Newbie- what software do you need to run a laser cutter

[davidgeorge212]

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Hi,
I have taken several classes in laser cutting using AutoCAD as the drawing software. I have been thinking about buying a laser cutter for my own personal use but I was wondering what type of software does the laser cutter itself use. When I was in my laser cutting class we had to save our autocad file to a jump drive and then load it on the computer connected to the laser cutter. The computer had some kind of software that showed the path for the laser to follow and allowed us to type a name in for etching but Im not sure what that software was. Do cnc machines usually come with their own software to run them or is there another program I would have to get to do this? I already have AutoCAD on my computer as well as Pro-E I am just not sure what other kind of software I am going to need.

The laser I am looking to get is probably an Epilog mini 24

Thanks,
David G.

[Rodney Gold]

You need Coreldraw , tho you can use acad , most likely akwardly , Corel is the sort of standard in the laser industry

[davidgeorge212]

ive heard it was the oposite that autocad was standard for laser cutting. In the class I took at school, we drew our design on autocad and then transfered the file to the computer that was connected to the laser cutter. The computer that was connected to the laser cutter had some kind of software, it wasnt corel draw, but we could pull up the autocad file on it and it would show you the lines that the laser was going to follow. It also had a location to where you could set the power of the laser and put text in there and change it to etch instead of cut all the way through. I just dont remeber what program that was that they had to do that. After the program showed the right path for the laser we sent it to the laser and pulled up the program on the laser to cut it. It seemed pretty simple with the setup they had there but i would have like to know what software they were using. I believe the laser cutter they had was a world models brand with an 18" wide bed.

[davidgeorge212]

I am only looking to get one for my own personal use. I dont really plan on making a business out of it. What I am wanting to do is mainly cut 2d model airplane parts out of light weight balsa wood and maybe light weight plywood as well.

[PhillyDee]

Depends on the laser cutter! Mine uses NewlyDraw, which can do the most basic of things. But it is the software that controls the laser itself, I do not believe mine is compatible with any other program. If its a cheap chinese laser, then this is likely what you will have to use.

The good thing, is that it will import DXF files. I find Coreldraw much better to work with for art style things, while I also use Autocad (Although I am finally having to upgrade from my r14 I have! 2004 here I come . . . . ) for the more engineering type projects where accuracy and size is much more important.

Epilog lasers look as though they use a print driver system, and so can be used with most graphics packages. Best off asking Epilog themselves as to what software they recommend. I am guessing Corel looking at their tech support site. http://www.epiloglaser.com/tech_support.htm

[DaveDoesIT]

Originally Posted by davidgeorge212 ive heard it was the oposite that autocad was standard for laser cutting.

Hmmmm, Rodney Gold with 30 years experience runs a huge engraving and Awards business with many many lasers and 50 employees. If he says Corel Draw and you contradict him from your vast experience in the laser engraving world, who am I to believe?

If you know the answers then why ask here?

Dave

[markhaat]

Good evening. I have been in the laser business for many years. I actually work for Kern Lasers. We sell CorelDraw with our laser systems. However any graphics software and many cad programs can be made compatible with our machine software, KCAM. Kcam controls the machine but is not a design program. We prefer Coreldraw over something such as Autocad because graphics and vector lines can be sent to the machine as one file. Autocad works great for vector cutting but not so swell with photographs. Coreldraw is a standard with many other manufacturers also.

[Rodney Gold]

Corel is the standard with small machines like the one you want to buy , Acad is the standard for the bigger kw type machines. However it's the machine driver that will dictate what works better , most of the small mainstream lasers have drivers that are optimised for Corel , some allow you to "print" directly from Acad or Illustrator. The issue of what software to use is how many hoops you want to jump through , if the driver doesnt support acad , you would have to import into corel or whatever program the driver integrates with ... import and export is often a process fraught with issues. You might not get what you designed
The other consideration is what design program you are familiar with , if you are an Acad guru and have no Corel experience and dont want to learn another program , then choose a machine that WILL support your package.
The driver is the most important part of the whole package, they are not all created equal and some have features that might or not be vital to your operation. In general the mainstream machines like epilog , uls , trotec, laserpro , gravograph all have good drivers.
What you really need to do is take examples of the files you will be using to the laser guys wanting to sell you a machine and ask em to run them. see how they cope with em.

[shobley]

Is anyone aware of CAM software that can produce a true full width raster toolpath for laser engraving? I saw a movie clip of an Epilog that was rastering at a very high speed - most impressive.

Most of the software I've looked at will raster individual pockets, but they don't seem to be able to raster the full width of the design - like a dot matrix printer would do.

Surely this would be the fastest way to complete a design using a laser, where you don't need to move the head in Z to start pocketing?

Steve

[Rodney Gold]

Most mainstream drivers do full width rastering , in fact one of the desirable features in the driver is to be able to "cluster" as often full width rastering is a huge waste of time , for example if you have a rastered element in the top left and one in the top right corner , it would be much faster to complete the one element and then move to the next rather than scan back and forth doing both at the same time as head travel will be huge amounts longer.
Some drivers have the ability to see "white space" and depending on the value you set , will complete a element that has white space greater than the value you set.

[Ken_Shea]

This has been a interesting discussion, still I am confused as to what is required of any CAD program different then the other.

Why would Corel be better the say Acad or the CAD I will be using?

Is it the file format options?

Hope that makes some sense as it is difficult to ask informed questions while being quite ignorant of the process.

Thanks
Ken

[Rodney Gold]

Consider the laser as both a sort of dot matrix/laser printer and a pen plotter , if you were doing only plotting , in all likelyhood Acad or any other CAD package would be all you require , but considering it is also a printer , you need something that will do good output to a printer and most pure CAD packages don't.
Corel is a great mix of both and it's cheap and quite easy to learn , unlike ACAD which is 10x more in price and about 20x more difficult to learn.
Corel will import most file formats and export them too..the latest versions do this rather well unlike earlier versions which had some translation issues.