I recently got reintroduced to the solid state lasers. Last time I looked, they were 3W to 5W. Not real exciting for what I need to do in cutting wood, at that time. The 20W laser from xTool seems pretty compelling, it can meet the requirements I have for engraving and cutting. Not sure about speed yet on cutting, but I don't have a defined time spec myself. Overall their fully made product looks well enough. BUT....I like Open Build items for CNC and machines and I like to build things. With that I get the size/shape of machine that I'd like as well as the toolchain I prefer for being efficient. So I was thinking I could build my own frame and enclosure and motion system using OpenBuilds. Then integrate the xTool laser head. The piece of information I'm searching is what is the interface/cable scheme look like to the laser head - power and control. In just a bit of googling I've not come across this. I' thinking there is power and then either a PWM/analog signal or is it a communication signal and their is onboard electronics in the head interpreting and acting on that - not sure which yet. On the mechanical side, what is the mechanical mount? I believe this is possible to make, just wondering how plug/play it could be versus making some interposing electronics between the Blackbox and the laser head. If you have looked into this, or have some google fu, I'd love to learn from you.
Here is a clue. I was watching a video on the xTool Infrared laser module. The video: The reviewer rotated the part around so one could see the back and connector. This is a part of the screen shot, let's see what we can make out on it. Left to Right (gosh, I wish I had that infinite movie enhance capability): (unsure - two characters) (unsure - three characters, last one a "D") PWM (95% confident) GND (100% confident) GND (100% confident) GND (100% confident) VCC (100% confident) VCC (100% confident) Just given this, if there is simply PWM for power, it may be possible. And assuming the 20W blue is a similar interface.
See section 3.3.2 or 3.3.3 of https://docs.openbuilds.com/blackbox Best to ask the laser module supplier for specifics about the module Our recommended vendors has videos/docs for BlackBox - JTech: Openbuilds All in One Laser Bundle Instructions | J Tech Photonics, Inc. - OptLaser: Wiring Setup - Acro System Laser Upgrade At a guess: Shared GND and PWM to Toolhead connector Laser Power supply to shared GND and VCC inputs
Thank you at Peter for the push to the docs and details. I'm pretty confident BlackBox can do it. Just a matter of understanding the connection on the laser head. So far the manufacturer hasn't responded, they may or may not, my guess would be they may not since the head isn't expected to be used in other devices. BUT, I'm up for being wrong. On the mechanical mounting side, it is a dovetail like mount. See image.
And a couple more screen shots, this one is of the actual 20W module. Two connectors, so different. Left connector, 8 conductors, only a few labeled, guessing electronic power and signal (left to right): (Unsure - obscured, may be nothing) 3.3V PWM GND GND GND (blank) (blank) Right connector, 4 conductors, guessing laser power. (left to right): GND GND VCC (24V, likely) VCC (24V, likely)
Have you bought the unit yet? If not, the Optlaser modules are great (and less risk dealing with a supplier who can actually answer?)
I've not bought the unit yet. I did look at Optlaser, their site isn't well organized I feel like and was causing a bit of confusion and anxiety in me. Aside from that, their laser modules look engineered and are perhaps very nice. Certainly made to be integrated with other equipment. They are a different breed than xTool and the like. But the pricing is far more than I would like. The PLH3D-15W laser, for instance, is $2.2K for an upgrade kit (It isn't clear to me if I can get just the head). I'm getting excited and inspired by the xTool unit, $600, with a discount that can be applied. If there was a comparison on how one is better than the other, I would certainly study that. For the price though I could buy nearly four xTool units for the price of a single Optlaser of similar laser power.
Fair enough (good support sadly comes at a price some times) - well hoping the vendor returns a reply. Otherwise, you may need a little trial and error. Not impossible to make it work - just a shame they lack basic documentation of the pinout.
I appreciate the conversation! I hadn't looked in K40, but a quick search shows it doesn't cover the area I like. I'm shooting for around 16" x 30" to 40". The $600 at xTool was just the 20W diode laser head, just for clarity. Good video by Maker Muse. Timely. I heard back from xTools on their laser head. They did not share a pinout and don't recommend it for machines they didn't use. I do like a good reverse engineering challenge ;-) All that being said, I've priced out building an ACRO system vs just buying something that works (like xTools or Muse or Boss Laser - I know they are different categories of products). And so I'm now I'm stuck in an infinite loop thinking through each one. Build a machine with Openbuilds, which I do love doing, or just get something that runs off the shelf (at various price points). My goal is to get to cutting. I'm willing to take a bit of an indirect route. Does Opt Laser do any sponsored content? I see just a couple videos on the PLH3D-15W. I'd be up for making some content, building the ARCO with the Opt Laser head and then doing videos or posts or documentation. This could get the project cost down to where I'd like to be, helps to get more examples of the Opt Laser product in the wild and can produce some good community content.
