The all-new Cohesion3D LaserBoard can be dropped into the K40 Laser Cutter provide an immediate performance upgrade.  It has the same size, mounting hole pattern, and connectors of the M2Nano board in a lot of the K40-style lasers, but it can also run many other Laser Cutters and even CNC Machines.

Our Cohesion3D LaserBoard Buyer's Guide can help you understand compatibility with your machine and which parts you will need to accomplish your goals!

LaserBoard has 4 embedded Trinamic Drivers that provide quiet and clean motion for the XY head AND a Z table AND a rotary attachment directly. If you need more current for larger motors, it is easy to connect an external stepper driver with our direct wiring solution. No firmware or configuration changes between the onboard and external drivers, it just works. You can even run them simultaneously.

LaserBoard requires more power than the weak 24v rail on a Laser Power Supply can provide, but with a DC Jack right on board and paired with the LaserBoard Power Supply option, you can ensure that the board is receiving a clean and stable source of power to run your machine and a Z table and Rotary attachment if you have them.

With a variety of outputs, LaserBoard can run CO2 lasers and diode lasers of many types. Between the built in drivers, and the ease of hooking up external drivers, and the buffered endstops, this board could even run some CNC’s.

Firmware wise, this board can run the Smoothie firmware which has a lot of features such as running jobs off a memory card and supporting a GLCD Screen (make sure to get the GLCD adapter as well) for headless operation. However, because of this overhead, Smoothie struggles with high detail raster engraving at higher speeds. For this we have GRBL-LPC which is blazing fast and much more barebones. It cannot run the screen/ memory card, so it has to stream the job over the USB Cable from computer to board. It is capable of much faster raster engraving if this is important to you. We leave this choice up to our customers based on their desired uses and priorities. If you intend to raster engrave high detail images often and want to do so at higher speeds, we would recommend not getting the GLCD Screen and using the GRBL-LPC firmware on LaserBoard.

(Screen is shown installed in a custom front panel a customer made, the panel is not included, you can make your own panel too!)

Specs:

• 4 embedded Trinamic TMC2224 Drivers up to 1.2 amps: can drive most Nema 17 motors. Each driver has a header and a screw terminal for wide range of easy connectivity.
• Direct easy wiring of external stepper drivers for all axes XYZA with External Stepper Driver Cable Pack option.
• Jack for direct power in with LaserBoard Power Supply: a high quality 24v4a Adapter to reliably power the board (LaserBoard Power Supply is completely separate from and does not replace the Laser LPSU that drives a tube).
• 3 separate laser control mechanisms including an optoisolated “L” output for CO2 LPSU, a MOSFET to run some diode lasers, and a level shifted 5v TTL output for a variety of other devices.
• Direct Drop In for M2Nano and related boards and the popular flat ribbon cable in a lot of machines. Can replace Moshiboard by cutting a few wires in power plug and putting to screw terminals on the board.
• One additional output can control peripherals such as an air assist. Once again, a MOSFET and a 5v output can control a solenoid, relay, or fan, SSR, or other type of device.
• 6 endstop inputs allow both a min and max endstop for X, Y, and Z, and they are buffered to allow inductive probes at higher voltages to plug directly into the board.
• Full size SD Card Jack in easier to access location.
• Expansion header allows GLCD Adapter and GLCD Screen on Smoothie firmware.
• 32 bit LPC1769 Microcontroller running at 120Mhz, supports Smoothieware and GRBL-LPC Firmware.
• Runs gCode files, we recommend the amazing LightBurn Software (you just need the gCode version).
• Can select whether 4th onboard driver is unique (rotary) or slaved (such as for dual Y applications like on some CNC frames) with jumpers on board.
• Reset and Kill Button on board with header to connect external buttons.

Between the separate power supply, integrated board isolation, and an optoisolated laser fire “L” output, the board should resist the electrically dangerous environments inside cheaply made laser cutters (poor grounding, high voltages, noise). Of course, it is impossible to guard against all scenarios and stupidity – we are going for “resilient”, not “indestructible.” Reverse polarity, overvoltage, fiddling with wiring while the board is powered, and shorting stuff on the board while live, are all great ways to kill the board.

The Cohesion3D Power Supply and pre-configured SD card are included with the board.

Installation instructions are available at cohesion3d.com/start

This board comes with forum support only, via our Cohesion3D Support Forum. If you require more a more personalized and one-on-one level of assistance with your upgrade, please check out our Premium Technical Support offering.