MPCNC + A40640 Diode Laser - Basic Usage

This video covers basic usage of the NEJE A40640 diode laser module with a stock MPCNC primo.
Laser installation video: • MPCNC + A40640 Diode L...
NC Viewer: ncviewer.com/
Powerscale generator: www.o2creative.co.nz/laser/li...
Health and safety warning: High powered lasers are dangerous. Laser cutting can be hazardous to your health. Always wear laser safety goggles while operating laser equipment. Respiratory protection is recommended during laser cutting/engraving operations.
Although the MPCNC is not a perfect laser cutter platform (due to its high mass, and relatively underpowered control board), this video may be helpful to other garage CNC enthusiasts who are looking to build their own laser cutters.
Resources: Da Vinci Resolve, Canon EOS70, Notepad, NC Viewer, Lightburn, O2Creative Powerscale Generator
GrabCAD: grabcad.com/library/neje-a406...
My website: markosf.ca
Instagram: / cmyal7qulas
Chapters:
00:00 Intro and focus discussion
00:38 Writing gcode
01:22 NC Viewer
01:42 Blower air assist
01:54 SAFETY DANCE
02:00 Run the focus test
02:22 Line analysis
03:03 Lightburn setup
04:02 Generate gcode
04:47 Compressor air assist
05:06 Cut plywood
05:38 Powerscale testing
06:25 Run the powerscale
06:47 Play with the laser!
Music:
Even After All These Years - HoliznaCC0
Old Age - HoliznaCC0
Blues Gospel Beats - HoliznaCC0
Uploaded: 2022-12-29

[@NorthWoodsCustomCreations]

Awesome video! I just converted my Primo over to laser and both of your videos were a huge help. One thing you might think about is getting the new Jackpot control board. Ryan has seen a big jump in laser performance with this board!

[@allted]

Great video!

[@markosfraser3030]

Ty Ryan! I've been loving my MPCNC and I'm looking forward to making lots more tool mounts and other content with it!

[@allted]

@@markosfraser3030 The gcode at 1:08, does that work without an "M3 I"? I thought I had tried that and it was required. If not, that is great and it is even easier than I thought.

[@allted]

Sorry another one. The speeds you are using, what board do you have? The boards I tested with Marlin I could not get raster much faster than 22-28mm/s I did some vector cutting and I maxed out slower than 100mm/s as well.

[@markosfraser3030]

@@allted When setting up the gcode script, I recall looking into whether or not M3 was required. I believe since the firmware on the Rambo is configured for LASER_POWER_INLINE, it is not required because power is set directly in G1 ... G5 as per the docs: marlinfw.org/docs/gcode/M003.html
Whether or not my assumptions are correct, I tested it out and it seems to work without M3 : )
Regarding speeds and the board, I'm using the stock Rambo board that shipped with the kit (Marlin V2.0.7.2). For smooth vector cutting/engraving I've pushed the machine up to 60mm/s I believe. But the materials usually require speeds of ~4-18mm/s to get through them in only a few passes.
Although I love it, the 8 bit board is quite limiting. Even running vector cutting with Lightburns perforation mode enabled can bog the controller down as there are just too many gcode instructions per second for the thing to handle. For raster engraving of images with Lightburns dithering or greyscale, I can't push it much faster than 18mm/s without the machine stuttering and ruining the engraving.
For those reasons I'm considering building a new dedicated laser cutter using a more modern controller with more processing power.

[@allted]

@@markosfraser3030 You can flash GRBL directly on the rambo and not have to move a single wire. In the forums I did some testing and you can see the huge speed boost that got me. Of course I only tested raster, since anything vector I did was not a big deal, Marlin handled that fine for me.
Definitely need to look into the M3 thing, I added it to the firmware and we have had to have people include it a lot in the forums to get things to work. I have a laser hooked up currently but it is running GRBL, I need to flash back to test.