Just to "think out loud", here is what I'm looking at: OpenBuilds Table 510 - I've got a really nice table top already. Underside may be split in two. One side to hold Tanos Systainers and one side to be space for materials. Of course I'd fit electronics in here too. ACRO 1010 - cut down just a bit. I would do the ACRO 510, but I'd like a working area of at least 420mm x 800mm. So going with the large machine, then I can trim the one axis to fit on the table and should give the work area I'd like. Blackbox electronics. Would likely add the Interface CNC Touch too. I'd want cable tracks as well. I'd love a good Z axis package for ARCO. I may have to tinker one up, look at other builds here, etc. I'd use this honeycomb table from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09PYKXPS...colid=1D6ZT470U75OD&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it&th=1 Would likely use a pressure regulator and solenoid for the air assist. This is so I could use my local compressor and not have to buy a specific air assist. LightBurn, of course. Laser Head - OK studying Opt Laser better. I'd really want the 15W, less power doesn't seem like a good idea. My main use case is cutting MDF and Plywood, 3mm to 9mm thick. And light engraving on them too. I can see cutting arylic in time as well. I'd start in my garage. I'd want to move this to my basment, for that to happen I'd want to add sides/lid and of course some good ventilation. I'm inspired by that ClearView Plastics has created, so I'd look to either buy/make something like that. Clearview Plastics + 3D printer Enclosures + Custom Acrylic Enclosures
Also do research on wavelengths. 15w. 445nm. Near UV is only absorbed (ie effective) on organics (leather, paper, wood). Doesnt work so well on nonorganics (plastics, resin, even the glue layer inside plywood can stop it from going any deeper). CO2 lasers are effective even on clear acrylic due to the longer wavelength (10600um - infra-red) . Near UV passes straight through clear acrylic. Also works great on organics too (so wider range of materials). So another factor to consider: what materials do you tend to work on most Ps: how sure are we of that advertised 15w? Anyone measured it yet? Optlaser is so expensive because it has three diodes and a very advanced prismatic colamating lens setup to combine the beams into one (optical engineering is tricky!) Talking about enclosures. You can block a CO2 laser with cheap clear acrylic (1/4") with a reflective tint to take care of the bright cut spot (visible light). Shielding 445nm lasers needs expensive 5+OD laser shielding film or acrylic (and no, i've tested 3M Orange acrylic is only about 5% effective at blocking 445nm light despite how you see it used everywhere). Jtech sells laser shielding
@Peter Van Der Walt You are a well experienced engineer, it sounds like, when it comes to machines/lasers. Thank you for sharing more details with, there are elements I wasn't thinking through like the wavelength. I recognize they are different, and I see how they are different in finding documentation of what i want to cut, though wasn't thinking about it in the terms you wrote. Your input is helpful, bring it on, but also putting me in a tailspin on what machine/approach I'd like to take. You know, it would be a good idea to gather up a bunch of different laser machines and to test their output. Kind of odd, now that I think of it, that I've not come across a video/article on this in my searching. On the enclosure front, I had one of those shower inspiration moments. I had been thinking of the laser machine on top of the table. With an OpenBuilds table, it could be the frame of the machine. That is, one could fashion the machine to sit inside the table envelope and thus making adding sides a bit easier. Well, well, well, what to do. Maybe I should just keep saving my money..
just to confuse you, here are some more things to watch and learn from (-: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=clough42+laser
I liked what I saw on the xtool D1 Pro system and what it can do. I had asked the openbuilds support team if there had been any tests to compare the ARCO system to the xtool D1 system. I had not heard back yet and then started searching the post here in the community when I found your posts. I had built a Lead system, I like what it can do and its results. I would like to use the ARCO system , looks stronger than the xtool system, but that's based on pictures and only pictures seen online. I started doing some research, also looking into the Ortur system and the test comparing it to the xtool D1 Pro. I will be waiting for some sales before I do anything. I am retired now and toys are harder to fund.
Thank you Anthony for raising the thoughts on specs. I did set out to find these myself, but I think I got distracted as I don't recall seeing them. On the ARCO, what would be interesting to know is speeds. Strength isn't the important one here, unless you mean rigid fame. High speed, low speed, repeatability, micro stepping is what I'd like clarity on. All this can be set in Black Box controller, but you are right, if configured on the ARCO, I didn't see what expected motion system performance could be. The likely answer is, "the machine can rip itself apart" if you want it too. So the sky may be the limit and then one needs to tune it for their application as the head on the unit will add some weight, though hopefully not too much to the system. I've come up with a killer application in which case the solid state laser would be the only solution, as I see it. That is I've not seen a CO2 laser in the price range of a few thousand dollars do. What I'm thinking is pivoting the laser head, say 45 degree. This could give bevel edges when I am cutting plywood, again assuming the thickness on the diangle is still within the laser's performance envelop. So, my wheels are turning, if I should just take on building a machine. Oh I'd like to, have fun with it, but I also just want to get to making the product/templates.
