I’m new to laser engraving/etching and trying to make my own laser engraver. I have a 20w neje tool laser (12v/3a) and a macbook laptop. I would like to know which GRBL controller people recommend for this set up? Or if i should use something else besides GRBL? Any advice (helpful) would be greatly appreciated.
Nice to see Neje copying my design
Theres no such thing as a 20W diode laser. The most powerful diode laser on the planet is ~7W - the majority of Chinese and Russian makers lie through their teeth about the capability. They achieve ‘20W’ by ‘over-volting’ the diode, which when used at the correct voltage should last 100,000 hours - when pushed to 3x the rating, lasts ~50 hours.
Your kit is pretty small and will not need a huge amount of power, as it won’t be able to move very fast with a 12V power supply, so you can pretty much use anything that supports GRBL: Arduino, TinyG, G2, Smoothieboard, and the version you use should be the latest, unless you have a compatibility issue.
For such a small machine, you won’t be busting the speed of light, so get something cheap to begin with and if you find you are hitting performance limits, upgrade.
To start, a basic Arduino Uno 328P-equipped ‘CNC shield’ controller with fairly simple drivers will run you about $20. https://www.banggood.com/Geekcreit-CNC-Shield-UNO-R3-Board-4-X-DRV8825-Driver-Kit-For-Arduino-3D-Printer-p-1134845.html
Engraving beats the heck out of GCode and grbl on an 8-bit or 16-bit controller will probably result in dropped commands. You should look at grbl-lpc and an LPC-chip controller, like the Smoothieboard, and it’s variants/clones.
They’ll run you about US$80-120.
Thanks for the info!
Hi John.
That’s correct about the laser power. The 20 watt I’ve seen advertised looked to good to be true.
Thats because it was. Just out of curiosity I emailed Gearbest who sell the Neje 20 watt.
I don’t know where you bought it from, but if it was me I would be asking for my money back.
This is the reply I got.
Dear Stuart,
Your original question is “What is the real power of the laser? 20 watt is a bit far fetched for a diode laser. Or is it being overdriven, meaning it won’t last long? Thanks.”
Here is the answer from Our Customer service Team:
"
Hello Stuart,
NEJE 450nm 20W Continuous Laser Module
Application: Paper cutting, Wood cutting(<5mm), Depth Engraving(<3mm), g-code drawing…
Engraving material: wood, gray paper card, non-transparent plastic, leather, paint pcba, etc.( flat, opaque and can be burned black)
Weight: 202g
Input: 12V2A (about 20w)
Output Optical Power: 5.5W
PWM: 50KHz-20KHz / 3.3V-12V
Temperature Sensor: yes
Focus Range: 30mm-50mm
Max Cutting Thickness: 5mm (Light diameter: 0.1mm-0.2mm)
Minimum Focus Diameter: 0.1mm
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