I’m trying to use my laser with RDC6445S(EC) controller as a pen plotter. I activated the ZAxis and set the pen depth to move up a few mm—all works. The only problem is that the travel moves remain in the ZAxis offset-up position. Thus drawing lines between artwork. Is there a magic check box to return the Zaxis to zero offset or down during travel moves?
I’ve read the forum, and there was some activity on this topic years ago, but I didn’t find a solution. There was even the notion of a “Pen Mode”? I’m an ex-Disney artist, and it would be amazing to have a pen plotter the size of my 900x1300 laser bed.
Yes. Relative starts where the head, or bed in this case, is currently located. If you turn that off, I believe it’s absolute position or the zero position for the bed. I tried both and during travel moves the bed just needs to go down to lift the pen off the paper/canvas, then back up to draw again. This has to be something simple. It’s like one magic button or checkbox from being an amazing feature.
Yet I don’t think Lightburn supports this. You would probably have to edit gcode to get it to work.
I’m no coder but it does seem like an easy leap to get a pen plotter to work.
It must be a Ruida issue. I’ve seen others with GCode based lasers edit the pre/post events. Not so easy on the Ruida controller. Maybe up/down commands can only be sent at the beginning and end of layers. If this is the case, maybe each layer needs to be divided up and sent one vector at a time with the pre/post up/down commands for each vector. Nutty. Gotta be something simpler.
Pen Plotters are becoming more popular and they are rather expensive for a small A1-A4 paper size. This would open up the world of generative pen plotter art to anyone who already owns a laser cutter. Almost all lasers are bigger than $1500-$2500 pen plotters.
Lightburn just needs to add that magic button for up/down on travel moves.
Lightburn currently is a 2D application. Set focus (Zaxis position) and then don’t touch it. You are thinking 2,5D, like a CNC mill. Lightburn does very limited Zaxis control, but it is for very specific situations.
Coming down the road is a mill friendly product called MillMage. That you could use, but there is no projected release date yet.
I’m not talking about 2.5D. Lightburn already controls the ZAxis up and down, nothing to do with focus. Lightburn just needs to raise the bed to draw, lower bed on travel moves, raise the bed to draw again. Two positions.
Yes. I’ve seen this done on CNC mills and 3D printers. Seems to work good. I’m not trying to carve 2.5D relief or anything. I have a. fiber laser for 2.5D. Seems like adding a pen plotter would be a popular feature. Think of the combinations of drawing, cutting, and etching on the same machine.
The other way to do pen up/down is use a pin-out on the controller (maybe laser 2) and a stepper or servo to push a pen up and down. Seems like such a waste of time to put a cheap mechanical up/down motor on a pen when the laser already has a motor on the bed.
I would however like to know more about MillMage. Sounds interesting.
It’s Lightburn’s dive into the cnc market. Separate program. I think it would have been nice to incorporate into Lightburn as did Vetric with their laser plugin.
Will see if it’s worth paying for. Or I’ll just stick to Carbide create to generate toolpaths and openbuilds to control.
Hmmm, it seems like it would just be a module for Lightburn. Similar to using a FiberLaser with LB. I don’t do that much CNC past using my ShaperOrigin. CNC workflow isn’t that much different than lasers. To me having one interface with added features (modules) to drive different machines is a much better concept.
Right now I just want this pen to go up and down so I can paint with my laser.
What lightburn does with the Zaxis could be called Canned Cycles. There is no direct programmatic control you can insert into the laser path (toolpath).
If you see something that works with Lightburn, please share it. Several members have asked for pen control for the same reason as yours.
You are not the first to voice this opinion. I too would like an all-in-one software package.
A waste for sure! I had a flat bed pen plotter a long time ago. It did not have a motor for the pen. It used a solenoid for the up-down control. However, that GRBL/Ruida/Whatever “pin out” has to be enabled in the controller software. That software has to be modified to control the solenoid moving the pen, and then compiled and uploaded (flash) to the controller.
How about this… Build your pen control using a 6v spring-loaded solenoid. Unplug the wires to the laser itself and feed that to the laser. At 100% power, you will get 5v to the solenoid, more than enough to energize it. As long as $32=1 is set, laser on = pen down. Of course, it is your responsibility to design so the pen goes down when power is supplied.
See, you don’t need a Lightburn software developer to modify the code (no easy task) to satisfy the wants of a handful of people?
Thanks for the links. Like I mentioned above I’ve read most, a few new ones, all with the same issue. Also, most not using Ruida controllers, more standard gcode systems.
I know it’s not high on many people’s list but seems like such a cool feature for artists.
I’ll read the thread again just to make sure I didn’t skip a detail that will help.
Agreed. The pen control I need the bed is just fine if it went up down on travel moves. I have a spring loaded pen holder that can attach to the too head. Thus it doesn’t have to be super accurate, just pushed down enough and the spring holds it down to draw even over uneven surfaces. Lift just needs to move a few mm. Travel. Back to drop. A motor, servo, etc would work on Ruida probably using laser 2 fire pin, set laser 1 to zero, and use laser 2 to move pin. But that requires a long drag wire, mounting a motor with the spring pen up down. Pain. Bed up/down is perfect and my bed is actually wicked fast. Anyhow…still hunting and mainly trying to bring this concept back up as I think it was dropped years ago.
Is your pen holder something I can purchase? I might try what I suggested above. My new girlfriend is an artist and I think she would love this new option.
I’ll put it on one of the 3D printer sites for free when it’s done. However, not mush use without the magical up/down feature in Lightburn. It’s so close to working perfectly.
This is a limitation of the Ruida Control. It can do z moves but not between shapes like you are trying to do. You would be better off using the TTL control on the Ruida to fire a solenoid or something similar.
If you had a g-code control you could use the new Custom G-Code to do all kinds of fun stuff…
Thanks for the reply. I guessed it was a controller issue, but there has to be hacks. I don’t think Pen Mode has been requested enough thus trying to build interest for fellow artists. The solenoid would work but a MASSIVE pain to setup on a big machine. The ZAxis works super fast and ready to go.
What exactly is the issue? I’ve read it’s a Ruida issue, but not why it’s an issue. LB can send pre/post commands but nothing between the actually travel moves? LB is sending on/off laser commands and probably loads other commands. So the only command not allowed is Z up/down?
GCode would be handy but for industrial style machines with DSP controllers, it’s not really an option. But yes, I’ve seen CNC and 3D Printers control a pen up/down.
Again, thanks for the reply, Trying to get the word out that PenMode with a simple ZAxix up/down checkbox would open a world of artistic possibilities.
