I am trying to replicate the results I get on my 10w laser fitted to my Snapmaker A350 on to my new 40W laser fitted to my new Ray + enclosure. I do “engraved” chopping boards for sale at local craft fayres.
I have tried various methods to replicate results, ratio’s percentages etc but all I am doing is producing firewood and getting frustrated.
Attached are screenshots showing the board completed with my A350 and the settings I used to get the results.
Can anyone suggest what setting I need to put into my 40W laser to give me the same results
Thanks in advance
Yeah, been through them all. Also did test grids from 10 - 70% at various speeds and still not anything close. I am at a loss to explain why, maybe the design of the 40W compared to the 10W
I’m circling back to this as I had to make a plaque over the weekend for a friend of mine.
Now, I can’t say for images but I did some text engravings as the images wouldn’t come out right for me either.
I’m using Lightburn (I’m not sure what this half-diode is supposed to do in Luban; assuming less power output). I have the laser module set to the lowest (5mm?) so it’s closest to the material (5mm plywood).
In LR, at least, I have the speed at 4,000mm/min and the power at 15% in fill mode. A paragraph of text took me about 1 hour and 20 minutes. I would say it was engraved at 1mm in depth with not-so-dark burn marks. Nothing around the edges using my aquarium air at 50% volume.
What I can’t figure out yet is how to get different shades using Jarvis or Stucki mode in LR. I tried Grayscale, too, but it does seem to burn more than it engraving.
I may have to try raising the module and lowering the power even more to see if it helps.
Half-diode in Luban turns off 4 of the diodes in the 40W, effectively making it a 20W laser. This helps make a finer beam and you can reduce the power even further. (i.e. 10% of 40W is 4W and 10% of 20W is 2W) for delicate materials.
Keep in mind the measuring guide on the focus arm is for changing depth for cutting, for surface engraving and fine details, always use the full focus length, bar completely down or the ‘highest’ the laser will go. Otherwise it’s out of focus and creates a larger spot than actual focus. This leads to blurring and overburn.
I don’t know the material you’re using, but you can try turning on half-diode mode, focusing on the top of the material, and lowering the power. To use half-diode in Lightburn, add M2000 L23 P0 to the start gcode. M2000 L23 P1 in the end gcode will turn on all the diodes again. Use maybe 10-20% power with half diode mode with Stucki and see how your results come out.
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Thank you! Much appreciate it. It makes sense on the half-diode mode.
I’ll have to play around with the LR setting you mentioned.
