[Kammo]

Ok I don't know if this is one of the best kept secrets on the internet or i'm really that much of an idiot but I have been looking for 2 days and cant find an answer for this question.
I am gonna link the parts I have to make it easier to answer. ( I hope) I am wanting to set up my L cheapo laser so that it will turn on when it should be engraving and off when it moves from point to point.

I have built my own CNC from this book. https://play.google.com/store/books/...4ErQ&gclsrc=ds

These are the drivers and breakout board im using. CNC 3 Axis Stepper Motor 0 2 5A Driver Breakout Board Controller for Router | eBay

I also got one of these. 12V 24V 48V 110V DC Motor Speed Driver Controller PWM Mach3 Spindle Governo | eBay

This is the laser I have. L-Cheapo Laser Attachment - Free US Shipping

Ok, so my cnc works great with a router. I only have the router setup on a on/off switch. I want the laser to be controlled by mach3.
I can not figure out how to do this. If anyone can help me with this, you have to understand I AM AN IDIOT and need this explained the dumbest way possible.
A crayon drawing showing what goes where might be too complicated for me but worth a shot.. I REALLY want to get this working. If I need hardware I do not currently have please let me know.

Thank you in advance for anyone who tries to help!

[Labmaster]

regarding the ebay decription, the 5 Axis Interface Breakout Board has a

"relay output control interface, can be accessed by the spindle motor or the air pump, water pump, etc five-axis job LED display, visual display products, working condition"

I would simply connect the laserpower input to one of this relay outputs.
Make sure the ouput switches the correct voltage (voltage of your laser system) system.
If the relays are real relays, connect one relay switch terminal to the "laser +", the other relay terminal to the needed power supply (eg. +12V), then connect the "laser -" to the power supply ground (- 12V).
Depending on the choosen relay, the laser could then be switched on/off using M commands in mach3 (e.g. commands for air pump or water pump .....)
A big problem could be the relay itself, as if it is mechanical, then there might be a timing issue when switching the laser on/off fast, (is normaly needed for a laser cut).
Much better would be an electronic switch system. (mosfet ..)

best regards,
Walter

[RogerClark]

Normally you would not simply turn the laser on or off, you would want to control its power, as each material cuts differently and needs a different power / speed setting.

I am not an expert, but i would imagine you would need a Pulse Width Modulation controller / Power supply for your laser.

BTW. What power is an ElCheapo laser?

[Kammo]

Labmaster: We did try to use the spindle relay on the board, problem is we can't figure out what pin it is on and how to trigger it.

RogerClark: If we were gonna be doing engraving then yeah I will need something to control the power but at this time im just trying to get the laser
to do cut outs without etching lines all over the place while it goes from point to point.
The laser is a 24v.

[Labmaster]

But it seems the El Cheapo thing is a simple Diode laser without the option of modulating the Power, it seems it only has a simple powersupply input, thats all.

As i understand, it is made to be hooked up instead of the extruder drive on a 3d printer, so a simple power on/off line.
I guess it could be power modulated (eg by pwm) but then it would need some driving electronics.

best regards,
Walter

Normally you would not simply turn the laser on or off, you would want to control its power, as each material cuts differently and needs a different power / speed setting.


I am not an expert, but i would imagine you would need a Pulse Width Modulation controller / Power supply for your laser.


BTW. What power is an ElCheapo laser?

[Labmaster]

What printerport pin drives what relay output should be documented by the supplier of the 5axis breakout board.
Depending on that documentation you would have to configure the correct output pins in mach3.

Best regards,
Walter

Labmaster: We did try to use the spindle relay on the board, problem is we can't figure out what pin it is on and how to trigger it.

RogerClark: If we were gonna be doing engraving then yeah I will need something to control the power but at this time im just trying to get the laser
to do cut outs without etching lines all over the place while it goes from point to point.
The laser is a 24v.

[RogerClark]

@Labmaster

Depending on how much current the diode takes, you can probably just buy one of those "Arduino" FET modules from eBay and drive it with PWM

IRF520 mos FET Driver Module for Arduino | eBay

Which will drive several amps if you put it on a heat sink

But I don't know if MACH3 can create PWM, I guess you could use an Arduino to do it, but the normal PWM frequency on the Arduino may be to low as its just a few hundred Hz, though you can probably change this or perhaps write your own PWM code.

[Kammo]

I will see if I can find that Labmaster, being it a board from china it didn't come with any documentation.. But I think if I look enough I can find it.
RogerClark that is an idea. I don't know anything about the arduino but hey, whatever works at this point...

[Kammo]

I found this...

http://www.savebase.com/infobase/dow...kout_board.pdf

[Labmaster]

The manual says, that the only available switchable output is the spindle (on/off).
This output is driven by Pin9 on the printerport.

Here i made a simple drawing how to connect the laser to the board and powersupply:

http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/data/500/breakout1.jpg

Do not forget to setup the correct config in mach3 to have pin 9 working on spindle command ( i guess it's operated by a M3 / M5 command in the gcode list then)
Check page 8 of the manual:

http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/data/500/mach3Config.JPG ( Output1 enabled, and set pin pin 9, on the same port as the board is connected)


best regards,
Walter

I found this...

http://www.savebase.com/infobase/dow...kout_board.pdf

[Dean448]

I'm using Mach3 for vector laser control and if you plan to use outputs signals the problem is that they aren't fast or easy to control within your cuts. They are user to turn on accessories. You don't want pauses between cuts. So the issue is software.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Labmaster]

Correct, this is a problem (the relay itself will give additional problems) but it seems the requirements are quite low here.

For a serious laser application i would definately invest in something like this,
hot sale Ruida RDC6442G CO2 laser controller for co2 laser engraving and cutting machine -in Laser Equipment Parts from Industry & Business on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group
This is the easiest to connect and use, real laser control hard and software. Even if it is named CO2, this controller allowes RF Lasers and Diodelasers with controler too)

With a legacy Dsub printer switch (and a little bit of wire fiddeling) one could switch the stepper Motors between a Mach3 controller and such a real laser controller on demand.

Best regards,
Walter

I'm using Mach3 for vector laser control and if you plan to use outputs signals the problem is that they aren't fast or easy to control within your cuts. They are user to turn on accessories. You don't want pauses between cuts. So the issue is software.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kammo]

Ok so what you suggested is what we have been doing but now that I know exactly what pin we should use and that we were plugging it in correctly we did some more tests. I hooked up a basic LED light to a battery and hooked it up to the spindle relay and it did not turn it on using the M03 code, tried M04 M07 & M08 just to be sure but it never turned on. So looks like the relay is not working right. This is so frustrating!

[Labmaster]

I'am not quite sure if there is something to setup in mach3 so that mach3 knows what command should act on what output ?
What i remember is that mach3 has something like a testscreen where als inputs are shown and all outputs could be switched on an off manualy.
I first would try to test this before going to "M" commands.

best regards,
Walter

Ok so what you suggested is what we have been doing but now that I know exactly what pin we should use and that we were plugging it in correctly we did some more tests. I hooked up a basic LED light to a battery and hooked it up to the spindle relay and it did not turn it on using the M03 code, tried M04 M07 & M08 just to be sure but it never turned on. So looks like the relay is not working right. This is so frustrating!

[Kammo]

Well thank you for your help guys. I have given up on this. I think the spindle rely is not working so without getting some extensive expensive part, this is just gonna be over kill.
But thank you very much for the input!

[Labmaster]

just a last thougth on this problem.

There should be a LED on the board for showing the status of Pin9, if this even does not work, then maybe the simplest thing , the DSub cable might be wrong (not fully populated with wires) or defect.

best regards,
Walter