atomstack laser

Laser cutters and engravers come in so many shapes and sizes that it can be difficult to figure out what works best for your individual needs and application. Sometimes you have large projects that need to be cut or engraved, but you don't have enough room to work. Sometimes you're looking for an industrial-scale output from a laser that can handle repetitive items quickly and accurately. Whether you have faced some of the challenges listed above, or you just know you need a large format laser cutter and engraver, this article will help you understand the situation so you can make an informed decision.

ATOMSTACK A5 M50 Pro

What are large format laser cutters and engravers?

Large format generally refers to an expanded or enlarged version of the typical size of the product. In this case, we take the term and apply it to CO2 laser cutters and engravers. Standard-sized laser cutters and engravers are available in the Muse Series and P-Series lineup of laser systems, as well as some large-format laser cutter and engraver options.

Large Format Desktop Laser System

The most common desktop lasers, such as the Muse Core and 3D Autofocus, are considered standard sized CO2 laser cutters and engravers. Both machines are based on the same platform and feature a 20" x 12" laser work area. This workspace size would be considered a typical work area for cutting and engraving most projects.

These two machines are great if you have a limited physical location or budget to buy a laser system. Since they are tabletop units, they can be easily installed in almost any room or workspace, and they are very easy to move from one location to another.

Laser Engraver

Sometimes your project will be larger than the workspace that will fit in one of these standard laser machines. If this is the case, and you already own one of these machines, or if your budget doesn't allow you to buy a larger unit, there may still be options to enable your laser machine to cut and engrave on a larger scale. Muse Series desktop laser systems do just that. One option for Muse is to use the included patented removable floor. You can remove the floor from the machine, place the laser on top of the larger sized item that needs to be cut or engraved, then use the reference markers in the RetinaEngrave software to break the design into smaller pieces and you're ready to go. Bigger Another option for range cutting or engraving is to use the latest version of the optional Muse Swivel Riser Combo Attachment, which includes front and rear access doors so you can engrave longer pieces of material without having to lift and place the entire Muse on the material .

ATOMSTACK A10 Pro

If you find yourself with more budget at your disposal, a large format laser machine like the Muse Titan will be a more convenient option for large format projects. The workspace inside the Muse Titan is 48 inches long and 24 inches deep. This will significantly increase your capabilities and efficiency compared to most standard CO2 laser cutter and engraver models.

If you find you still need to use larger materials, the Titan has built-in pass-through doors on the front and rear of the case, and it also features a patented removable floor like the aforementioned Muse Core and 3D autofocus models.

Large format laser cutters and engravers like the Muse Titan are perfect if you know you'll be working with large projects and materials a lot. Not only does it have a larger work area, but it also has higher power options (75W, 90W, 100W) than the standard for premium desktops (40W, 45W). This increased power will allow you to cut thicker materials and engrave deeper at higher speeds.

ATOMSTACK P9 M50

Large Format Industrial Laser Systems

If you find that you need to get work done faster, perhaps on an industrial scale, and the need for faster turnaround times increases, you might consider a high-volume floor-standing unit like the P-Series laser. These laser systems are available in a variety of size and power options and work well in industrial warehouse environments. Advanced benchtop lasers can also work in some of these situations, but when a floor-standing unit with a higher capacity is required, a higher-capacity industrial laser may be the way to go.

Laser engraving is one of the best ways to add a personal touch to your projects. From logos on business cards to initials on cutting boards, you'll always find new uses for lasers.

From my testing, I've found that if you want to do some serious laser cutting, a diode laser isn't a great solution. However, if you want to do laser engraving, this is a great option. Specifically, I do a lot of laser engraving on hardwood, plywood, cardboard, kraft paper, and even stone.

A5 Pro Laser Engraver

Acrylic is also supported, just make sure you work in a well ventilated area as the fumes are horrible. Never laser engrave or cut PVC that emits hydrogen chloride gas.

Now for the fun stuff. Here are some tests I did with this unit. First, the fun pig butcher design on the cutting board. You can easily engrave names, initials or even entire recipes on the surface.

Cardboard projects are always fun to put together. You can get dark engravings, and the uniform surface is a great material for laser engraving.

The next one is the largest raster engraving I've ever done on plywood. Lightburn uses dithering to simulate grayscale effects. Dither with small dots to simulate shades of gray. The entire sculpting process for this 10x10 portrait took less than four hours.

Having a laser is one thing. Sending the design to the laser is another story. This usage is very difficult, but Atomstack has several great solutions for you.

Laser GRBL is software provided by Atomstack. This is an open source project with a lot of online support from a great developer community.

Lightburn is software that many people use on their machines. Lightburn offers a full 30-day trial, then a G-Code license for just $40. It works on Mac and PC.

The Atomstack Laser Master Engraver enlarges the entire working area to 410 x 400 mm. This is one of the largest work areas on a budget machine of this type. The increased work area compared to the first version is a huge upgrade.

S20 Pro Laser Engraver

The engraving machine is constructed with extruded aluminum rails and hardened plastic brackets. While this won't win any power contests, you don't need a powerful engraver. Unlike CNC, which applies constant pressure to the frame as it engraves the wood, the only pressure on the laser is the actual movement of the gantry.

