[chris'circuits]

Thanks to the posts here at CNCZone I have been able to take my Chinese 40W laser cutter from nearly useless to nearly perfect. I purchased this laser cutter: 40 Watt C02 Laser CNC Router Cutter ENGRAVER Engraving Cutting Machine USB K40 | eBay and had a very similar experience to most people.

I decided very early on that I was going to change out the control board for something that would work with LinuxCNC or Mach3. But I really wanted to keep all the cabling intact. I couldn't find anything that would be a drop in replacement so I decided to design something up.

Here is a video of my first X,Y motion test:
Chris' Circuits: Converting a Chinese laser cutter to work on Mach3

Here is a video of the first cut:
Chris' Circuits: First Cut!

I have designed and ordered a prototype PCB to test, I'll update when they arrive. Let me know your thoughts or suggestions. My goal is to develop something that will make converting these Chinese laser cutters to use Mach3 or LinuxCNC painless.

[mondo50m]

Is this going to also be able to engrave? All other attempts at getting Mach III to do proper engraving have produced very poor results.

Milt

[chris'circuits]

It will have the same limitations for doing a raster engrave with Mach3. I haven't tired it, but some have had a little success with LinuxCNC and doing rastering I think.

But that is one advantage of my board being a drop in replacement. If you want to switch back and do some engraving you move three cables. I've gone back and forth between boards in a matter of a minute.

[chris'circuits]

I got a post processor for CamBam working tonight! No more manual editing oF GCode to have the laser turn on and off correctly! Here are some gears cut from some construction paper.



These were generated using a CamBam gear tool and cut in Mach3. So fast and painless!

[chris'circuits]

I got the PCBs back from the fab yesterday. I will populate one and update with a video showing how easy it is to replace the MoshiDraw controller board with one that works with Mach3/LinuxCNC.

[chris'circuits]

I finally got some time to populate and test one of the prototype PCBs! Everything works great!



Here is a video (poorly shot) demonstrating me swapping controller boards.

Swapping the controller board on my laser cutter. - YouTube

Thanks again to the CNCZone community for helping me get this far on this project.

Thanks,

Chris
(Chriscircuits.blogspot.com)

[acidice333]

Whats this gonna cost? I'd love to switch out without modifying the wires/harness.

[chris'circuits]

As it stands right now, $100. If I can get enough interest and can make a large batch I may be able to lower that price. Even at $100 it is about on par with other conversion methods without all the hassle of re-wiring.

[chris'circuits]

A VERY small batch of my laser converter boards are for sale here: Chris' Circuits: Products

Also I have posted detailed instructions on configuring Mach3 to work with my converter board here: Chris' Circuits

Hope this helps those who are disappointed/frustrated with Moshidraw like I was.

Chris

[Andy Jarosz]

Hi guys,

My engraver just died. Straight up, less then 30 minutes of use, bought it Monday, now the motors wont move at all, even when I first turn the machine on. USB works great though, go figure.

Since this awesome replacement board is available, if anybody has an old Moshi board they need to get rid of...Id love to have it.

I know I'm the only one in the world asking for a Moshi product, but really I just want it working! Feel free to PM or email me at [email protected] if I can take it off your hands!

[fixtureman1]

Hi guys,

My engraver just died. Straight up, less then 30 minutes of use, bought it Monday, now the motors wont move at all, even when I first turn the machine on. USB works great though, go figure.

Since this awesome replacement board is available, if anybody has an old Moshi board they need to get rid of...Id love to have it.

I know I'm the only one in the world asking for a Moshi product, but really I just want it working! Feel free to PM or email me at [email protected] if I can take it off your hands!

Can you get it replaced under warranty.

[mondo50m]

My power supply died after about 2 months use and the supplier that I got my laser from was more than cooperative about replacing it for me. I would give that a try first.

Milt

[acidice333]

Ordered me one.. looking forward to trying it out

[Andy Jarosz]

I'd love to get a replacement. This is, however, my third one.

[chris'circuits]

Hey everyone I just posted my Cambam post processor on my website. (Chris' Circuits)

Hope it helps!

Andy,

That sucks that you've had such bad luck with the Moshi board. Even if it isn't my board, you should really consider upgrading. It makes these inexpensive cutters very powerful.

Chris

[RossMosh]

Hey everyone I just posted my Cambam post processor on my website. (Chris' Circuits)

Hope it helps!

Andy,

That sucks that you've had such bad luck with the Moshi board. Even if it isn't my board, you should really consider upgrading. It makes these inexpensive cutters very powerful.

Chris

Have you ever considered making a print driver?

[chris'circuits]

Have you ever considered making a print driver?

What kind of print driver? raster? 3D? ink printer?

[Exsecratio]

Gotta say Chris, I hear very good things about your boards. A LOT cheaper than factory replacements too.

cheers

Dave

[chris'circuits]

Thanks! I'm happy with them so far. I'm currently working with some of the first users of the board to make the whole process more straight forward and even easier.

Oh, and as a small teaser......I'm trying to get a video together of my board running a small home-made mill. I'm excited!

Chris

[SHenryku]

Hello,
I was wondering if you could help out a newbie to all this. I purchased one of the 40w laser engravers off Ebay with the main intent to use it to engrave and design signs, art, ect. As i got better at using it, i thought about using it to cut but primarily engraving.

Here's where my problem as caused major headaches. The seller i purchased this unit from refuses to supply me with the security dongle/usb drive so I cant even get the crappy moshidraw to load on my PC. It never came with the dongle and after countless emails to countless people I'm left with a machine that will not work with any other program. It may be a blessing based on the horrific reviews of Moshisoft.

So, I guess where my real question comes from, If i buy one of your board, install it, and get Mach3 or LinixCNC, will i still be able to engrave or do i need to look somewhere else? The way i see it, I'd rather buy new hardware/software then pay Moshidraw for a usb i should have got for free.

Ive never used any CNC software before although I do have AutoCAD and CorelDraw experience so I think with time and a little research, I could fumble my way around until I get the hang of it.

Thoughts?
Thanks in advance.