I just ordered a 50W ,4040 cutter which will come installed with standard Chinese Moshi firmware and PC software. I would like to understand what the various options are for upgrading, compatible PC software, etc., but there seems to be TONS to variations. I’m not shy about the technical stuff; I built a small GRBL-driven laser engraver a while back, but I want to understand what the community as a whole is doing so I can maximize my investment, minimize expenses, and make cool stuff with the least hassle. So, the question: Is there some kind of overview, grid, guide to what hardware/firmware/PC software/pluggins go with what?
I know my machine comes with Moshi, but I know there’s also Corel Draw, Laser Draw, Arduino based controllers, RAMPS, various InkScape plug ins, LaserWeb, and probably tons more.
Can someone steer me to some kind of comprehensive overview?
What is the current “best” setup that hobbyists are using?
OK good time for an explaination:
A K40 or bigger one, arrived with proprietary hardware and software, Software being the weakness. In open sources softwares you have some very good one, like Visicut or Laserweb, but to run them you need open hardware too.
Now with time passing, we can say arduino/Ramps are a bit old and not as powerfull as ARM based board (like Smoothie). things like Acceleration need more horse power.
the best solution today is smoothieboard or compatible.
that said Visicut or Laserweb work with Marlin board (but not as well as Smoothie).
Stephane, thanks for the overview. Very helpful. So, I /think/ we’re talking about three separate configurations in order of age/quality- Moshi (as shipped), RAMPs, Smoothie.
Is there any kind of backward compatibility with the driving PC software, or are the GCodes (or whatever codes) incompatible?
Anyone want to put together a nice grid?
Visicut is Mac/windows/linux no need of Gcode, print directly from it, Laserweb is on Chrome (+server)
both free to download, have a look
check my youtube video too
Thanks everyone for their input. These additions all help my point that there are many (but not THAT many) options, but it’s pretty confusing to know what goes with what.
