Did it show any PWM voltage when you executed the M03 S12000? If so, there must be a problem with the driver input connection, or it could be the driver or laser has failed.
I suggest you contact J-Tech as they can help you diagnose what the problem could be.
i can’t read any voltage change in a using a multimeter on the spindle pwm & gnd on the x-controller when i send M03, M03 S12000, or M05 commands. the laser works when i switch it to cw. …any other ideas on how to test if u r getting a pwm signal from the x-controller.
The Software section on this web page explains what your experiencing.
https://jtechphotonics.com/?page_id=4432
It states that the PWM is disabled with the grbl 1.0c firmware that comes with the X-Controller. It explains how to enable it.
ya …been looking at that page …i’ve done everything on that page except loading grbl 9.0 …if that’s still necessary i’d rather rebuild my arduino power control and load their grbl on that, and just power up the control that i need …but with either grbl i should get some kind of voltage reading if easel is set for automatic 12000 “so you will need to enable it in your settings to use power control.” is all they say …they mean easel right?
Grbl 1.0c added two parameters so that the user could select the rpm range to match the device hooked up to grbl. They are $30 and $31 (max and min).
As installed by Inventables $30=1. and $31=0. You only have two choices S0 = off, S1 = on.
To get variable PWM you need to change the rpm range. For laser work I typically recommend $30=255. and $31=0.
With it set that way S0 = off, S128 = half power, S255 = full power.
I have a version of grbl that will allow you to switch back and forth between spindle and laser based on the 1.0c version.
loaded larry’s grbl 11/12/16 … read larry’s laser grble picsender settings …set $30=255, $31=0, $32=1 …still not getting any pwm signal out of the x-controller, sending the commands with picsender… i’ll hit inventables up about it as well
If you have Homing enabled and you don’t Home your machine first, or select $X, the PWM will be disabled in grbl. If you use the $X, make sure you change the Mode back to G91 if your jogging S values in Laser Mode.
It also requires a M03 to enable PWM if you use the Do Cmd, to execute a S command. The S value jogging will execute the M03 Sxx, so a Do Cmd. M03 is not needed.
If you are measuring the voltage on the PWM output you will not get a valid reading on a voltmeter because the voltage would be changing rapidly in time.
However, you can measure the 0-10volt output which should give you an accurate reading. This is a valid test as the 0-10volt signal is directly derived from the PWM signal.
Also, try doing the test with nothing connected to the PWM or 0-10volt outputs other than the voltmeter to see if your device is interfering with the signal.
Check the internal cabling in the X-controller. The cables will lock into the retainers without being fully seated on the headers. This has caused many problems with the X-controller and is an easy fix if that is the problem.
Larry!!! u r da man!! …that damn ribbon cable …o & thanks to picengravertoo as well …and as far as software i do lithophanes with PEP5 & Picsender which i plan on using for laser engraving as well.
What’s the detail that this laser and program can do? I’m used to using an Epilog Helix with CorelDraw, but due to time restrictions I’d like to add engraving into my own shop.
This is what I’m used to doing and I’d like to keep this quality of engraving.
I saw your camping board that you posted in that image gallery. How crisp were the lines around the edges of the lettering?
As far as laser engraving? None. When I use the Epilog, it’s done through a mixture of Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw and engraved using the print function in CorelDraw.
Well, I don’t even have the laser, I’m just trying to see if I can get the same quality as the one I shared earlier on one of the J Tech Photon lasers and how to go about that if they are good for that quality. I don’t want to shell out a few hundred for it to be not the quality that I need for my customers.
Wow, this came out great. was there any preparation necessary for the mirror? What laser was used to produce this?
Thanks.
No preparation necessary for mirrors, but you do need to find the ones with an even white coat backing. The Gray coated ones are hard to burn, but are possible to laser engrave with a Dithered 1bit B&W image so the laser powers are only full on and off
The Wagner mirror engraving was done with a M140 2W 445nm Laser Diode using varied intensity (grayscale image) on a white backed mirror from Dollar Tree. You have to flip the image (mirror it) and reverse the laser’s power levels when engraving on the back of the mirror. Lighter shades in the image needs to burn at a higher laser power and the darker shades in the image needs to burn at a lower laser power.
Your 2.8W J-Tech laser should work fine on mirrors, but it does take some trial & error time with the software settings to get good results.
I am going to try this tomorrow. Thanks
I see a lot of advice when it comes to different materials to use for good results and to avoid due to grains or other factors. I have not seen anything mentioned about MDF yet and was wondering if MDF would be a good material to create grayscale pictures on. I have used it for black and white and now that I am getting the hang of it want to try to create a picture. I have MDF coming out of my ears and as you can see from the picture, it works well for B&W images. I am using the Jtech 2W laser.
Can you engrave SVG files with this? I have a glow forge now and it has a ton of issues, if I upgrade to the laser it would make my machine now obsolete.
Since there is still no category for laser engraving
I have the Jtech 7w Pro on my xcarve using lightburn and want to laser into slate coasters, what would be some ideal settings to start with?
