I’ve upgraded to the 20W Laser and looking forward to actually cutting through things. Upgraded
to the latest software and firmware (listed above) but thing seam a little odd.
What I want to do with this laser is make specialized boxes. I make photo boxes for family weddings
that include the wedding date and other special details. I am truely just a hobby laser cutter
but familiar with CAD from previous jobs.
So I used to be able to ‘run’ the laser from luban. I might design in Lightburn (which I own based on recomendations here).
Now I can only connect to the laser wirelessly (no longer through usb cabel and luban) and send a file to it.
I can move around (X,Y,Z) turn on big red crosshair which was something I didn’t know was coming with my new laser.
(not enough youtube videos on the 20W Laser with snapmaker 2 or I can’t search for them well enough) Is there a
good person to subscribe to for content on the 20W laser
The START ON LUBAN buton is grayed out and when I go over it I see a red circle with a red line.
So once I get the file onto the snapmaker (with a filename I seam to have no choice in) I can calibrate and
run the laser. Most test I do, no mater the settings (speeds, powers, number of passes) seem to almost cut through
but not actually, all the way. Are other people having this issue. When I look at the back it almost looks like morse code
and in directions perpendicular to the bars on mymounting plate.
I’m really interested in cutting 10.4mm Aromatic cedar which I found needs higher cutting power than the first type
of cerdar I tried (I believe white cedar). I could go back to cutting Birch Plywood and maybe find something in the 6mm range
but would love to know better about good and bad settings for cutting wood with the laser and haven’t seen much
since the power level of our lasers have gone up so much.
Priorities of my questions)
How do I get the Start on Luban button to be working again (I figure some settings are wrong)
what is out there showing a 20W (or 40W if no 20W video is available) (But not 10W or 1.6W as they don’t seem to be
apples to apples enough for me) laser cutting different materials with good and bad settings. What should
the look of the cut edge look like when dialled in.
finally, with this higher power laser and wood choice it seems I am making more of an smell. I fear the smoke detectors
will go off and cutting jobs have stopped due to ‘fire’ detection as set on the touchscreen. I have access to a basement
window where I am set up. What have people done to vent there system at different price points.
Thanks xchrisd,
Thanks for mentioning the soldering filter, I hadn’t heard of them before and I Just bought my son an ultimate soldering station (at least compared to what I had as a kid) for him to try that hobby. I just did a quick search and saw the types you were mentioning but not the brand Cole.(saw at big box stores and major online sellers) Should I look under keyword Filter, Purifier, HEPA or any other terms? Not sure policy on mentioning stores by name or links to items, just assumed it was frowned upon.
I did try the SM Laser Test grid. Looks like it was more for engraving then cutting but I will try and get better with it. I might just use it to right VBA in excel to generate the test code I would want, testing multiple passes, power and speed. I put up a picture of my failed and sucesful test with it.
Looking further in one of the post it was mentioned by someone else that Start on Luban button was greyed out because you couldn’t calibrate and put in material thickness the same way for 20W&40W lasers the same way you can for 10W and 1.6W. (the cameras different)
finally I’m attaching a photo showing those dots I see on the back of the board when I try to cut through and some of the peaces I did cut through but feal like I did it wrong. Will try some thinner birch plywood before I get back to this 10.4mm Aromatic cedar.
Just a note on air assist: when cutting pine, the air assist actually almost caused a problem. The air assist was ‘fanning the fire’ shall we say! This was with the 20W laser, multiple passes at 90% power, 1000 mm/min. There is a reason they say to stay with your laser project. In this case, the flame detection did NOT detect this. Flame detection is working on some other cuts I have done, but not this one. Definite flame coming out the end of the cut with the air assist. Just a hot coal with out the air assist. I’ve cut other pine just fine, no problems with walnut or cherry either. But this one…
