Benefits of Scan Angle

Are there benefits to changing the scan angle other than to save time? I’ve seen posts where ppl say they used say, for example 30 degrees. I asked why, but got no response. I’m trying various angles but haven’t really seen much of a difference. Would anyone care to enlighten me as to how/when the scan angle being changed can be more beneficial rather than running at “0”? Much appreciated.

I like and often use cross-hatch with 45 degrees and less power as usual. It gives to my taste a nicer image and a slightly clearer “depth”. Another side effect is that you can break the wood fibers better with cross-hatch.
For acrylic, I like to use 45 degree cross-hatch with a large clear line spacing (approx. 0.5), it gives a “diamond” -like look, very nice for items with light in.

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It is an option for altering the ‘look’ of your fills. Changing the interval, cross-hatch and scan angle will provide different results in appearance. The timing of running these jobs can differ quite a bit depending on what angle and spacing you choose.

The current list of LightBurn supported DSP controllers do not support rastering anything other than 0, 90, 180, and 270 optimally in hardware. Other scan angles do work nicely, but are done using standard cutting moves, and the controller will not be able to process them as quickly.

Ultimately, these are visual result choices that may take a bit longer to complete but can be very appealing.

For a solid fill I don’t find that it makes that much of a difference but when you start spacing out your pass lines then I find I use scan angle a lot.

Thank you, Rick. I’m running a trocen awc708. When I choose an angle other than 0,90,180,270 the movement speed is much much slower than what I set it as. For example, if I set the speed at 400 mm/s, it runs more like 75mm/s. Is this what you’re referring to with regards to processing? I can make it go around 400 mm/s by setting the layer speed to 1000 mm/s. Does this sound typical due to the way it is processing or does this sound like something is wrong? Thanks!

Thank you bernd. Do you find the travel speeds to be much slower than programmed when engraving at an angle? My laser moves much slower when setting an angle other than 0,90, etc… for instance, if I tell it to go 400mm/s it moves more like 75 mm/s. What controller are you using? Mines an awc 708. Thanks

Thank you for the help, Adam. Much appreciated

I do not have the speeds in my head right now, but always adjust the speed according to my feeling, it must not knock or sound “too violent” but still be as fast as possible. I accept that it takes the time it takes but do not think there is a difference between 45 or 90 degree engraving on my K40 with Mini-Gerbil. What takes extra time is the extra turn using the cross-hatch feature.

Basically, DSPs do horizontal and vertical scanning in hardware, treated differently than normal cutting moves, and since there’s only one axis moving during the row, the math is much simpler, there’s less overhead, and less work.

I’m not supposed to double post, but this just fits in so nicely here and explains better what I mean.

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