I’ve already got a fast rf-co2 laser source. I’m thinking about getting a galvo head for it. The lenses aren’t cheap but the galvo head is.
I do see different galvo controllers on AliExpress. Are they all compatible with LB? Which one is best? We’d need one with a 4th axis output too
The galvo controllers are the same for fiber and CO2, right? I don’t see any reason they’d be different.
LightBurn currently supports the EZCad2 and EZCad2-lite based galvo controllers. 
If this is a gantry laser, how are you going to get the beam to the galvo head?
Are you planning to include a beam expanded?
I don’t think there is any support for a Z or 4th axes, at this time either…
Just straight galvo.
I’m wondering about the beam expander front. I can fit the unexpanded beam on the cheap galvo’s 10mm input. But I do understand that an expanded beam yields a smaller, more intense spot size at the cost of a shallower depth of focus. Not sure if that makes a better machine for general purpose needs or not. But the heads with larger input apertures cost much more
So, EZCAD3 boards aren’t actually supported under LB yet? We need to downgrade to EZCAD2?
And the variants which support CO2 are different boards for fiber?
Correct.
If you mean controllers, yes… that’s what I’ve seen
I got the manual for my fiber source, but had to ask Cloud Ray for the galvo head information… All they could supply is this…
I think this is really lens dependent and not input beam size related. Most of the formulas I’ve see deal with the resultant spot size and don’t mention depth of field.
A faster lens (lower F number as in photography) has the same depth of field, just gathers more light.
I went with a smaller tube on the last upgrade. I have room where the tube is for an expanded and have considered picking one up to fiddle with…
The fiber came along and almost halted my co2 use… along with that, it’s outside in the heat and the fiber is inside…
Good luck
Diffraction limits are a fixed formula, and usually systems have high enough quality optics that they’re at the diffraction limit.
For a fixed wavelength, the min spot size scales up proportional with focal length, but oddly the reciprocal of input beam diameter (opposite of what you’d think). The depth of focus scales up with focal length and reciprocal of beam diameter.
Basically, in a regular gantry laser, doubling beam diameter has the same net effect as going from a 2" lens to a 1" engraving lens. Tiny focal spot 1/2 the dia and 4x the intensity, but 1/2 the depth of focus so a poorer cutter.
The galvo laser should follow the same rules, but there’s a difference in that the working area is set by the focal length. The longer focal length lenses have a larger working area. Wider beam input dia will get a sharper, more intense beam with a more limited depth of focus. That same thing could be achieved by a shorter focus lens, but the shorter lens fundamentally comes with a smaller work area.
I can fit the beam on a 10mm galvo head. Those are cheap, less than $200. The larger beam dia ones get way more expensive. The 20mm is $800, plus a 2:1 beam expander.
What have you been doing with the fiber laser?
I’ve been trying to figure the fiber out… what a change 
Not to mention if the type of the stainless or it’s thickness changes, it effect the annealing process… this seems to be true with any metal…
I am able to get some colors and have been trying to dial it in for a cartoon cell I have a photo of.
This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.
