Hello everybody.
I have a k40 with lightburn.
I try to engrave clear acrylic but the result is very poor when compare with my photo engraving on my laser diode atomstack A5 pro.
I’ve try many setup, correction, different speed-power…but nothing compare to what I acheived with laser diode 5w.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Show us a spot burned on paper at the output of the laser.
Hi sir, thanks for your reply. I really appreciate it…
Presently I am not able to make that test, but i’ve aligned recently the mirrors and setup a sharp focus
All I can say is that, the image is in focus…by the eyes, hair and details…the real problem is that.
The part engraved to reproduce the white is too thick ( not melted) too deep while the part that should be greyish is not engraved at all…I am running with lightburn at 250/speed and 25% power…
Faster or less power…only the white will appear but very scattered and no greyish part at all…
On my atomstack A5 I got a much better result…with shades…clean…sleek…on the diode laser I can setup “number of line per mm”…can it be the cause?..all my image set at 300dpi…
As soon as I come back I will make the test and post it…
Ps: I prepare my images mostly with imagR.
Bests regards
the Round one is with diode laser 5w and the square one with k40.
Will send the spot out of the laser this evening…thanks…
Good evening sir.
As requested …one spot out of the tube, one spot out of the laser head after the focusing lens.
Also another pic about some tried
…donno if it could be of any help…i enlarge a lot this test …
Best regards…
Richard
So on your Diode Laser, what power setting are you using? What speed are you running? How many passes are you doing? And the most important question, what type of Dither mode is being used?
I would try to find the answers to the above questions and then try to replicate them on the K40. You will have to calculate what wattage the Diode Laser is using and then calculate what power setting would be the same wattage on the K40. Every other setting should be a direct match.
FYI: Between the Diode Laser image and the K40 image, it looks like a different type of dithering.
Hi john, thanks for your reply, hope you doing OK.
All I can answer right now is this:
Atomstack A5 pro 40watt but… (5w) set is;
Speed 900.
Max power 35%.
Min power 25%.
Mode passthrough.
1 pass…about 2h- 2h1/2 then.
I spray white chalk on the acrylic…
On the K 40:
speed 1200.
Max power 24%.
Min power…no setting.
Mode Jarvis.
1 pass…about 20 min
How do I calculate the wattage on the diode?
And then how to replicate on the K40?..
There I am lost John …
Your time and your help are very much appreciated…
Best regards
Mistake : onvthe K40 , Max power:5%
Are you using Lightburn with both lasers?
Hi.
No.
Lightburn with k40.
GBRL with Atomstack
I reviewed the specs and manuals of Atomstack and did not find a reference to the type of dithering routine they use with the GBRL software.
So here is how I would solve this:
*First match the speed to 900
*Set the power to match you min power on the diode (25%)
*Shrink your image down to a couple of inches and print several of them (each one on their own separate layer) set each layer to use a different dither setting.
*Print on the same material that you want to use.
Then with the finished sheet with all the images printed with different dither settings you can see which looks closer to your image from the Atomstack. Then print a full size version of it.
After you find the dither that is the closest, then you can try different power levels or speeds.
Also I find that turning on the “Overscanning”, changing the “DPI” and changing the “Scan Angle” to 20-40 degrees, can make a lot of difference in quality of the output.
For your test images, just turn on overscanning and set DPI to 300
I will do that and let you know.
Thanks a lot.
Hello john.
This is what I’ve got…
I think I will work from Stucky…But…
Can you identify chose problems circles in red?
Regards.
15mm/sec - 5% pwr
Honestly I have burned a lot of images in plastic and wood and I have never seen this in my printouts. I have only seen something like this when my plastic gets too hot and starts to warp enough so that the laser focus is off.
What version of Lightburn are you using?
What are the layer settings in Lightburn for “Stucki 15 5”?
What angle are you printing it? This \ or this / or this -
What kind of material are you using?
What kind of contact paper are you applying to the surface for printing?
Try this: disable all layers except the one that you want and just do a test with that layer only.
Hi.
I will tell you the version later ( not home).
Stucky setup.
Speed: 15mm/sec- 900mm/min.
Power: 5% about 2w…
Angle: 40.
PMMA: cast acrylic.
I apply nothing, I engrave directly…
With the diode I do apply a coat of chalk, but nothing with the K40…
Should I put something on the acrylic to engrave?
Yes. We need to try to replicate what you do on the Diode as closely as possible.
I buy my plastic and a foot wide roll of laser contact paper from the same company that sells to the Laser community.
Hi again.
What is laser contact paper?
I have to cover the clear acrylic with it to engrave?
Where do I get this?
This is the name, laser contact paper?