and probably was asked several times before.
This is a deal breaker for me because I need to cut small holes, and the ideal way is to work on each line/object from the layer once on each pass, instead of applying all passes to same object/line before jumping to the next object/line.
Almost 4 years have passes since that question. Do you support this feature now ? Should be easy to implement - just copy-paste all g-code commands generated for 1-pass job as many times as amount of passes specified by user.
If I’m reading this correctly what you’re describing can be accomplished by having multiple sublayers of the same operation for as many passes as you want.
For example, in this example, you would get 3 full passes of the circle and square.
Not sure I understood your idea, but you brought a great example: a circle and a square.
So I want to have 3 passes, and I want sequence “circle, square, circle, square, circle, square” instead of “circle, circle, circle, square, square, square” which is currently I’m getting.
did I get you right - instead of adding let’s say 15 passes you suggest to add 15 lines on the same layer with offset 0.0 for all these lines, so they overlap each other ?
yeah, seems like I need to clone the first layer as many times as many passes I need to have. Yeah, that works, but it’s kind of a hack, from my point of view.
I’m just looking for a software to cut a plywood with cheap diode lasers, usually these diodes can’t make a cut with the one pass, you need to apply more passes, and you can’t hold your laser too long over some region - it’s gonna destroy the area or cause a fire. Imagine a hole 3mm diameter of 8mm plywood and laser which has 5W power.
So for cutting material in such cases it’s better to have this tiny switch in the software.
You have very specific requirements. Sometimes a hack is the most straightforward approach. The “normal” way to do multi-pass is through the “Pass Count” field but doesn’t work for your specific requirements.
The total limit for sublayers is 11. Do you need more passes than that?
No software is going to help you cut steel plate with a butter knife.
A 5 watt diode laser can cut through some 3mm plywood, but you aren’t going to cut 8mm ply. You might eventually burn a hole but it is not going to “cut” anything.
Don’t wanna argue on this topic, no offence, but it cuts.
Like, I do it with, can send you images if you want. or you can check this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxtP_PHmaX4
But I’d like to stay with the original question about the sequence of applying laser.
I hope someone else can provide some more information about this subject. The suggested solution allows up to 11 passes, after which I need to launch the same program again. Which is not convenient. This is why I’d like to keep this question open.
I’m not commenting to argue and I apologise if it came across that way.
I did watch the video you posted and just as I expected the edges were severely charred.
I am going to offer a suggestion and you can do with it as you wish; instead of pushing the little 5 watt laser to do what it was never meant to do, use it for what it is really good at.
If you need to cut shapes or drill precise holes then use the laser to mark them out or make templates that will allow you to use the appropriate tools for cutting that thickness of material. I do this regularly.
Me too, sorry, maybe I also overreacted on phrase “plastic knife”. At the end, this is a question of how much energy is put into some area. Even 5W laser can cut if focused on extremely small area.
My problem is that I need to make a ~60 meters long cut from plywood on 7mm thickness. I’m working on my custom 3d printer case, prototyping it, need to use cheap material (plywood). So, manual work is not the best option. I tried to find local shops (i live in Houston, Texas, US) to do this job, and the price I found is 320$ to cut 4m x 2m plywood sheet.
If next time I make some changes to my prototype I might spend another 320$. Quite expensive.
That’s how I entered this world of engraving, trying to make my losses lesser.
I got this 5W laser just because of a marketing. But I think 10W laser and an air pump might save my money and give me some sort of knife to cut that wood slowly but steady.
yeah, I need more than 11, right now 15 passes work fine for me, they cut my plywood. So I ended up with some sub-layers having 2 passes, and the rest - 1 pass. In total I get 15. 2 passes (one after another) don’t burn to much the plywood.
what a tricky problem I’m getting into with this my idea… You wouldn’t believe me, but it’s cheaper to cut my plywood somewhere in China and get it shipped to the US than do it all locally.
Is ~60 meters the total length of cut or is that linear meters? What size area do you need to cut?
7mm plywood is quite thick for the equipment that you have which explains the high number of passes you’re attempting. If you invest the money that you would otherwise spend outsourcing the work to even a relatively lower power CO2 laser this will transform your workflow, speed-up your cycles, and improve quality.
The 11 is an arbitrary limit. You could potentially request for more to be allowed at the Feature Request page.
