Leetro and Linkmotion
Hi guys,
I apologize for the long reply in advance but I have a lot to talk about.
I bought my "Upgrade" last year about Nov-Dec and had some issues with the install and setting up the table.
The install is a bit different to the software only Linkmotion setup and you need to find the steps per "millimeter" for each axis and the size of each axis in pulses ( i.e 76,000 pulses to move 32 inches etc.) then type in the software the actual size of the table in inches. It's a very convoluted way to do things and it would be so much easier if they just wrote a small program to move the axis a certain amount and then measure the travel and input the correction. Just like the Mach3 software has. Dead simple.
But no, they don't do that, so you need to count how many pulses for 1 complete turn of the motor and measure how far it travels then divide that by the number of pulses etc, etc. very inelegant.
You need to set up the "INI" file to your specific machine and it is covered relatively well in the documentation then click on "initialize" in the Laser tab of the software. This is probably the most important part of the set up.
Some of the terminology is a bit confusing too as it may say "laser on" in the docs but it really means "laser diode (red pointer) on". I misread this to be the 30 watt laser on connector and it took me a while to find out it wasn't.
I haven't had any problems with the Vector cutting at all and it runs pretty sweet.....but that wasn't why I bought the upgrade as vector cutting was always good with Linkmotion.
I bought it for the increased speed for Bitmap/Raster engraving and I must say the improvements are really outstanding. If I run it at the fastest speed I am game to run it at (12 ips ) I shake the table to pieces. I limit it to 8 ips for the tables sake :-)
I wasn't able to process a file over 9" in size and after NUMEROUS emails to tech support I found out that I have to create a transparent background for the file as Linkmotion doesn't do "white" very well. I have asked them heaps of times how to do this but they still haven't told me how. Must be a trade secret and, also, it isn't in any of the CorelDraw X4 help files either.
I have 4 Gig of RAM so memory isn't a problem but I still get a VB script error if I go over 9" in size.
Solustan sent me a converted bitmap file (one of mine) and I was able to process it up to 16" and after that the program would crash again.
Email from Solustan was non existent over the Xmas period when I really needed help from them due to a back log of jobs for Xmas presents and I ended up canceling all jobs for the laser....about $1500 worth at that time.
My emails continued for the next few months with no reply until in around April they finally mailed me and said they weren't helping me because I hadn't set up my INI file properly and couldn't help until I had that sorted out. Previously I hadn't been able to get the red pointer to work or the air assist and they said they were in contact with the Leetro tech support and would get back to me. I have those working now and I had them wired incorrectly. Stupid me or poorly written manual. (Probably the former)
I went back to the laser and painstakingly set up all the settings again. A couple were out but it wasn't by much and was only on the size of the table. Something like 76000 instead of 69942. This really doesn't make much difference unless you use all of the available space on the table for 1 job.
Last month they sent me an upgrade with "Many" improvements but none that would make me give up my right hand for.
At this stage I still can't produce an engraving over 9" unless I find out how to erase the background to transparency . Any one know how to do this????
Please let me know.
Last time I used my rotary attachment I processed a raster file and sent it to the Leetro (printed). Then I pressed start and the laser head wobbled about 2mm wide and finished the 2.75 inch wide job in about 1/4 inch (squashed up together) I moved to another spot on the job and pressed start again and it engraved about 2.5 inches wide. Close to the 2.75 I had drawn. I moved yet again to another spot and pressed print again and it engraved about 3 inches wide. All this without reprocessing the job again. There is a fault in there somewhere that I have not been able to track down and Solustan say it is My INI problem. I have sent this INI to them numerous times with no feedback on what is wrong.
If I set my engraving speed to under 3 ips the laser head oscillates about 1/16" wide all the way to the bottom of the job then returns to the home (0,0) position. Anything over 3 ips is ok. I need to engrave mirrors at 2.8 ips for them to turn out good so I have to set my engrave speed to 6 ips and set the Leetro controller to 50% speed for it to work. Inelegant solution but it does work.
There is no readout of the location of where the laser head is unlike the software only solution and I find this very annoying. If I engrave something and then want to place a name or something 1.2 inches away I have to set it with a rule. A minor bugbear but one I really liked with the old system.
My setup is nothing fancy and I only have a computer connected to the Leetro and then to the Gecko drives.
Am I happy with the system. Simple, NO!
Am I happy with the support. No! They used to be REALLY good but alas, now this isn't so for me. I think I have become a pain to them.
A few weeks ago I bought the Leetro system from Lightobject.com with the Chinese software that will do vector and raster in the same job file. This will be a tremendous benefit for what I do.
I had it all wired up and almost finished when I received a reply from Solustan with their upgrade so I put the Linkmotion controller back in for testing. At this time I haven't reinstalled the Lightobject controller but I will in the next few weeks when time permits.
I hope I have shed some light on what really should be a very good system.
rich.
I am not completely useless.......I can always serve as a BAD example.