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To start this topic off, I want say that I am very impressed how the Shapeoko 2 performs when laser engraving photos, especially with the J-TechPhotonics laser system.
We are using the J-Tech grbl that can run X,Y & Z spindle code or X,Y & S PWM laser code and outputs on Pin 11 for the modulation. It can be downloaded here.
This photo engraving was done on our Shapeoko 2 with the 2.8W J-Tech Shapeoko kit and the g-code was generated with PicEngrave Pro 5. I used PicSender to stream the 1,065,369 lines of code in the file to the Arduino UNO.
The most popular kit for laser engraving is the 2.8W laser upgrade here:
It has a lot of power so you can engrave fast and we have a newly designed high efficiency lens that makes a super small spot size so you get the awesome resolution that picengrave is showing.
I also have a Laser from Jtech. Jay is great guy to buy from and is outstanding when it comes to support. I have the older 1.7 watt Laser but will be upgrading soon to the 2.8 watt Laser.
There is more information on cutting acrylic with the J-Tech laser system here.
We only offer image to gcode software for raster engraving photos. More examples of what other materials we have engraved on with a Solid State laser can be seen in our Gallery page.
The Pixel Resolution (step over and step ahead) in the gcode is .006" (.1524mm). We determined our burn line width using the J-Tech Laser with there G2 lens is .005"(.127mm), but we engrave at a 45 degree angle so the burn lines slightly overlap.
This truly looks great, but as a future owner of the X-Carve- has anyone had the chance to put this sytem on the X-carve and work through the differences? I suspect attaching it to the gantry is similar. What I am curious about is the wiring and connection to the arduino. I am likely to purchase the J-tech photonics 2.8w and associated software soon so it arrives around the same time as the X-Carve but want to make sure I can understand how to make it work. …as my newbie questions continue, I appreciate the efforts (and likely restraint) by those responding. Thanks!
You will be able to connect it to the arduino without any issues. The Jtech laser power supply connects to the PWM output on the arduino and the laser power is controlled by the S command. Take a look at Picengraver’s Instructables on the subject found here http://www.instructables.com/id/Shapeoko-2-Arduino-UNO-R3-grbl-9g-8bit-Raster-Phot/
Thanks. I suspected there really was no difference for connection. The new X-Carve has the power supply and circuit boards housed so I was trying to determine (also) if that would create an issue for the connection. I appreciate the response.
There are only two wires from the Arduino to the J-Tech driver. PWM from pin 11 and a ground. Our instructables was written before we added the J-Tech laser system to our Shapeoko.
