Calibrate the Z Axis Honeycomb Travel

The Z axis honeycomb travel is a little different to calibrate than the X and Y but it is the same principle and will still use the Lightburn Wizard found here: Calibrating Axes In LightBurn

For this activity you will need:

-A sturdy measuring tape

-Blue painters tape and a pen

-To be connected to the machine to be able to read\write the machine settings

-Autofocus Eyes must be in working order. They are your Zlimit- eyes. Check them prior to starting. Testing Z Axis Endstops

-Z Axis Limit+ must be in working order. Check it prior to starting. Testing Z Axis Endstops

During this activity,the laser lens tube should be removed just to prevent any chance of crashing and the honeycomb bed free of materials. Check your Z axis Limt+ and Limit- prior to starting this procedure.

Step 0: Lower the honeycomb, remove the Air line and unscrew the brass knob a few turns and remove the laser lens tube

Step 1: Use Axes Reset in Menu to raise honeycomb to 0 position which will Zero the readout on the Screen

On the Laser Machine Controller, use these steps:

Press the Menu button.

Navigate down to Axes Reset+, press Enter button

Scroll down to Z Axis reset, press Enter

Let the Honeycomb travel to the home Zlimit- which is also your auto focus eyes. Verify your Z is at 0mm.

Step 2: Measure the height from the Honeycomb to the blue rail. In this picture, the height is 5.5" in this example

 Blue painters taped used to mark the lines\spots where the tape should go. This will help you be consistent so use it at the rail and honeycomb edge and mark with a pen.

Step 3: Lower the Honeycomb

Use the Controller to Jog the the honeycomb until it reaches the Zlimit+ Hard limit Switch or the software limit for Max Travel where it will not move down any further. (On this Nova 35 the max travel Software Limit is 230mm).

Note that while doing this test, the readout of the distance the controller thinks it moved the honeycomb could be way off, which is why it would reach the software Max Travel Limit before reaching the hardware limit. If this is the case, you should run this calibration procedure twice.

Step 4: Once the honeycomb is lowered, take a reading from the controller Screen. In this example, the distance was 227.41mm.

Step 5: Measure the distance from the honeycomb to the same location on the blue rail and note it down. In this example the distance was 14.47"

Step 6: Convert the data to input into the Lightburn Wizard for this example (Your numbers will vary)

Initial Height Measurement: 5.5" = 139.7mm

Final height Measurement: 14.47" = 367.538mm

Requested Change: 227.41mm

Actual Distance(Final - Initial Height): 367.538mm-139.7mm = 227.838mm

Enter the Requested Change and Actual Distance into the lightburn Wizard. Pull up the Wizard by going in Lightburn to Edit>Machine Settings and then selecting the "Calibrate Axis" button.

Select the 'Z' axis from the drop down. Lightburn will calculate the New Step Length based off your inputs. If you want to accept, press the "Write" button.

If you would rather work in Inches, I suggest multiplying your values by 100 since Lightburn only accepts 3 Decimal Places and 3 digits in front of the Decimal. It will affect the accuracy out the output. See the comparison below:

Once complete, create a new backup of your machine settings:

Backing Up Machine and LightBurn Settings

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