Arch Linux

tellmi

Member

Registered: 2012-12-03

Posts: 13

Laser Engraver & Software under Arch Linux

Does anyone have a laser engraver running? I'm looking for recommendations in terms of hardware, its Linux drivers (if necessary) and the software you are using to produce your engravings/cuts.

Thank you very much!

Marco

nichts

Member

Registered: 2020-11-14

Posts: 35

Re: Laser Engraver & Software under Arch Linux

A 3018 with an additional laser head is waiting to be assembled here. Will report, when I’m ready.

Connection to PC is done by a CH340, so no special drivers will be neccessary. System on board is GRBL (as it comes with the most cheap CNC machines), there is some related software in the AUR and plenty of documentation in this internet.

---

english is not my first language. If you find a mistake in this post, please mention it in your reply – this way I can learn.  TIA

nichts

Member

Registered: 2020-11-14

Posts: 35

Re: Laser Engraver & Software under Arch Linux

Had a first success with LaserGRBL and wine. Not the best choice, but since there doesn’t seem to be a dedicated software for laser engraving under Linux, and I do not know well enough yet how things work together, it was handy to check wether the hardware is functional and do some basic calibration and tests.

Next step will be to create the gcode directly from svg and send it to the machine via linuxcnc, cncjs, bcnc or someting like that. Will report if desired.

Edit: Inkscape with the »J Tech Photonics Laser Tool«-Plugin allows to export paths as GCode, which then can be sent to the machine using cncjs or similar. The result is quite impressive

Last edited by nichts (2020-12-06 18:32:08)

---

english is not my first language. If you find a mistake in this post, please mention it in your reply – this way I can learn.  TIA

tellmi

Member

Registered: 2012-12-03

Posts: 13

Re: Laser Engraver & Software under Arch Linux

Thank you for your update! Unfortunately that particular "J Tech Photonics Laser Tool" doesn't work on my computer. It is just grayed out in Inkscape, though I followed the instructions step by step. As far as I know, some NEJE laser engravers do work independently. It would be interesting, weather it would be possible to transfer the Code via FTP to their memory and then just let the laser read it and do the work. From AUR I'm giving heekscad and linuxcnc a try. Just checking, weather I could get the software running. If that works, I'll go for a real laser. :-)