Getting started and working on a few challenges

[mt_100]

I bought an engraver off of Banggood and the build went fine with a few videos and I am ready to do some cutting. My goal is to use the 65cmx50cm 6w laser to cut balsa for building RC airplanes. Mainly 1/16" and 1/8".

I downloaded the BenBox application as well as Inkscape and QCad for creating the files and have a file I want to cut. When I load it into BenBox it looks OK, but not great. I have the file in SVG and PNG formats. One thing that doesn't look right is the line isn't smooth, it's jagged and stepped. I need to learn how to clean that up. I attempted to cut and the machine didn't seem to cut a continuous line, more like different segments of the cut at a time and moving. It also didn't turn out right and ended up being a large burn hole before I stopped it.

Logically I cannot troubleshoot unless I first know the file is a valid file for cutting before chasing after other issues. Can someone assist with verifying the files are going to work, and if not help me identify why so I can fix them please?

[ggallant571]

I don't much care for the shades of red in the png version. Attached is the file converted single pixel BLACK/WHITE. I would suggest getting some scrap cardboard for test burns and getting or generating some simple test patterns.

[Zax]

Are you sure it's vector cutting (laser following the path) and not raster engraving (back and forth)?

You would need to trace the PNG to get a vector, I don't remember if Benbox supports that.

[mt_100]

Are you sure it's vector cutting (laser following the path) and not raster engraving (back and forth)?

You would need to trace the PNG to get a vector, I don't remember if Benbox supports that.

Good questions, I am not sure. What settings would I check?

Here is the process I attempted.

I scanned a paper plan as a bmp file
Imported into Inkscape and used the Trace Bitmap option
Cleaned up all the extra garbage that wasn't part of the image I wanted
Smoothed
Saved to SVG and then exported to png

I assume I missed some steps or didn't do something right.

ggallant571. Does the color matter? I had read to use red and .05mm for the line for cutting. Should I use something different?

I'll have to look around for a tutorial on how to get the file ready for cutting and laid out on the page as needed and sized correctly. Does anyone know of one?

[ggallant571]

When burn raster images (png , jpg, etc) the color gets converted into laser beam intensity. Colors in images are typically stored in 24 bit words with 8 bits for each RED, GREEN & BLUE. Another format is RGB plus background. It is up to the host utility (T2) to convert the 24 bit color into an 8-bit laser intensity. A simple method is to average the 3 colors. In this case an all RED would give a 33% intensity. Lasers are not linear but that would be on the light side.

Vector burns can be a somewhat different game. The host software could do a similar conversion or use the color to denote individual shapes for doing ordered cuts (inside first etc) and use a separate power value for the cutting operation.

[Tribo]

I did a test with your .svg on LaserGRBL and everything looks ok, just the circles don't look perfect. Maybe redoing them with the Ellipse tool.

https://youtu.be/9ACl025j8Pg