Laser settings

[vettha]

Okay, I realize having the 'forge able to automatically focus and such is hugely advantageous… But I’m also finding charms in the ability to do things that auto focus might decide are “wrong”…

Will I be able to set speed and power in a more manual mode?

[JeremyNielsen]

Yeah, there is a speed and power setting that you need to input before running a project. There has been hints that there may be a way to defocus the laser as well, which indicates a manual focus ability. (Definitely not for sure though.)

[joe]

@JeremyNielsen has it right, at least from what I’ve seen in the forums so far. There is a lot of good info here:

Defocusing the Laser: HOW will it be controlled?

So I read a lot of topics of the different applications one will use with a defocused laser; however, I haven’t seen it be stated on how this will be accomplished and by what control we will have of it. My past experience with laser cutters is that you assign a color (say red) and red means you are going to vector cut at 100% power and at 50% speed and 1000Hz (if you lowered the Hz down to 10 and lowered your speed, you’d essentially get a dashed line from what otherwise would be a straight lin…

And some cool stuff about what you can do with defocusing here:

Defocused Laser Applications

@dan has mentioned this is a feature planned for the future on occasion. And a few applications have been mentioned here and there. I am curious what other ideas people have, and want it all in one location for future reference when the feature exists. First off, what does defocusing mean? –There is a lens which puts all the power of the laser in one tiny spot. That is why a 45W laser, which is delivering the same power into the world as a 45W light bulb, can cut materials. Because instead…