Keep in mind 445nm diode lasers have lots of trouble with plywood because the inorganic resin glue layers, does not cut. It gets through a wood layer, then tens of passes trying to scorch away the glue layer.
So I too am looking to integrate an xtool d1 10 w laser. I have verified the pinout on the laser head but I am a bit of a novice. I am using a mks dlc32 stepper board for my setup but I am unsure which wires I need to connect to the laser head. I know I need the two vcc two gnd and pwm but I'm unsure what goes to what on the board.
I can't speak for the control board you are using. You may want to see if there is a forum or Discord specific for that. In general you may need another power supply for the laser to match the voltage inputs. Then you need a PWM output from your control board that translates your tool G-code to a PWM level.
So I just hooked up my 10 w to the mks dlc32 board and have it working. The 20w laser head comes with an external power supply that hooks to the 4 pin hy connector on the laser head then all you need is to hook up the ttl/gnd from the mks dlc32 to the pwm/gnd of the laser head. The lasers use 5 watt internal lasers combined by mirrors into a single laser output. So the 20w has 4-5w internal lasers firing into a single output. Each internal laser uses 12v power so there must be something internal that splits the 2 12v vcc from the 24v power supply. I have a friend that has a power supply for the 20w head so I can possibly have him check it out and see if my assumptions are correct.
Hi, there dear Maker friends, I recently bought an XTool D1 Pro 20W Laser Cutter/Engraver with an additional IR head for all metal engraving. And after just one day of normal use, it stopped working out of the blue, it just wouldn't turn on the next day, I plug It in turn on the switch, and nothing no signs of life except one small blue LED next to the SIM card slot, which I do not know what signifies. I tried a different power brick, the one I got with an IR head, I tried different power outlets, and ultimately tested the output of the power bricks and both show 24V as they should. Now of course I contacted the manufacturer ASAP and told them the same thing, it is the weekend, so I might wait for their response a while, and I hope they will send me a replacement board since I just bought the machine and paid a not such a small price for it with all the add-ons. But this got me thinking, could there be another board that I could use in place of the original one, something like a Smoothieboard, Cohesion3D, or some other GRLB type of board like something from OpenBuilds? That's how I bumped into this thread. The gantry cinematics is no problem, what is bothering me is the Laser Head wiring. You see their heads use some 9-pin connectors 2x 24V, 3xGND, 1xPWM, 1x3v3, 1xLaserID, and 1xFlame_ADC which I assume is their smoke detector, the 3v3, and Flame being absent from IR Head. I have not seen this many pins on any other laser head and would not know how to wire it. Here you can see the pictures of the current board and the Laser Head pinouts. Top Laser Head is the IR one, the bottom one with the red PCB is the 20W head, and the black thing is the control board. You see this board died and is only displaying this blue light. Anyone with more experience dares to help me solve this conundrum? Perhaps when I get a new board I could send this one to some electrical magician/technician, and he could fix it, I assume it's just some blown fuse since it doesn't show any signs of charing or heat damage anywhere on the board. I could use this repaired board for a new gantry and attach the other head. But still wonder could this proposition be done with another controller board. And finally, I found someone else who dabbled in this idea.
You can easily add the mks dlc 32 control board to the laser. I have mine running on the mks dlc32 right now and it should work with just about any of the control boards on the market that have a ttl pinout on them. I have the d1 non pro. I'm not sure about how to hook up the laser crosshairs yet but everything else is working flawlessly. I have all the designs uploaded to thingiverse under xtool d1 non pro mks dlc 32 and I also uploaded a manual adjustable z axis. I'm currently working on a motorized version with a touch sensor that will automatically adjust the height for the material. Ive also added limit switches and a relay that lightburn can turn the laser the exhaust and the air assist on and off through the geode. Fully adjustable grbl.
matthew, Do you have the Mks Dlc32 v2.1? That's what I have, n I want to add the 10 or 20 W xTool module. But they provide ZERO help
Yes that's the board I'm currently using with my xtool d1 10w and 20w laser head. It is on an xtool machine but everything else is generic such as the nema 17 steppers and wires limit switches etc. I have a wiring schematic that I drew up to go with the xtool d1 non pro but the pinout should be similar to the pro version.
Hello, I have this information (Look pic) Pin 1: 24V Pin 2: 24V Pin 3: GND Pin 4: GND Pin 5: GND Pin 6: PWM Pin 7: 3V3 Pin 8: Laser ID Pin 9: Flame_ADC I want to buy a 1064nm IR laser module to adapt it with MKS DLC32. I was talking to the supplier and he told me that this laser can only be connected with Xtool control board. I think for security. I have no information on the following pins. PWM: Voltage and frequency??? LASER ID: security encoding in this way can only work with xtool control board. FLAME_ADC: Type of flame detector.
