Starting to convert to new stepper driver

[mstang64bb]

Hello~
I am a middle school technology education teacher, but also a newbee as far as this C02 laser is concerned. I currently have a china 40w laser (AIP E40W5A). I want to convert it from MoshiDRAW to something more user friendly especially for students, I'm thinking Mach3. We want to be able to engrave onto projects like wood pens and yo-yo's. I purchased and received the new version 3-axis Stepping Motor Driver. I've downloaded the manual, but is there any directions or schematics that can assist me in the steps as to how I can rewire this machine? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[twehr]

Hello~
I am a middle school technology education teacher, but also a newbee as far as this C02 laser is concerned. I currently have a china 40w laser (AIP E40W5A). I want to convert it from MoshiDRAW to something more user friendly especially for students, I'm thinking Mach3. We want to be able to engrave onto projects like wood pens and yo-yo's. I purchased and received the new version 3-axis Stepping Motor Driver. I've downloaded the manual, but is there any directions or schematics that can assist me in the steps as to how I can rewire this machine? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi. I converted by AIP 40w. Went from Moshi to Mach3, back to Moshi, and finally to DSP. Mach3 worked, but getting the laser on/off was terrible. If you want fast, easy conversion to something easily usable by you and your students, I highly recommend the DSP with a couple of stepper drivers and a power supply (optional, but recommended), all from LightObject. I know it sounds like you are replacing everything, and to some extent, you are, but in the long run, you will have a good, reliable, stable, useful machine for teaching laser basics. I use mine for commercial work and get along fine.

If you decide to go that route, I would be happy to walk you through what has to happen to make it work. It is really pretty straight forward, but working with someone who has already done will make it easier to understand.

Note - If you want to teach CNC basics, then Mach3 is excellent, but you will be mostly limited to doing cutting operations with the laser. If you want to teach laser basics and get great results with both cutting and raster (engraving, photos) then the DSP is the way to go.

[mstang64bb]

Tim~

Thanks for the information. I think I am going to purchase the DSP controller and power supply. Do you have a recommendation of what size power supply (I'm thinking 24v, 10amp)? Also, you mentioned "stepper drives". Do I need a second stepper drive along with the 3-axis one I just purchased?

Thanks, Bob

[twehr]

Tim~

Thanks for the information. I think I am going to purchase the DSP controller and power supply. Do you have a recommendation of what size power supply (I'm thinking 24v, 10amp)? Also, you mentioned "stepper drives". Do I need a second stepper drive along with the 3-axis one I just purchased?

Thanks, Bob

You COULD use the 3-axis one you have, but it is not really designed to keep up with the DSP. Check with Marco here at LightObject to see if you can send it back and buy two of the stepper drivers http://www.lightobject.com/2-Phase-45A- ... -P453.aspx at $55 each. They are perfect for what you want and easy to wire up, etc.

As for the power supply, you actually have two in your laser - one to run the general electronics (the 24v, 10amp you asked about is great for that), and one for supplying the high voltage power to the laser itself. The advantage of it over trying to wire up the one you have is that it has a PWM for setting the power level. That allows you to set different power levels for different parts of your design and run them all at once - without manually adjusting the power between steps. You would need the 40Watt CO2 Laser Power Supply http://www.lightobject.com/40W-PWM-CO2- ... y-P71.aspx It is $235 and again, a perfect match for the other pieces you are getting.

So to recap - the ideal conversion is:
1 - DSP controller
2 - Stepper Drivers
1 - Laser Power Supply (40watt co2 Laser ps)
1 - General Power supply (24v, 10amp)

In the end, you will have a system that 100% 120v without the cheap 220->110 transformers, etc. I can (and would be happy to) help you get it all wired up and running.

[mstang64bb]

Tim~

I want to thank you for all the support you have given to me thus far. I do appreciate it.

As I stated earlier, I will be buying the DSF controller & power supply, however I think I'm going to have to stay with the 3-axis stepper drive as I bought it on e-bay (though it was shipped by Lightobject.com). I think it will suit my needs.

I hope to contact you for your support as soon I receive the other parts to retrofit my laser. Since I must deal with school administration for funds, I will not see this happen until after the new year..

Again, many thanks,
Bob

[twehr]

Tim~

As I stated earlier, I will be buying the DSF controller & power supply, however I think I'm going to have to stay with the 3-axis stepper drive as I bought it on e-bay (though it was shipped by Lightobject.com). I think it will suit my needs.

Bob

Bob,

FYI - Whether you got it on ebay or direct from lightobject, it still comes from lightobject. Marco is one of the best dealers I have ever dealt with. IF you want to go the suggested route, I am confident that Marco will help you out.

[Tech_Marco]

Bob:

It's not a good idea to use the 3-axis board (TB6560) to work along with the DSP card. The 3-axis card is design to use parallel port as an interface (DB25) to communicate with a PC. Even though you can jump wires out from the board to take signal from the DSP card, why wouldn't you consider the single channel TB6560 instead and you need two only. Cost you not much than a 3 axis board.

Here is the 1-axis board: http://www.lightobject.com/1-Axis-CNC-L ... -P451.aspx

But I do need to mention that this board is not as fast as other stepping motor controller. Like this one: http://www.lightobject.com/2-Phase-45A- ... -P453.aspx . The max speed it can go is 400mm/s but the Pro driver can go as high as 800~1000mm/s

(Thanks Tim~)

Marco

[baccus61]

Hi Bob,
You won't regret the DSP as an alternative. I have had a couple of interfaces for my laser and the DSP is dead set the best value for money around for the price/performance you get.

I invested about $2000 for my previous controllers and the Lightobject DSP is light years ahead of the rest. No pun intended.
Tim and Marco know their stuff so just follow their lead and you will have a REALLY good setup that is usable and very functional.

Run the single axis drives in 1/8 step mode as there isn't any advantage going higher as you will just chew up more processing power for little in return.
A good thing about single drives is that if you encounter a problem and blow a drive you only need to replace the faulty one. Don't forget to put a fuse in line with the motor power inputs to the drive just in case. (slow blow 5 amp. Marco can correct me if I am wrong here.). I have only ever blown 1 drive and that was due to a bad solder joint to a motor that broke while in use. My soldering is MUCH better now and I cover every join with heat shrink.

There is a bit of a learning curve to the software but the forum will help out as much as possible and explain anything you may need to know but once you grasp the concepts it is actually quite simple to use.
Rich.