[pippin88]

I recently acquired a 40W generic chinese laser (aka K40) which came with Moshidraw 2012 (USB controller card).

As delivered the machine has various unnecessary problems that I am fixing:
Fume extraction
Travel (maximising available)
Added air assist
Improved table

To Moshidraw 2012:
A buggy piece of software, but if treated right can give decent results. Especially considering the alternatives are to spend hundreds adapting to Mach3 or linuxcnc (and make engraving more difficult) or a DSP (at the cost of >$600 with stepper drivers)

Interface
My install has buttons / functions that are obscured and require moving of toolbars / stretching to reveal.
Half the drawing functions were hidden - drag the edge right

Working with shapes / design
You can design within moshidraw to a basic level
Tips:
Positioning is done based on the centre of an object
Never drag objects if you want them to stay the same size. Moshi will often slightly resize things even if you grabbed them in the middle to drag and place them. If your object is anything more than a simple square you won't be able to accurately restore line lengths etc

I prefer to design in solidworks or other software. You can do this quite successfully (I've tried Coreldraw X4 and Solidworks 2011). You must save in R14 version of .DXF. Then import this file into a new moshidraw document.
Solidworks .DXFs seem to import as white lines - click on the line colour box and it will switch to black.
To select an imported object click on it's entry in the layer tab
Again never use dragging to move an object - it will change size, and not necessarily in a linear way. Use the x,y coordinates in the top bar.
You can't rotate in moshidraw, so you'll need to do it in your design software.

Engraving and cutting on the same piece accurately
Moshi has an 'assist' layer function - this is similar to construction lines in Solidworks. The lines appear on the drawing but do not get cut / engraved.
To engrave then cut:
1. Draw your outline cut
2. Make sure it is selected and tick the 'assist' box - it will be renamed to 'assistxxxx'
3. Draw your engraving (text, whatever)
4. Select everything (engraving and outline set to assist) and output to machine
5. Engrave with whatever settings
6. Go back to drawing window (close machine output)
7. Select the outline to be cut and untick the assist box
8. Select the engraving and tick assist (may be unnecessary, further testing needed)
9. Select the outline to be cut and output to machine
10. Cut at whatever settings
11. Enjoy!

This works the same with imported stuff. Select the outside cut and make it assist - it's still there for the purpose of the machine position when it engraves / cuts stuff within that space.

Engraving
In the machine output window there are a number of options that affect engraving.
Normal & versa - aka normal or reverse (mirror image). Versa is used for engraving on the back of perspex or glass, so that you can see the image through it (the correct way round) but the surface is flat.
Convex & concave - set whether inside or outside the lines is engraved. E.g. if you have text, one option will engrave within the text (leaving it recessed), the other will engrave the area outside the text (leaving the text proud).

To be tested:
Distance setting (x lines) - suspect it relates to engraving resolution
Add size

I'll add and update this as I find further things.
Any tips anyone has will be appreciated.

[pippin88]

Interface
The buttons can be renamed in the ini file english.ini (found in the moshidraw 2012 directory) to make things easier.

Attached is my current ini file which should make things a little more obvious

[mondo50m]

Thank you for the config file

Milt

[thenar]

Interface
The buttons can be renamed in the ini file english.ini (found in the moshidraw 2012 directory) to make things easier.

Attached is my current ini file which should make things a little more obvious

I downloaded your English file. It's not complete, but it really did help de-confuse my issues. There are still a few labels that come up as little boxes, assume they're mandarin. I really appreciate the time and the sharing.

[pippin88]

thenar: There are some buttons and menu items that don't have translations in the moshi software. I couldn't work out how to assign labels to these.

Also the file I've supplied above is for moshidraw 2012.6, there is a newer version 2012.9 which had a numberof changes and improvements. I haven't gone through it as thoroughly as I'm working away from home for 3 months.

[mondo50m]

There is now 2012.11.

Milt

[pippin88]

Milt, are there any major changes?

