George Fomitchev, CEO of Endurance Robots, explains how to connect lasers to CNC machines
Tutorial: Connection of the laser, 1 W and more (1000 mW) to a laser engraver, a CNC machine, a plotter (MakeBlock Plotter XY 2.0, DIY), and a 3D printer (WanHao, Reprap, Ultimaker)
Customers often ask us how to connect a powerful laser to this or that CNC machine or plotter, if the circuit board of the device does not have a separate power supply for a laser, and the current going through the control board is minimal and does not exceed, for example, 0.5 A.
The DIY и MakeBlock engraver board is powered with 12 v and 0.5-1 А current, not more.
1W diode lasers require 1-2 А и 12 v current; 5 W lasers and higher need more than 3 A.
To mount a more powerful laser on a plotter (such as a MakeBlock XY plotter 2.0 KIT) or on a small Neje engraver additional power supply is needed. It is possible to install a separate battery unit and a driver, for instance. [Read more…] about Endurance Robots: How to connect a laser to a CNC machine