I actually like Danowar’s Laser Air Assist Shroud for my Eleksmaker 2.5 watt lasers, but the one I linked above comes in both 40x40mm and 33x33mm versions for the 3.5 watt and 2.5 watt Banggood lasers, respectively.
The following is an earlier shroud design and a crude air-assist for my Banggood 3.5 watt laser but the job setup and procedure are the same… Ryan’s focus script, then a cut-through script (at best focus) to find fastest cut-through feedrate, and then run the job.
Again, patience is required… but clean cuts can be had in thinnish (3mm?) cardboard, in a single pass, if care is taken to find best focus and employ at least a modest air assist.
I’ve actually been playing – just this morning – with my FoamRipper machine… which also mounts an Eleksmaker 2.5 watt laser, with Danowar’s air assist shroud. I’ve also become a real fan of Lightburn and recently found a nicer cut-through script. I used a modified version of it (it was originally set up for CO2 power and feedrates) with cereal-box chipboard last evening… and, just a few moments ago, I found some of the same 3mm pizza cardboard as previous.
The card is feedrate in mm/min down left side and %power across the top. I used the same setup procedure as before… and again, BEST FOCUS is crucial.
Also note that this is with a 2.5 watt laser… which I have found cuts as well, or better, than the 3.5 watt lasers I have. I’m pretty sure it’s the smaller spot-size that’s responsible… i.e. lower power concentrated in smaller area can be more effective than greater power spread over larger area.
Can you provide that cut-through script? I want to start playing with cutting cardboard and foam board with my laser. I’d like to cut some of those dinosaur puzzles for my son.
I’ve attached a zip file with DXF, SVG, LBRN, and GRBL 1.1h (M4 laser-mode) gcode files in it. Easiest would be using the Lightburn file… as the original was a Lightburn file from here, called “material_cut_card_v3.lbrn”. If you haven’t used Lightburn yet, it is a free download, runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux (Chromebook also!), and you have a 30-day trial period to insure it works for you on your hardware… after that it’s $40 and I highly recommend it.
That’s great David! Thanks for sharing that. I came into this thread ready to offer to try cutting some cardboard for the cause with my 2.8. Still am happy to do so but want to grab those scripts first and play a bit.
I haven’t used the gcode-sender/laser-control portion of LB at all… though that seems to work quite well for most people. Currently I’m using the Pi/V1Pi/CNC.js combo for control of most of my machines. So it’s really just the “draw” (very Inkscape-like… though not quite as powerful) and gcode generation parts that I’m using for the most part. It’s not a real CAD/CAM of course – and doesn’t try to be – but there’s a lot of “power” for laser users. That gcode file is a great example, containing both raster-filled shapes and 20 different cut/layer definitions, and all very easy to set up and priority order…
It’s not perfect but it is by far the nicest/easiest laser software I’ve found and well worth the $40… and it even runs on my Chromebook!
I’m also using it to generate the gcode for my TimSavX2 hot-wire machine as it only uses the XY coordinate information and ignores any laser on/off… but definitely takes advantage of the ease of setting “cut” order/priority that LB offers. I haven’t tried it yet but I suspect it could also be used to generate gcode for needle-cutters/drag-knives/pens/markers/etc – anything doing a “center-line trace”/engraving operation (no tool offsets) – as it also has settings for Z-axis control.
I have no affiliation with LB… I’m just a [mostly]-satisfied user
I wonder if Ryan could chim in on the kits. I know he said with his previous kit (link now broken) he listed that it was plug and play so to speak with the Rambo board.
If not there was more work involved. It would be interesting to hear any comments on that. Or if any one else knows about connecting to the Rambo board.
From jtech? Yes, the Jtech kits work from the fan port so every board will work as is no flashing changes. All other lasers need pin changes depending on required signal voltage (imports are horribly documented so it is always always a gamble on first power up, some PCB’s are even incorrectly marked).
Hi David, Just getting started with lightburn and my jtech laser. I just tried your test card. My lettering looks smeared and NOT clear. The cut of the circles are great but the letters are a mess. Any suggestions please. I cannot seem to find a setting that address that. I am sure i have something set up wrong.
Thanks for the help.
The lettering is done with “Fill” (everything else is “Line”)… I used 1200 mm/min and 40% power. I’m using Grbl 1.1h and “Laser mode” ($32=1)… which means the power is varying with speed of movement. Closeup photos of what your are seeing and details of your Grbl settings ($$) and the settings you’re using for the “Fill” cut would be helpful.
Hi David,
I am using marlin. I will check the full and the line settings tomorrow and send you a screen shot. The is an option to generate g code… And a run g code should I be using that instead of the start function?
I don’t use LIghtburn to drive/control my machine… but only to process artwork and generate gcode. If your machine jogs and operates outside of LB properly then you’ve somehow not set up LB properly for your machine. Have you successfully plotted the MPCNC crown before?
