Hello, I built a CNC and I have it set to Acro 1010. As I use the pen plotter to test the machine, it just draws a line right through the artwork as it finds it start point and starts plotting. How do I add a retraction command so the machine lifts up and then travels to the start point and then goes down to start drawing? It's driving me crazy. I have to know.
Typically you'd install a servo to lift the pen: docs:blackbox:connect-rc-servo [OpenBuilds Documentation]
Okay, does setting this up as a pen plotter make it so I have to reconfigure for a router later? I mostly want to setup the router and was just testing with a pen. In the future I might want to use for multiple tools like knives, pen, router, laser, etc..
Grbl only has one PWM output, if you want to share it with multiple devices, you can checkout docs:blackbox:iot-and-laser [OpenBuilds Documentation] (substitute laser for servo, still switching the PWM signal between the two) But if you have a Z axis, don't use a Pen Plotter toolpath, do a router toolpath, that includes Z moves. Mount pen to Z axis. That would be more appropriate for testing your "router" but with a pen (which is in essence not a Pen plotter at all) You mentioned Acro, and it doesn't have a Z axis, thus the advice to use the Servo
Yes, I did use the Acro1010 settings just to get things up and ready. I found the closest machine that uses Nema 17 motors which are the ones I have on my build. I however do not have a Acro machine but a MPCNC with Openbuild hardware and software. It sounds like I'll have to go into GRBL and custom setup code for my machine. I am not really familiar with it. Could you point me in the right direction?
