Trouble with config file

Board Configuration and Setup
#1

Machine: 400mm x 400mm Newlin 50w co2 laser

Board: Laserboard

Firmware: Smoothie

Problem/ Question: The machine I have is not a k40, but is similar with better speeds. The original board is a m2 nano that was meant to use with corel laser. Never could get it to work with corel laser, but k40 whisperer works pretty well with it but has limited features. I purchased a laserboard and lightburn and got everything set up, but seem to be missing something in the config file. The laser moves significantly faster with k40 whisperer than in lightburn, despite tweaking the config file. In fact the laser head even slows down when coming to an area with lots of details to engrave. It also seems to lose steps, dramatically shifting the engraving in some spots. I have attached both old config file and new config file. Here is a link to some pics and videos.

https://1drv.ms/u/s!AomJjBedzUUsm5gfbnzezev66JayQQ?e=9TO1cN

Thanks for any input you may have.

config.txt (28.4 KB) config.txt (28.4 KB)

#2

Forgot to mention, the machine is spec’d with a max engraving speed of 450mm/s, whether or not it actually reaches it, who knows? But obviously it is faster than the laserboard with lightburn and the modified config.

#3

i can’t tell which config file is which - I’m assuming the first one is the one you’re running.

The settings you have in your config file should be:

default_feed_rate 6000 - if no F parameter is specified in a g1/g2/g3 move this is the speed it will go (100mm/sec) - it’s a “safe” speed for sending manual gcodes.
default_seek_rate 24000 - fastmove at 400mm/sec if possible

that will speed up the machine.

Looking at the per-axis config, it looks like it’s set fairly fast except for the beta (Y axis) - that actually slowed it down significantly (6000mm/min = 100mm/sec). If you have a Z table it definitely won’t be able to move that fast, so I’d set Z a lot lower. Most struggle to move at even 50mm/sec.

x_axis_max_speed 27000
y_axis_max_speed 27000
z_axis_max_speed 3000

Set the alpha_max_rate, beta_max_rate, and gamma_max_rate parameters to match.

The laser head will naturally slow down to engrave fine details - it can’t instantly accelerate to maximum speed and keep that speed up through corners and such and still remain accurate. You have physics working against you here.

As far as the losing position/steps/shifting goes, you’ll need to tune the stepper driver current settings to be in line with what your motors expect and acceleration values based on experimentation. There are threads abundant on the forum that go over stepper driver configuration, as well as this KB article:

give that a shot and see how it goes

#4

Thanks for the response. Crap, didn’t see I attached the wrong file second, sorry. I dropped max y speed because I lose steps with anything over 50mm/s in y. Z bed is not fun by the board, it’s on its own circuit. I will tweak the settings and see what I get. As for the slowing down during the scanline engraving, that doesn’t make sense to me, obviously the head will decelerate to reverse the x travel, but why to engage/disengage laser power rapidly? The stock m2 nano board doesn’t have this behavior and raster engraves like a champ, so I would assume this must be a config setting, something to do with with the max speed the power can cycle on and off. I just didn’t see anything in the comments that was definitely that setting, I suspected laser_module_pwm_period, but was unsure and didn’t want to mess with anything that might screw up the hardware. Thanks again for your input, I understand this board was designed as a drop in primarily for k40s and anticipated some tweaking, but was bummed that I dropped so much on a replacement board and got worse results than k40 whisperer right out of the gate. I am sure once everything is dialed in, she will run like a champ again. I am just itching to use lightburn again.

#5

Make sure you have smoothie clustering turned on in the machine setup screen in lightburn.

#6

This topic was automatically closed 14 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.