Testing of the Mini Laser Comgrow

Unpacking

The assembly

Settings and start-up

Utilisation : 
Use: You will need to download the "Blue Laser" application on your smartphone. Once installed, remember to activate the Bluetooth if it is turned off.

Launch the application and connect the mini laser. This one will appear on the application, you will just have to click on it to connect it.


You are now on the management interface. Several solutions are available to you:

1. Open an image from your library
2. Write text
3. Take a picture with your phone
4. Create a QR Code
5. Create a barcode
6. View ready to burn/cut templates

We will start with the simplest: to engrave a text (button Writing Board). Basically you arrive on a small interface that allows you to write text and layout it easily. You can change the size, the orientation of the text and the font.

Once finished you have to send the file to the mini engraver via the button on the top right "Sent".


When the file has been sent, we get a page asking us what type of material we are going to engrave/cut (Material tab above the sliders).

Of course, we can modify the power, engraving speed and preview speed ourselves.

By clicking on the Preserve button, you validate the parameters and enter the preview phase. You can set the starting point of the engraving using the up/down and left/right buttons and the small 5 Preview button allows you to preview the exact location of the engraving (5 for 5 passes). Once everything is set, you can press Start to start the engraving.



The engraving is a bit slow even at 100%, above you see one engraving at 50% power then the other at 80%. It is basically a wooden pencil.



Second try this time with a drawing (Photo Album button). You can simply choose a photo or drawing from your library / photo albums on your smartphone. In our case I have retrieved a drawing of Naruto on the internet to burn it. The application will automatically transform it to adapt the colors (for the lines that will be engraved).

You can move and resize the drawing directly in the application. A red line indicates if the original drawing exceeds the limits of engraving and thus the parts which will not be taken into account.

I will engrave the design on a 1.5mm wood board provided in the kit. I selected 80% power and 100% engraving speed. Ideally I should have gone down to 60% power to reduce the wood burn. In the meantime I saw another technique on the internet which consists in putting a masking tape to avoid burning the wood too much during the engraving process.


You can also create a QRcode easily or a barcode

For the photo function you just have to press "Shoot" (or "Photograph" in the latest version of the application) to take a photo via your smartphone. Of course, depending on what you take, you will have to put a white background or avoid having parts that are too dark. Here are a few examples to show you the rendering.



Engraving on metal is also possible when it is anodized like the two medals provided.

I had fun creating a GTI and SEB badge. In this case you have to reduce the engraving speed and set the power to 100%. The result is very nice !

There are also a lot of ready-to-use examples in Material Library



Conclusion
This little burner is really very practical because of its small size and the use via a smartphone is very simple. We don't ask it to do anything big but what it can do it does very well.

I haven't tested everything on this article but you can also engrave glass, PLA, cut paper, cut thin wood boards, etc.

There is also the possibility to connect it to your PC and use more advanced features like dedicated software like LaserGRBL or inkscape and even CorelDraw.
From:https://www.leblog3d.fr/test-du-mini-laser-comgrow/