more time efficient laser engraving

Ivo,

Yes you can, but not as fast because the stepper-motors are the limiting factor.
But if you can buy this machine for $150 I suggest to buy it.
If you buy the NeJe laser module alone it will cost you also over $100.
And with a stand alone laser you can use both machine at the same time.

suc6

I thought that the limiting factor is the way that Stepcraft draws each horizontal line wether it has or has not any content to burn. Any way to avoid that?

The physical limitation of speed is the strength and speed of the stepper-motor.
The dynamic speed is depending on how the G-code is generated and post-procced.
A G-code for milling/engraving with mill bits is quite different than one for Laser engraving.
So the program witch create the G-code is what's makes how the CNC-machine acts in combination whit the machine control software.

what program you use to draw and/or create the G-code?
what program controls your machine?

I've been using UCCNC modified for laser engraving (the one whit the orange interface which is hard to see trough the orange protective goggles). The only method that I know is to load raster images and then go through all pixels and engrave the dark ones. This process is very time inefficient.
Can you, please, post here some useful links about creating G-codes for laser engraving, and how to use them with UCCNC?
Thank you in advance!

Ivo,

I don't use UCCNC so I can't help you on this one.

To convert images into G-code for laser application try Inkscape (free) ;
https://jtechphotonics.com/?page_id=2012

And there are plenty programs on the internet, I use Vectric Aspire to covert vector and bitmap to G-code suitable for Stepcraft.
But LaserGRBL is a free program (not sure if it creates G-code), or Light burn is payed program and so on.

Search internet "laser covert programs" or something like it.

Thank you for the instructions. This J Tech's extension for Inkscape (v1.1) looks promising but so far it hasn't gave me the right results:
1. the path is around 50% upscaled (even though all units are in mm and there's no scaling factor applied)
2. the laser doesn't turn on and off (even though M10 and M11 codes are selected)
Any ideas how to fix it?

can you submit a G-code example ?
and a wiring sceme pin connection of your SD15 connector ?

What laser (brand/type) do you use?

I'm using Stepcraft DL445 - I guess the standard one on this forum.
By examining test files, I've noticed that "M10" would not turn on laser without initiation by "M3", so now I'm using "M3 M10" to start and "M11" to stop it.
The scaling issue is related to complexity of the object so simplifying it as much as possible really helps.
Is there a way to put starting point in the center instead of lower left corner? (that would help when applying on pre-made objects)

"Is there a way to put starting point in the center instead of lower left corner?"

Yes, but is has to be done in the program that creates the G-code.
Like many others I use the Vectric programs like VCarve (pro) or Aspire in these programs you can set the origing of your object in any of the corners or at center.

I have no experience in Inkscape to tell you where what to do, but I am certain on the internet is an answer.