This is an old revision of the document!
Laser cutters are very expensive piece of equipment - chances are you spent over $5,000 on yours (we spent $15k!) which means its important to keep the machine in good condition. There is nothing worse than having a multi-thousand dollar machine destroyed because of a few minutes' negligence.
You don't even need to do that much, to keep everything in top condition!
Every day, or after 8 hours of solid laser cutting, be sure to check the lens and clean it if necessary. The top lens and mirror are right above the laser beam which means they are exposed to a lot of dirt, fumes, smoke and debris. If the lens gets dirty a few things happen.
# The laser won't cut nearly as well, requiring lower speeds or higher power, to cut # The laser won't engrave nearly as well, with uneven results and blurry images # Eventually, the dirt on the lens/mirror can catch on fire and melt the lens/mirror permanently damaging it