ATOMSTACK A5 User manual

Shenzhen AtomStack Technologies Co., Ltd. [e-mail]
1
ATOMSTACK A5
Laser engraving machine manual（English）

Shenzhen AtomStack Technologies Co., Ltd. [e-mail]
2
Directory
ATOMSTACK A5..........................................................................................................1
0. Security Statement................................................................................................. 3
0. 1 Laser safety............................................................................................................................ 3
0.2 Fire safety.................................................................................................................................3
0.3 Material safety......................................................................................................................... 4
0.4 Use Safety................................................................................................................................4
1. AtomStack A5 Engraver Introduction...................................................................5
2. Software installation and use.................................................................................6
2.1 LaserGRBL Software Installation and Use......................................................................... 6
1. Downloading software.............................................................................................................. 6
2. installing LaerGRBL.................................................................................................................. 7
3. Adding custom buttons：.........................................................................................................7
4. connect laser engraving machine...........................................................................................9
5. Setting Engraving Parameters..............................................................................................11
6. Laser focus adjustment.............................................................................................................. 13
7. Positioning................................................................................................................................16
8. Start, Termination carving or cutting....................................................................................19
2.2 LightBurn Installation Tutorial............................................................................................. 19
3. Techniques for using machines..........................................................................24
4. Common materials and recommended engraving and cutting parameters25
5. Common Problems Possible Causes Treatment............................................ 26

Shenzhen AtomStack Technologies Co., Ltd. [e-mail]
3
0. Security Statement
Before Using the laser engraving, please read this safety guide
carefully, it mentions situations that require special attention and includes
warnings of unsafe practices that can cause damage to your property or
even endanger your personal safety.
0. 1 Laser safety
AtomStack A5 uses Type 4 laser product. The lasers are very
powerful that can cause eye injuries and burn the skin.
We have installed a laser cover on the laser. To a large extent, the
shield filters out the diffuse light from the laser spot. However, it is still
recommended to wear laser goggles when using the laser engraver.
Avoid exposing your skin to Type 4 laser beams, especially at close
range.
Teens must be supervised by parents while using the machine.
Do not touch the laser engraving module while it is switched on.
0.2 Fire safety
The high intensity laser beam generates extremely high temperatures
and a lot of heat due to it burns the substrate when it cuts.
Some materials can catch fire during the cutting process, then
creating gas and smoke inside the equipment.
When the laser beam hits the material, Usually, there will be a small
flame. It will move with the laser and will not remain lit as the laser passes
over it.
Do not leave the machine alone during the engraving process.
Please do remember to clean the laser cutter of debris, scraps and
flammable materials after use.
Always keep a working fire extinguisher nearby.
Safety against fumes or airborne contaminants
When using a laser engraver, fumes, vapors, particles are generated
from the material (plastics and other flammable materials), there are
potentially toxic . These fumes or airborne contaminants can be hazardous
to health.

Shenzhen AtomStack Technologies Co., Ltd. [e-mail]
4
0.3 Material safety
Do not engrave materials with unknown properties.
Materials Recommended:
Wood, bamboo, leather, plastic, fabric, paper, opaque acrylic, glass.
Materials not recommended:
Metal, precious stones, transparent materials, reflective materials etc.
0.4 Use Safety
Use the engraver only in horizontal position and ensure that it has
been securely fixed to prevent fires caused by accidental shifting or
dropping from the workbench during work.
It is forbidden to point the laser to people, animals or any combustible
object, whether it is in working condition or not.

Shenzhen AtomStack Technologies Co., Ltd. [e-mail]
5
1. AtomStack A5 Engraver Introduction
The AtomStack A5 laser engraving can be used for engraving, and
cutting.
The AtomStack A5 laser engraver uses a fixed-focus laser, traditional
lasers are zoom lasers and require to look directly at the laser spot to find a
proper size. The AtomStack A5 laser is a fixed-focus laser, it only need a
fixed-focus sheet to get the best engraving focal length.
The laser shield helps us block most of the bright light, if we look
directly at them, firstly the retina will be damaged and your vision will be
reduced, secondly it will cause visual fatigue, decreasing productive and
leaning efficiency. Thirdly, the light can inhibit the production of
melatonin, which affects the quality of sleep. The laser shield can help to
protect you from this damage.
The AtomStack laser engraver has a laser power of 5W, and it can cut
some boards and engrave on stainless steel easily.
AtomStack A5 engraver supports PWM control (Pulse Width
Modulation), which makes the engraved pattern more detailed.

