Hi I would like to upgrade my k40 it's been sat in my workspace for 2 years still wrapped Like you I wanted more control while it's a small bed I can just about cope with it's size for home use I want to use lightburn on it and alsy have depth in my text and engraving I can't find any info on the make and brand plus the supplier of controller you used Any help will be very useful please
@6:20 May I suggest you take the blue plastic covering off the metal shielding. I saw it on another video and they made the point that covering something that's designed to be cool in plastic is not a good idea. I took mine off straight away. Also...I'm using K40 Whisperer and Inkscape and my results are just as good. Am I missing something? Thanks for uploading
Hi, thanks for the comment. I'm not sure which piece of "metal shielding" you are referring to? Inkscape is a very useful tool which I also use. I started out using K40 Whisperer also and it works OK. However for my Ortur laser I downloaded the free trial of Lightburn to try. WOW! It is a game changer. It is much more than just controller software. For many designs it is all you need. The Art and Materials Libraries I found particularly useful. Thanks for watching, have a great day!
@@craftworks7232 At 6:20, when you're messing with the wires, there the stainless steal box with the CE label on it, it's got a CPU fan in it...That's the thing that has the blue plastic protection on it. I thought it was anodised (or something) at first but it's just thin plastic sheet. Laters...
@@alantaylor2694 I have never had a problem with the power supply overheating. I just finished a 2 hour session cutting ply at around 10 mA and the box wasn't even warm. If it ever got hot there would be a serious problem!
I never installed it! Before I used K40 Whisperer which was OK but Lighburn takes things to a whole new level and it not expensive for what it can do. Thanks for watching, have a great day!
Having just added one the boards to my existing K40, I'm not getting anywhere near the quality of engraving you are achieving. Are you running each lighburn engrave with 'Constant Power' set on? If so have you increased the overscan percentage?
Hi, I do not use constant power, overscan is set to 2.5% You can get the file I made here : drive.google.com/file/d/1-SK2Q0ynII4a8m__4YWCRodw8RKsltnZ/view?usp=sharing Thanks for watching and have a great day!
Thanks I’ll give it a try. I’ve been in touch with Cedric about the approach to putting a custom spindle speed mapping together to better tune the variable power. I must admit I’d not have found the board without your video 👍
@@craftworks7232 I downloaded the file and ran it through the K40 with the settings in the Lightburn file. Everything worked fine. I realise I’d been optimistic running the speed at 300 mm/s. Even at 100 mm/s it’s a 3x speed increase from my diode laser. Thanks for sharing the file.
@@MrFatlab You're welcome! If you want to keep in touch you can email gizmohombre@gmail.com I have messed around with images onto tiles and other stuff so feel free to ask. Always useful to bounce ideas off people!
Looks like a nice board, I am using the Cohesion 3d board with lightburn, I left the control potentiometer in place (actually replaced it with a 10 turn pot for better control) this lets me set the power level so that when Lightburn is set to 100% it limits the tube current to 18mA, so no chance of overdriving the tube. I also found that the original connectors on the K40 were very poorly crimped, a small tug on the wire could pull the wire out of the connector, not a good idea at mains voltage!
Interesting idea with the pot, so far I'm happy with the control from Lightburn. The overall construction of the K40 is very shoddy. I had all sorts of crap rolling around in the bottom of mine, loose nuts being one of them! You gets what you pay for! What is your approach to "test firing" the laser? Thanks for watching, have a great day!
@@craftworks7232 Hi, I have the 10 turn pot set to control the maximum power from the power supply, this gives 0 to 5 volts to the power supply, I also have a digital voltmeter module set to measure the control voltage. In normal use a voltage of 4.5 volts gives me 18 mA to the tube (100% power from lightburn) Fot test firing (for mirror alignment) I reduce this to around 0.6 volts this gives a nice small spot on the card when the "fire" button is pressed. I have rewired all the electrics on the K40 (important to check the earth connection, mine had a bolt to the metal bodywork, but the paint had not been removed, 15,000 volts with poor wiring in a badly earthed metal box... what could go wrong???)
@@zebo-the-fat I hear ya! Looking at the (lack) of earthing and having a glass tube filled with water attached to 15 Kv scared me so much I used a long stick to switch it on! What do you use your K40 for?
@@craftworks7232 Still learning! I use it to engrave slate coasters and it is excelent for cutting and marking acrylic sheet, also used it to cut and engrave signs from 3mm birch
The developer has just released a new board using the FluidNC (GRBL ESP32 successor) lasercutting.avataar120.com/en/2022/07/03/brand-new-k40-fluidnc/ Thanks for letting me know.
Just got this board, it's like I have a new machine! And the developer is very responsive and helpful for a noob like me...
Yes! It is amazing the difference, takes the K40 into another league. Thanks for watching, have a great day!
Unfortunately the website for that board is no longer working!!!!!!
Good video...I'm thinking of upgrading my mini grbl board, this looks a great upgrade
Hey thanks! I am very happy with it, it's working perfectly with the K40 and Lightburn. More projects coming to the channel soon!
Danke für zeigen und gut zu wissen ..... 👍🤟
Gern geschehen! Ich wünsche ihnen einen wunderbaren Tag!!
Hi I would like to upgrade my k40 it's been sat in my workspace for 2 years still wrapped
Like you I wanted more control while it's a small bed I can just about cope with it's size for home use
I want to use lightburn on it and alsy have depth in my text and engraving
I can't find any info on the make and brand plus the supplier of controller you used
Any help will be very useful please
Meerk40t is great software that will drive the stock board of a K40.
I am sure that Meerk40t like K40 Whisperer is a good way to start. In my opinion Lightburn is far superior. Thanks for watching, have a great day!
