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Mach4 General Discussion / Using a PWM controlled laser, Mach 4 vs Mach3
« on: February 13, 2019, 01:47:08 PM »
Hello everyone. I will start by saying I've tried to find what is surely an existing discussion (or 3) about this, but the search engine wasn't getting me anywhere, so with apologies....
I am an existing Mach3 user, driving a Leadshine Mx4660 and 4 axes. I've just acquired an Endurance diode laser that I would like to mount on my CNC table and control without changing up my wiring. I don't use spindle control presently, so would like to use that for the laser (I think that makes sense so far).
One of the issues I've read about with Mach 3 is that there were delays in processing the laser on/off and intensity levels such that direct control of laser by Mach3 wasn't really great. There are add on modules from places like J-Tech Photonics, but these are a couple of hundred $US plus the cost of a 5th axis stepper driver, and I would still be running Mach 3, which is getting long in the tooth.
Has Mach4 solved the laser issues? ie, can I directly control laser on, off and intensity as required for raster / variable intensity picture engraving without an add on module?
If so, then I would rather manage the upgrade to Mach4 than add hardware.
Thanks in advance for your patience in answering this question (for the nth time)....
John
I am an existing Mach3 user, driving a Leadshine Mx4660 and 4 axes. I've just acquired an Endurance diode laser that I would like to mount on my CNC table and control without changing up my wiring. I don't use spindle control presently, so would like to use that for the laser (I think that makes sense so far).
One of the issues I've read about with Mach 3 is that there were delays in processing the laser on/off and intensity levels such that direct control of laser by Mach3 wasn't really great. There are add on modules from places like J-Tech Photonics, but these are a couple of hundred $US plus the cost of a 5th axis stepper driver, and I would still be running Mach 3, which is getting long in the tooth.
Has Mach4 solved the laser issues? ie, can I directly control laser on, off and intensity as required for raster / variable intensity picture engraving without an add on module?
If so, then I would rather manage the upgrade to Mach4 than add hardware.
Thanks in advance for your patience in answering this question (for the nth time)....
John