1 Topic by dyfeb

  • dyfeb
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Topic: program to control a laser engraver/cutter?

I got this 15W blue laser cutter from china and I got to say the quality is impressive.
However the stock program called CNCC that came with it only engraves and doesn't appear to cut and the DXF loading button is bugged and doesn't work, so it can only rasterize and engrave bitmap photos right now.

https://i.imgur.com/UA07iOX.jpg

The laser is powerful enough to engrave dark colored acrylics. I'm sure it will cut acrylic sheets just fine based on how fast it engraves them.

But what CNC program can I use with it that will also support cutting and loading DXF files?

It's an Arduino based laser cutter.

2 Reply by Tin Falcon

  • Tin Falcon
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Re: program to control a laser engraver/cutter?

From what is have seen you would not be able to cut much with a 15 watt laser papr thin material maybe . to do any cuttng you need  more like a 40 watt min.

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3 Reply by pirvan

  • pirvan
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Re: program to control a laser engraver/cutter?

That 14W will cut thin card stock, but if you need to cut plastic sheets or plywood, you'll need a CO2 laser with at 40W of power.

Is the engraver you got one of those compact NEJE engravers?

To print or, 3D print, that is the question...
SD3 printer w/too many mods,  Printrbot Simple Maker Ed.,  FormLabs Form 1+
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...and too much time on my hands.

4 Reply by dyfeb (edited by dyfeb 2018-06-07 15:45:40)

  • dyfeb
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Re: program to control a laser engraver/cutter?

Nope its rather big with a 600x400mm work area.
I understand the benefit of CO2 for transparent or translucent acrylic, colored acrylic or plywood but I literally only got this to cut 1-2mm black acrylic and thinner polarizer filter films for an ongoing project I have.

EDIT: Its the same wavelength as this just bigger and brighter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT6_FLB4vyM

5 Reply by knowack

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Re: program to control a laser engraver/cutter?

I have a 50W laser, and I use RDWorks.  There's a lot of YouTube videos that cover its operations.