I got my Longmill 48x30 a few months ago and began experimenting with combined projects right away. First I was curious how much curve the laser could cover without needing a focus re-calibration. I wanted to do 3D carvings with laser etchings atop. Since my partner sells eggs at the door, I used quite a few to experiment laser etching on. After a bit of tinkering they came out nice and gave me an idea on the focus drift of the G2 lens.
Pine (Douglas) is not the best wood for laser etching. The difference in burning on the softer parts and hadrer parts is substantial. I did a flat etch on a slap of teak and that came out much more equal in darkness.
I stopped experimenting for I burned out my Makita router and need to focus on building the machine in its more permanent setup, including some safety features.
What I got out of my play time is that you can do some amazing stuff combining carving and etching. I am definitely going back there after my overhaul.
On the matter of zero setting the laser with the router-bit, it takes some effort. One bit is not the other and I fear that offsetting on the center of the bit wont cut it. I did it on a keen eye.
There is an option in Lichtburn to use a camera to place your design on the project using a live stream from you machine. I am going to get that option on my machine, for I think that is the quick fix for the -zeroing both projects to the same spot- problem.
I look forward to your results in combi projects. Their great fun.
Thanks, that looks very nice. I was only thinking about using cnc and laser as separate 2d decorations. Combining them such that the router cuts a 3d object then bringing the laser in for discreet shading is next level.
If decorating is the goal, you might like to look into activating power coating with your laser.
I am on the brink of that experiment. Got my primary colors in yesterday and a chrome and gold one.
I did an experiment on lettering in a flat etch and it worked magic. Being able to paint as precise as your laser can etch is a big plus.
But then again, I only did one experiment but you can take a look at others that did this on youtube.
Iāll look into that! For a few months now I have wondered why we cnc router, laser, 3d printer etc but no 3d painter. I have recently seen there is a hobby waterjet machine coming out, not my thing but interesting none the less.
When in spindle mode spindle speed is rpm. No surprise there. When in laser mode you can think of it as a percent of the maximum. Thatās why I use Smax=1000 in Lightburn. Also in Vectric with the laser module there isnāt a way that I have found to set anything like Smax but it uses 1000. I know it uses 1000 because if you set the laser at 50% power in Vectric you will see S500 in the G-Code. If you set 25% power it writes S250 in the G-Code and so on. So it seems to me that $30, spindle max speed, needs to be at 1000 with the Vectric laser module to get accurate power. Also Smax in Lightburn defaulted to 1000 if I recall right so thatās what I use.
EDIT: As far as conflating spindle and router speed, Iām not sure you did. I just wanted to extra clear just in case and as a side note if your using a router spindle speed has no effect on that so you can just leave it at 1000. gSender used to have some bugs with switching between laser and spindle mode but that has been fixed and gSender will set $30-$32 when you use the button to switch modes if you set the values you want in the settings.
Just want to say something about the Vectric laser module. I have it and I use it when the project is router and laser, like @gwilki said it keeps it easier for me to have everything in one place. I use Lightburn for images always because it does a better job and is WAY faster. The laser module does this start, stop, pulse the laser, start, stop, pulse the laserā¦ thing whereas Lightburn just modulates the power as it goes. Sometimes for laser only projects I will design in Vectric and export an svg that I import into Lightburn because Iām more comfortable designing in Vectric.
So that covers when I use what but the main reason for this response is just to say that I donāt think the Vectric laser module is worth the money. It really doesnāt offer anything that canāt be done with the post-processor that @gwilki uses. Those post processors were made by j-tech and I read there that they were the basis for the laser module. To top it off Vectric has not done anything to update or add functionality to the laser module since it came out.
Just my two cents, if I had to do it again I would try the j-tech post processors before buying the laser module. I didnāt know about the post-processors from j-tech when I got the laser module.
So it sounds like $30 is setting max and resolution of power at same time. If i set to 100 and then have vectric max at 100 it is 1 percent per click, while if I set it at 1k then each click is .1 percent. Is this accurate?
That being the case, scienci 7 watt laser having 255 power levels is very fine control.
Yup you are right about the percent per click. I just use 1000 because of the way the laser module works or I wonāt get accurate power. Itās also is easy to look a code and understand a value. What is 22% of 255? But itās easy for 1000!
EDIT:
I have not found a way to set max to 100 in Vectric. Not saying there isnāt one but I canāt find it if there is one.
@Scotto@_Michael Itās entirely likely that I am confused by your question, Scott.
IMHO, setting $30 to 1000 gives me as much control as setting it to 255. I know that 255 was chosen owing to what grbl and an 8 bit processor can really distinguish. In grbl pre version .9, grbl recommended using 255. Now, with version 1.1, they recommend 1000. Either will work. Iām with Michael in that I can look at the gcode speed setting and see easily what the laser power is.
In terms of setting speed/power in Vectric, itās a function of the tool you create. In my case, I created a dummy end mill. I set the size based on the spot size of my laser - in my case .005". One of the settings in the tool data base is āspindle speedā. When dealing with a laser, this equates to power. So, for example, since I have set $30 to 1000, 100% power in my tool database is 1000 rpm If I want the laser to burn at 50% power, I simply set the speed to 500 rpm.
If this has simply confused the issue, feel free to say so and Iāll delete the post.
I am attaching a screen cap of my laser ātoolā just fyi.
And here I had just ordered a Rolio set of mica for some discreet epoxy pours I was planning ā¦ very interesting ideas in this rabbit hole. Laser 911 was a suggested video next to this that was a little better production but he left out using mica instead of powder coat. We shall see how the mica works with his method.
How do you get vectric to export SVG? All I see are vcarve abd vcarve templateā¦ Then I find the export button. Silly to have save as and export imo.
I think I am definitely gonna try to use vectric exclusively but I do see some areas where lightburn is better. Canāt believe lb doesnāt have material sheet size settings or way to distribute parts across a sheet like vectric, maybe lb isnāt ready for my 30x48 bed size.
@Scotto I use the Jtech post processors. They are written for VCarve.
Iām attaching the inch and the mm posts. I had to change the file extension to .txt to upload them. After you download them, change the file extension to .pp. Then, in VCarve you can install them.
Thanks guys! Iāll let you know how it goes tomorrow. UPS estimates it arriving tomorrow and I took tomorrow and Friday off in preparation. UPS is normally 2PM (Mountain) or so, enough time to rewire and test before laser beam live tomorrow night on youtube, Ikenna is very helpful in the live chat if youāve never watched.
@Drebz Yeah, they start at 0, 0, you have to enter the offsets for your machine. To find your offsets put a v-bit in the router and mount the laser if not mounted. Mount a piece of scrap or use the waste board for the next part. Zero X and Y over the scrap an your Z to the surface of the scrap. Now you need to make a small dot with the router in the scrap. Then without changing the zeroās jog until the laser dot is exactly over the router dot.
At this point the offsets are displayed in gSender as the X and Y coordinates. You put those numbers into the settings for the offset. If that doesnāt work right then you might need to put in the opposite off what is displayed. When itās set up and working then switching between laser and router in the bottom right of gSender should set the zero for you.
