Laser controller for existing machine

[_Mark_]

Hi! I built a DIY CNC machine that I use for laser cutting/engraving.
Until now I did simple jobs so my controller was fine.

Today I'm interested in raster engraving, hence I'm looking for a controller that allows spindle changes on-the-fly. As you know the laser power is usually set by the PWM output, bound to the S command. But common cnc controller will stop the movements when such a command is found and this should be avoided.

Right now I have a TinyG controller. Looking at its github repository the project seems almost dead (no commits since two years!). Anyway I found a forked firmware that reduced a lot this issues but doesn't fix it completely.
Another common controller is GRBL for Arduino: it's not updated since a long time too but it was designed with the "laser mode" feature that is exactly what I'm looking for.

Before buy an Arduino board and a suitable shield, I wonder if it's a good choice or there are something else better for this kind of job. My budget is limited to few hundred dollars but perhaps there's something better than an 8-bit MCU :-)

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[wmgeorge]

Do you have standard stepper motors and drives? If so I would highly suggest spending $300 or so and putting in a DSP controller. I built a machine and used GRBL and the like, it was never worth more than just a toy to play with. You can buy new ones at LightObject dot com and they come with some pretty decent software that will let you do everything you want. BTW this is not a K40 machine is it?

[_Mark_]

Do you have standard stepper motors and drives? If so I would highly suggest spending $300 or so and putting in a DSP controller.

Yes, I have standard stepper motors. Right now, using TinyG, I haven't standard drivers (because TinyG has them built-in) but I have some spares around.

I built a machine and used GRBL and the like, it was never worth more than just a toy to play with.

Interesting to know...

You can buy new ones at LightObject dot com and they come with some pretty decent software that will let you do everything you want. BTW this is not a K40 machine is it?

Weird, I get error 403 (Access denied) when visiting that website.
No, it's not a K40 machine. It was based upon LitePlacer that I have modified to host a 6W 445 nm laser module.

[wmgeorge]

Laser cutter and engraving machine metal wood. Sacramento CA works fine for me. Yes my DIY laser project was a 5 watt blue light laser, had over $500 invested. Got tired of messing with it and sold the whole works for $150 (I think) and purchased a real co2 machine I could so something with. I also have a 20 watt fiber laser.