DIY Pen plotter / Using Lightburn

[Riquet68 (Schaefer)]

Hello, I’ve build a CNC plotter using a corgi controller board running fluidNC. I already use Lightburn for a Creality falcon 2 laser machine. I wondered if it was possible to use Lightburn to run the plotter with pen up/down ? Not sure where to start or set up parameters. Has anyone done this before ?

Thanks for any tips or tutorials. Cheers, Eric

[MikeyH (Mike Hembrey)]

Has been done. Search the Forum postings for information.

[misken (Melvin)]

You can use “custom gcode” as machine type and define your commands for laser on and laser off (up/down).

[parsec (FerAS)]

Check here:

Lightburn, raise z for traversal moves?

When cutting a shape, the z will raise then lower between shapes. When filling a shape, if the shape has cutouts, the z remains fixed during traversal moves. Is there a way to force a z up then down during traversal moves in a fill? Look at what happened to my beautiful unofficial SmashMouth tribute banner… Who will make it right? [IMG20240907173550]

For fills you may need to use Offset-Fill mode.