I found that even when I ran it at a top speed of 3000mm/min (1.9 in/sec) it held up fine and still produced very detailed engravings. Movement comes from stepper motors and timing belts.

A nice addition is a synchronized y-axis. A metal rod runs the length of the x-axis and keeps the opposite ends of the engraver aligned. I've found that some engravers get misaligned at high speeds. The rod locks everything in space.

If you've run out of gift ideas for your loved one, how about a laser engraver? Compared to the lasers below for etching, this ATOMSTACK A5 has an eye-safe solution. It has a solid steel construction which makes it more precise during the engraving process. According to the manufacturer, it will be done in 10-20 minutes, depending on how accurately you understand the instructions.

The Atomstack A5 is equipped with a 20W laser head that allows you to engrave wood; bamboo, cardboard, plastic, leather, printed circuits, aluminum oxide items, painted metal. The printer can also be used to cut thick paper, cardboard, non-woven, balsa, acrylic, thin plastics. It features a large working surface area (measuring 410 x 400 mm) for handling the most demanding processes, and is laser engraved with an accuracy of approximately 0.01 mm.

The Atomstack A5 tool can record without refocusing, and works with many engraving software programs, such as LaserGRBL, LightBurn, and for PCs running XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10. It also works on MAC systems, and the supported engraving styles are NC, BMP, JPB, PNG, and DXF.

The Atomstack A5 M50 Pro is a 445nm blue laser diode desktop laser engraver. It has a working area of ​​410mm x 400mm, which can be expanded to 410mm x 850mm with optional upgrade kits. The engraving machine uses 40W of power and the laser diode outputs 5.5W. The laser itself is fixedly focused, and you can manually adjust the height of the laser head above the material using a convenient knob. The laser head has built-in eye protection and a fan that blows air towards the material, which does a good job of driving fumes away from the lens. The frame is all extruded aluminium, and the motion comes from a belt-driven stepper motor controlled by a 32-bit GRBL control board.

Assembly is relatively easy. It took me about an hour to get it up and running. The manual provides assembly steps, and all hardware is packaged in individual bags with step numbers labeled. I did find some of the assembly steps a little hard to follow, mostly about how to run the cables without pulling too hard.

As for software, Atomstack recommends LaserGRBL or LightBurn to control the laser. LaserGRBL is a free and open source tool for Windows with a built-in material library including pre-built profiles for various materials for Atomstack A5. The pre-made material library is great, and the profiles are in place. Lightburn is a paid software, but offers a 30-day trial period. I ended up really enjoying LightBurn, so most of my testing was done with it. However, I did pull all material settings from LaserGRBL.

Using a laser is very simple. Place the material in the laser, adjust the focus by placing the provided acrylic spacer on the material, then lower the laser head until it rests on the spacer and tighten the knob. Connect the laser to your computer via USB and start working via LaserGRBL or Lightburn. It only takes a few tries to really get used to switching materials and changing focus. The frame rise from the surface is great because you can slide the larger stock over the side. You are not limited to 400mm² of stock.

Atomstack advertises that this laser can handle a wide variety of materials, so I wanted to try as many as possible. First is Wood. Wood is the livelihood of this laser. Common craft woods such as basswood and Baltic birch are beautifully carved and cut. I use 3 passes of 1/4" plywood. The fan in the laser head ensures no flames, the only time I caught fire was when I was running very slowly at full power in the initial material test mode.

Atomstack air assist

It might take some testing to really dial in the settings for different materials. Some of my initial tests with these living hinges didn't quite pass. You'll still get some bending, but you can see that it's not quite through. Thankfully, LightBurn has a great material testing tool to generate meshes with different settings, so you can really dial in those settings.

Speaking of natural materials, the leather is well sculpted. Make sure not to use chrome brown leathers as they give off dangerous fumes, but vegan leathers work well. Using their suggested speeds and feeds, I got really nice, high-contrast sculpting.

Also on the list is stainless steel. I tested it on a stainless steel flask that I also bought on Amazon, and yes, the A5 M50 Pro was able to engrave on it. Their suggested setting is very slow, 100mm per minute at 100% power, 3 passes. Due to time constraints, I only engraved it once, but even this leaves a permanent mark. Even image engraving seems to work on stainless steel. However, the slow speed means the metal absorbs a lot of energy, and all that heat eventually deforms the material. So if you want to carve the flask, you will need to adjust the settings to prevent warping.

A10 Pro Laser Engraver

Next, acrylic. Diode lasers cannot cut or engrave clear acrylics. Visible lasers pass directly through them and do nothing to the material. However, opaque acrylics do work. I used some opaque black acrylic and those cut and engraved fine. I love making acrylic keychains, they are perfect for handing out at events. These black acrylic keychains look great and saving the file to an SD card makes it easy to cut more of them.

Also misleading is the mention of "glass" in their engraving listing. Again, the visible laser just goes through the glass and doesn't engrave it at all. Someone mentioned using various paints or tapes to absorb the energy and engraving on glass using a diode laser, but I haven't had any luck. If there are reliable techniques for glass engraving with these types of lasers, please let me know in the comments. But I think Glass probably shouldn't be listed on their website.