Hi, all; I’ve recently installed my new JTech 34-Watt laser, and made a few test cuts in the 3mm ply I plan to use. I’m having a few issues, and I wonder if anyone has work-arounds. I’m using the VCarve laser addon. My issue reduces to the fact that the app doesn’t allow the addition of tabs to a profile cut.
I put my stock on the risers supplied with the kit, and the air assist blows the pieces under the stock, where they bounce around and often get zorched as the laser continues its cut. I tried to remedy this by making my own risers such that the pieces were trapped in the stock. This worked, but the laser bounced off the aluminum foil I’m using as wasteboard protection, and charred the back of some of the pieces.
Additionally. I’ve found that the air assist occasionally moves the stock, and my engraving and cuts become erratic. The risers that I made contain the corners, and seem to solve that problem.
JTech’s suggestion was to raise the stock, but without tabs I’m back where I started. I’ve suggested to Vectric that they add tabs to the add-on, I hope they’re thinking about it. Evidently, tabs are supported by Lightburn, but I’d rather try other options before spending the money.
I’m using my shop vacuum system connected to the JTech dust boot, and it seems to work OK, except for occasionally sucking a piece out of the stock and dragging it around. I think simply raising the boot a bit will solve this problem.
I would suggest getting a honeycomb table and doing your laser cuts on that. Though I don’t laser cut with the 1F, with my lasers it’s what I use. Generally if your air assist isn’t cranked too high the parts hang out after they’re cut. You’ll still want something ‘sacrificial’ underneath it, most likely by the time the laser gets to what’s under the honeycomb, it will be too defocused to have any ‘real’ power but it will still leave marks. I’ve even used a piece of aluminum in the past that just been scuffed all to heck so that it’s not reflective and will scatter the beam as opposed to bouncing in a more focused manner. And please, please, please, ALWAYS wear your laser safety glasses and ensure no one can walk into your job site while the laser is running. Vision loss from lasers is PERMANENT, full stop, it doesn’t heal, ever, those cells are dead, dead, dead.
The one in the picture is XTools honeycomb for their P3, it’s pricey at $200 but all aluminum and comes with two of those panels covering a decent area. You do end up cutting the fins so on the steel ones I’ve used they will oxidize in the cuts over time which can get on your work. Aluminum oxidizes of course, but not in the same way, so less chance of messing up your pieces.
Lightburn is a good choice to add tabs to your files, it does have a 30 day trial if you want to see if it at least fits into your workflow. Another thought that struck me is you might try and download Xtool’s Studio App, I don’t believe you have to actually own a machine to use it, and it does have an auto tab generation feature as well, you can’t print from it but you may be able to export your modified file and use it on your 1F. I haven’t verfied but it might be worth a shot as a potential ‘free’ solution.
Thanks for the quick response! Please be reassured that my first purchase after the laser was two pair of goggles rated much higher than the ones JTech sent, and I can wear them over my shop specs. There are great deals to be had on EBay.
I have downloaded Lightburn’s demo, and as far as I can tell, it’s mainly for use at the machine in real time. Apparently, G-Code files can’t be saved without going through some gyrations. That won’t work for me, as my computer is in a separate room, I don’t want to learn another complicated app, and I don’t want to spend the bucks unless I have to. I’ll definitely be looking into your other suggestions.
I’m assuming that the stock just lies atop the honeycomb. I’ll need to secure my work if I go the honeycomb route (probably will) because the air assist will move the light stock (1/8"ply). How would I go about that? I suppose duct tape is the answer (isn’t it always?) as long as the laser doesn’t hit it.
I took a quick look at both LightBurn and Xtool Studio and agree those wouldn’t be good solutions, since they appear to add the tabs on output and don’t seem to have an export function that would allow you to modify a vector then export it with the ‘gaps’ in that would represent the tabs.
Regarding work holding search for “laser honeycomb hold downs” on Amazon if you want to get an idea of what’s out there. I’ve used fancy expensive ones with springs made of metal and plastic ones that look similar to the plugs used to hold trim panels on to the frame of cars. Honestly the cheap ‘plug’ style ones work best provided their size fits well with your honeycomb. I’d recommend something like the photo linked below provided your laser isn’t sitting right on the material and you have clearance. The ones with flat heads are great, but they can be frustrating to remove.
You’re right that Lightburn can drive a laser directly if your system supports that type of connection but you can also use it standalone.
My CNC lives out in the garage but my design work is done on a PC at the opposite end of the house. GCode files can easily be saved to either a USB or your PC and if you can remotely access your onefinity from your PC, you can copy your saved GCode file directly to your CNC without ever leaving your seat. I do this all the time and it’s just about as easy as it can get. I use both VCarve with the laser module and Lightburn, depending on what I’m doing. Many times Lightburn is easier to use because it’s specifically designed for laser use.
Lightburn is an incredibly powerful application at a very reasonable price. No subscriptions…you pay one time and it’s yours. You might have to pay a small amount for major upgrades but “point” upgrades are generally covered.
Are the configuration files for the 1F readily available. I can see from the screen shot that you have a laser config for 1F as a GRBL laser.
Would you consider pointing out the link to the setup file or exporting your own and posting it?
While I personally don’t need it, for the sake of anyone following this thread I know ready access to the configuration file really eases entry to the software.
I also agree with you on LightBurn’s power and cost. You’d only require a base license at $99 to run a 1F, as you shouldn’t require the Galvo laser functionality exposed in a PRO license. That comes with 1 year of updates and in the future if you feel you want to pay for future software updates it only runs around $50 a year, but honestly if it’s doing everything you need, you can just run the version you have.
