Laser.myWerkzeug.de and CNC.myWerkzeug.de are the same program in two modes. Drawing, text, import, templates, account and help are identical. Projects open in both: when loading, the app swaps milling tools and laser profiles and tells you.
What the laser does
Every layer and every shape gets a task. Choose it in the window at the object or in the Layers tab:
- Line: the beam runs exactly on the line. Engraving, lettering, scoring.
- Outside: the beam runs outside the outline and cuts the part free. It keeps its size because the app offsets by half the beam spot.
- Inside: the beam runs inside the outline: holes and openings.
- Fill: the area is filled with closely spaced lines (area engraving). Line spacing, angle and cross-hatch are set in the profile.
- Off: not lasered.
Laser profiles
A laser profile sums up how the laser works: speed in mm/min, power in percent, passes, beam spot, for areas line spacing and angle, an overscan at the line ends and the controller's highest S value (Grbl $30, usually 1000).
New projects come with "Engraving" and "Cutting". You create your own profiles in the Laser → Laser profiles … menu. Each layer picks one, a single shape may differ.
More settings in the profile:
- Bridges when cutting: with "Outside" the beam leaves pieces of the outline unburned at an even spacing (the bridge width). The part stays in the material and snaps out after lasering. Inside cuts and holes get no bridges.
- Air assist: turns the air on (M8) for this profile, off afterwards (M9).
- Scan offset: compensates the offset of the return lines in fast back-and-forth engraving. Tune with a test image, usually 0.1 to 0.5 mm.
- Beam spot Y: many diode lasers have an oval focal spot. Enter its width across the X axis here; the app then compensates the kerf separately in X and Y, and parts keep their size in both directions. 0 means: round, same as the beam spot.
- Z step per pass: in thick material the head lowers by this amount after every pass so the focus follows into the cut. After the last pass it returns to the focus height. 0 = off.
Order: the app orders the cuts itself. Engraving comes first, then cutting. Holes and parts that sit inside another part come before its outline, so nothing drops out or shifts before it is finished. Every outline starts where the head gets to fastest, and lines run backwards when that is shorter. The app then checks whether another order is shorter and swaps whole sections. This keeps travel moves short.
Thicker material needs more passes instead of more power: the laser traces the outline several times. The material library provides starting values for your material.
Your laser machine
Under Machine → Set up machine you pick your laser from the list of common diode lasers (Sculpfun, Ortur, Atomstack, xTool, Creality, Longer, TwoTrees, Comgrow). The app takes over the work area, optical power, beam spot in X and Y and whether air assist is built in. If your model is missing, choose "Weitere Modelle" (other models) or "Diodenlaser (Grbl, generisch)" and enter the values yourself. The power is the optical output of the beam, not the electrical input that often appears in the model name.
The app builds on this: new laser profiles get the machine's beam spot and S range, cutting profiles from the material library switch the air on, and the material library calculates its starting values with your power. If an existing profile differs, Laser → Laser profiles … offers the Use machine values button.
CO₂ lasers with a Ruida controller, the K40 with an M2 Nano board and devices that only run through the maker's cloud do not speak Grbl and are therefore greyed out in the list.
Duration and checking
The Laser tab shows all tasks by profile with the estimated duration. A click selects the shapes. Notes from the app (shapes too narrow, open lines when filling) appear below.
Then continue with the Laser button: Start lasering.