Hello,
I have a 150 watt laser that I would like to do some engraving with. Can you use Aspire for this?
Laser Engraving
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Jan.vanderlinden
- Vectric Wizard
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- Location: Columbus Ohio
Re: Laser Engraving
A 150 watt????? 
What kind is it?
What kind is it?
“I've learned so much from my mistakes, I'm thinking of making a few more”
Re: Laser Engraving
It is a Bescutter (Chinese).
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nicksilva
- Vectric Craftsman
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Re: Laser Engraving
I for one have never been able to use it directly. I have a Universal Laser Systems M300.
The driver for it is basically a print driver and it works well with drawing programs such as corel draw
including 1:1 positioning for both vectors and rasters.
With Aspire, even though I can 'print' to the same driver - the lines used to create vectors might be too wide as they are not really seen and give a 0.0 power, 0.0 speed indication. If I tell it to cut as rasters, it takes the settings. However, it is not doing a fill - rather it is scanning across to engrave the outlines of the objects. Positioning is a no go. I define the page the same size as the laser table. I position the (stars in this case) at the top of the page and send it to the laser. it rasters them at the bottom of the table. I repositioned them to the bottom of the page and it put them at the bottom of the table.
I can certainly save all the vectors I create to a DXF file and use Corel to cut them, but it kind of defeats the purpose of using Aspire.
now, the Chinese lasers use a USB driver of sorts which programs such as laser machine tool control software which they provide is used to communicate to the laser. I don't know what they will do.
There is still a lot of value in Aspire. Like I said, I can save the vectors to a DXF file. I can save 3d models to a 16 bit greyscale bitmap which retains depth information and if your laser supports a 3d mode it can cut a pseudo 2.5d design. But, you still have to load the outputs to another program to do the xfer. Hopefully others will have some insight.
Now having said this, if you are using a CNC with a laser attachment you can still run a profile or pocket toolpath using the laser.
Just turn off the spindle. The cnc really doesn't know it's a laser connected. cheers!
The driver for it is basically a print driver and it works well with drawing programs such as corel draw
including 1:1 positioning for both vectors and rasters.
With Aspire, even though I can 'print' to the same driver - the lines used to create vectors might be too wide as they are not really seen and give a 0.0 power, 0.0 speed indication. If I tell it to cut as rasters, it takes the settings. However, it is not doing a fill - rather it is scanning across to engrave the outlines of the objects. Positioning is a no go. I define the page the same size as the laser table. I position the (stars in this case) at the top of the page and send it to the laser. it rasters them at the bottom of the table. I repositioned them to the bottom of the page and it put them at the bottom of the table.
I can certainly save all the vectors I create to a DXF file and use Corel to cut them, but it kind of defeats the purpose of using Aspire.
now, the Chinese lasers use a USB driver of sorts which programs such as laser machine tool control software which they provide is used to communicate to the laser. I don't know what they will do.
There is still a lot of value in Aspire. Like I said, I can save the vectors to a DXF file. I can save 3d models to a 16 bit greyscale bitmap which retains depth information and if your laser supports a 3d mode it can cut a pseudo 2.5d design. But, you still have to load the outputs to another program to do the xfer. Hopefully others will have some insight.
Now having said this, if you are using a CNC with a laser attachment you can still run a profile or pocket toolpath using the laser.
Just turn off the spindle. The cnc really doesn't know it's a laser connected. cheers!
"Out of my mind. Back in 5 Minutes."
Re: Laser Engraving
Thanks for the information! I appreciate it!