Hi everyone,

I recently installed a small laser on my Desktop 2418.

I asked for help from the Shopbot technical staff but it turned out they did not point me in the right direction and I ended up spending many $ on a new control-card for nothing. That’s why I’m posting this. I want to share some info with others who would be interested in doing something similar with their CNCs.

Here is a very brief overview:

1- Bought a 3.5w laser from china (laser, power supply, goggles …).
2- Found an existing signal on the Shopbot Desktop control-card to control the laser with variable intensity (as opposed to full power/no power).
3- Used a couple of electronic devices to interface the laser control with the Desktop so that they don’t share common ground (completely isolated electrically).
4- Created a new post-processor for VCarve to create cut-files.

For a detail explanation, you can check this pdf document :
https://www.dropbox.com/s/aow9m5t0c2...notes.pdf?dl=0