So I switched to the Edge version of Smoothie firmware & decided to do some tests to compare the quality of the raster engrave.
So, the first 2 images are Master firmware (far right) & then Edge firmware (just to the left of the far right).
Then I realised that I should probably check my focus on my bed etc. Turns out I have been engraving with the cutting bed 5mm lower than the focal point, so thus my 3mm plywood was focused approximately 2mm below the surface of it, so I was way out of focus.
So, I fixed up my focal point to right at the top of the cutting bed, then tried again with the same settings (500 white, 400 black) which is the 2nd from the left image. From there I tested slightly different settings (400 white, 200 black) & got the left most image result (almost perfect in my opinion).
@Alex_Krause either firmware.bin or firmware-cnc.bin will work, but I recommend the cnc build as it is geared towards cnc instead of 3d printers, especially if you have an lcd panel.
@Ariel_Yahni_UniKpty+Peter van der Walt Oh right, I didn’t realise that was where to get it. I’ll bookmark that spot on github. I’ll be interested to see if there is different results with the one from there.
@Yuusuf_Sallahuddin_Y would you mind sharing that image and your settings? I’d like to compare results to see if I’m getting similar quality with the same settings as a baseline of sorts.
@Carl_Fisher Actually, here is the image. 72dpi. Size will be approx 60x70mm.
Settings I’ve used were 400 white, 200 black for the best results. Spot size is set to 0.1 in LaserWeb. I have my laser focused at the top of my cutting bed, so the base of the 3mm plywood.
My relevant smoothie config settings are:
default_feed_rate 27000 # Default rate ( mm/minute ) for G1/G2/G3 moves
default_seek_rate 27000 # Default rate ( mm/minute ) for G0 moves
acceleration 4000 # Acceleration in mm/second/second.
x_axis_max_speed 30000 # mm/min
y_axis_max_speed 30000 # mm/min
alpha_max_rate 30000.0 # mm/min
beta_max_rate 30000.0 # mm/min
laser_module_pwm_period 200 # this sets the pwm frequency as the period in microseconds
