New build, gcode delivery question

Mostly Printed CNC - MPCNC Advice
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Well ladies and gentlemen, I’ve done it again, and probably not for the last time. I jumped in without thinking everything through.

I wanted a CNC (never had one) but still wanted the option to 3D print with it just due to the available build space. I’m currently limited to 300mm x 300mm x 400mm. So I bought the kit for the Primo.

I opted to get a board on my own, but I went ahead and got the display with card reader. The board I decided on was the Duet 2 WiFi, which is an awesome board by all accounts. But I didn’t do my research and the display doesn’t want to play nicely with the board even with the Duet’s latest firmware.

The big question is what’s the best method of getting the gcode to the machine in my case? As I see it I reckon I have three options (direct connection is not an option for me).

1. Use Duet's web interface.  Will Duet's web interface, which does send gcode jobs to the board, work for this application?  I have no experience with CNC jobs, so I have no clue what the differences might be.
2. Buy the fairly expensive duet display with card reader and move on.
3. Buy one of the other boards mentioned in the build. (And if this is your recommendation, which is a good all-around board?)

If anyone has had experience to help me choose the best method I’d greatly appreciate it!

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I have a duet2 in my printer with a screen. I have a duet2 clone with screen I am setting up on my primo. The web interface works great. I can send a file to the machine and start it over wifi or at the primo. Lol I paid 600 cad for the original and 200 cad for the clone.

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I also had a Rambo and currently have the skr pro and both boards are awesome

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Cnc gcode is mostly just what would be considered “travel moves” in 3D printing. There are some other key gcodes, like G92 to set coordinates. It should work fine. Pronterface has trouble with cnc gcode just because it doesn’t like having no extrusion commands.

You can also try octopi or the v1pi image. I have no expectation that cncjs would work with the duet, but octoprint will.

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I also have used the V1Pi and it works great. The duet uses reprap instead of marlin.

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Oh wow, that’s surprising that you were able to use an LCD other than the PanelDue with the Duet2! Do you remember how you connected it? I tried M918 P1 E2 with varying F arguments and I could tell it was responding, but no actual video. Great to hear that the web interface will work for this! Thanks for the feedback.

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Thanks mate! I have a Pi3B+ laying around somewhere and I have imaged it with tons of stuff, so that part looks good. I’ll have to read up on from the Pi out though, the rest of the bits. Thanks a ton for the tip!

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Thanks again gentlemen for your help! I’m a long way from done, but it’s alive.

I have an old laptop set up with SketchUp, Inkscape, and Estlcam. I set up repetier server on an old ebook server that I had almost forgotten about. I have gotten the Duet 2 WiFi working pretty well headless.

I was sending gcode straight from the Duet web interface and it was working okay, but I wanted something a little more standard so I swapped over to the repetier server. It took me a bit to figure the G92 to get everything 0’d out, and then repetier swapped my axes so that x commands were moving y and vice versa when I knew I had it wired up right, but it was something learned therefore worth the time.

I don’t have any heavy hardware for the MPCNC yet, but I did put a pen on it and drew out some pretty fancy sketches. So I am pretty confident the rest will work thanks to your suggestions.

I do want to eventually do the V1Pi/Octo pretty soon but this has been a while in the making and I needed to see signs of life.

Next steps get the wiring harness sleeves… get some tools… get a dust collection system.

Thanks again!