Yep! On the same page Doug! I found this resource early on and is the basis for my game plan. For example, checking the ground on my three prong through K40 to confirm ground validity. Safety is the key ! I have a shop that requires a power upgrade to establish separate power for K40 and auxiliary cooling and separate exhaust systems and so I’m on hold until I can get these done so my Lightburn upgrade is going to take awhile. So gives me time to keystroke Lightburn offline and now also learn Linux!
So I have setup my bootable USB and checking out Linx Kubuntu. Ordered Linux keep it simple type resource book to learn Linux and options like Kubuntu and others this forum has mentioned.
Need some my K40 laser , LaserDRW setup. Have a little different board, it purple colored M2 Nano main board ( see photo) with no model # on it that I can find which presents a problem with setup. I see what LaserDRW manual calls the Device ID but no model number other than what I have shown on the manual folder photo attached but this model number is not listed on the software drop down box so the LaserDRW will not initialize the K40 or recognize it! Would appreciate feedback from you or anyone on the Maker forum. Ready to move on to K40 Whisper is I can’t get LaserDRW to initialize.
I’m with Michael and I tossed LaserDraw and went right to K40 Whisperer but now we also have Meerk40t which also works well with the stock M2Nano controller on the K40 laser cutter/engravers.
Without the dongle you might not be able to do it, at all. The Mainboard isn’t actually detected it should be set. And the device ID needs to be changed. If you have the dongle and the new M3 mainboard the software should actually work.
Basically the only thing it detects from the device is that it’s running a CH341 chip set in parallel mode. Which gives it a VID and PID from the USB. The Device ID does a procedure called a challenge. Basically the board will respond a different way to the correct serial number. It actually takes your serial number converts it all to lower case (for the hex) and then applies an MD5 hash on that to turn it into 16 bit digits and sends A<hashed-id> which the board then responds with 204 for about a 1 second, if you queried the status.
It checks the dongle but only requests a CH341 version which needs to match between the dongle and the card. So you can interchange them if they were produced around the same time but sometimes other dongles can’t work with newer software.
MeerK40t and even Whisperer are going to be significantly better for whatever your usecase is.
Agreed. I moved onto K40 Whisper and works great. Just made some successful safe first runs on my K40 and now ready to install an air assist system but I know I will need some help on a reliable drag chain install method. I will add a separate post on this .
Again thanks to all other comments just found K40 Whisper the easiest solution and since my end road is to move to Lightburn once I install my Omtech provided Motherboard upgrade, I didn’t want to waste any more time than necessary.
using the laser with K40 Whisperer would not be wasting time, it’s a much larger learning process than making a few marks or cuts on wood.
When I got into the K40 laser cutter it was because K40 Whisperer existed since I don’t run any Windows software. But I then spent a few weeks reading any FAQ and forums on the K40 on how they work, what fixes/hacks are required, needed, and just good to have. When I got the K40 machine I didn’t have air assist setup and I didn’t have my fumes extraction system setup yet but I tested the machine with a few cuts and the default hardware and then it sat for another couple of weeks while I got the larger water tank, got the vent hole in the roof, mounted the large greenhouse ventilation fan and rigged up an air assist off my shop compressor. I probably spent a month after that working with the laser via K40 Whisperer and a friend told me about Lightburn. It was still a part-time project for Oz at that time and since I also knew hardware, I ordered a smoothieboard compatible from China. So another few weeks with the laser and K40 Whisperer, and Inkscape.
K40 Whisperer is much better now than it was back then, Merk40t is available now too and so is VisiCut and they all work with the stock M2Nano controller. Inkscape is a very capable vector graphics editor/creator so you might be surprised at what you can do without LightBurn.
So I would get the machine dialed in with air assist, good ventilation setup. BTW, the fan should be at the exhaust output of the room, not a the machine. So a leak in the hosing isn’t blowing fumes into the room and instead it’s only sucking room air into the exhaust. And don’t forget cooling and cooling indicators. There are many cracked laser tubes because something stopped water flow and quickly caused the tube to crack. And water temperature measuring… Pretty sure all of this is in the FAQ/Intro to K40.
oh gheesh, I got off on that whole tangent of how I got to where my machine is and forgot to mention the drag chain thing. Some people put a drag chain along the Y axis and along the X. I opted to put a drag chain attached to the back right corner and with a small loop it attaches to the laser head. I had to adjust how it attached to the laser head so that it stayed out of the laser path when working at the far back of the machine. The trick for air assist is a flexible hose but also one which will not kink.
Thanks Doug. Can you share a photo of your setup when you get a chance? Attached is what I’m going to try with all the concerns you mentioned in mind ie to keep out of the laser path and also in my case my red dot guidance system when came standard on my K40. My air assist nozzle has a swivel bracket that can be adjusted to your needs . Have not completed this yet work in progress and still considering other options. The drag change I purchased attached to x axis gantry rail with some modifications.
Mine isn’t a K40, so it’s a little different, but same game. My air assist that come with the machine, was just an aquarium pump, nothing holding the air lines anywhere, except through the drag chains. There is still a drag chain on the Y axes. Losing mass on the X axes also causes less mass on the Y axes.
