I have a rotary tool attached to my Genmitsu Cubiko, are there any settings I need to set in Millmage to get it to use XY axes correctly? At present if I tell it to frame my project it moves the bed and frames as if it was normal operation. In Lightburn it is obvious but there is nothing I can find in Millmage that is its equivalent…
A CNC mill of the tabletop variety typically does not have the Zaxis clearance for a rotary. You cannot remove the table or raise the frame like you can with lasers. There is no rotary option in MillMage for this reason.
I see Sainsmart offers a rotary option with the Cubico. They should have provided an instruction sheet or file on how to use it. I do expect you need to unplug the Yaxis motor and run that cable to the rotary. Beyond that, I am of no help.
Thanks for your reply Mike. I have followed the instructions provided by the supplier to the letter with no success. There is a 4th axis socket on the machine and rotary device that is plugged in correctly, I would have expected this to replace the normal motion with rotary…
I see from the online documentation "MillMage does not support rotaries at this time.”. I also see that early last year it was hoped that this would be coming very soon - can anyone tell me how close we are to having this capability…?
I would have too. Have you contacted Sainsmart? They are usually responsive to questions.
I did a bunch of searching, including Sainsmart, and find almost nothing about using the Cubiko with a rotary. The only thing I could find was using Kiri Moto. Unfortunately, that application only supports indexing (angular steps) the rotary, not full motion control.
Thanks for looking Mike. Yes, I have contacted Sainsmart who have helped to a certain degree but I have just advised them that Millmage does not support rotaries and I am awaiting their response to my question of any free or low cost software for MacOs that I could use in the interim…?
P.S.they have examined my gcode and pointed out that there are no A axis parameters set up, so obviously the device does not automatically translate the X and Y axes.
Too bad you can’t plug that rotary into the Yaxis motor connector on the controller board. I am guessing that has a typical NEMA17 motor, so maybe you can make up an adaptor cable so you can use the Yaxis for the rotary, like is popular with Lightburn.
Thanks for the suggestion Mike, but methinks that is way beyond either my brain power or my capabilities…!
I have had a reply from Sainsmart who have confirmed the need for A axis commands in the gcode, they have suggested UGS for the interim, I will follow this up later this evening…
MillMage can act as a sender. The issue is that all Yaxis moves need to be converted to Aaxis moves. UGS will not do this, The global find and and replace in Notepad will.
- Make your design in MillMage.
- Save the GCode as a text file.
- Fix the Y-to-A’s with Notepad.
- Import the new GCode into MillMage and run it.
I do not expect a Rotary option in MillMage anytime soon. It would be for a custom built CNC mill and there are very few of those out there.
Anyhooo, let us know how it works out for you.
