FlyinFlynn

......providing they are of a suitable quality so as to have a decent thread on the end and not a Chinese +/- 0.5mm 'stamped' thread....... and a lock nut just to be sure......

I know prescription lenses are available for the PicoVR headset for a reasonable cost....https://honsvr.com/product/pico-4-prescription-lenses I have a set for my PicoVR, they seem to be a reasonable quality and remove the need to wear glasses while wearing my headset.....however.....it does make getting VR working in some games a pain because of the number of times I need to remove my headset ( and replace my glasses on my head) in order to read the instructions on the flat screen! I think it is even worse than that, screen artifacts, tearing and ailiasing cause even more loss of detail, especially with small sprites. VR is really, really impressive when observing large images but quickly lose clarity as the size of the object decreases.

.... I saw a review of a (IIRC) TEMU example a while ago... when stripped down it was found to contain just a cellphone vibrator motor...... Probably why some of the ceaper ones are useless! 🙂

Basil, there is no facility in LaserGRBL to generate shapes or draw stuff. That is done in CAD or drawing software. You must import the graphics file into LaserGRBL for it to convert the image file into gcode and then control the laser hardware to transfer the image to the workpiece. LaserGRBL will accept two different formats of drawing file, either raster files (.bmp, .jpg, .png or .gif. These are a sequential list of each bit of the image) or vector files (.svg, these are a list of lines that make up the image). If you have a jpg image, possibly from your camera, you go to 'File - Open File - navigate to the picture and click 'open'. Click 'one bit dithering', then 'next. Here you select the speed and power of the laser and the size of the finished image, then click 'create' and the software will generate the laser firing pattern. Click on the start arrow under the file folder icon and away you go. If you don't have a picture I have attached a JPG so you can try out the above steps to generate an engraving image and a wing rib SVG to show how LaserGRBL deals with a vector file to cut out a wing rib. W1.svg

OK. Maybe if you are using a laser machine that has a LOT of power I can see how you might want several different power settings to deal with thicker material....but 32? (count them) really? Just an example of how Lightburn, in attempting to make itself master of all trades IMHO becomes overly complicated for the vast majority of functions that the vast majority of hobby users need. Who really uses the drawing functions in Lightburn? (cue the "I do" responses) There are much better drawing software utilities that do a much better job of providing editing facilities that don't take up valuable real estate on your screen that could otherwise be employed displaying something useful. The last few models I have cut have been only 5 or 6 different woods and thicknesses of which only two different power settings were used and all at the same speed. Even I can remember those settings. Also, because of the way Lightburn organises its workflow, you also need to pre setup all those settings before starting the job, and remember which setting is for which particular wood/thickness, whereas in LaserGRBL the job is broken down into individual power & speed sections and the different cutting parameters are performed seperately. Again, only significant when you are using a higher power CO2 laser, which I, would hazard a guess, is not the majority case on this forum. Anyhoo..... Lightburn works for you, great, but it wasn't the best choice for me.

Argggh.......of course it is!

While it is true you do need to know and understand the physical limitations of your machine in order to enter those parameters into GRBL settings (something Lightburn does for you if you choose one of their pre-built machine settings) I don't think that is a bad thing. It will certainly help when stuff does go wrong if you are familiar with the settings and what they do. You are correct Ron, I do build my own machines, I really enjoy the many aspects of doing so (cad design, 3d printing, ordering stuff from aliexpress, building the frame, designing the PCB, building the controllers, sorting out a work flow). I found Lightburn wouldn't connect to the valid serial port initially and once I had sorted that out I found that Lightburn has far too many windows to keep arranged on the screen. I really wasn't interested in engraving anything above a very basic function and found the little green and red indicators not to my liking. I think LaserGRBL interface looks better than Lightburn too, it is less cluttered with redundant icons and nobody needs 20 different cutting speed/intensity icons. Nobody! " Once you become more familiar with the interface and tools, LightBurn will allow you to create more advanced projects with less of a learning curve." say's it all right there for me maybe I didn't spend enough time fighting with the software to appreciate the finer points of Lightburn.... not that I would have stayed with it for £90 anyway, for me, I don't think there is £90 worth of extra features over what LaserGRBL gives you for free. You have a dated version in your post Ron, LaserGRBL is up to v7.14.1 now

The dynamic power function comes from the firmware your controller uses, not the software you use to instruct the controller what to do. In other words, it is not in xtools or lightburn, or LaserGRBL for that matter, it is managed from the grbl or marlin firmware. In GRBL it is an option you can select from the GRBL Settings interface and in Marlin I believe you need to change a setting before compiling the firmware.....but don't hold my feet over the fire on that one... I am not sure. Stick with xtools.... it has a less steep learning curve. 🙂

When using GRBL (or fluidNC) as the firmware in the controller there is an option you can select in the GRBL settings to enable Laser mode. This will make some basic changes to the way the firmware controls the hardware. From https://github.com/gnea/grbl Laser Mode : The new "laser" mode will cause Grbl to move continuously through consecutive G1, G2, and G3 commands with spindle speed changes. When "laser" mode is disabled, Grbl will instead come to a stop to ensure a spindle comes up to speed properly. Spindle speed overrides also work with laser mode so you can tweak the laser power, if you need to during the job. Switch between "laser" mode and "normal" mode via a $ setting. Dynamic Laser Power Scaling with Speed : If your machine has low accelerations, Grbl will automagically scale the laser power based on how fast Grbl is traveling, so you won't have burnt corners when your CNC has to make a turn! Enabled by the M4 spindle CCW command when laser mode is enabled! Once you have enabled laser mode you can use M4 to fire the laser in dynamic power mode or M3 to fire the laser in constant mode (whatever the Sxxx setting is)

It is silicone Phil, just a hard silicone tube not fuel tube!

My first thought was a semi blocked nozzle, but you said you changed that on the first instance. You have also changed the filament and drive and idler gears. Time to think is the hotend temperature dropping during the print and is the extruder wiring intact? Have you tested the extrude function manually to see if the pla is leaving the nozzle cleanly?

Not ruffled any feathers, I just disagree with the viewpoint. LaserGRBL also has a power/speed test, a cutting test, an accuracy test and a shake test that you can use if you wish. It also keeps track of your laser lifespan and has a materials database. After your free trial is up I suggest you try LaserGRBL for a while and see if there is anything that pops up that is worth the £90

What software and firmware are you using? GRBL and its derivatives have a 'laser mode' to deal with just this problem. I believe Marlin does too but as I don't use Marlin I don't know the commands. GRBL employs laser mode with M4 instead of M3 to fire the laser (after enabling laser mode in the GRBL settings)

Not sure I agree with the writers conclusions. I found Lightburns interface clumsy and clunky, just personal preference I guess, especially if you are trying to install a non-commercial cutter. The only thing that I found that was potentially better on Lightburn was the ability to setup the different powers and speeds of individual cuts before sending the gcode to the cutter. LaserGRBL handles this differently by assigning a colour to the cut and selecting the colour for each operation meaning you have to run the job for as many times as there are colours. In practice though I found there are never more than two colours (normally one for engraving the part designation and the other for the outline cuts) so not a major issue for me. The claimed lack of support for file types is not an issue at all. Laser GRBL, it is true, does not accept dxf format, but every dxf software I know of exports to SVG, so I think it is a non-issue. LaserGRBL accepts all the common raster file types. I guess it comes down to trying both and paying the £90 if you want to.

I would have to disagree with you on this point Richard. In what way do you think Lightburn is totally superior to LaserGRBL?