I’m truly blown away by the laser module on this thing… I bought the snapmaker because I wanted a 3D printer… I figured I’d get the laser and CNC modules as bonuses, but not really expecting much from them… but I used the laser module for the first time the other day on a spare piece of MDF I had lying around, and I’m truly amazed at the results – and how easy it was to get this to work.
I printed an image I pulled from the internet somewhere. A picture of a dolphin swimming through a school of tiny fish, and it captured everything to a level of detail I would have not thought possible… the tiny fish, but the bubbles, the texture of the water, the eye of the dolphin – amazing! It was my first print, and the set up was less than 10 minutes for my first time using the software. I thought the image would be on par with newsprint… but this was so much better.
Typically on a purchase like this, I spend more time mitigating disappointment than enjoying its offerings… but I’m truly impressed with this unit. So often a device like this, which promises so much, lets you down in more ways than not – but, The 3D printer works amazingly well, and this laser module was an unexpected surprise. Can’t wait to see what’s next! I feel like there is a whole universe inside this thing…
What I would love to see is a 3D carving that is gone over with the laser, highlighting details and adding to the look. The problem may be that the laser software is designed to print on a flat surface and it might bet too out of focus depending on the depth of the 3D carve. Good goal for future laser software updates.
Another use of the laser I’d like to see tried is going over a 3D print to see if it can do any smoothing or texturing, or again adding visual detail to the 3D print.
@Tone, that would indeed be interesting, but would demand the focus change on the fly. A lot more complex. Still, there may be some neat things that could be done by combining the two technologies, even with these limitations.
If the laser is focused to a specific Z height then the z-axis just needs to be moved to match the contour of the surface. Now what would be truly cool is if the laser modules could track the contour with a sensor (dot location) and automatically adjust the z-axis to keep it in focus. Perhaps easier than trying to merge the 3D model (carved or printed) z-height with the laser image. That would handle the focus. I guess you would still need a sync with the 3d model to know where the laser etch lines up with the 3d model.
