Best controller, compatibility with LightBurn, capable of running XYZ and U. And where to buy it.
Running a 45W CO2 tube.
Most of us with the Chinese type machines use the Ruida. Mine is a China Blue with an 880mm tube. It has a Ruida 6442 type controller supported by LightBurn. 
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I have a XM-1060 Chinese Blue and White @ 100 watt. Running a Ruida 6442 … Been solid for me. I would like only one change to the Ruida series… The move buttons could be High Speed / Low Speed on moves… I use High speed to get to where I want to go manually, then have to switch speeds to low speed to pinpoint the center or start point. But other than that, love it.
I replaced my original K40 controller with Cohesion3D Laser board and that conversion has worked well, including Z and A Axis control. However, I’ve since learned that there are quite a few Smoothieboard knockoffs that would work just as well for significantly less money. The upside on the Cohesion conversion was that the step by step documentation on their website makes it pretty easy process.
The two nice things about the smoothieboard approach are:
- Easy to customize for your application,
- Lightburn is $40 cheaper
Ditto about the head movement. I have mine on a bridge and Ethernet. Wouldn’t go back
Lots of stuff the Ruida does that isn’t available such as the max/min power control which is hardware based. I’ve also found that a higher PWM frequency cuts some materials better. Most boards don’t let you have that fine of control.
In the end, you get what you pay for, generally speaking
Yes, very true, especially in this case. Trying to put more performance into a controller on a cheap Chinese laser with a cheap PSU is a waste of money, IMO. The Smoothieboard is capable of setting PWM frequencies that will reach the limits of the capabilities of the base system. And, as I said, I prefer the configurability of the Smoothieboard.
But to each his own.
Thank you all for your comments. Mark
I would go for a Ruida, if I needed one now I would take the 6442GX Again
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