Hardware recommendation

[lerra]

Hi,

Sorry for the lame question but having a hard time to get a full understanding of hardware that I should buy,

What laser kit/setup would you get that works great with laserweb that can engrave on Metal 316L as low as 0.1mm? I can only see recommendation on controller firmware on github.

I am looking for the most stable one out of the four bellow, both from a software but also physical. Any experience on something that is implemented in a heavy used environment?

Big thanks!

[mcdanlj (Michael K Johnson)]

Here are three resources to help you get started:

What can I cut with a laser cutter/engraver?

What is OK to cut? In general, materials that absorb the deep infra-red beam (10um) that the CO2 laser puts out are most affected. Organics such as paper, wood, and organic fibers absorb strongly and can be cut and engraved. Leather and wool often give off noxious odors. Wood and wood products like plywood, masonite, and similar. Variable results are reported depending on what adhesives are used to make up the wood products. Paper, cardboard, etc. Fabrics and felt Leather, which may require …

New to K40: Start Here

Is this you? I’m about to buy a K40! I just bought a K40! What should I look for/do/try/etc., etc.? Start learning here. What materials can a K40 engrave and/or cut? What materials should be avoided and why? In general, materials that absorb the deep infra-red beam (10um) that the CO2 laser puts out are most affected. Materials that reflect it are not very affected, and the reflected beam can be dangerous to eyes and skin, as well as damaging the laser lens. Organics such as paper, wood, a…

K40 Laser: Getting Started

[cprezzi (Claudio Prezzi)]

For the controller board, there is a list of supported boards on the github releases page of grbl-LPC:

cprezzi/grbl-LPC

I would suggest an original Smoothieboard or a Cohesion3d Remix (both 32bit LPC1769). ATmega328 and ATmega2560 are too slow for engraving. ESP32 is somewhare in between.

HINT: Grbl-LPC doesn’t support external lc displays.

[bullestock (Torsten Martinsen)]

I built a (somewhat modified) Lasersaur with an 80 W tube. It has been installed for nearly three years at my local hackerspace, and is being used by dozens of users.

The initial hardware was an Arduino/Raspberry Pi combination, but the current version consists of an MKS-SBASE (Smoothieboard clone) running grbl-LPC, an APU2 running lw-comm.server (under Debian), and a custom designed PCB that implements hardware interlock for the laser enable (so that the laser cannot fire if the lid is open or the chiller is not running). Users access LaserWeb by connecting to the machine’s IP, so they don’t need to install anything on their own PC.

We were plagued by electrical noise issues for a long time that caused the USB driver to reset, but that was resolved by changing grbl-LPC to use the second serial port and connect that to an actual serial port on the PC board.

[cprezzi (Claudio Prezzi)]

Cool setup. Thanks for reporting.