Am I able to type or copy and paste gcode onto notepad then rename it XXXXX.gcode save it to my sd card plug it in and run my lowrider2? And if so is it supposed to come up in the “print from media” screen as far as the lcd recognizing you have a program there?
Yes. But I am a little worried you are doing this the hard way. Are you doing some special operation? Estlcam should create the .gcode file for you, if you have followed the set up in estlcam basics.
Thanks for the reply. No its not a special operation I have tried everything to get the estlcam and repetier host to load my program the correct size. I have tried everything in metric everything in inches nothing seems to work for me so I thought it would be easier to use Fusion 360 cad and cam then copy the code onto the sd card. I’m at my wits end with this I am just starting on this project and have programming background (sheet metal) but this is kicking my butt.
I even went to the link on the milling basics to get the Guffy’s github for the post processor for fusion 360 Im clueless what it wants me to do.
I guess I should say it works I am able to control it both from the repeiter host controller as well as from the lcd I was able to pen the crown also after resizing it but I have my drawings in my cad/cam and cannot get them to the machine I cannot figure the ratio the parts are transfer over from the repeiter host its very frustrating.
Well, we can probably figure out what is going on with the scaling. I don’t know fusion, and I found estlcam much simpler.
There are a lot of settings in estlcam basics. If you describe what kind of scaling problem you’re having, it would help me narrow it down.
Marlin only understands mm. It doesn’t understand inches. And speeds are in mm/min, not mm/s. I promise the settings I linked are good. They have been used thousands of times.
so are all of my programs going to need to be in milometers its no biggie, I can try my cad and cam into metric I’ll let you know how it works. As far as the scaling goes I started out with a very simple hole and square program 2" hole 3" square and it was smaller than a postage stamp. So giving that marlin only deal in metrics i will draw, tool path everything in metric.
No. Just the output from cam. Here is an example. I use onshape. I export a dxf. It asks me what units to export it in. I can choose inches or mm. In estlcam, I import it, and again, it asks what units, I will have to choose the same. But at that point, the settings in estlcam are to always convert it to mm and mm/min. These are all settings in estlcam basics.
Can you share some more details about your scaling issue? Is it too small in the estlcam preview? Is it too small when it gets to the machine?
Well that the thing I see the grid and it appears to be correct but when it comes out of the repiter host it is tee tiny to the point where its impossible to guess even the closest scale
Give me a few I am going to uninstall and reinstall everything to start from scratch I’ll let you know here in a bit
9/10 times, that is a missing setting in estlcam basics. Probably “CNC program settings” -> Length unit. It should be set to mm.
I found that setting up the work area size in estlcam really helped, because then it shows the work area on the screen, so you can see if the scale is off.
The Grid in ESTLCam is fixed (If I remember right). Depending on what the grid length is set to, it could just be the grid sizes are different. I don’t know if repetier has a fixed grid or if it’s dynamic.
If it’s trying to cut really tiny, it’s probably converting inches to millimeters on a 1:1 basis. So your 2" circle would be 2mm (less than a tenth of an inch) and your 3" square would be 3mm, (just over a tenth of an inch).
Ok so here is the update, I did everything in mm. The drawing and the loading to estlcam I set the work area for a 2438.4 x 1219.2 my grids are set at .5mm I drew a 203.2 x 38.1 mm rectangle and loaded into estlcam its about 20.5 x 7.5 mm. I have set it up per the instructions on the lowrider2 pages and from the ones Jeff sent me??? so its obvious it is getting losdt in the estlcam at least thats narrowed down. I did help putting the work area in there.
I mean I guess it could be fusion 360 but the measurements show 203.2 and 38.1 mm…
Thanks they are adjustable
Yes it was very small. I’m at a loss
That is about 10x smaller in x, but only 5x smaller in y? How are you measuring this in estlcam?
Did fusion export the dxf in cm?