A newbie builder here but with plenty of electronics experience. I made my first laser controller by putting together an Arduino and a grbl shield. However it all needed to be hooked up with separate wires and eventually one of them would come loose and everything would stop working. When I made my second laser engraver, I eventually made my own custom board. Its a custom Arduino with four DRV8825 motor drivers all on one board. Plus it features wireless control with an optional bluetooth module. The board is also available for purchase on Tindie and eBay. Here are the specs: 3 + 1 clone axis that can replicate either the X or Y axis for machines with two motors for a single axis Capable of driving upto 4 NEMA 23 motors at 2.2A per motor (with a heatsink, 1.5A in open air) Full to 1/32 micro-stepping configurable via on board microswitches Current limiting options can be set independently for every axis including the clone axis Options for user configured inputs and feedback such as E-Stop, Reset, Feed Hold, Cycle Start, Homing Location, and Probing Accommodates upto 6 mechanical limit switches. Limit switches are configurable as active high (normally closed switches) or active low (normally open switches) USB port eliminates ancient parallel ports and freedom from older expensive machines Bluetooth control (with an optional HC-05 bluetooth module) to wirelessly operate the machine Comes with a heatsinks for the motor driver chips Uses standard 18-24V DC supply and with onboard outputs for 12V at 1A and 5V at 2A Reverse power connect protection ensures that you do not fry anything if your accidentally connect your power the wrong way Plenty of visual indicators for debugging Comes pre-installed with grbl v0.9j with default settings. A quick connect guide is included in the box and a comprehensive connection guide is available online here. Watch the controller in action with a laser engraver here. Admins, please feel free to move this to a different section if this is not appropriate here.
I'm offering a limited time $20 off on this product along with reduced shipping this Black Friday to Cyber Monday! Only during Nov 24th to 28th! Available on Tindie and ebay.
I'm offering limited time free shipping to anywhere in the world on this product. Messed up a few shipping options on Tindie and hence it kept showing with only the Fedex option available. Its now been corrected!
