I’m thinking that a variation of the original pen mount that I remixed for the LR3 could be modified to hold one of these laser modules. I’ve been considering making a new version of that that has some type of a quick release, so that there is a base that stays mounted, and attachments for different tools that could be quickly swapped in and out.
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What kind of laser features are supported through the board? For instance are you referring to power supply? On off for start and stop? Power settings for options of cut depth?
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When you all cut with laser on either Primo or LowRider, do you just use dust collection for smoke/fumes? Or do you build enclosure with fan and duct etc?
What kind of laser features are supported through the board?
It is not the board, but the Marlin firmware that has the support. V1 sells the Rambo and the SKR Pro, so they have tested the laser support and enable in the firmware for those two boards. Laser support is not enabled for the Marlin versions V1 maintains for other boards. About seven lines of code need to change in the configuration file to enable laser support for these other boards.
As for the type of support, I’m not sure I can tell you the internal technical details. It enables inline laser commands (using the S parameter of G0 - G4 g-codes), and I believe there is some power scaling based on changing feedrates due to acceleration changes. The is a substantial quality improvement for both cutting and engraving using this method over the old method of using fan g-codes to turn on and scale the laser. I believe I also read here that further laser improvements have recently been made in Marlin, but I don’t think they have made it to the V1 releases yet, though they should be in the V1 daily builds.
As part of Marlin laser support, there is an enable pin, but my laser module does not use it. As for power, there is nothing in the laser support that controls the power supply directly. The support just provides a PWM signal that is used by the laser module to moderate the power (including setting it to zero). Personally, I use an IOT relay and fan g-codes to control the power to my router and my laser power supply…and my air assist.
As for smoke, my “shop” is, unfortunately, in a well ventilated and unheated space. The most I do is run a fan to pull some smoke away from where I’m hanging out during laser cutting. This is not a solution for a proper shop.
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Just to throw a wrench in the works…the new unreleased bleeding edge of our Malrin builds do not have the laser enabled. That is because Marlin just released a huge Laser update that fixes a lot of timing issues. So I will hopefully be testing and updating our firmware for new release to take advantage of the new hotness.
The current release does still have the laser enabled to be clear.
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Regarding smoke extraction, you probably will need something to vent the smoke outside, even if you operate in a garage or other mildly vented space. I use a dust collector blower connected to a small box with 1/4” honeycomb cell 1” thick aluminum on one side, with exhaust sealed to one of my lower garage vents. The honeycomb is used is like this:
I supported it off the bottom of the box using 1” galvy angle bracket material 1” from the edges and 6” on center, screwed to the bottom. The bottom of the box is lined with thin alum sheet so it won’t burn.
You can also use a regular vacuum as long as you have a way to vent exhaust outside with it. My shop vac has an exhaust port for example. Usually vac noise makes it better to just run a long suction hose and park the vacuum outside.
[edit: If you will be cutting mostly, even if just cardboard, I would recommend trying the bigger 40W Neje with 2 diodes. You mostly hear it recommended for cutting thicker woods, but the fact is with all that power you can plow that much faster through lesser materials as well. Moving a more powerful laser faster also typically results in cleaner less charred cuts. Otoh if you plan to also etch dithered images etc, then a 2.5W laser may be better suited. The neje are hard to control for etching, and the 2.5w can cut cardboard but a bit slower. I personally have both lasers; 40w neje for cutting, and 2.5w ox laser for etching.
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