Configure Lightburn for GRBL based HotWire Cutter Machine

[Tehseen]

I made a HotWire Foam Cutting Machine following this tutorial: Link.
and I want to use Lightburn to control the machine for cutting Foam sheets/blocks in 2D or 3D shapes. I am a big fan of Lightburn software. Please can you guide how can I configure the Lightburn for HotWire cutting functionality?
According to my understanding, it requires minor changes like instead of a laser head we have a horizontal Hot Wire. and similarly, the Gcode mechanism has to change according to the Wire because the head can not freely move around the workspace as we do in lasers. and also the cutting path configurations, etc.
Thanks for your suggestions.

[berainlb (PY)]

@Tehseen

Please can you guide how can I configure the Lightburn for HotWire cutting functionality?

I took a look at the machine.

There’s nothing that will make this a turn-key solution. However, it shouldn’t be difficult to get basic setup. You will need to do a lot of manual updates to the generated g-code. Primarily for Z-axis.

Basic setup:

1. Configure a device profile with the following settings:

• GRBL
• Dimensions of machine (420x320 is what is stated in the article but it looks taller than wide so possibly 320x420)
• Auto-home is irrelevant unless you plan to run directly from LightBurn. I’d actually suggest leaving this off and homing as needed since you may need to get the machine setup before homing
• Origin front-left

2. If you want to try to incorporate some of the Z-axis moves enable Z axis in Device Settings with relative moves only and optimize z moves

Design and execute:

1. At that point you just need to design your item
2. Check path in Preview. Adjust design accordingly.
3. Save gcode
4. Review and modify g-code
5. Run g-code

For items that need to be rotated you can setup multiple passes for the cut layer. Enable z step per pass accordingly. 2 mm for a 90 degree rotation if you configured according to the article.

[Tehseen]

Thanks. I will now try this.
Can we ask Lightburn to officially add support for these types of GRBL based hotwire cutters?

[berainlb (PY)]

@Tehseen

Can we ask Lightburn to officially add support for these types of GRBL based hotwire cutters?

You can ask for anything you like in the Feature Request site. This particular solution seems less likely as it’s a DIY one-off. If this were a more standardized solution I could see this having a higher chance. At the same time, it’s not hard to adapt LightBurn to the current solution and the compromises the designer has already assumed. The Z-axis hack is really the only oddball here. Also, the concept of turning on the hot-wire but that could be handled with an M3.