Lightburn and a laser engraver question

A

allsmoke

Well-known member
Hi all. I'm currently using either a vinyl cutter to cut stencils and spraying graphics, or no film waterslide for graphics. I like the idea of the precision a laser engraver gives me.

I'm looking at the Atomstack p9 M50 engraver. Its a 10w output and small footprint. So suits what I want to do.

Anyone with experience got tips or suggestions for using Lightburn. How easy is it to line up the graphics for a newbie? Don't want to waste a bunch of enclosures.
Cheers
 
I went down the laser rabbit hole. Got a few different ones. Ended up using my Laserpecker 2 more than anything! Easiest laser to use. Its super fast and does a great job on pedals! Wish I would've bought that first, it would've saved me a fortune.
 
matt3310 said:
I went down the laser rabbit hole. Got a few different ones. Ended up using my Laserpecker 2 more than anything! Easiest laser to use. Its super fast and does a great job on pedals! Wish I would've bought that first, it would've saved me a fortune.
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Interesting. Do you have to do the pedal in 2 parts? For a 1590bb pedal, it seems like the 4x4 inch engraving wouldn't be great. But I love the compact design.

What make it easier than others. Do they not all generally use Lightburn or lsrgrbl?
 
Laserpecker has its own app. Super easy. You can design anything you want. Save the image to your phone, then use laserpecker app to do the burn. WAY easier and faster than Lightburn. doing two parts on this is very easy. The laser will outline where you're working.
 
Heres one I did for Jared James Nichols.

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Awesome work and thanks for the response. One last question. I see Laserpecker 2 and Laserpecker 2 pro. Do I need to get the pro or is the basic 2 ok?
 
I use Lightburn. Once you use it a couple times it’s pretty easy. Best way to line up your enclosure (without fiddling around by having the laser outline it) that I’ve found is to just export a thin outline trace and burn that into a piece of cardboard, then just plunk your enclosure down and good to go.

I use a Neje master 2, can do 6”x6”.
 
vigilante398 said:
Nope, I'm not that professional :ROFLMAO: If you do an eBay search for "A4 UV Printer" you'll find a lot that are similar to mine, mostly going around $2k or so.
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Yeah I saw those. I kinda figured you didn't drop $50k for printing pedal art!!!! Saw a used FULL ROOM size UV printer for $5k. It's pickup only in Arizona. But, like, it's like twice the size of my dodge ram.....
 
vigilante398 said:
Nope, I'm not that professional :ROFLMAO: If you do an eBay search for "A4 UV Printer" you'll find a lot that are similar to mine, mostly going around $2k or so.
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Does it make a stank? That’s my current problem now that I don’t have a shop space, burning paint with a laser is rather unpleasant 😆
 
Nostradoomus said:
Does it make a stank? That’s my current problem now that I don’t have a shop space, burning paint with a laser is rather unpleasant 😆
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The ink itself doesn't smell great if you're sniffing the bottles, but just running it doesn't have a noticeable smell. That's part of why the UV printer gets to live in the climate controlled workshop in the basement, while the laser has to stay in the garage.

My laser has a fume extraction port, so I drilled a hole in the wall of the garage and put a dryer vent in it with an inline exhaust fan, so now you can smell it outside the garage and inside :P
 
vigilante398 said:
The ink itself doesn't smell great if you're sniffing the bottles, but just running it doesn't have a noticeable smell. That's part of why the UV printer gets to live in the climate controlled workshop in the basement, while the laser has to stay in the garage.

My laser has a fume extraction port, so I drilled a hole in the wall of the garage and put a dryer vent in it with an inline exhaust fan, so now you can smell it outside the garage and inside :p
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I thought about building an acrylic case to go over mine with an extraction built in, would be pretty slick but the fact that all this crap just sits in my living room or kitchen is a bit of a deterrent haha.
 
Nostradoomus said:
I thought about building an acrylic case to go over mine with an extraction built in, would be pretty slick but the fact that all this crap just sits in my living room or kitchen is a bit of a deterrent haha.
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Back before I had a more workshop-friendly garage I used a small fan on one side and a soldering smoke absorber in a "push-pull" setup so I could run the laser in the bedroom. The fan was set low so it was just enough air movement to push the smoke close enough for the smoke absorber's fan to catch it. It doesn't completely get rid of the smell, but it helps bring it down to a more reasonable level.
 
vigilante398 said:
Back before I had a more workshop-friendly garage I used a small fan on one side and a soldering smoke absorber in a "push-pull" setup so I could run the laser in the bedroom. The fan was set low so it was just enough air movement to push the smoke close enough for the smoke absorber's fan to catch it. It doesn't completely get rid of the smell, but it helps bring it down to a more reasonable level.
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I do the same. Also more passes at lower power helps! Haha
 
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