Work in progress – the G9 is still in the final testing stages, these are the first impressions and results, those will be updated constantly.
Sculpfun has added a new laser to its product range. The laser sources remain diodes (10W 450 nm blue and 2W 1064 nm infrared), but the mechanics have been changed to galvo technology. The fact that only small mirrors have to be moved instead of the complete mechanics in a galvo laser means that these devices are orders of magnitude faster than classic diode lasers. The G9 promises speeds of 5000 mm/s, which corresponds to 300,000 mm/min in the classic diode laser measuring mode. However, higher speeds also mean lower energy transfer, so this does not provide an advantage with all materials (cutting is not always faster), see also the explanations on settings. However, you can still have a huge advantage over conventional mechanics when engraving.
The G9 supports both LightBurn and the in-house software SGD Laser Maker. The latter currently offers better support for the G9, LightBurn only works with the new (still beta) version 1.7 and does not yet support all the functions of the G9. I would describe this as an experimental feature at the moment. SGD supports all functions, but is itself still quite new and therefore still contains some bugs and translation errors. I think it will take a few more months before the software support can be described as complete.
Official pictures
Installation and setup
The following video shows how the laser is set up:
If you want to use a rotary, take a look here:
Software
The latest version of the software can be downloaded here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13lOoC9zgjKCIQHU2PznEgJGnRL66qgmD
Addons
I created a jig template that can be used to engrave pens or similar objects. You can download it here: download (LightBurn file) You can extend it easily to create holders for other objects.
Results
Here is a small collection of tests that I have carried out with the G9. You can find many more examples in the official Facebook groups for Sculpfun and the G9.
