Combined CNC Engraving Technologies. Spindle + Laser

**JJWMACHINECO** · 28-02-2014

We tried something new that has been planned by us now for quite some time. Me and my son 3D spindle engraved a Laurel & Hardy height map greyscale with a 1/32" Ball End Mill with a 1/8" depth. We then laser engraved shades on it with analog modulation from the original image afterwards. We combined the gcode movements generated from Picengrave Pro 4 + Laser using both images to accomplish this. Our Dual 445nm Laser Diode's intersecting focal points follows the spindle engraving's contours up and down to maintain focus on the surface. This is the very first time ever trying to do this.

PicEngrave CNC Image Engraving Software

Picengrave Pro 4 CAD Cam CNC Software Image to Gcode Lithophane Laser Engraving | eBay

**EddyCurrent** · 28-02-2014

Now that's what I call a laser ! it takes pyrography to a new level

**JJWMACHINECO** · 28-02-2014

Thank you,

It was a fun build and project, that's for sure. We can actually laser engrave shades on wood, mirrors, artist canvas, leather and something painted white with our 445nm laser diodes. The white paint and white leather gives us the closest to 8bit shading. We are experimenting all the time on different kinds of materials and processes.

Jeff

**george uk** · 16-07-2014

Hi

did you build the head on this ? any plans.

Amy very impressed, have you tried it on stone.

**JJWMACHINECO** · 16-07-2014

Originally Posted by george uk

Hi

did you build the head on this ? any plans.

Amy very impressed, have you tried it on stone.

Thank you. Yes, me and my son built the laser head using two 9mm Nichia 445nm diodes with two Flexmod P3 drivers. It has a total of 4.5W max power, but does not have enough power to engrave on stone. It was a one off build, so no plans are available.

**Boyan Silyavski** · 10-12-2014

Hi, some questions, if you can shed some light:

-what goggles you use for adjusting and looking at whats going on? i have been looking at Eagle Pair® 190-540nm OD4+, what exactly would i need to see when adjusting and working with the laser?

-Is this driver ok? I am considering it, cause its here in Europe
http://www.ebay.es/itm/161353680119?...84.m1423.l2649

-How to adjust the driver to 2.4A so it would not burn the diode, cause it can output up to 3A. i searched for this, but as am really not into electronics

- i am looking at the Nichia NDB7875, very roughly maybe equivalent to your 2 diodes. is it better to buy a double driver and in the future fix 2 of them and achieve ~5-6W. I mean is there any real benefit, for engraving in general and gray scale engraving?

**JJWMACHINECO** · 10-12-2014

Originally Posted by silyavski

Hi, some questions, if you can shed some light:

-what goggles you use for adjusting and looking at whats going on? i have been looking at Eagle Pair® 190-540nm OD4+, what exactly would i need to see when adjusting and working with the laser?

-Is this driver ok? I am considering it, cause its here in Europe
http://www.ebay.es/itm/161353680119?...84.m1423.l2649

-How to adjust the driver to 2.4A so it would not burn the diode, cause it can output up to 3A. i searched for this, but as am really not into electronics

- i am looking at the Nichia NDB7875, very roughly maybe equivalent to your 2 diodes. is it better to buy a double driver and in the future fix 2 of them and achieve ~5-6W. I mean is there any real benefit, for engraving in general and gray scale engraving?

Those laser safety glasses will be fine for adjusting and watching progress of the engraving. That is a good analog/TTL driver and I would recommend it. The driver should have instructions for setting the threshold and maximum output amps. That is what the potentiometers are for on the driver board. The Nichia NDB7875 is what we are using. The advantage of engraving greyscale is it gives you better shading results compared to pulsing the laser and creating allot of dots to get shades.