Hi. I am new to this forum and this Christmas I received a 17 watt laser diode (an obvious upgrade from a 2.5 watt laser). I was wondering now that I have a new laser and my old controller board does not support it (an old elks laser shield for an arduino nano) how might I go about getting and setting up a new board for such a big laser (for a diode at least) especially since it has its own power-supply and control board? I'll try to answer every question to the best of my ability but some basic info is:
Basic set up two stepper nemia 17 stepper motors belt driven for x axis and 1 for y axis.
I have an extended work area of 20 inch by 30 inch (reason I got the basic diy laser kit).
custom downdraft table
benbox for software (something I am hoping to change with a new control board).