I just got my new Ortur Aufero 10w laser! I read through a long thread from 2020 about setting up the laser on SKR Pro, but I have some questions.
Thanks!
If you are using a newish, V1 maintained version of the Marlin firmware, then laser support is enabled. The laser pins for the SKR Pro are defined as:
#define SPINDLE_LASER_PWM_PIN PC9 #define SPINDLE_LASER_ENA_PIN PB0 // Heater2
As for setup, it will partly depend on the specs of your laser. The big question is whether the Aufero will handle 3.3V PWM signals (I think PC9 is a 3.3V pin). And if you are using a separate power supply for your laser, be sure you share a ground between your laser and your control board. Most laser setups Iāve seen donāt make use of the enable pin. If you are planning to use the control board power supply, be sure it has a high enough current rating. To give a bit of a safety margin, I reserve 6A for my MPCNC, so you probably need an additional 3A or 4A for the Auferoā¦call it a 10A power supply.
When you generate the g-code for your laser, use inline commands if possible, and M3/M5 if not.
Edit: Did a quick bit of searching. The laser module is 24V and 2A. The control board on an Ortur machine appears to be 32-bit and 3.3V, so if you power your laser with a separate 24V power supply, it may be a plug and play installation. I couldnāt find a manual to see the wiring, so you might still have to deal with a ground wire.
I am planning on doing all new laser testing on the nightly firmware very soon. The Marlin team has completely overhauled it again so it needs to be reworked on our end.
Luckily, the current release version of the firmware does still have the laser enabled but the nightly do not, next release might change a few of the settings but should have it enabled again. For the most part I will use the same driving pin if possible and things should just work better on the next round.
Thanks, Robert! I do plan to use a separate power supply and will make sure the ground is shared.
What do you mean by āinlineā commands? In the past I used M106/M107, but Iāve seen some comments that those arenāt ideal. I think Iām going to be using lightburn, so I can do whatever it allows.
What would a laser enable pin do? My old JTechPhotonic laser had a driver module you had to turn on before it would work, but this new one doesnāt seem to have any sort of on/off, just power/pwm in and out to the laser module.
What do you mean by āinlineā commands? In the past I used M106/M107, but Iāve seen some comments that those arenāt ideal.
In Lightburn, just set your Laser Control Commands to āInlineā
Inline commands use the āSā parameter of G0, G1, G2, and G3 commands to set the PWM duty cycle of the laser.
There are engraving and perhaps cutting quality issues associated with using M106/M107 g-code commands. Marlin is aware of inline commands, so it can take corrective action for a variety of situations that are not handled when using M106/M107 commands.
What would a laser enable pin do?
It is a secondary safeguard for making sure the laser is off when it is defined to be off. Whenever the laser is to be turned on, that pin is set to active in addition to the PWM pin getting set to its duty cycle.
Thanks for the details! Very helpful!
@vicious1 i donāt mean to take this off track, but does the Rambo 1.4 board support laser modules? TIA
Yes. The release versions of the V1 maintained versions of Marlin have laser support enabled. I use a Rambo 1.4 board, and do a lot of laser work. The firmware defines pin 45 as the laser pin:
The same concerns that I listed for the SKR Pro apply to the Rambo boardā¦making sure the laser supports 5V PWM signals, making sure the power suppy is big enough for both the laser and the control board, or, if powered separately, making sure the laser and the control board share a ground.
Absolutely.
The current firmware should work just fine, and I have completely revamped the firmware and and testing the nightlies now.
Appreciate it!
What kind of laser module as you running? I know some of the newer ones are in theory hitting 20w in combined diode output
Iām using the NEJE 40640. It is a dual diode laser module, and a year ago it was one of the most powerful diode laser modules on the market with a reported 13W of optical power. You are correct that there are now quad diode laser modules on the market that claim 20W of optical power. Right now, they are pretty expensive (around $600), though reviews on YouTube are excellent for the two modules that have made it to market. Note that the NEJE laser module was plug-and-play using the Rambo board.
There is a page dedicated to some of the laser basics but from your questions I will drop in and say. Higher wattage is only good for cutting. You sacrifice etching/greyscale resolution. This is not one of those time when you can have both. .5-2.5W is best for wood etching with 1W probably being the sweet spot. Cuttingā¦more power is better, but for under $600 you can get a dedicated CO2 that can far out cut any diode.
This is the first Iāve heard that, Ryan. Good to know - I guess Iāll hang on to my 3.7w laser then. Not as low as a 1w, but I guess better suited than the 10w for etching jobs. Iāll have to do some comparison burns at some point, I guess.
The first thing I plan to try is etching slate. And cutting some wood.
I think the tradeoffs are a bit more muddled. The K40 lasers only have a cutting area of 8" x 12," do not support Lightburn without an expensive upgrade, and, based on a YouTube video, the latest round of 20W diode lasers are getting around 60% of the cutting speed of the K40. On the other hand, $600 for a laser module is a lot of moneyā¦enough to build a Primo. Iām hoping they drop significantly in price before I burn out my NEJE.
It is kinda easy to work out once you can do some tests.
Move as fast as you can and see what power level it takes to get a black mark. You have 255 possible power levels. So if level 30 is black, then you have 29 levels of grey available. With a less powerful laser it might be more like level 200, then you get 199 levels of black.
WHAT!?!?! no way, now that is worth it then. I expected 25% if that. Diodes typically have a shorter focal length, higher convergence angle, so the depth of cut is significantly less because of the convergence angle. 60% is rad though!
The cut test comparison was just a snippet in a YouTube video. He was cutting Baltic birchā¦3mm to 5mmā¦so not thick material, but this is typically what I cut a lot of. I believe the diode lasers are getting a tighter beam than the K40. On another note complete D1 Pro machine with the 20W laser has a top speed of 24,000mm/min, and the video showed an attempt to engrave at that speed. The engraving on the Baltic birch at that speed was light, but did show on the material. If the wood had been treated borax, he might have gotten an acceptable result.
Well the laser is on my machine, I have some tests to do for sure. I know my 2.5W canāt cut all that much, but I plan on doing some speed tests.
My 3.7w canāt cut very well at all - well, not wood anyway. Iām looking forward to being able to do some precision cutting on thicker material.
Although I have etched pictures in wood with the old laser, my main projects were mostly etching solid black print on pine blanks. With my rebuilt MPCNC, and a renewed interest in playing with it, I hope to actually create - maybe even sell - some other cool stuff.
I have a specific question about the āshared groundā for the laser. Is it as simple as connecting the GND pin next to the PWM pin to the GND on the harness going to the Laser (which would also be connected to the V- on the power supply)? Since there are 2 GND wires, do both need to be shared with that pin?
Just want to make sure I understand the terminology āshare a groundā before I unnecessarily blow up my control board.
