Robert, do you have the updated PCB layout for the LD3X??

Rich

 

Great work man. I am building by CNC router now didnt finish it yet and I am already finding a new project

I have a question. Is this board for everything (Laser Driver & Motor driver)? Or I have to get a separate laser driver

Also, would you be kind and draw the complete circuit diagram with laser diode connected and motors?

Thanks

 

Why do you say that? Are you thinking the two beams would have the potential of canceling each other out through interference? In my mind since the two beams are originating from two different points in space the interference pattern would essentially be a "strip". (albeit an incredibly small one) While some areas of this strip would be nulled, other areas would be doubled. Considering the very small area to begin with I don't think the nulled areas would actually make any difference, though the doubled areas would in terms of burning.

Think of it like this. If I take two different lasers pointed at my LPM, the reading will be the approximate sum of the two lasers individually. The energy being delivered to the macro area of the sensor is still double what either laser can do on it's own. In much the same way it would make sense that the area he is focused on would see this same increase in power.

This is all just kinda thought experiment in my head, so I could absolutely be wrong... But I'm curious as to why you feel it wouldn't double the output? I guess the same applies for a knife edge array of multiple diodes... Run them through a beam expander in reverse to concentrate back down to a single beam and you'd have the combined of all diodes no?

 

Sorry if I am late to the party on this one, but, if I understand correctly, we are looking at focusing two beams from two laser sources to mark/cut at the exact same spot at the exact same time? Yes, it can be done. I was just working on a diode pumped laser with 2 heads today. This setup has the ability to focus the two together for approximately 100 watts of power or I can have them marking two different fields at the same time to speed up production at 50 watts each.

 

I'm really late to the party! I am in the breadboard stage for building an X-Y laser cutter/engraver and have have lots of questions. So far my setup is, a clone Arduino Nano, A4988 drivers, and two stepper motors. Does the stepper enable need to be pulled high or low? Does the logic level voltage on the driver boards need to be 3.3v or 5v or does it matter? And for Robert, where can I download your hex file of Grbl? That's all for now, I think.

 

Thanks Robert.

I found and downloaded the hex but see from the picture there is a connection from pin 9 on the Uno to the driver board. Is that correct? Also I think I remember reading that you have the laser control on pin 12, Is that correct?

 

Hey Robert,

how do I get my hands in one complete controlled board fully assembled, but without the power supply; cost with shipping?
I bought a 3W laser diode and have 3 Nema17 step motors for it.

looking forward to hear from you
Regards
Dimitri Del Corral

 

Hi Robert. I'm back with more questions. I've got a Nano on a bread board with two A4988 drivers. All the grounds are connected, the A4988's have 5v from the Nano, Sleep & Reset are jumped, Step is connected to pins 2 & 3, Dir is connected to pins 5 & 6. I've flashed Grbl 0.9 from Github to the Nano and am using Universal G-code sender ver. 1.0.8. I'm using a 9v battery on the VMot of the drivers. When I send "helloworld2.nc" to the board, from what I see all is working but neither of the motors, 5v gear reduction modified to be bi-polar, do anything, no buzz, click, hum.

Any ideas or suggestions?

 

Thanks. I'll give that a try.

 

I don't know if I have bad boards, controller, motors, a screwed up computer or what. I reset the wiring, uploaded the 115200 hex, used the grbl zip, with the only difference is now getting errors when compiling. I've got too much time and money into this to scrap it all and forget it. Do you think I should try to adjust the driver boards?

 

Robert, I finally received the board. It looks great. Can you provide a diagram that specifies all of the jumpers and orientation of the nano and stepper drivers please? and maybe a pic?

Also, what driver files are you using for this board? The hex or Grbl listed in your "files" section? ...and are any changes needed for this new board?

Rich

 

can you make me one and how much for it. and do you have the stl files for the 3d printed parts?

 

Woo this is great I been want to do something like that but can I used laser to cut through fabric like cotton or polyester?
great job.
Thank you

 

Could someone post a picture of the bottom of the board for reference, I dont know the entire board layout from the pictures posted yet.

 

Very useful, thank you @Mark Carew .

 

HI! where I can buy this board? Can I do myself with some web platform sending pcb file? Thanks!

 

Roberts boards are like art. I can't recommend get one from him enough.

 

Robert, thank you for sharing your development. Very cool indeed. Could you tell me what laser did you use? Secondly, did you make a kind of safety switch making sure laser was active only at the working position for safety reasons?
Thanks,
J.

 

Hi, Robert

I was interested in your PCB design, what types of PCB etching boards are those and where can i get them? im sick of the ones i get normally with a drab tan color. these Red/Blue ones look fabulous!

 

Does anyone sell these custom parts that looks like they need to be CNC'd or 3d printed? I dont have any bots yet, this laser one is the first one i want to make.

 

Hello again Robert.

I need some help. I followed the schematic for the laser driver and the power supply that you have in your documentation and others on the web but have melted several of the trimmer pots. I've tried just the driver circuit with a 9v battery, just an LED, the laser and both in parallel and had the same thing happen. Even with the current load at less than 100ma. I thought maybe I wired something wrong so undid all the wires from the breadboard and redid then with the same thing. Eventually I want to do grey-scale like the site picengrave.com but need to get the simple on-off etching first. Any ideas? What power of laser are you using and have you had any "melt downs" like that?

My machine works with the router. It runs off an Uno, G-shield, (4)4988 controllers using plain g-code with UGC sender, and Easel.

Hopefully somebody has some suggestions for me that don't involve hundreds of dollars.

Gailen