Benbox with Eleks Laser (GearBest /Banggood) Engraver

Version 2016-06-20 R.Grokett

Figure: Gearbest.com Laser Engraving Machine

Hardware Construction
This document expands on the detail of the Instructable below:

“How to: Laser engraver!” by MakerBox

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Laser-Cutter/

Adding some extra hints on construction, as well as providing more details on wiring and setting up and
using the Benbox software & drivers. Please see the above Instructable for the hardware details.

There are several videos and tutorials on building the Eleks Laser, particularly the GearBest (and
Banggood) models. But most lack details, particularly with the software setup.

GearBest: http://www.gearbest.com/3d-printers-3d-printer-kits/pp_290389.html

Banggood: http://www.banggood.com/500mW-Desktop-DIY-Violet-Laser-Engraver-Engraving-Machine-
Picture-CNC-Printer-Assembling-Kits-p-999923.html
Hints & Clarifications:
Do not over tighten acrylic bolts to keep from cracking.

In step 2: Frame Assembly

Use the 1cm bolts with nuts on the frame. Not the 1.2cm or 1.5cm bolts.

In step 3: X-Carriage
Use a 3cm bolt, acrylic mount, plastic spacer, washer, bearing, washer, nut for each bearing assembly.
Orient the Stepper with gear with wiring connector towards the bearings:

Build the second x carriage as a mirror image of the first:

In Step 4: Laser Assembly
Attach the Laser and the Stepper with gear to the acrylic pieces before assembling the long screws and
bearings:
In Step 6: Belt Assembly
Install the center (laser head) belt first. Use the 1.2cm bolts and nuts. Do not cut the belt until you have
it adjusted. Feed the entire belt thru the second acrylic fastener. Tighten fastener and slide the stepper
assembly up and down the rail. It should travel smoothly and the belt should stay tense on the stepper
gear. When ready to cut, leave at least a half inch or so sticking out of the acrylic fasteners so you can
adjust tension.

Don’t cut too short! There is about 6 inches of spare belt available after all the installation.

In Step 7: Finishing up
Mount the controller using long bolt, acrylic panel, plastic spacer, circuit board, metal standoff. Place
the red caps into the two holes of the black plastic cover. The buttons do not need to attach to the
buttons but can rest on top of them.
Miscellaneous
GearBest includes two little LED “dongles” just as toys. Not used by the laser. If you plug them into a
USB port on PC, they will light up. That’s it, nothing more.

The “How to: Laser engraver!” Instructable is good for the hardware construction, but a bit thin for the
wiring and on the software side.

See below for wiring and software information.

Wiring Information
1. Wire your Laser Engraver using the below diagram.
X motor is laser assembly motor.
2. Use the spiral plastic tube for the Laser and its Stepper wire.
 3. Route the Y1 & Y2 Stepper wires below the frame if you forgot to wire them
The kit included two plastic guide covers to route the wires along the frame, but you have to
install the wires BEFORE you assemble the steppers onto the frame. But it’s mainly aesthetics.
4. Wait on plugging in the USB cable until after the software installation.

Software Installation
The below packages currently appear to be the same versions. I have the GearBest, so installed that
version. “Eleks Laser.rar”
A) From the GearBest web store http://www.gearbest.com/3d-printers-3d-printer-
kits/pp_290387.html

“● Click here to download the hard driver”

B) Or From the Banggood web store http://www.banggood.com/2_5W-Desktop-DIY-Violet-Laser-

Engraver-Engraving-Machine-Picture-CNC-Printer-Assembling-Kits-p-1001413.html

“The software we have upload it to the netdisk, and its downloading link is: Click
here “

1. Unpack the Eleks Laser software from above site.

2. Navigate to the Eleks Laser\Benbox directory and double click benbox.exe
3. It requires Administrator to install.
4. I successfully installed on Windows 10.
5. Leave the defaults for the drivers.
Don’t bother installing their “Driver.exe”
6. NOTE: In order to get a working USB driver, I found that installing the Arduino IDE was the best
bet. https://www.arduino.cc/en/Main/Software
Installing the IDE will automatically install a good Windows 10 driver.
7. During the BenBox installation, Windows Firewall requests opening port 7683, which is required.
Select Allow “Private” and “Public” networks. This is allowing the BenBox GUI to talk to the
BenBox service (both running locally on your PC). It is NOT opening your router firewall to the
Internet. No worry unless your PC is sitting directly on the Public Internet (i.e. in a DMZ) or a
public (unprotected) WiFi network.
Your virus protection may alert. As long as you downloaded the software from Gearbest or
BangGood, you are just seeing a false positive. Scary, but not a real issue. Note, some say to
delete a file called laserdaemon.exe but I found that if I did, I could no longer get the driver &
COM port to appear in BenBox. (Wireshark showed a connection between Benbox.exe &
laserdaemon.exe, but no data is passed.) If you don’t feel safe, you could run Benbox in a
VirtualBox VM running Windows.
8. After installing, reboot your computer.
9. You can now plug in your USB cable and 12v power cable to the Laser Engraver.
Leave the 12v power OFF initially. (the left red Power button on the Eleks controller not
depressed)
10. Once ready , double click the BenBox icon on your desktop.
11. Set the LANGUAGE by clicking on the tiny flag in upper left corner and select EN (or appropriate)
12. Be sure your Laser engraver is plugged in to power and USB.

