Cut Path Dry Runs - laser engraver style

So in the Laser Crosshair discussion (I’d link but on my phone), it struck me that it might be useful to allow the Maslow to do a “dry run” prior to actually cutting, for purposes of aligning the home point of complex shapes onto the wood. I had this problem when I set the home point incorrectly and the first pass went off the top of the wood, ruining it since one pass had been done.

So I’m wondering, either in conjunction with the laser crosshair setup or not… What would be the easiest way to run a “test” of a cut before actually cutting? Sure, you could just run the file with no router bit… But that could take hours. I’m thinking of a quick/faster demo of where the router is going to move on the piece, prior to cut, while being able to see the design on GC.

Is the solution to duplicate the design and export two sets of g-code? One with the full cut, and the other with cut depth set to the minimum or 0, and inches per minute set closer to the maximum? (What IS the maximum inches per minute the Maslow can move when not cutting? Does the software allow different speeds, say when the bit is retracted above workpiece allow it to move at max speed and then slow down to a safe speed when cutting?)

Sorry if this is a lot. I’m thinking aloud again and sometimes thinking hurts the team.

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I don’t have answers for you but I do have encouragement. Thinking about these things and asking these questions only cause solutions to happen. Not just solutions for this problem alone but asking if something is possible is definitely the first step to solving all kinds of problems and provoking new ideas. This may sound weird but ignorance sometimes should be held in higher regard than knowledge if not wasted on pride. At one point I had no idea what an .SVG file was. I just figured that the technology should be there to draw something in a paint program and cut it out on Maslow. Then @Cbolt360 told me that there was a tutorial in inkscape to change .png files to SVG. It seemed several people told me I couldn’t draw something on paint program and cut it out on Maslow but my assumption in ignorance and voicing it on the forum lead to Cbolt360 helping my life to change. Like I’ve always said- maybe no one told John Bonham he couldn’t play the drums like that.

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