I recently purchased a k40 laser with the primary intent of engraving on wood pens that I make.
I upgraded the control board to a Mini Gerbil 3 so that I can use Lightburn software. I have been around with the software and I kinda have the basics of engraving and cutting.
Included in the K40 purchase was a chuck style rotary attachment. The guy didn’t recall where he got it from or anything about it other than he intended to engrave pens with it but never got around to trying it. When I plug the rotary attachment connector into the Y axis connector of the Mini Gerbil 3 and have the laser HOME the laser head goes to the x axis limit switch and the rotary spins in the correct direction a few times and I get a message that the machine could not locate the limit switch.
If I try to move the laser after that I get an error 9 message.
When I go into the rotary setup screen and select a chuck type rotary device I have no idea when setting to use since I don’t have any information on the rotary device.
I have searched all over for info on this device to no avail. It has no marking on it other the name and model number on the stepper motor. The stepper motor is a USONGSHINE US-17HS4401
I would greatly appreciate If anyone could shed some light on this!
Maybe I’m wrong but I assume I need something like this rotary device to engrave on round pens.
Because the Mini Gerbil 3 is a 2 axis controller, you’ll have to unplug the Y-Axis motor from your controller and plug in the rotary. You’ll also have to turn homing off in the Machine Settings in the Mini Gerbil 3 and physically set the engrave head in the corner toward home but not resting on the homing switches.
You’ll want to set the following in the Console window:
$21=0
$22=0
After this, start the Rotary Setup dialog box in LightBurn and Select Chuck type rotary, 360 mm per rotation (it’s a safe initial assumption to get moving), and input the diameter of the Pen. Click the Test Button to confirm that the pen rotates one full revolution.
I’m not certain that the step calculation will apply here but I’d be interested in helping to calculate it if it’s needed.
Thanks for the suggestions. The rotary height question is a good one… I can remove the workk surface and place the rotary on the base of the cabinet. Looks like the height is going to be very close.
So I tried the suggestions of setting $21=0 and $22=0 which seem to be accepted ok. When I open the rotary setup gui ( with rotary enabled ) and hit the test button I get the error "error=9. Gcode locked out during alarm or jog state. On or near line 0.
Another question. In my searches I saw a comment that for this type of laser/rotary I should use the A axis rather than y asis in the rotary setting. I tried both and both gave the same error.
It’s possible, but the Firmware shouldn’t have switched the second driver to the other axis.
When you get the Error 9, there’s usually another error message that preceeds it. That message is usually related to a position that is interpreted incorrectly.
With Homing disabled, power up the laser engraver with the engrave head at the origin. Jog the engrave head over to the rotary in the Move window in LightBurn so LightBurn and the engraver can count the steps and know the position. Watch the cursor on the LightBurn screen. You’ll have to move the engrave head along the Y-Axis after the cursor lands in the middle of the range.
I’ve heard some folks use Current Position for their rotary engraver work.
After you’re in the middle of the Y-Axis and if your X-Axis isn’t too long, you should be within the previous workspace.
You can check it against the Preview window. (It’s the Icon in the top row that looks like a flat panel monitor on a stand.) The Preview window will show you all the moves the laser will make with the beam on. Preview will also show you the moves with the beam off if you select the ‘Show Traversal Moves’ switch at the bottom of the window.
With this tool you can see if you’re headed out of bounds and if further adjustments are needed.