13. Select the “lighting bolt” icon to upload HEX ROM.

14. Select the COM port (probably the bottom one on the dropdown list)
NOTE: If you have a problem then use the ALTERNATE FIRMWARE instructions, step 17.

15. Select NANO device

16. Click Choose Firmware and navigate to the Eleks Laser\Benbox\ROM directory and select the
Eleks-Benbox.hex file

17. ALTERNATE FIRMWARE:

a. Quit Benbox
b. Download XLoader and LX-Nano hex file
http://russemotto.com/xloader/
http://benboxlaser.us/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=50.0;attach=155
c. Run XLoader and select the LX-Nano hex file, COM port for your Nano(AT328), 57600 baud
d. Start Benbox again. You should now see the COM port available in the Menu->Serial Port
drop-down. (Menu icon is 3 horizontal lines under “Benbox Laser Engraver”)

18. Below are the available commands

19. Note that some commands are not available (blacked out on screenshot). Specifically, Laser
Intensity is not avail. It is always Max. Use Engraving Speed and Burning Time to control.
20. Draw a straight line using the green drawing tool bar on the left. This is just for a quick test.
21. To erase, right-click to cancel drawing mode then left mouse drag over your line to select and hit
Delete key.
22. Select the Menu options shown below. Note the < and > tabs for the other options.

23. Place a piece of cardboard or color paper on laser bed.

I suggest setting a piece of 8” x 12” fiber board or plywood on the bed and then place your test
material on top it and position under the laser.
24. PUT ON YOUR LASER GLASSES! NO KIDS NEARBY!
A 500MW or higher Laser is DANGEROUS. Burns skin, puts out eyes, etc.!!
Treat this like a Circular Saw with a blade that can bounce all over the room!
25. Turn on the Power push button on the Eleks controller board (see the wiring diagram
previously)
 26. Focus the Laser by pressing the Weak Laser button on the controller and adjust for sharp beam.
Do NOT leave the Weak laser button depressed for more than 30 seconds.
I found that I could turn it off and the laser still glowed. Once focused, I turned off the Power
button to get it to stop lasing.
27. If off, turn the Power button back ON.
28. Note that there are LASER controls on the Benbox menu bar:
OFF | n/a | ON FULL | Momentary On

29. Click the Green Play button. The Laser should turn on and burn a line then turn off.
30. I turn off the Power button on the controller afterwards, just to be safe!
31. If everything works, then next comes the real fun… learning the adjustments.

Adjusting and Tuning

This part becomes a labor in patience and slow, methodical work.

When learning, I found that it is best to change settings ONE AT A TIME, otherwise you can’t tell which
one actually worked.

Each material will be different, so write down the values as you find them.

BENBOX SETTING VALUE RESULT

Speed 800 Control burning.
Time 10 Discrete mode only. How long laser is on at each point.
Step 10 Distance for the Axis Menu buttons only. No effect on burn.
Carve Mode Zmode Oneway – left to right
Z mode – bidirectional
Outline – follow shape
Discrete/Continuous Discrete Discrete stops laser at each point. Slower & more accurate
Continuous constantly moving. Faster.
Step, Dir 2,3 5,6 Pins on Arduino (leave as is)
Min/Max -1 Travel distance (leave as is)
PPM 320.0 Image size. Should be 320.0 for both X & Y normally.
Laser on/off 12 Normally 12. Jumper under Arduino Nano to change to 11 (PWM)
Servo 15,20 n/a
Feed Rate 1000 Max speed of steppers when laser is OFF.

Hints & Tips

 Try doubling or halving the values of SPEED.
1600 gets you a light engrave in (assuming 2w)
400 cuts the thin cardstock (included with laser)
 Changing TIME does not have much effect for me.
 Use separate, free InkScape program to convert SVG files to DXF
  Accuracy is controlled by PPM setting. 160.0 doubles accuracy (kinda!) but halves size, so resize
drawings by 2x.
 BenBox drawing area rulers are in mm. 25mm = 1 inch (approx.)
 Power off between burns to reduce stepper heating (and increase safety!)
 Don’t engrave/cut any type plastics without good ventilation.
 Engraving elaborate images in your bedroom will set off fire alarms! 
 Remember your Laser Glasses!
 NO! Don’t stick your fingernail under beam… it WILL bore a tiny hole thru! And hurt like hell!

HELP! Go to http://benboxlaser.us/ and sign up for free help!