New user questions - TIA

[angieblue (Angie)]

I have a few questions and would appreciate any assistance. TIA for your patience!

1. Does anyone have a cheat sheet for the A5 for materials/settings?
2. I started with Laser GRBL and it had an option (looks like a light bulb) to show where your beam is. Does Lightburn have a similar feature?

[LaserWillie (Willy)]

1. While people might have a “cheat sheet”, you should create your own as there are a lot of factors involved.

Try this first. Material Cut/Scan Test Files - Power Scale make notes in google sheets for each type of material you are engraving/cutting.

1. I started with Laser GRBL and it had an option (looks like a light bulb) to show where your beam is. Does Lightburn have a similar feature?

You are talking about the “fire” laser feature. Yes, lightburn has it.

If you have a diode laser, and need to turn it on at low power to focus it, LightBurn has a setting for this. First, in Edit → Device Settings, click the “Enable Laser Fire Button” shown here in the lower right: [image] . Then quit, and restart LightBurn. In the Move window, you’ll find the Fire button and the power setting at the lower right: [image] . Set the power just high enough for you to see the laser when you enable the Fire button

[Rick (Technical Evangelist)]

@angieblue

to show where your beam is.

This is worth review to help. Enable Laser Fire Button - LightBurn Software Documentation

Edit: Oops, wanted to add this. Thanks for the reminder.

How do I turn on my diode at low power to focus it or frame a job?

Diode lasers often don’t have a red-dot pointer like CO2 lasers do, so it is often useful to enable them at low power for focusing or framing. (Please do NOT do this if you have a CO2 laser, as the beam is invisible and this could blind you or start a fire) In LightBurn, go to Edit > Device Settings, or click here: [image] Turn on the ‘Enable Laser Fire Button’ switch (make it green): [image] Quit LightBurn and re-run it. You will now have two new controls in the Move window. A …

[LaserWillie (Willy)]

The post with a link to that went MIA, thanks for the link

[SteveOk54 (Steve Law)]

I have the Atomstack, I set my fire button to 0.01 I had to enter the value manually, the up down selectors do not allow you to go this low at least in my case. And this is plenty bright.

[LaserWillie (Willy)]

You’ll need to clean the laser surround often or it will get harder to see. You might need to jog it a bit for brighter days/homeoffice settings. To frame, don’t forget “hold+shift”

[SteveOk54 (Steve Law)]

I forgot that I have the shroud off my laser. I installed safety shielding from J-Tech 100% on my door and install glasses on my face when I open the door.