Going to build a laser engraver...
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Should I go with a Duet controller?
I am mainly interested in engraving photographic images, so raster or probably greyscale. I read that there is a lot of development going on for the purpose of lasering, but that engraving rasters is stil somewhat of a challenge. Is that correct? I am using Duet in my 3d printer, so I would really like to stick to that, but if a simple grbl board is so much more suited for the job I would be stupid to not go that route.
So in short: what is the status of Duet being able to drive laser engravers?
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I think the biggest factor would be which software you'll be using to generate your g-code. There are a few threads indicating the support may be on par with grbl etc, but it also seems to be a priority to fix any issues thats limiting the firmwares ability to work with lasers.
Maybe if you elaborate a little more details on your use case someone can give you some more accurate feedback.
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One of the best software for hobbyist or pro laser is "Lightburn". They have demo, and they are fairly cheap, at $40 for the G-Code compatible version. https://lightburnsoftware.com
The point being, you can look at their output G-Code right now, if you wish, including getting a feeling for how they raster.
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There are several users already running laser engravers with Duets. We have been in discussions with Lightburn and we have further development work planned in the near future to reduce the amount of GCode needed when doing raster engraving.
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I`m working on a laser where I did plan to use a Duet 2 WiFi
Is there a software like LOightBurn that is compatible with RRFW today?
Or Should I start with an simple grbl controller and wait for RRFW support in LightBurn? -
RRF is already compatible with GCode generated by Lightburn. In fact, Lightburn has configuration options to generate a number of different styles of GCode.
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@dc42 reat
So I can run my Duet 2 WiFi with the latest RRFW 3 in combination with LightBurn ?I have a 5V PWM laser and plan to use one of the pwm outputs on the Duet 2 extension board
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@mundsen said in Going to build a laser engraver...:
I have a 5V PWM laser and plan to use one of the pwm outputs on the Duet 2 extension board
That's a good way to interface a laser with a TTL-compatible PWM input to the Duet 2.
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https://forum.lightburnsoftware.com/t/duet-controller-support/11976
Not full RRFW support yet? or is there news in the rrfw 3 that make it work with LightBurn?
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@dc42 said in Going to build a laser engraver...:
RRF is already compatible with GCode generated by Lightburn. In fact, Lightburn has configuration options to generate a number of different styles of GCode.
How would I start setting up LightBurn? Do I choose Marlin or GRBL as a default?
@bearer said in Going to build a laser engraver...:
Maybe if you elaborate a little more details on your use case someone can give you some more accurate feedback.
I am mainly looking for engraving photographic images. On wooden panels and back of mirrors. If possible in greyscale, if not in a fine dithering.
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@mundsen said in Going to build a laser engraver...:
https://forum.lightburnsoftware.com/t/duet-controller-support/11976
Not full RRFW support yet? or is there news in the rrfw 3 that make it work with LightBurn?
I've added a post to that thread.
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The Grbl (not LPC and not M3) profile seems to work quite OK.
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Disregard my statement above - with further testing - it doesn't seem to play along.... - Let's wait for the firware update