Wasn’t sure of the best category for this question so just tooj a chance here and hope someone has some insight or experience with this. Ive got the Pro plasma cutter and been using it now for about a year just doing hobby projects and the more i learn and the more comfortable i get with designing and then actually cutting the more impressed i am with this equipment and a its capability!
My latest project here had me considering if it is possible to retool the Langmuir Pro for later etching or engraving? Im not well versed in the specific differences of the two but absolutely see a possibility of doing even more intricacies with sheetmetal projects when what im after is smaller size. So just curious if it is possible to retool this machine… if Langmuir offers this equipment… or if any experienced users out there have experimented with adding other equipment to the Pro series cnc table.
Thanks to all! Hope everyone had an excellent Thanksgiving as well!
The first order problem is how to set the laser power. FireControl and CrossFire have no facility for setting the laser power. You could set it manually via a separate power supply (that would need to be a special type of power supply) and use torch on/off to simply switch on an off and then use Cut Speed to control the resulting exposure
That brings you to the second problem, which is that CrossFire moves about an order of magnitude too slow unless you use a lower power laser module.
Net, you COULD mount a laser module on the Crossfire gantry, but, as with all Lasers these days, the most expensive component is the laser module, the XY actuators are actually very inexpensive, and, in my opinion, it would be a waste of effort trying to use Crossfire for this type of application.
That is super cool! Thank you! When i ordered my Pro i got the Razorweld Cut 45 along with it. Do you know if that EasyScribe just works right along with it… as just swapping the consumable from the Cut 45 torch tip and replacing with the EasyScribe? Seems like too simple of a solution for anything i ever get stumped with! Lol
Ok yeah good info. I guess i didn’t figure i would need anything more of my cnc Pro… and wasn’t sure if there was some other program (different from Fire Control) that would work specific for running a laser and would/could drive the Langmuir control system. Just was curious if anyone had any experience with this as the cnc table itself is such an impressive platform and wishful thinking hoped it could multipurpose as a laser etching machine as well. But maybe running a laser is just not possible with this setup…
I do like that EasyScriber system mentioned above! Maybe not exactly what i was envisioning but still super cool and the possibilities of various projects i could do with that would a huge win!!
Well, now that you mention it, it has been stated elsewhere in the forum that the FireControl controller is a GRBL controller and, if true, then LightBurn COULD be easily adapted to work with that setup. You would still need to set the Laser power manually, however, as there is no FireControl output signal to control it (without some hack).
Interesting! Might be worth at least looking into!!.. ??? But maybe as TinWhisperer says perhaps the resolution wont be very good.
Im guessing anything that i would ever laser etch would be smaller than anything i would need the Pro for… so maybe if thats what my heart desires then maybe just best to buy a machine specifically designed for laser etching or engraving. Again i was just curious. Dont know if ya dont ask right!?
