Hey,
I have cnc 3018 and I installed 40W laser from annoytools. I bought it from AliExpress.
The problem is that when I’m trying to cut wood ( 3mm plywood) is not cutting.
I managed to cut a small square with
100 mm/min for the speed
85 % laser power with 2 passes
But the next day I tried that one more time but it didn’t work.
So I kept trying till manage to cut wood again but with speed of 200 mm/min
100% power
10 passes with 0.2 mm ( Z step per pass ) I was enthusiastic and tried to cut another design with the same parameters but unfortunately that didn’t work at all so I went back to the old design but also it was not cutting
The diode lasers have around 4 -5.5 watts of power, not really designed for cutting.
Start by making sure you know the focal point of the laser. I would run power at 100% and you’d need 10 passes probably. I wouldn’t step down that far until you know how the laser cuts.
Air assist helps diode lasers a lot. The material also matters. Not all plywood is the same. Good plywood (Baltic Birch) thats designed for laser cutting and engraving has the proper glue, is free of voids and knots etc.
so I went back to the old design but also it was not cutting