Great post and very useful.If you agree I'd like to copy it and repost in the FAQ section? I have some green 5mw diodes around so will make myself a dedicated kit to do what you have posted
There are plugins on the disk that comes with the 1290 to use direct from either autocad or corel draw and bypass lasercut alltogether. I don't tend to use them though as autocad crashing on an error can cost me many hours of design time.
One thing that is very different with my metal cutters is the ability to set G41 and G42 to provide cutter comp on a drawing to allow for kerf width although that said they cost 20 times what the 1290 does. It just means if you set a 40mm square in the drawing you get a 40mm square not a 40mm - half the kerf on each edge.
Good to hear you are back on track though
best wishes
Dave
Please note I am not employed by HPC, any advice or recomendations I give are based on my own experience and are not necessarily the same as HPC's. First point of contact on any hardware issues should be with HPC Dave@OpticalPower.co.uk
Be aware that some laser diodes don't have a beam that is concentric with the casing.
I guess you could convert your machine control to use Mach3, which would give you cutter compensation. That would work fine for vector output, but I haven't looked at how well this would handle raster images and engraving. I have seen a controller card advertised that manages this.
Unfortunately, I've already invested in Illustrator and would prefer not to have to fork out another £500 plus retraining for Corel Draw if possible. Much of my design work is actually done in SpaceClaim and Rhino anyway. (There is a Rhino plugin for the Epilog printer driver...)
I note that there is now an Open Hardware project at laoslaser to enable generic laser control using a printer driver based approach using the same technologies currently used for RepRap 3D printers. I think this approach may struggle to run high speed engraving operations due to clock speed limits.
Also, Full Spectrum Laser now sell their Retina Engrave controller card to end users and this can be used to replace the Leetro / LaserCut system with a printer driver approach. It's pricy and doesn't allow many colour layers, so probably limits the number of operations you could do in one hit.
Just a reminder - no modding chat is allowed openly on this forum for business interests and legal issues as explained here. Anyone wishing to do so can discuss via PM
Cheers
Dave
Using two LS3060's and an ex 3020 user Please note I am not employed by HPC, any advice or recomendations I give are based on my own experience and are not necessarily the same as HPC's. First point of contact on any hardware issues should be with HPC
lemme double check Terry, I think there is a plugin for lasercut/illustrator..
back in a min
best wishes
Dave
Please note I am not employed by HPC, any advice or recomendations I give are based on my own experience and are not necessarily the same as HPC's. First point of contact on any hardware issues should be with HPC Dave@OpticalPower.co.uk
As for checking the laser diode, it can be done quite easily. All you need is a v block and a patch of wall. Clamp v block nice and solid, and rotate. This will show alignment. You can also buy lasers for use in collimating telescopes. These do have a 1.25" diameter end for fitting lens nosepieces.
Just checked, the plugins are for autocad before 2006 and corel draw only.
best wishes
Dave
Please note I am not employed by HPC, any advice or recomendations I give are based on my own experience and are not necessarily the same as HPC's. First point of contact on any hardware issues should be with HPC Dave@OpticalPower.co.uk
I just went out and got some diodes I'm going to build a few alignment tools and see what comes up
best wishes
Dave
Please note I am not employed by HPC, any advice or recomendations I give are based on my own experience and are not necessarily the same as HPC's. First point of contact on any hardware issues should be with HPC Dave@OpticalPower.co.uk
