Getting Started With the GearBest Decaker Micro Laser Engraver

A few months ago I received this micro laser engraver from GearBest. So, here's a guide to get you started quickly with the machine and a overall look on all the tools and engraving modes it has. Starting with a few basic information, it has a 1W laser head and a 38x38mm engraving area. It works on paper, cards, wood, leather and plastic, as long as they are not reflective. The machine brings all you need, tools, software, including a few test materials: a few paper cards, wood chips and leather.

First things first. The package comes with a pair of laser safety goggles, so be sure to use them. The laser pulsed light can be very harmful to our eyes, so don't forget to put them on when operating the engraver. Also, it's advised to use the machine in a well ventilated space, because you'll be burning materials like paper, card, wood and plastic, so it's better to avoid the smokes.

The engraver comes mostly assembled and it's almost ready to use, but there is only one thing you must assemble first and that is the laser head. Turn the structure upside down, then pick up the laser head and mount in on the axis support. Fix the 2 screws tight. You don't need a screwdriver because it brings one with the screws. Next plug in the laser connector, and you're done!

Plug in the input power DC jack in the machine and the micro USB connector. Then plug both the other ends to your computer. The motors will move to their home position, they might maker some noise when they hit the axis end. Next, plug in the USB drive and run the control software that is inside. The software itself is portable so it doesn't really need an installation, however you might need to install the drivers. Just follow the indications on the screen.

Now, since we'll be working with a laser, focus is very important, so before we can use it, we should adjust our laser focus the best we can. For this we can use a paper card on the engraver bed and then turn the lens until we get the smallest possible point. Use the safety goggles it actually helps to see the light clearly. The manual says it should have a diameter smaller than 1mm. Don't forget when using materials with different heights, you should always re-adjust the laser focus. That done, we're almost ready to start engraving!

We can fix the material to the bed using the two rubber bands on the table (I broke mine so I'm using some pieces of duct tape). Choose the material you want to use. I'll be starting with a wood chip. Now on the software there is a toolbar on the right, it has a few buttons. Click on "Carving Preview Box" and the laser will show you the area where it will engrave the design you want. Using this tool, you can check if the material is well centered on the platform. Click on the "Stop at Middle of Image" button and it will center the laser pointer on the engraver area. Be sure the area corresponds to the place where you want to carve the image, if not, adjust it to your desire.

Let's start with the Binary Carve mode. This mode allows you to engrave "black and white" pictures. It is the default tab on the software. Go to "File > Open" to select the image. Next you can use the toolbar on the right to re-check if the engraving area is correct like we did in the previous step. On the bottom there is a "Carving Time" box. This controls the amount of time the laser will be in each spot or pixel. I think the default is 60 ms, but I personally prefer changing it to 30 ms, for it makes the engraving faster and doesn't burn the materials so much. When you're ready you can press start! I also repeated the process with a different image on a paper card.

As the name indicates, this mode allows you to engrave pictures, by converting them to a gray scale image. It is the second tab on the software. Import the picture you want, same as before. You can adjust the "Grayscale Value" if necessary to change the threshold on the contrast conversion. Place a new material on the engraver's bed, and center it as it was shown on step 5. I started the Hannibal picture with a 30 ms "Carving Time", but after a while I ended up reducing it to 24 ms and closer to the end to 10 ms (those changes are noticeable on the engraved picture). When you're ready just press start! I did the same in a paper card with an image of Sheldon.

This mode allows you to store a "black and white" image on the engraver's internal memory, so it can be reproduce in a production manner, without needing the software. It is the third tab on the software. Import the image you want adjust all the settings as before, and when you're ready click the "Send Image to SuperCarver" button on the right toolbar. It will erase the current machine memory and send the new image, wait for the message box to say the process is complete. Then unplug everything, turn off the engraver and close the software. Next, plug in the machine's both cables (it needs both for power). Now you don't need the software, you can even plug them through a USB phone charger or any other USB power supply. To check if the material is in the right place you can use the arrows on the front of the laser engraver, this way you'll understand where is the engraving area. If you press once in the middle button, it will do the same as the "Carving Preview Box" on the software, if you press it a second time, it will start the engraving process. The red button is the power button, if you hold it down for a few seconds it will enter standby mode, to turn it back on, just press it again.

As referenced in the manual, or just simply focus tool, is another mode of this machine. It's quite interesting actually, this turns the laser head into a mouse controlled laser, you can move the cursor onto the canvas and if you press the mouse left button it'll simultaneously draw it on the software canvas and on the material in the machine. It's basically a manual laser carving mode. For this to work nicely, you just have to draw things slowly, otherwise the laser head will move too fast and it won't have enough time to engrave things well.

And that's it! Hopefully this guide will help you get started with this micro laser engraver in a fast way. Those are the main modes/tools this machine has and those are the results I've obtained. If you're interested in reading my review on this machine, check out my full article here.

And if you want to get your own Micro Laser Engraver, you can get one on GearBest.