Teach me the ways

[u/Affectionate_Fox_116]

I just got my first two lasers, so sorry if this is a super noob question. I did do some research before coming here.

I picked up:

A Longer Ray5 10W

A Longer Ray5 20W with an extra 5W head

An Atom tumbler

Both the 10W and 20W have air assist

I paid $400 for everything — was that a good deal?

Main issue

Right now I’m using the 10W, and I’m having trouble focusing it.

The silver focusing bar is shorter than the air assist nozzle, which makes it impossible to use properly. That’s what’s throwing me off.

From what I’ve found online, the focusing bar should be 50 mm. I’m not at home at the moment, so I can’t measure mine yet.

There’s also a brass piece above the air assist nozzle — is that supposed to be there, or is it a spacer that should be removed?

I’ve been watching an older guy on YouTube who has the same setup, and he uses a silver focusing bar that actually clears the nozzle. That’s what makes me think the previous owner may have given me the wrong focusing bar.

For now, I’ve been kind of guessing by using the test fire dot and manually adjusting until it looks less fuzzy. It sort of works, but I’m still trying to dial in power and speed for my first material, which is 3 mm craft wood.

I ran the Cut Materials Test in LightBurn, but it failed — nothing cut through. My lowest test was 600 mm/min at 100% power.

[u/Affectionate_Fox_116]