So one of the things I'm going to give a shot to help with making engraving using the plugin a little more consistent is adding a digital volt meter that reads the input signal to the laser.  That will at least let me know what's going on instead of just relying on the scribe mark on the knob of the pot.

I'm also looking at getting a multi-turn pot that will hopefully allow for finer adjustment of the voltage signal to the laser as well.  Right now the one that I have is fairly rough, and has quite a bit of 'backlash' if there is even such a thing in pots.

I should have all of it installed by next Friday, I'll let you know how it goes.

Also - that picture of the engraved egg is pretty amazing.  Ingenious!

Hi Mikee,

All of us, yourself included, each have expertise in different areas or directions and it is when we all come together, on a forum such as this, that a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience becomes available (bit like the individual pieces of a jigsaw making the complete picture).
Others will help you and you will in turn help others - it doesn't matter how clever another person seems to be, there will always be things that you know that they don't - that is the way it is.

Tweakie.

Hi Todd,

I would be most interested to hear how the digital voltmeter performs.

I don't have any backlash problems with my multi-turn dial but obviously there are good ones and bad ones and perhaps I was lucky.

Tweakie.

  hey tweakie  
  thanks for your support .
   you might want make up check list  kinda like a pre flight  for safty reasons for your lazer. super kitty may not be lazer proof
well still working on my cnc router .  and reading  
 had a little set back but i am back at it  .
every once  in a while  i have to close mach 3  then open it up to get my motors to turn  
i emg stop status ( drive instalation complete ) if i right click reset emg stop button the motors will not turn .
pins port imput signal estop is enable i disable e stop apply ok main screen reset status (e stop needs to be reconfig).  motors turn  and off to work i go  
   be careful
    mikee
not much land dam few cattle co.

Hi Mikee,

Good suggestion that checklist - it's on my 'to do' list.

Superkitty did have a minor incident a while back. 



Tweakie.

  hey tweakie
  just noticed eye patch  lol  
  are you trying to say  super kitty needs safty glasses
 bad part about this is we dont practice the best safty standards  in our own shops .  
 i am concerned about when my part or piece is cut out  somehow gets back into the cutting tool .
  be safe
mikee
not much land dam few cattle co
  
  

So I received my 10 turn pot, and installed the digital volt meter.

Man, what a difference.

I am now able to repeat just about anything using the volt meter.  So much better.  Plus, the 10 turn pot really allows some fine control over laser power.  My laser is now much more functional.

I'll post some pictures of some of the engraving I've been doing using your plugin modifications.

Thanks Tweakie!

Hi naPS,

Thanks for the information, I am glad you have it all working OK.
I look forward to seeing some pictures.

Tweakie.

I have said this many times but Lasers and Acrylic were just meant for each other and the acrylic’s curious ability to sublimate (change from a solid to a gas without going through the liquid state) is the icing on the cake.
There is however, another curious thing about acrylic in so much as the material acts as a waveguide to the CO2 laser’s infrared beam. Bearing in mind that the laser’s focussed beam is hour glass shape with the waist at the exact focal point, this hole was made with the focal point at the top surface of the acrylic with the laser set on 75% power for a 3 second burst. Now this is the curious thing, apart from tapering a bit at the bottom, the hole (kerf) is more or less parallel which is not what is expected.
Useless bit of information perhaps but I thought it may be of interest to some as it could explain how a relatively low power laser, such as mine, can easily cut 10mm acrylic whilst still maintaining relatively parallel sides.

Tweakie.

Another small update to the Impact / Laser Engraving plugin. Not necessary really but I have added a routine to round the Size of the X and Y pixel in steps to just 4 decimal places to prevent the display overflow and I have also made a small change to the formulae so the steps are calculated exactly.
These changes have no effect on the operation of the plugin, they are just cosmetic and because I cannot update the previously posted version I have put the latest version here;   http://tweakie.byethost10.com/Engraving.zip

Tweakie.