I am new to LB and am having some setup issues. My machine is a GRBL CNC that I added a laser to. The homing position is in the top right and my CNC software shows negative numbers as the machine moves left and down. I am understanding this means the machine is negative coordinate.
I did the G10 L2 P1 X-WIDTH Y-HEIGHT and the screen shows positive numbers moving top to bottom and right to left, is this correct?
The machine homes correctly, the z axis moves as expected with the move controls in LB, X and Y move in opposite directions. I want to validate that simply flipping x and y in the device settings is the proper step here.
I do all of my design work on another PC than the one that controls my CNC. Can I do my design in LB not attached to my CNC and LB need to be set up exactly the same on the design PC and the CNC Laptop?
Home works is good. Without more info, cannot confirm that flipping is the correct process. This a GRBL machine, so enter $$ in the Console window and paste the parameter list here.
If you want identical results, yes. This link should help, where @Rick details the steps.
Should not be required, just choose “CNC machine” in device settings, that should change everything that’s needed:
You can do all the design in another instance. Layer settings are saved within the file. There is nothing laser specific in a file except those speed/power settings, so you can transfer it anywhere. I use multiple PCs and a OneDrive share for the project files.
Ok, a few more things
$$ only provides $10=0 not a list
In the move to position tab, I placed 2.00 in the X box and hit go. The head moved to the bottom left, full movement of x and y across the machine. I changed the CNC Machine tab to be green, ran the test with the same result. I then entered G10 L2 P1 X0 Y0 and ran the test again, it moved as anticipated. I then moved the head a few more times, ie… x 500 go, y 500 go, and the head moved left and then right to what be close to 500 mm away from home. Also, the move buttons now work as excepted also.
Now the questions are:
Was this simple fix or is this just masking other issues I do not know about?
Why does $$ not report back anything other $10=0…After further looking, FluidNC, my motion controller software, says it only supports $10, if that maters
FluidNC uses a different configuration mechanism than earlier grbl firmwares. Fluid is the next-generation thing, where you do all configuration in the config.yaml file and do not use runtime-commands (usually). That’s why the $-commands are not available, mostly. Fluid is far more flexible and configurable than grbl, so it’s a good choice
OK, so I am running some initial tests. Everything seems to move as expected. I framed the material test, the laser moved to the middle of the machine and framed. I enabled the fire button and the laser turns on when I push it, off when I push it again. I am running the material test now and the laser does not seem to be turning on. I do know that I had to set the frequency of laser in FluidNC, I was told it is 10k but was also told that my my controller likely can not handle that and to try something much lower like 2 or 3k to start. I am wondering if this is why its not running during the test? seems odd as it does fire with the manual button. Any suggestions?
**** Ok, I spoke a little to soon, the test worked. However the only visible markings are at 10mm/s across the full power range and and some of the 42mm/s at higher power ranges. None of the text showed up in the test from the built in material test. Are the changes I can make or this a limitation of my laser?
Did you try 2k for freq?
Don’t know what controller or laser you are using, or material for test.
I would use mm/min instead of mm/sec for my speed ref.
I have not tried 2k but will soon.
Ok, I ran a test of lines and this is what it looks like. The top line is at 100% speed 100mm/s, I stepped down in 10% increments. Then started at 10% at 50 mm/s and moved up to 100%. This is at 3k. I was able to notice a difference in light brightness at higher % but lower seemed to be random as it changed and not really able to see a brightness difference.
