass/fail for every step.
Tape photos stay in this browser session; nothing is uploaded. For best measurement, photograph the tape straight-on and fill the frame.
These are the screws themselves — the same three sit on each mirror mount in the model above, and the two adjusters per mirror are the ones that turn. Drag a screw in a circle, use its −1/8 / +1/8 buttons, or focus it and press the arrow keys. Hovering or focusing a screw zooms the model to that mirror and lights the matching screw on it. Changes here move the simulation only.
Keyboard: ← / → jog head X · ↑ / ↓ jog gantry Y · 10 mm per press, or 1 mm with Shift. Open Beam view or this section and click in it first.
Profiles stay in this session. Export a JSON copy to keep them, then import it next time.
typical — verify against your machine
Current setup is active.
Tube Y/Z nudge translates dots together — centring only, after the mirrors.
High contrast strengthens text and borders. Reduce motion stops the beam shimmer and pulse flash. Both follow your system settings where those are set. Tape overlays show or hide the tape stuck on Mirrors 2 and 3 and under the nozzle in the 3D model — hiding it never affects your tape photos, measurements or test results.
A session file holds the screws, position, tape photos, measured dots and test results. Loading one restores the whole setup. Reset everything returns every screw and mechanical control to zero and clears photos and results; it cannot be undone.
The alignment report gathers your tape photos, measured gaps, every correction and the pass/fail result for each step.