DIY laser software

[Tesla]

So i've learned building the mechanics is simple....ish but if i want a software to control my DIY what would i use that's not proprietary?

[greenvandan]

LinuxCNC

There should be numerous posts on the forum about tweaking LinuxCNC to work with DIY laser. or search EMC2

[Tesla]

I heard Mach 3 as well.

But i'm building 2 machines for our business' and need a one stop display....meaning a software where they can build and edit then cut...all from the same window ?

[r691175002]

I would highly recommend getting a dedicated laser controller. IMO Laser cutting is best when its easy and fast, so you can design on the fly and get parts straight from your file. Nobody wants to run a dxf through CAM for every cut - especially when multiple powers/speeds are required.

I don't know of any software that will let you make a design and cut it using a single program. At best you will have a plugin or print driver, and the user will have to manually set power and speed.

You will probably have to roll your own solution if you want people to be able to just walk up and use it without instruction. In that case EMC2 might be a better fit since you can have a script export the file as a dxf, run it through CAM at preset cut parameters and then send it to the machine.

[wmgeorge]

Having had a few CNC machines in my life, I can tell you that Mach 3 or your Linux CNC programs may be great for a standard CNC mill or other machine shop tool but lacks a lot when it comes to controlling a laser. The DSP controller software uses layers that which lets you control certain aspects of the laser ordinary CNC does not have. You can define a layer to have a different power level and PPI rate and on. For Vector cutting another layer for cutting out materials, vector layer for doing type, a raster layer for doing pictures or engraving. By the time you buy a breakout board, buy the Mach 3 license, find a computer with parallel ports or use the newer Ethernet board you will have as much as a dedicated DSP controller from say Lightobject. The software and drivers come with the board, which you can then connect to your power supply and stepper motor drives. The DSP controller also of course has PWM output to your tube power supply to vary the power and pulse rate.

[TLHarrell]

I'd chime in on the same thing here. Software for laying out your cuts and the software to run the laser are not usually the same thing. Full Spectrum's Retina Engrave software is very good for laser operation, and it has a built in design software... but I prefer not to use it. It's pretty clunky, but good if you want to just bang out a simple part or two. I usually use Autocad and print out .xps files to send to the laser. Full Spectrum also has a direct print driver that can take a print from practically any software and export it directly to the laser. I have used it in the past and found it to work extremely well, but have been using .xps files as I then have an archive to later use. Direct print is very nice for one off work though.

Only caveat to their controller/software solution is it's set up to use only 1000 steps per inch mechanically. There is no adjustment to that.

[Tesla]

I'd chime in on the same thing here. Software for laying out your cuts and the software to run the laser are not usually the same thing. Full Spectrum's Retina Engrave software is very good for laser operation, and it has a built in design software... but I prefer not to use it. It's pretty clunky, but good if you want to just bang out a simple part or two. I usually use Autocad and print out .xps files to send to the laser. Full Spectrum also has a direct print driver that can take a print from practically any software and export it directly to the laser. I have used it in the past and found it to work extremely well, but have been using .xps files as I then have an archive to later use. Direct print is very nice for one off work though.

Only caveat to their controller/software solution is it's set up to use only 1000 steps per inch mechanically. There is no adjustment to that.

TLHarrell, so from autoCAD i know i can design but just to be clear i would have to use anther program to cut, correct ? Keep in mind that my first visual experience with a laser cutter was a gentleman who had bought one and was cutting a part for me, he took my PDF, imported to a program where he did some line drawings and then cut from there, the line drawings were just a trace on top of my design which i can understand as your telling the laser to cut certain lines, but i was not sure what he did after as i was getting prepared to see the cut.

[TLHarrell]

Correct. You will use the laser's controller software to operate the laser. Same goes for pretty much any NC type machine:

[CAD] -> [CAM] -> [Motion Control]

Some packages skip the CAM step by importing vector files directly from CAD. Since the laser simply follows the lines, unlike where a CNC needs to know to follow inside, outside and how deep, how fast, etc, it simplifies things quite a bit.