Thanks for pointing out the gCode export, I’ve never used LB in this context so not something I knew about readily, though I probably should have dug in a bit harder. I was thinking more from the context of exporting a .svg with the vector breaks for tabs, but gCode w/a properly configured device would work just fine.
I’m so glad I started this thread! I went ahead and bought a lattice that comes with a metal backplate. I’m not sure about the hold downs clearance from the laser head, so I’ll try something else instead. Based on what you guys have said, I’m going to give Lightburn a shot. Funny, I watched a bunch of tutorials, and no one talked about exporting GCode. I, too, would like to know about the configuration files, and setup in general. It’s good to know that there are experienced users willing to share.
Lightburn, out-of-the-box doesn’t know a thing about your OneFinity CNC. It doesn’t use post processors like VCarve does.
So, we have to tell Lightburn about the GCode that our CNC understands, whether we’re using imperial or metric measurements, the size of our work area and where home is. All is not lost…this is an easy fix.
OneFinity understands GRBL which is an open source GCode and that’s what we’re going to use to set up our device profile.
There’s a couple ways to create a device profile…the first is to create one from zero.
Follow along this clip where I create two machine profiles, one for imperial and another for metric.. There’s no audio but I don’t move fast so you can keep up. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C8XGtU80cwobbv1YmNeraK8laDHTGrzF/view?usp=sharing
The second way is to import already created device profiles like these: LB-in.lbzip (1.1 KB) LB-mm.lbzip (1.1 KB)
After the machine profiles are created, select the appropriate one for your environment before you save your GCode.
Tom, your link sent me to an ask permissions page, which I did.
Well, I’ve been fooling with LB, and I might get it if for no other reason that I plan to cut out some tiny parts, and I need the tabs, which I finally figured out how to apply. I ran a test program on my machine with my plotter attachment, and it worked pretty well. In the meantime, I’ve been drinking from the information firehose.
I’ve figured out how to create a device profile for my own somewhat weird machine (32x16) and incorporated GRBL-M3 1.1e per OF recommendation for my BB controller. When I do so, it won’t allow me to set it to ethernet connection, which I am using now. It would be nice to load directly from the computer. This may change when I get my Redline controller.
I just watched a vid on using the optimization tab, another big plus for LB.
Next step will be to run the LB material test cards. I made my own in VCarve, but I suspect these will be different. I’m going to wait until my honeycomb table arrives, which should be soon.
SailorMike, consider using magnets on your honeycomb pushed up to the sides of your workpiece. They work great for me. Also, I find that Lightburn has a lot more versatility than OF laser add on. The laser power levels are much different in the two as well. OF add on laser power precents are more powerful it appears then Lightburn if that make sense.
Scott, thanks for your response. It took me a while, but I was finally able to figure out that my laser grid is made of galvanized steel, and I’ve got some magnets I’m going to embed in the alignment fixtures I made earlier. The grid is due to arrive tomorrow.
Thanks for the heads up re: power levels. The first order of business is to run the LB test cards, another great idea.
I’ve been exploring the Lightburn demo program, and I am impressed. My only worry is that in order to use the features that make it attractive for me, (for example, feed through alignment), my computer has to talk to my CNC controller. I know it won’t do that with the BB controller I have now, but I’ll be getting the Real Time controller in July ( I hope). Do you have any experience with this setup?
Mike are you referring to the “Redline” controller? Doesn’t matter really as i am not familiar with a “Real Time” or Redline. I use MASSO. Reading about Redline I believe you can download your toolpath to a USB/Thumb drive and plug it into it and it will read your toolpath. MASSO does this. Pertaining to magnets, I place my project on the honeycomb and slide magnets against all sides thus holding it in place.
Yeah, the Redline controller. I got pretty excited about all of the things that Lightburn could do, but OF support rained on my parade when I asked them about if any of them would work on the new controller I hope to get in July. Their reply: “It is not possible”. Drat. The only thing that LB can offer me is the tab feature. I don’t know that the tabs alone are worth $100.00.
In the meantime, the new honeycomb has arrived, and it’s a good fit on my weird machine. It came with some magnets, and I was able to embed some magnets in the workholders I had made earlier.
Your Honeycomb looks like what I use. I didn’t do anything fancy with magnets just placed them next to my work piece, find X,Y,& Z and go to burning. i don’t really understand the reason for tabs, the laser line is so small the part really doesn’t move when cutting it out. Also, Lightburn is a very powerful piece of software. You will most likely discover work arounds for what you are trying to do. Buy it, you’ll like it. OF laser add on works well for most things but it does not seem even close to what Lightburn produces. Enjoy the journey!!
One more, turn your air assist down a little, perhaps there is just to much pressure for what you’re doing. There are valve manifolds on Amazon, pretty cheap. Look for Aquarium air pump supplies.
Scott, I do appreciate your feedback. I’m going to look into getting the valve. One more thing to tweak!
I’ve been fine tuning my laser, and I find that at 15 ipm and 80% power on my 34-W JTech, the parts will pop out of my 1/8" Baltic birch ply with very little pressure, so maybe no need for tabs after all.
Still on the fence re: Lightburn. Will you give me an example or two as to how it is superior to VCarve?
Im probably not the guy to give examples since there are so many other users of Lightburn who are probably watching this but, first and foremost Lightburn was built for laser work. Vectric is an add on product for great simplicity, we all know that Vectric focus is more on carving. I see I blew it above calling the laser add on OF, sorry gang. Another in terms of Lightburn I find I have greater control with cut settings then in Vectric. Another is when burning images (.bmp, .jpg) I find I can get a better result using all the different settings. As you have found as well Lightburn has a built in Material Test Generator. Vectric does not. Pretty simplistic but these are a few I find. Cost of Lightburn is also pretty inexpensive compared to Vcarve Pro to. Lightburn puts more tools in my toolbox so to speak.
