Hi there. I’ve been successfully using Lightburn to drive a home-brew plotter for some time. Previously I was using a servo for the pen up/down - setup to use the spindle M3/4/5 commands. I recently switched to a solenoid - but in order to make use of custom solenoid control (FluidNC stuff like different initial/hold pull percentages and “spin-up” delay) it needs to be setup as a motor (Z axis)
I’ve read a couple of unresolved questions here on Z axis control - does anyone have suggestions for a solenoid pen setup? Thanks!
I’ve not heard of doing anything like this. What specific z-axis controls does this depend on?
And how do the Z-axis commands get translated to solenoid position?
the solenoid is configured as a motor option on the z axis (as per FluidNC wiki) - so basically any z position above zero triggers the solenoid. It’s not perfect, but it does work and includes current reduction for the solenoid.
The main issue however, is that I cant get the z axis to raise/lower between ‘cuts’ when driving with Lightburn. This appears to be the gist of the other posts I’ve seen here regarding z-axis control - in that it only applied at the start and end of the entire pattern. what I’d like is to be able to drive the z axis up/down in sync with the “laser on/off” command.
Failing that, I’ll try to attach the solenoid config to the M3/4/5 spindle ops - but I think i lose the current reduction options with that approach.
thanks.
Easiest way would be to use an arduino to control it from laser on off commands. That way you’re not limited to how light burn generates g code… Or, you could simply do a find and replace to modify the g code. - find laser off - add retract… Laser on… Extend.
Yes. I don’t see a way you’d be able to do this currently. The upcoming customizable generic g-code generator may give you the flexibility to do this but not certain.
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