Now that is good news! You guys just keep making this stuff better and better.
I am on hold testing MillMage for now. The USB connector broke off my 3018-Pro board, and I an struggling with getting the “updated” Sainsmart replacement board to Home and Jog properly. Right now, it is one or the other, but not both. You would think the original parameter values would work, no?
The recent MillMage vcarve function and discussion is very impressive. Well done team LB.
It’s been 5 months or so since I’ve given MillMage beta a test drive, so please forgive me that I’m not familiar with the latest release. I put my testing of it on the back burner after providing some initial constructive feedback. One of the function deficiencies I had trouble adapting to was that the UI for CNC controller interface was simply a cloned/inherited rendition from LB at the time. IMHO, for other than laser CNC process, a much richer controller interface and UI is desirable by the machine operator (for milling and plasma processes specifically). Has the MillMage UI in this context been enriched ? If not, are there plans to do so, even if incrementally ?
Here’s an example of a gcode sender that I’m using with my CNC grbl v1.1i XYZA machine, setup and about to run a plasma process. The second column from left are custom macro buttons. The other controls and status features are critcal, as is the command line and active job log. The graphic layout has various features for coordinate monitoring, jog to point, start from point, etc. Very nice to have features for machines of this scale, power, and complexity given the fixturing that is usually on the table surrounding the toolpath and needing control and programming to avoid collisions. It just seems like these factors need to be addressed in an all-in-one solution.
Progress!! well done!! Thank you!!
I just downloaded beta 6, lo and behold, there is seemingly an unlimited custom macro window!
Resuming testing…
after just 45 mins of setup and simple testing, I like the improved features! Well done.
7 macros copied over and counting…
toolpath is now shown relative to shape. suggestion- button controls on Preview window to snap to preset view angles would be handy. Iso, from Z, from X, from Y.
UI drawing controls to enlarge the cursor icons and nodes, nice!!
back to exploring…
While we’re waiting on the LB RC 1.7 to post for download, just curious and hoping to see some of the new features in MillMage mapping over to LB as well. Can team LB (@LightBurn, @adammhaile) comment on this please ?
Specifically, the expanded macro feature and window ?
cursor icon and node scaling ?
toolpath Preview with option to also show shape contour ? Seeing the toolpath relative to the shape contour is a warm fuzzy that makes me feel good about offset kerf being correct. btw- would be nice to also have in MM and LB an option to augment the centerline toolpath (right side preview animation) with a colored true kerf width, much like the left side animation 3D iso projection is doing.
the scissor tool is there, I read about it in the 1.7 RC announce. That works really well in MM. Well done.
I also noticed in the LB announce gif that square, ellipse, and polygon shape tools are on the tool sidebar, however in MM that are ‘stacked’ into one tool icon. I couldn’t figure out how to ‘unstack’ them. Is there a way to unstack ? If not, why are they handled differently between MM and LB?
Has Custom Gcode device implemented a ToolOn and ToolOff custom code block yet in Layers ? Several months ago @adammhaile mentioned it as a ‘future’. This is an important feature I believe that is necessary for other than laser jet devices, such as plasma for sure, perhaps water jet also. There are more jet cutting parameters necessary for these CNC processes that vary with material type and thickness than there are for laser I believe. So if the Tool concept in MM is not cloning to LB to handle this, then these extra jet parameters need to live somewhere and Layers are a logical place. Layers tend to map to plasma jet operations in my other workflow process where I import LB dxf into CAM sw.
alternatively, I’d be happy to explore plasma CNC process with MM, but I don’t believe the function of leadin/leadout exists in the tools or operations, unless I missed it.
update: I just discovered in MM the ‘corner radius’ control on rectangles. nice !
Just a few thoughts and questions in the meantime of RC 1.7 posting.
Thanks for considering.
At this time, yes, our thinking is that plasma would just be an update to LightBurn and NOT MillMage. But that’s all it is right now… thinking.
Honestly, Custom GCode should get people 99% of the way there. We just might need a few extra lead in/out options.
@bLouChip We are targeting a public RC by the end of the year but that’s the best I can say. We are working on nothing other than MillMage right now and going as fast as we can.
yes, expanded macro options is coming
The stacked shape icons thing is still in the works, there’s a better version coming
Haven’t gotten to custom layer specific gcode yet. It might be in MM/LB 1.8 - can’t say for sure yet.
In short, you can’t. LB already has this as well, in the 1.8 version. We’re going to be adding new shape tools, and as we add more, the left-side toolbar is going to get long, so putting all the basic shapes together into a single button preserves UI space. On MacBook air systems we’re already pushing the vertical limits with default window scaling.
It would be feasible to offer an option to put this back to the way it was before, but try it as it is for now. A long-press on the stacked button, clicking the area just beside the right of it, or clicking the blue tab in the lower corner will all pop up the full tool set.
On MM, no, not yet, but it’s something we could do. I’m not sure what Adam’s plan is for the Tool On / Tool Off in LB.
re. my ask to have a Preview option show ‘true kerf width’- you’re right, confusing description. Let me try again; In LB, Preview window, the centerline toolpath has always been shown but not the shape contour (in MM, ‘Show project shapes’). That’s one of two asks/suggestions please to also add option ‘Show project shapes’ in LB Preview window.
Second ask please- have an option in both LB and MM to show or augment the centerline toolpath with a thick line that represents the true kerf width. This is done in the MM left side Preview split window given the 3D nature of the cutting process, however the shape contour lines are not shown. A feature like this in LB (2D of course and relative to shape contour lines) would be very handy when kerf width matters, such as in plasma cutting, kerfs are typically 1mm+. I simulate this effect by using Offset Shapes tool so I can examine and correct necessary gaps between shapes tangent to each other or between shape edges if its an inside shape cut. If I don’t catch it in LB, then I also have the opportunity to see and catch a mistake in my CAM sw, it is a very useful visual feature.
I really appreciate all the discussion and information here. Thanks LB folks for all the hard work going on WRT MM. As I missed the beta opportunity I am really looking forward to the RC process and trying out the software on my machines. (Milo 1.5+*linuxcnc), Bantam Tools Mill, and a couple of Chinese small mills)
I would love to be added to the beta test group. I am a new CNC user that is frustrated by the offerings available at this time. I am very comfortable in Lightburn, use it daily.
Unfortunately the “new user” path isn’t as solid as we’d like yet, and we don’t want to have to train you on using CNC machines in general, just using MillMage. If you’re brand new to CNC use, you’ll be helpful when we’re ready for that, but we aren’t quite there.
Me, me . I’m happy to volunteer. I have a couple of different CNCs and some prototyping projects I’d be happy to use the beta on (understanding the nature of beta testing).
I’d also love to join the beta group. I’d originally volunteered last year but missed selection. As mentioned in this thread I have a GRBL based system as well as use of a Mach 3 based machine. Both are homebrew designs.
Those newly joining the Beta group will find MillMage is a pretty capable product. In my opinion, it is in the final tweaking stage. If you are a user of Lightburn, you are going to love it.