Shenzhen AtomStack Technologies Co., Ltd. [e-mail]
6
2. Software installation and use
AtomStack supports the most popular LaserGRBL software,
LaserGRBL is an open source, easy to use and powerful software, but
unfortunately LaserGRBL only supports Windows (Win XP / Win 7 / Win
8 / XP / Win 10).
For Mac users, of course, you can choose LightBurn, which is also an
excellent engraver software, but this software needs to pay for $40. This
software also supports Windows.
The AtomStack A5 engraver receives commands from the computer
to move. The engraver needs to stay connected to the computer and cannot
turn off the engraver software (LaserGRBL or LightBurn) during the
engraving process . Since the calculations are done on the computer, the
configuration of the computer will affect the speed and even the quality of
the engraving.
The following section will focus on the installation and use of the
LaserGRBL software. LightBurn will briefly explain the installation and
configuration process.
2.1 LaserGRBL Software Installation and Use
1. Downloading software
LaserGRBL is one of the most popular DIY laser engraving software
in the world, LaserGRBL download website:
http://lasergrbl.com/download/

Shenzhen AtomStack Technologies Co., Ltd. [e-mail]
7
2. installing LaerGRBL
Double-click the software installation package to start the software
installation, and keep clicking Next until the installation is complete.
Picture 2.1 LaserGRBL software installation
3. Adding custom buttons：
The software supports users to add custom buttons, you can add
custom buttons in the software according to your usage. We recommend
the official Custom Buttons from LaserGRBL. Custom button download
address: http://lasergrbl.com/usage/custom-buttons/，the downloaded
custom button shows as below:
Picture 2.2 custom button
package

Shenzhen AtomStack Technologies Co., Ltd. [e-mail]
8
Next, we will load the custom buttons into the LaserGRBL software.
In the LaserGRBL software, right-click on the blank space next to the
bottom button (as shown in Picture 2.3) -> Import custom button, then
select the custom button zip file downloaded before to import, keep
pressing Yes (Y) until no window pops up.
Picture 2.4 custom button loading
Picture 2.3 adding custom button

Shenzhen AtomStack Technologies Co., Ltd. [e-mail]
9
The installed software is shown as the following figure.
Picture 2.5 Software button
4. connect laser engraving machine
A. Connect the engraver to a computer with LaserGBRL software
installed.
B. Plug in the power supply of the engraving machine.
C. Open the LaserGRBL software
D. Select the correct port number and baud rate in the software -
115200, (in general, COM ports do not need to be selected manually,
but if you have more than one serial device connected to the computer,
it needs to do so, you can find the port of the laser engraver in the
device manager of the Windows system, Or you can simply try the port
numbers displayed one by one).

Shenzhen AtomStack Technologies Co., Ltd. [e-mail]
10
Picture 2.6 Check the port number
E. First, install CH340 Driver. In the LaserGRBL software, click
"Tools">"install CH340 Driver" to install the driver, and restart the
computer after installation to connect.
F. Click on the lightning connection logo in the software. When the
lightning logo changes to a red X, the connection is success.

Shenzhen AtomStack Technologies Co., Ltd. [e-mail]
11
Picture 2.7 Connecting laser engraver
5. Setting Engraving Parameters
A. Select the engraving file.
Open LaserGRBL software, click "File"> "Open File", then select the
graphics you want to engrave, LaserGRBL supports NC, BMP, JPG,
PNG, DXF and other formats.
Picture 2.8 Open file
B. Picture parameters, engraving mode, engraving quality settings
a.LaserGRBL can adjust the sharpness, brightness, contrast, highlight
and other attributes of the target picture, when adjusting the parameters of
the picture, the factual effect will be shown in the right preview window,
there is no standard here, just adjust the effect you want.

Shenzhen AtomStack Technologies Co., Ltd. [e-mail]
12
b. Engraving mode usually choose "line to line tracking" and "1bit
dithering", 1bit dithering is more suitable for engraving grayscale graphics.
If you are going to cut, select the vector graphics or centerline engraving
mode.
c. Engraving quality essentially refers to the line width of the laser
scan, this parameter mainly depends on the size of the laser spot of the
engraving machine, AtomStack A5 engraver uses rectangular spot for
0.3*0.5mm, the core energy area of the spot size is about 0.1*0.3mm, so it
is recommended to use the engraving quality range of 5-8, The response to
laser illumination varies from different materials, so the exact value
depends on the specific engraving material.
d. at the bottom of the preview window, the image can also be rotated,
mirror, cut, etc. operations.
e. After completing the above settings, click next to the the settings of
carving speed, carving energy and carving size.
Picture 2.9 Introduction of Setup Interface
C. Engraving speed, engraving energy and engraving size Setting