Great video, i was looking for a upgrade board in Europe and you have led me to it :)
You're welcome! There is a new version available now, link in the description. If you have any questions please ask. Have a great day!!
@@craftworks7232 I just ordered it :D
@@gaspererjavec1455 Great! It was a game changer for me, especially as I already had a Lightburn license for my Ortur diode laser.
@6:20 May I suggest you take the blue plastic covering off the metal shielding. I saw it on another video and they made the point that covering something that's designed to be cool in plastic is not a good idea. I took mine off straight away.
Also...I'm using K40 Whisperer and Inkscape and my results are just as good. Am I missing something?
Thanks for uploading
Hi, thanks for the comment. I'm not sure which piece of "metal shielding" you are referring to? Inkscape is a very useful tool which I also use. I started out using K40 Whisperer also and it works OK. However for my Ortur laser I downloaded the free trial of Lightburn to try. WOW! It is a game changer. It is much more than just controller software. For many designs it is all you need. The Art and Materials Libraries I found particularly useful. Thanks for watching, have a great day!
@@craftworks7232 At 6:20, when you're messing with the wires, there the stainless steal box with the CE label on it, it's got a CPU fan in it...That's the thing that has the blue plastic protection on it. I thought it was anodised (or something) at first but it's just thin plastic sheet.
Laters...
@@alantaylor2694 I have never had a problem with the power supply overheating. I just finished a 2 hour session cutting ply at around 10 mA and the box wasn't even warm. If it ever got hot there would be a serious problem!
same. How did u remove the old K40 program that the chinese company uses?
I never installed it! Before I used K40 Whisperer which was OK but Lighburn takes things to a whole new level and it not expensive for what it can do. Thanks for watching, have a great day!
You just tell your computer to uninstall it!
Having just added one the boards to my existing K40, I'm not getting anywhere near the quality of engraving you are achieving. Are you running each lighburn engrave with 'Constant Power' set on? If so have you increased the overscan percentage?
Hi, I do not use constant power, overscan is set to 2.5% You can get the file I made here : drive.google.com/file/d/1-SK2Q0ynII4a8m__4YWCRodw8RKsltnZ/view?usp=sharing Thanks for watching and have a great day!
Thanks I’ll give it a try. I’ve been in touch with Cedric about the approach to putting a custom spindle speed mapping together to better tune the variable power. I must admit I’d not have found the board without your video 👍
You're welcome! Have a great day!! @@MrFatlab
@@craftworks7232 I downloaded the file and ran it through the K40 with the settings in the Lightburn file. Everything worked fine. I realise I’d been optimistic running the speed at 300 mm/s. Even at 100 mm/s it’s a 3x speed increase from my diode laser. Thanks for sharing the file.
@@MrFatlab You're welcome! If you want to keep in touch you can email gizmohombre@gmail.com I have messed around with images onto tiles and other stuff so feel free to ask. Always useful to bounce ideas off people!
Nice Work
Hey thanks! I am very happy with it, it's working perfectly with the K40 and Lightburn. More projects coming to the channel soon!
Unfortunately the website for that board is no longer working!!!!!!
Works for me! maybe it was down for maintenance.
I see it working.
Looks like a nice board, I am using the Cohesion 3d board with lightburn, I left the control potentiometer in place (actually replaced it with a 10 turn pot for better control) this lets me set the power level so that when Lightburn is set to 100% it limits the tube current to 18mA, so no chance of overdriving the tube. I also found that the original connectors on the K40 were very poorly crimped, a small tug on the wire could pull the wire out of the connector, not a good idea at mains voltage!
Interesting idea with the pot, so far I'm happy with the control from Lightburn. The overall construction of the K40 is very shoddy. I had all sorts of crap rolling around in the bottom of mine, loose nuts being one of them! You gets what you pay for! What is your approach to "test firing" the laser? Thanks for watching, have a great day!
@@craftworks7232 Hi, I have the 10 turn pot set to control the maximum power from the power supply, this gives 0 to 5 volts to the power supply, I also have a digital voltmeter module set to measure the control voltage. In normal use a voltage of 4.5 volts gives me 18 mA to the tube (100% power from lightburn) Fot test firing (for mirror alignment) I reduce this to around 0.6 volts this gives a nice small spot on the card when the "fire" button is pressed.
I have rewired all the electrics on the K40 (important to check the earth connection, mine had a bolt to the metal bodywork, but the paint had not been removed, 15,000 volts with poor wiring in a badly earthed metal box... what could go wrong???)
@@zebo-the-fat I hear ya! Looking at the (lack) of earthing and having a glass tube filled with water attached to 15 Kv scared me so much I used a long stick to switch it on! What do you use your K40 for?
@@craftworks7232 Still learning! I use it to engrave slate coasters and it is excelent for cutting and marking acrylic sheet, also used it to cut and engrave signs from 3mm birch
Any info for sourcing the controller to restrict max power
Make module type and supplier would be great thanks
I could do that with the old board and k40 whisper.
Good video, thanks for help
You're welcome! have a great day!
link for board dont work
The developer has just released a new board using the FluidNC (GRBL ESP32 successor) lasercutting.avataar120.com/en/2022/07/03/brand-new-k40-fluidnc/ Thanks for letting me know.
@@craftworks7232 Unfortunately the website for that board is no longer either working!!!!!!
Out of stock :(
That is a shame! You can contact the developer at : avataraar.120@gmail.com Thanks for watching, have a great day!
Unfortunately the website for that board is no longer working!!!!!!
Cohesion3D board price is a joke!
At over half the price I paid for the K40 I agree! Fortunately the alternative is much more reasonable. Thanks for watching, have a great day!