[mondo50m]

I really do not remember, but I do know that I liked it. One of the things that I remember is a button in the program that when clicked on, allowed the axes of the laser to be manually moved around without shutting down the laser. I was able to have both vector and rastor in the same file and it would first run the rastor and then the vector without any intervention from me. I believe that it was worth the download and upgrade, it only adds a little to the learning curve. I have since blown the Moshi board and replaced it with the Lightobject DSP 2012. This has made a world of difference. I would recommend this conversion to anyone who can afford to do it. It takes all of the headaches out of using the machine. I could not really afford to do it, but I now have a $1250.00 laser cutter/engraver, controlled by a DSP. Can't buy one for this price anywhere!!!

Milt

[mondo50m]

Newest version now is 2012.12

Milt

[thenar]

I just installed Moshidraw 2013. I downloaded it from the Moshisoft site. My Antivirus says it has some kind of virus that can potentially transmit information from my computer. I don't believe it's malicious and it's on a laptop I use just for the laser. Naturally, being Moshisoft, they made no effort to update the manual from 2012. So I can't tell you what's new yet. There were some improvements to the later 2012 version. I Am going to assume there are a few more in this one.

To be honest, considering the cost of my laser printer, around $750 delivered, I think the software is halfway descent. Yes it does drive me crazy, it is illogical, the manual is a joke, it crashes for no reason, and the machine translations they use are rediculous. "Click right subtrahend for room in." I figured it out eventually, but honestly people, make an effort. But they did give us that link to CorelDraw...thank god. I've been doing my work in Corel draw and sending it MoshiDraw Right....go figure that designator...and it works well.

When I tried to go through Moshidraw 2012, the cache on the board would fill and the machine would disconnect. It would keep etching until the cache would empty and then stop...unusually in the middle of the project, ruining a bunch of expensive material. The software would indicate that the machine is closed and there is no USB connection. The machine was still running, but I either had to reboot the machine or unplug the USB and re plug it to reconnect with the software. No way to restart the job where it was left off. Any ideas what's going on? I hope I don't have the same problem with 2013.:drowning:

[CrazySkydiver]

I purchased one of these machines used and then upgraded to MoshiDraw 2013. I finally am trying do cut something and it stops during the cut as you stated. That is very annoying. Have you found a fix?

Thanks

[pippin88]

I haven't tried 2013.
I need a bigger cutting area, so I ended up using the laser tube and power supply for a large format laser I'm building (1200x700mm). Just got it moving and firing yesterday actually. I've gone to LinuxCNC control so my Moshidraw days are over.

[MakinNC]

Great info folks! I just got mine last week and am trying to work my way through the Moshidraw software. I noticed when I import a image the picture looks a little like a cross stitch pattern (a little blocky) and the image no longer has smooth lines. Im typically using Jpeg format.

What is the best format to import images as?

Thanks

[pippin88]

A bitmap is generally best - it has each pixel defined individually, so Moshidraw should not mess it up hopefully.

[MakinNC]

Thanks!

[dionvdberg]

Hi Guys,

Just got my K40 laser and Moshidraw 2014, and now I'm stuck allready..

2 Questions:

I haven't got the laser plugged in currently (At work), Where/how in moshidraw do I specify settings for the laser, or is it done automatically?

Second, in the output screen I can set the engrave speed and power and cut speed and power, how do I specify what lines to cut and what lines to engrave? In the below picture for example I want to engrave the heart and cut out the box,

A bit learning curve from vectric and mach3!

Thanks!
Dion

[pippin88]

dionvdberg,

I haven't used anything more recent than Moshidraw 2012.
Unless things have a changed a lot, then the laser power etc is set manually (at the Laser) and doesn't need any settings entered in to Moshidraw.

Again, unless things have changed, for engraving and cutting look at the steps I described in the first post.

[dionvdberg]

Thanks, haven't got my USB key with me so can't open Moshi, but last time I checked I couldn't find the assist function, but I'll check again,

Thanks
Dion

[pippin88]

Dion,

'Assist' is a tickbox on the layers panel (one of the right hand panels, I think there were three panels that you switch between by clicking on tabs).