¶ CNC cutting and engraving
If the coupon is ugly, do not start by turning power up. Check the chain: right source, right scale, right layer, clean window/nozzle, calibration, simulate, frame, then fire. Skip a step and you will spend the afternoon “tuning” a dirty nozzle.
¶ Choose the task
- Cut or engrave in mLaser: the complete file-to-part workflow.
- mLaser software overview: the long factory UI video, rewritten.
- Fiber and CO₂ parameter libraries: import a row that matches the metal on the table.
- Nesting, leads, and tabs: layout tools, not quality fixes.
- Calibrate the floating cutting head: establish a trustworthy height reference.
- Use flight cutting: faster repeated-feature processing after ordinary cutting works.
- Frame and place a job without a camera: prove location with emission disabled.
- Visual alignment accessory: camera/tool origin shift, still frame afterwards.
- CO₂ optical-path alignment: M3 CO₂ beam, not a fiber job.
- Fix dross, blowouts, and incomplete cuts: a symptom-first diagnostic tree.
- Check X/Y scale and kerf: separate motion scale from cut compensation.
Warning: Do not tune around a fault
More power is not a substitute for the right source, a clean protective window, a centered nozzle, correct focus/height, adequate gas, and a flat supported sheet. Establish those conditions first.
¶ The pre-run gate
Before every new material or machine change, answer all of these:
- Is the material positively identified and safe to laser process?
- Is the intended fiber or CO₂ source selected?
- Are extraction, cooling, assist gas, and safety circuits normal?
- Are the protective window, ceramic, and nozzle clean and undamaged?
- Are units, drawing dimensions, path order, origin, and process layers correct?
- Did calibration, simulation, and a no-emission frame all pass?
- Is someone staying with the job with a clear stop/fire response?
When a cut fails, preserve the failed coupon and record both software settings and physical setup. That evidence is much more useful than “it cut badly.”
¶ Official Gweike video
These are Gweike's own walkthroughs. Keep the checks above, watch the sequence, then prove the result on your machine.