I have been using clunky Artcam for my CNC machine and hate it. I recently have been involved with laser machines and Lightburn. Lightburn is so far superior that I now want to switch my CNC machine to MillMage. However, I want all of MillMages features and simplicity without having to move and convert G-Code files so I am willing to upgrade my machines controller. My current CNC control computer has a PCI controller card so in order to gain a seamless MillMage setup I would like to choose the best replacement USB type controller for the retrofit. In the documentation I see the following…
Is one CAM and Control option more stable than the others?
What are the differences between the six choices?
Is any one more versatile or have any extra benefits over the others?
Well, any controller that supports a firmware listed under CAM and Control would be great - I’d recommend a Sienci Labs SuperLongBoard for starters, but there’s a swath of options.
The SLB runs grblHAL and they’ve done a really, really good job with the abilities and packaging on the controller. I have two.
@Colin is right, there are a gazillion options. Any of the DLC32 boards that support GRBL and XYZ motion would be fine. I have also read that FluidNC (PiBot FluidNC GRBL Laser CNC Controller V4.9 Plus) is also pretty good.
Colin, The LongBoard looks great. I am a big fan of it being in a case and would like to have the 4th axis for future expansion. However, I have a serious machine, (4X8) so my current setup has a wireless pendant. Because of the machines size it is 99.9% necessary to have. The way that I understand it, the pendant manipulates the the machine via the controller even though the pendants receiver is a USB dongle. Do you know if there is a compatible controller that can support a pendant? If not, I have seen some very cool wireless handheld devices that are programmed to emulate windows key presses. If there are hotkeys associated with the “move” commands in MillMage I could go that route but I don’t see any hotkeys shown in MillMage. Also, I would like to use a purpose built pendant because the rotary encoder is perfect for dialing in the perfect position. As I think about it a pendant would be nice to have in my lightburn/rudia laser machine too, not necessarily wireless though.
I know the GRBL style controllers seem really popular these days I think mostly due to price. However Im sticking with the traditional Mach style controller like ESS or Pokeys57cnc.
Pokeys can run up to 8 motors, has an Ethernet connection and runs an inexpensive pendant.
I also don’t like the risk of loading software from unknown sources on my machine. I also like the documentation on these traditional controllers.
GSender has game controller support and MillMage will too, in the future. We had it working, but decided to omit it from the current release candidate branches because some associated code was being refactored. We hope to reintroduce joystick/controller support soon.
The SuperLongBoard also has a pendant port (RJ45) but it’s currently unused.
You can map a wireless keypad’s buttons to the move commands in MillMage from the menu here:
I never realized how many options there are. I will need to really do some serious research to figure out what is best for me. Thank you for the input/suggestion.
Work and life have gotten in the way of my checking in here. I apologize for the delay. We are taking any spare minutes to get ready to move my company fron CT to TX. CT now has an unfavorable business climate. The Connecticut government is out of control and is attracting people that want handouts that are paid for by businesses.
The controller choices are overwhelming. My machine that needs a new controller is a totally origional Chinese CNC machine as it always has been. It is a substantial machine with a 4X8 table and 2HP water cooled motor. The problem is that it has that god awful NC Stutio controller board in it. I ordered it that way because a salesman talked me into it. I knew little about CNC at the time. When I first received the machine, it wouldn’t work correctly. As most know NC Studio runs G code created by any program. After a lot of trial and error I found that if I deleted the first few lines of the G code that it would run correctly. I emailed the Chinese salesman telling him about this and his reply was, “Oh, you found that too”. Pretty sad. The machine runs okay but there are a couple of petty irritating bugs. Because the table is rather large, a wireless pendant handwheel is 100% necessary. I haven’t yet found a reasonably priced controller that will run one.
With all of that said, thank you to everyone who chimed in. My goal is to retrofit the controller with something to run MillMage as it is an all in one design and machine control package. I fell in love with Lightburn so for me there is no turning back in CNC and Laser. At this point I may just wait a while until MillMage matures and hopefully there will be an off the shelf wireless handwheel plugin. Im not in a hurry and will worry about the retrofit after the move toTX. I also may sell the machine and buy another after the move. It is rather heavy as it is made of cast iron so it may be expensive to move it 2000 miles. It sucks because I have spent weeks sorting the machine out and it is now working very well. Thank you again to everyone that chimed in here. Your input is very helpful and well appreciated.
