Looks like a solder it yourself board. I think we have enough issues with the already built boards.
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Agreed
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My bad, I thought I had listed that as a downside, but no I just said it was a kit and I was not looking forward to getting out my soldering iron 
So the octopus pro does some advantages, BIGTREETECH Octopus Pro V1.0 | Biqu Equipment.
Marlin/RRF/Klipper, and instead of the screen we might just run the wifi option to save a ton of cost, fan voltage is selectable, need to look into the drivers running at 5V (not sure why that is an advantage).
Looking a bit more promising.
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Since im on the process of building my LR3 and havent yet bought the controller, should i wait on getting the SKR pro 1.2 since itâll be a few weeks before I buy one? Wondering if i should just go with the Octopus⌠hmm.
We donât have any premade octopus firmware. It isnât clear where we are going next either. The skr pro is still the easiest choice today.
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I agree with Jeff.
The SKR Pro production scheduled has changed until at least the end of the year. I will get an octopus to test with my next order but who knows what will be available at the years end, or whenever they decide to stop production.
Electronics and firmware is an ever moving target.
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10-4. I completely understand.
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The mks monster 8 will be the next board I will try out. I use mks boards for the mpcnc, mp3dp and low rider 3. Easy to setup and excellent performance/value. I run both klipper and marlin but have migrated everything to klipper now.
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Looks just like the Octopus I wonder which is the original.
Thereâs one feature of the octopus that would probably convince me to spend an extra $20, which is separate motor power supply terminals that allow up to 60v. The maximum voltage on the mks is 28v.
I wonder which is the original.
The github repository info says the octopus repository was created 2 months prior to the mks monster8:
BIGTREETECH Octopus âcreated_atâ: â2021-05-13T02:20:32Zâ
MKS Monster8 âcreated_atâ: â2021-07-29T09:39:04Zâ
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whoa only 50 bucks!
Actually only 10, it is on sale right now on Amazon. 59 bucks.
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Okay I finally got a solid answer. These are Biquâs longer term supported boards with 5+ drivers.
skr 1.4, skr 3, and skr 3 EZ, octopus, skr pro, MANTA M5P, MANTA M8P
They have decided to keep the SKR Pro on for a while, still not exactly sure how long. They kinda said, for me, but they are not being clear.
The benefits I am seeing of the octopus is it about the same price as the skr pro, can use the ESP32, more ports, more table endstops?, better CPU.
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Not sure if it fits your overall design goals but I just got my LR3 working w/ Skr mini e3 v3
Cheaper than an Octopus - I think I paid like $85 for both the board and the tft35-e3 on Amazon; board by itself is like $45 and Iâm sure much cheaper when purchased direct from China in bulk.
Only has 4 stepper drivers but the Z driver is multiplexed to two channels for dual Z already so it was a non-issue for me. Sensorless homing was really easy to set up - just a few jumpers and maybe 2 tweaks in marlin (extruders 0 and the sensorless homing stuff in the advanced config file).
Relatively painless, pretty cheap. Works like a charm for me
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4 drivers does not allow for autosquare or autolevel as we need them
Do not use both z ports, they are typically wired in parallel (=no power), you need series. If your Second z Port came with jumpers on it is series. Best to double check the docs for your board.
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I agree octopus currently is one of the better if not the best choice, especially if esp3d is a requirement.
I think itâs interesting times right now for 3dp hardware, with all the success seen by klipper. A lot of board manufacturers are putting effort into designed for klipper, with some offering 10drivers for stuff like voron. I see this as the long term future of 3dp⌠just a matter of time before on-board planning fw is a thing of the past for 3dp. OTOH, that would likely mean marlin might take a separate path, with a primary focus on cnc like grbl (unless klipper takes over cnc, which I doubt will ever happen).
edit: Along similar lines⌠knowing that voltage helps when it comes to certain cnc operations, those new fysetc HV 5160 drivers are very interesting. Boards that support that are probably too expensive, but such hardware could lead to some curiously fast mpcncâs I think⌠at a lower budget than doing it the way I did with dm542t drivers.
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I am not a fan of those drivers. 1a, 1.4a, 1.9a. To big of a step to take advantage of fine tuning.
Input voltage helps but there are diminishing returns. Running at 24v is already accelerating fast and pretty amazing rapids, but the step to 48v will not be as âbigâ as 12 to 24. Current wise, the 2209 are already plenty powerful for you large nema 17âs.
With CNCâs using lasers more often we might see klipper take a bigger partâŚbut we will see.
GRBL is very solid in terms of cnc, the boards just cost to much and most people want screens. FluidNC has a very solid possibility to take over. It just needs a few extremely inexpensive boards to flood the market (like the ramps did).
I hear that⌠havenât actually tried 24V on my rig went straight from 12 to 48, so missed on the 24V goodness. Sounds like a good plan to me.
Bartâs modular 6-pack design is nice, but a more integrated setup would be cheaper to mass produce. Most of the cheap options (esp uno etc) have fundamental flaws that make them unsuitable, and for often trivial reasons. It wouldnât be that difficult for the community to develop a decently manufacturable solution here. Iâm not much of a PCB industry guy, but if thereâs interest Iâm willing to help on the pcb design. I think starting with one of Bartâs open source schematics would make it sorta easy to do⌠just need to vote on what features/pins are needed etc.
The octopus is a nice board and should work really well. The only concern is since itâs STM based and not ESP32 like you would be nice to maintain FluidNC compatibiity. Being mainly a 3d printer guy I would love to see Klipper âCNCâdâ but Ireally doubt itâs going to happen.