Creality CR10 Max as laser engraver

[Laubscmi]

Hi everyone,

So i recently got a Creality CR10 Max and have printed multiple items successfully with it, so i have kind of mastered the 3d printing part. However i as well want to be able to laser engrave with my CR10 Max and this is where i am hitting a snag.

So for attempting a laser engraving i have gone via the Inkscape route with the J Tech Photonics addin. Now when i generate the gcode and start printing the printer basically doesn't respond and the print ends after just a few seconds. Its as though it is skipping all the code for some unknown reason. As an example of the below code generated via J Tech:

M107

G90
G21
G1 F1500
G1 X339.2269 Y-389.4878
G4 P0
M106 S255
G4 P0
G1 F250.000000
G3 X333.9663 Y-343.6212 I-4105.3876 J-447.62
G3 X331.7592 Y-329.4849 I-202.3983 J-24.3604
G3 X327.8521 Y-318.1153 I-41.9981 J-8.0762
G3 X324.737 Y-314.1374 I-11.7711 J-6.0093
G3 X317.3203 Y-308.8333 I-32.0537 J-36.983
G3 X261.3225 Y-277.1914 I-1225.9005 J-2104.1464
G4 P0
M107
G1 F1500
G1 X0 Y0

This didn't work, so i decided to see if i could debug the issue by using a working 3D print gcode and remove the unwanted commands. So the idea would be to just move the head to the positions and do nothing else.

So i used this shortened code:

M190 S40.000000
M109 S200.000000
G21 ;metric values
G90 ;absolute positioning
M82 ;set extruder to absolute mode
M107 ;start with the fan off
G92 E0 ;zero the extruded length
G1 F200 E3 ;extrude 3mm of feed stock
G92 X235 Y235 Z0.1 E0 ;zero the extruded length again
G1 F3000
M117 Printing...
;Layer count: 118
;LAYER:-2
;RAFT
G0 F3000 X181.746 Y186.763 Z0.300
;TYPE:SUPPORT
G1 F1500 X183.146 Y186.413 E0.17099
G1 X183.146 Y185.732 E0.25168
G1 X184.546 Y185.032 E0.43715
G1 X184.546 Y184.532 E0.49639
M107
G1 F3000 E4134.08661
G1 Z13.185
G0 X200.160 Y179.697 Z16.998
;End GCode
M104 S0 ;extruder heater off
M140 S0 ;heated bed heater off (if you have it)
G91 ;relative positioning
G1 E-1 F300 ;retract the filament a bit before lifting the nozzle, to release some of the pressure
G1 Z+20 E-5 F3000 ;move Z up and retract filament even more
M84 ;steppers off
G90 ;absolute positioning
M81



And after removing everything not required i am left with the below code:

M104 S0 ;extruder heater off
M140 S0 ;heated bed heater off (if you have it)
G21 ;metric values
G90 ;absolute positioning
M82 ;set extruder to absolute mode
M107 ;start with the fan off
G92 X235 Y235 Z0.1
G1 F3000
M117 Printing...
;Layer count: 118
;LAYER:-2
;RAFT
G0 F3000 X181.746 Y186.763 Z0.300
;TYPE:SUPPORT
G1 F1500 X183.146 Y186.413
G1 X183.146 Y185.732
G1 X184.546 Y185.032
G1 X184.546 Y184.532
M107
G1 Z13.185
G0 X200.160 Y179.697 Z16.998
;End GCode
M84 ;steppers off
G90 ;absolute positioning
M81

I have tried a few things here and there, but nothing seems to work. I am hoping someone has already gone through this battle and will be able to please provide some advise.

I am able to test the fan PWM by putting different set speeds and then putting a pause between them. However i am unable to move the printer head?

[AngelArs]

What laser software are you using? I think lightburn has a free trial.

For others looking into getting a laser, I recommend Endurance lasers over J Tech Photonics. They seem to have better tech support.