So I have been happily cutting and engraving for a little while now and all of a sudden my engraving got sort of crystallized and there keeps being a bunch of sticky residue buildup on the cone even after I clean it off. This is all on the same sheet of 1/8in birch plywood I have had many successful cuts and engraves on. I had a pretty nice engrave no problems very little build up and then I switched back to my 1.5in lens and cone and lots of buildup like never before. I switched back to my 2in lens and still lots of buildup to the point on a small job (2inx3in) cutting and engraving it started to rub the piece and shift it. I know pictures would be nice but I am not by my machine tonight. Pictures will come tomorrow night with more troubleshooting myself as well.
My thoughts are this may be moisture from the air pump (stock from China, the air outside air with the garage door open but not raining outside or from a different part of the material itself). Maybe it is something weird with the laser power doing something weird to the wood... I really don't have a good idea what would cause something like this. Any experience with a sudden surge of buildup would be great!
By the way the air assist was on and there is no buildup on the lens itself. Mine has a pressurized cone. This wasn't the first time I engraved with the door open. The chiller temp was at 19C.