Good news, everybody!
Today, @jon and I installed the new Ruida 6445 controller on our trusty Redsail laser cutter. A big Thank You to everybody who chipped in on the fundraiser, too.
For those who have made the switch to Lightburn, the process is pretty much the same as it’s always been. For those who are still on LaserCAD, why? Who hurt you? it’ll be a small adjustment.
New controller talks to Lightburn only. If you’re in need of a refresher, or you’re new to Lightburn, check out their tutorials page. Or post in #laser, people love to help out!
We’ve made the decision to leave the control panel accessible to the end user, to keep its new functions more accessible - it gives much more helpful error messages than the old one. Please don’t change the settings
Couple workflow changes to observe:
Job Origin
The new controller supports different job origins, which can make aligning workpieces much easier. Essentially, you set an Origin on the laser, set a Job Origin on your workpiece, and the laser will run the job, starting from the laser origin. Unless you want to use this, make sure Lightburn is set to start from Absolute Coords.
Air Assist
Our new controller supports air assist per-layer in software. I’m waiting on another solenoid to come in, to fully enables this, so this won’t apply fully until next week:
The laser will be configured with a low-flow air blast enabled whenever actively running a job. This keeps the lens free of debris and is required when running the laser. This is similar to the old air system, but at a lower pressure, and flow is not user-adjustable.
If Air is enabled on the layer, the laser will run a high-flow air assist, which can offer cleaner cuts and enable the cutting of thicker materials. I’ll update this thread when the rest of the parts arrive.
Cool Stuff:
There are a bunch of new features facilitated by the new controller. One of them is improved laser power ramping, so you can do 3D engraving. Check out this ramp, and this countersunk hole.
Start your job with the wrong power or speed settings? You can pause and adjust your speeds, right on the controller!
So enjoy the new rig! If you have any questions, please reply to this thread, so we can keep everything accessible in the same place.