I am just getting stared with my X-Carve and have not even purchased my spindle yet. I have a couple customers that ned some laser type work so I got the JTech laser. I finally have it all set up and I tried it out and the laser is always powered fully. Is that normal? I am new to g code and the CNC world, so I am confused. Help me out please!
I followed it step by step.
The engraving turned out great, it just has the burn lines from movements.
I guess I am wondering if it is always powered constantly. I ran it a couple times and it seems to be powered all the time. Since I am new to this, I am sure I missed something, but I followed Jtech’s Instructions and Austin Saint Aubin’s instructions, but still constant power, is that normal. I feel like such a rookie here!
It was an image imported into easel. Easel generated Gcode then I used this site to make it work: GitHub & BitBucket HTML Preview I used This G Coade: Merged branch master into master · AustinSaintAubin/grbl@2282368 · GitHub
Do you have the J-Tech Laser Driver set to CW Mode or Input Control Mode? CW Mode will cause the laser to come on at full constant power. The Input Control Mode is for varying the power with PWM from the controller (UNO Pin 11 & Ground) with S commands. I recommend you read the Driver Manual.
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If you’re using Easel Gcode, when you export Gcode one of the first actions of it is to turn on the spindle before it moves to the X/Y position. This is probably your downfall as a spindle can be turned on before moving as it’s at the safety height above the work surface. I’d recommend using a program more focused (pun intended) on laser engraving rather than Easel.
I will be getting PicEngraver. I just have this initial job to get done and out the door. The design is very simple and was easy to put together in Easel while I waited for everything to arrive for the X-Carve. Like I said, I am new to this, so any advice will help.
Since you have not put out what the project is (raster engrave or vector engrave) but I would try to use the Inkscape plugin from J-Tech, this has the ability to generate g-code that will produce very good results. If you have full power at all times then you need to go over your setup to make sure that you have Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) setup correctly and working. this will make your laser more or less intense as the g-code changes the power levels. Since you state that you are using Easel for generation of g-code then I can see where it would not have any PWM changes as Easel sets the spindle RPM once during a carve and that would remain constant through out the carve, with the laser this changes with color variation’s with the spindle it would not need to change. this is all documented in the J-Tech web site. so to state it again I would get the Inkscape plugin and complete my project in Inkscape as that is setup to perform the task with the laser that you are trying to complete.