Shenzhen AtomStack Technologies Co., Ltd. [e-mail]
13
a. recommending the engraving speed for 1000, this is the best value
for the engraving effect after repeated experiments, of course you can
increase or decrease the speed according to your preference, faster speed
will save the engraving time, but it may reduce the engraving effect,
slower speed is the opposite.
b. In the selection of the laser mode, there are two commands for laser,
M3 and M4, it is recommended to use the M4 command for 1bit litter
engraving, and M3 command for other cases. If your laser only has M3
instruction, please check whether the laser mode is enabled in the GRBL
configuration, please refer to the official instructions of LaserGRBL for
GRBL configuration.
c. Choose the engraving energy according to different materials, we
have attached the engraving and cutting parameters of common materials
at the end of the manual for your reference.
d. Finally, set the size you want to engrave, click on the "Create"
button, all the engraving parameters has been set.
Picture 2.10 Setting of engraving speed and laser power
6. Laser focus adjustment
The effect of engraving or cutting depends largely on whether the
laser is focused, most of the existing laser engraving machines on the

Shenzhen AtomStack Technologies Co., Ltd. [e-mail]
14
market use a zoom laser, need to rotate the focus nut while staring at the
laser dot with your eyes to observe whether the laser is focused. Staring at
the laser dot for long periods of time can damage your eyes (even with
goggles), What's more, it's difficult to distinguish small changes in focus,
so it's hard to find the best laser focus point.
To solve this problem, we have abandoned the traditional zoom laser
and installed a fixed-focus laser on the AtomStack A5 engraver, with the
specific focus point located 2mm from the bottom of the acrylic cover, and
a fixed-focus piece is included in the package. To use the laser, simply
adjust the height of the laser (one fixed focus piece away from the top
surface of the object being engraved or cut）.
The following is the specific operations:
A. Moving the laser head over the object to be engraved or cut.
B. Placing a fixed-focus piece on the object to be engraved or cut.
Picture 2.11 Placing fixed-focus piece
A. Loosen the fixing screws on the sliding rails on both sides of the
laser to allow the laser to slide freely until it comes into contact with the
Acrylic bottom to
Engraved surface 2mm
Laser focus

Shenzhen AtomStack Technologies Co., Ltd. [e-mail]
15
fixed focus plate (once in contact, the laser can be lifted up slightly to
remove the fixed-focus film at the end).
B. Picture 2.12 Adjusting the laser distance
C. Tighten the fixing screws of the slides on both sides of the laser.
Picture 2.13 fixing screws
D. Take out the fixed focus piece and finish focusing.
Tighten

Shenzhen AtomStack Technologies Co., Ltd. [e-mail]
16
Picture 2.14 Take out the fixed focus piece
7. Positioning
A. The engraver does not know what position to carve, so there is one
important task before you start carving, that is positioning. We will
complete the positioning operation in three steps.
B. Select the "Move to Center" button, the laser will move to the center
of the pattern, placed the engraving below the laser at that time.
C. Click "light laser" button, the laser will emit a weak light, the laser
2mm
Picture 2.15 Move to Center

Shenzhen AtomStack Technologies Co., Ltd. [e-mail]
17
emits irradiation point is the center of the engraving pattern, based on
this, adjust the position of the engraved object!
D. Click "Profile Scan" button, the laser will start to scan the outer
contour of the pattern on the computer, you can change the position of the
engraved object again according to the scanned outer contour position.
Besides: You can click on the "wrap-around" button for several times until
the outer contour is at the position you want to engrave.
Picture 2.16 light laser

Shenzhen AtomStack Technologies Co., Ltd. [e-mail]
18
Picture 2.17 Profile Scan

Shenzhen AtomStack Technologies Co., Ltd. [e-mail]
19
8. Start, Termination carving or cutting
Start
After finishing all the above operations, click the green button as
shown in the figure to start engraving. There is a number that can be edited
next to the start button. It is the number of times of engraving or cutting,
LaserGRBL allows multiple consecutive engraving or cutting of uniform
shapes, this function is especially useful for cutting.
Picture 2.18 Start
Termination
If you want to terminate the job midway, you can click the terminate
button as shown in the picture to terminate the engraving or cutting.
Picture 2.19 Stop
2.2 LightBurn Installation Tutorial
We can download the installation package from the LightBurn
website:
https://lightburnsoftware.com/pages/trial-version-try-before-you-buy

Shenzhen AtomStack Technologies Co., Ltd. [e-mail]
20
Picture 2.20 LightBurn
Software package
Double-click on the installation package to install and click "Next" in
the pop-up window.
(note: LightBurn is a paid software, for better experience we
recommend you to buy the original one, here we will demonstrate the
installation of the trial version)
Picture 2.21 Select the installation path
Click Start Your Free Trial（Picture 2.12）