Setting up picLaser and j Tech DAC PWM

[Picengravertoo]

Why are you Dithering the image? The PicConver DAC/PWM board gives you the ability to vary the power to engrave grayscale. Are you enabling the Constant Velocity with the Insert G61/G64? Also, try engraving at a 45D angle. What accel setting in Motor Tuning are you using for all three axis's?

[Skotty58]

I dithered it because I thought you guys said to use the Analog/PWM profile and the Atkinson. (now Im Confused about this)

Yes G61/G64 are inserted and Yes it is in CV mode.

The X, Y axis's are set at: 4000, 120,10 step and dir at 3
The A axis is at 10000, 100, 37

[Picengravertoo]

You Dither if your engraving a B&W logo or engraving wood that is harder to burn with grains. Your accel settings are set to low and it will hesitate on every move. You need to set the Velocity & accels for all the axis's the same. 120, 80? Try experimenting with the accel settings. The higher the better, as long as they don't start loosing steps with the stepper motors or the PicConvert.

[cstmwrks]

So far things have been going pretty well. Have had a few odd things to figure out but between Jay and this forum most everything has been solved in a very short time.
I dithered this:

Welcom Dithered.jpg (230.07 KiB) Viewed 9111 times

and then burned it:

1.jpg (151.7 KiB) Viewed 9111 times

Seemed pretty dark so I adjusted my beam setting from 0.006 to 0.008 and ran another test image. Looks way closer to the dithered image.

[Skotty58]

Nice job!

[cstmwrks]

Smaller image this time:

GN1.jpg (33.71 KiB) Viewed 9101 times

Then dithered:

GN1 Dithered.jpg (46.46 KiB) Viewed 9101 times

Then changed the setting to 0.008:

IMG_02872.jpg (128.04 KiB) Viewed 9101 times

[mchipser]

I downloaded the welcome picture from above to test and see if I can get similar results..

I am using the jtec and dac board with mach3 and can control the laser intensity using the a axis jogging on the keyboard, so I know it is working at least.. I ran the picture through piclaser and for some reason the white areas are coming up with an intensity value of 235..

Here are my settings in case i am doing something wrong.. Please let me know thanks a bunch!




Picture from above I am trying to duplicate results..


Here is a snip-it of the gcode to see the bottom left corner and it shows A-0.0235

Code: Select all

( File: Welcom.bmp )
( 12-24-2017 at 10:58:30 )
( PicLaser v. 2.1.2)
( J-Tech 3D )
( FeedRate = 025 )
( Pixel Resolution = 0.0060 )
( Max. Laser Value -.0255 )
( Min. Laser Value .0000 )
( Engraving Angle = 45 degrees )
G90 G64
G20
G1 F25
G1
G1 X0.00 Y0.00
M03
A-0.0255
G1 Y4.1580
G1 X3.9180
G1 Y0.0000
G1 X0.0000

M03
G1 X0 Y0.006
A-0.0235
G1 X0 Y0.012
A-0.0235
G1 X0.006 Y0.006
A-0.0235
G1 X0.012 Y0
A-0.0235
G1 X0.018 Y0
A-0.0235
G1 X0.012 Y0.006

[Picengravertoo]

First, the jpg image you downloaded has gray shades in it. It's not pure Black & White. You will need to Dither it to 1bit B&W in the editor first. It will then save as a Windows .bmp format.

Second, for Mach3 you should use the Std. Gcode engraving profile, not the J-Tech. The J-Tech is for 3D printer controllers.

Third, your A axis direction pin must be reversed. You can correct it by changing it's direction in the Ports & Pins menu, or use a positive .0255 value in the Max Laser Value instead.

Like this:

Capture.JPG (45.01 KiB) Viewed 7669 times

[mchipser]

I got the mach3 settings changed but am unsure on how to dither the photo.. There are many different options to use, is one better than the other?

[Picengravertoo]

When my original image is a B&W logo, I use the Threshold Algorithm. When it's grayscale or color, I use the Atkinson Algorithm because it's adjustable for getting the results I'm looking for.

You may need to do some image editing first, then save, reopen and select the Algorithm you want to use and click the Dither button. Take a look at this thread. viewtopic.php?f=7&t=275