Luban 3.15 - explanation of different laser toolpaths

Snapmaker Luban
1

Hi!
I just upgraded to Luban 3.15 and created a Laser engraving file.
I note that now there are 4 options for the toolpath:

  • horizontal
  • vertical
  • diagonal
  • diagonal2

Could you please comment on the differences between these toolpaths?
What is the motivation behind having these options?
Are there certain pros/cons for each option?

Thanks in advance!

2

This isnā€™t new. It was in 3.8.0. Maybe they dropped it at some point, but pretty sure itā€™s been there
It just affects the direction of passes. Whether you want to use it depends on you and your artwork. Iā€™ve found that occasionally (especially when the artwork is hand drawn like pencil or charcoal) it just helps to go in the direction that the strokes of the artwork already have.

-S

1 Like
3

It could indeed be that this option existed beforehand, but Iā€™ve only become aware of it today.
I was surprised that as I was creating the toolpath, the default option was ā€œhorizontalā€, so along the X-axis, instead of ā€œverticalā€ along the Y-axis.
Up until now I hadnā€™t seen this option and all my toolpaths were created with the vertical direction.

The idea of re-creating the original strokes of an artwork with the laser makes sense, good point @sdj544!
Iā€™m still curious whether these patterns have any pros/cons when there are no obvious strokes to consider.

4

The only other thing that might make it matter is wood grain.
It might work better to go cross grain than with (or vice versa)
Or make no difference.
I tend to leave it at horizontal default most of the time unless I see some definite reason to change.
One last thing, the path might be faster if itā€™s going the direction as the majority of lines.

-S

1 Like
5

I am new to this system. However I do know something about wood and wood grains. not everythind but a lot. anytime you are cutting across the gain you are going to get a what I call a hair fussy. I have done three different laser projects now and have looked at them very close with a Microscope. the fusses are their. if you cut along the grain you get a better detail, however as the laser crosses over a growth line it get a fussy. you will not see this with the eye. you have to see it under magnified conditions. My question is when printing on a slice of tree trunk can you create a toolpath that will take the laser in a cycler motion? thank you Humble and gratitudeā€™s. Master crafter.

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6

Does this setting do anything? No matter what setting I select, the gcode (and output) is always horizontal. Using Luban 4.3.2