I am thinking of connecting the laser to the AUX port of the Maslow shield and using the automatic spindle function in ground control to control the laser. I don’t have much experience with electronics. Is this doable?
How many Amps and volts do the Aux port supply? How do I connect the laser to the AUX port (Which wire goes where)? Has anyone done something similar?
I would build a housing for the laser to fit in the router base of my Maslow, and use a stand alone power supply for the laser. The height adjustment on the z-axis will change the intensity of the laser instead of adjusting power to do so. Might have to change the z-axis pitch to get desired shading out of the laser but overall should be relatively easy.
The aux ports are TTL logic which is great because
That looks like exactly what the laser requires.
Rather than me tell you what I would do I recommend that you generate the gcode you want to run to cut out the map and I will make that gcode turn on and off one of the aux ports. I’m not sure what the standard Gcode command is for powering a laser, but if you post some sample code I bet we can figure it out quick
You can adjust that lol.
I would take bars advice though since the power/signal requirements match. that would be much more efficient, and a huge contribution to the Maslow in general. Who doesn’t want a laser??
I was going to mention programing macro1 and 2 and implement that into the gcode but I’m not as familiar with how to do that as others. I was thinking of designating those buttons as the on and off for the router/laser by signaling an output to a relay that can handle the potential 13A load of the laser…I mean router lol
I connected the laser to my 3d printer today. I works on marlin using a ramps 1.4 board. It is connected to the 3d printers fan port. G-code M106 turns it on and M107 off, with S1-255 for intensity. An example
M106 S225
G01 X10 Y5 F1000. Here is my setup.
My experience is lasers need to be really precisely focused. I have laser cutter/etcher based on something like this. If I were doing this I’d design a spring loaded holder for the laser with an adjustable ball riding on the surface to maintain the proper distance while moving.
FYI - somewhere I did some Lord of the Rings maps on cork placemats.
I’ve opened PR #445 to add support for the M106 and M107 commands. I have not tested it with a laser (Because I don’t have one), so let me know if you have any issues when you get it up and running
