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I managed to install Linuxcnc on an old pc.

It seems for what I want or need.
a 7I95T + THCAD2 would be the way to go.

The thing is my machine is Router/plasma combo with rotary and laser and on top of that a probe will need to be installed.
In the future I will separate the tables.

Thanks to all!

 

Hello.
I am running or trying to run an Avid cnc router and plasma combo with rotary.
After 3 years of messing with this and replacing 3 pc's and multiple install I can confidently say that Mach4 is garbage. Machine is solid.
I am looking into replacing the electronics for either Uccnc or Linuxcnc. In the future build a plasma only table running either Linuxcnc or Myplasm cnc because from what I see both of these have a better way to recover a failed cut than Uccnc and Mach4.

Now I have 3 available pc's i5 4th gen 8gb hdd, i7 4th gen 20gb hdd and i5 11th gen 16gb ssd. are all these 3 a good choice for Linuxcnc?

Is Debian 12 good for Linuxcnc? I am a total noob on Linux ...I am using right now an old toshiba laptop that could not run windows and running Linuxmint smoothly but more than a month struggling to boot up from hd :/ still booting from usb.

I was advised on a Mesa 7196s+THCAD2  but I need to drive 6 motors...1 for the rotary...I was so fed up with Mach4 that I did not even bothered to use the rotary.
What to do in this case?
going from Mesa to the motor drivers do I need a breakoutboard?
Which values would I need from Mach4 to use in Linuxcnc?
Is Linuxcnc is good with probing?

My plan is to install Debian on one of my old desktop and install Linuxcnc uspace to test the simulation.
One thing I do not understand about Linux terminal....If I install from the terminal which version does it install?

Let me know If I am in the right direction here....I am trying to make parts not trying to make the machine run.

Thank you!
 

That board looks sweet!

If you have analog ports that could be broken out I would buy one. Have a few projects in mind that need a analog port (thinking a height control for a CNC CO2 laser that follows the warped wood..yes a thcad would work but a few more projects need 10+ analog input). 4-20ma is preferred over 0-10v due to noise issues.


I like the plug in design for stepper motors as can probably find cables so we don't have to wire them by hand.

Personally prefer Ethernet cables for everything as they are much easier/faster to crimp by hand than those white connectors and I can wire directly to a machine 20 foot from my control panel. Wire and connectors are cheap and abundant

What makes projects like this succeed and become interesting is good setup instructions and documentation. Bonus points if you can make a pnf config style config generator. Time is much more expensive than the boards themselves, I'll pick a $250 mesa board over an unknown one with no documentation because it's going to save me $1k+ in time.

Hope you keep developing it. Looks awesome!

Yes, you can extend the range of any THCAD by adding an external resistor
The calculation of the value required is shown in the THCAD manual, for a THCAD-10
it would be:

REXT = (VFS - 10V)/100 uA  Where REXT is the external resistor added to VIN-
and VFS is the desired  full scale voltage.

This is for example 2.4M for 250V full scale

will the THCAD10 also work? I think I have a guy that has one I can buy for cheap, I ended up ordering a plamsa cutter that has a 1:1 voltage ratio, so can I use the THCAD10 with an external high voltage resistor?

Google translate
Hello! I want to build a plasma cutter and am still very new to Linux. I created a test setup with a Thinkcenter, 7i96s and thcad 300. I think I have configured everything well. I also connected a stepper motor for testing, which also rotates at the correct speed. The only thing that bothers me is that in all the videos I find the burner position is shown, but mine isn't. Does anyone have an explanation/solution for this? But it's only in QTplasmac. If I use the GUI Axis then I can see the position. I hope it's just a small setting.
I installed it according to Talla83 from YouTube
uname -a
Linux Linuxcnc 6.1.0-18-rt-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_RT Debian 6.1.76-1 (2024-02-01) X86_64 GNU/Linux

I've come up with something new. When I start the program I see the machine table with the limits but as soon as I press Home or something it disappears and I can no longer see the size of the machine table

Hallo! Ich will mir einen Plasmaschneider Bauen und bin noch ganz neu in linux unterwegs. Ich habe mal ein test setup mit einem Thinkcenter, 7i96s und thcad 300 erstellt. Ich denke das ich alles schon gut konfiguriert habe. habe auch testweise einen schrittmotor angeschlossen was sich auch mit der richtigen umdrehung dreht. Das einzige was mich daran stört, in allen videos die ich finde wird die Brennerposition angezeigt und bei mir nicht. hätte da einer eine erklärung/lösung dafür? ist aber nur in QTplasmac. Wenn ich die GUI Axis nehme dann sehe ich die position. hoffe das es nur an einer kleinen einstellung liegt 
Installiert habe ich es nach Talla83 von Youtube
uname -a
Linux Linuxcnc 6.1.0-18-rt-amd64 #1 SMP PREEMPT_RT Debian 6.1.76-1 (2024-02-01) X86_64 GNU/Linux

Ich bin auf was neuen draufgekommen.
Wenn ich das Programm starte sehe ich den Maschinentisch mit den grenzen aber sobald ich Home oder irgendwas mache Verschwindet es und ich sehe die größe des Maschinentisches nicht mehr

I am trying to use remora and a BTT octopus that is already mounted to cnc, could I use the THCAD2 and input the FOUT- and FOUT+ as the "plasma up" and "plasma down", or as an encoder with ChA and ChB ?
remora code I think would apply for encoder?
{
"Thread": "Base",
"Type": "Encoder",
"Comment": "Encoder",
"PV": 2,
"ChA Pin": "8",
"ChB Pin": "7"
},

or remora code for plasma up and down?
"Type": "Digital Pin",
"Comment": "Plasma Up",
"Pin": "PG_16",
"Mode": "Input",
"Data Bit": 7
},
{
"Thread": "Servo",
"Type": "Digital Pin",
"Comment": "Plasma Down",
"Pin": "PB_7",
"Mode": "Input",
"Data Bit": 8
},

Ok, so I can use the THCAD2 to get arc voltage into controller, the reed relay and to get arc ok, and a relay to switch the trigger start. I was just about to give up on the idea of using my older shop plasma, only thing I think left to figure out is if my snapon plasma is a touch start, as non touch start seems to be important to use for a cnc?

You can use the THCAD2 with a parallel port based LinuxCNC system.
 

Hi everyone ! In my fablab (AgriLab in France) we just built a plasma table with a MESA 7i96s, THCAD 5 and Hypertherm Powermax 45XP that works well !

Now we planned to add a diode laser (AtomStack) to use it in parrallel of the plasma torch.

We already successed in making the laser works with PWM on the Mesa Board.
Now i would like execute the probing routine even when we use the laser to apply the exact offset to achieve a clean job (+ Z 5mm).

I would also change the Cycle Stop button script to execute an M68 E0 Q0 an shutdown the laser.

Can someone help us please ?

We use Linux CNC 2.10 with QtPlasmaC.

Find my .ini and .hal files attached.

1. get a Mesa THCAD, it can do pretty good analog to digital, should be more than enough for spindle load, but that would also require an encoder input to Mesa 7i96S, in case the spindle is already using it.
That might still be usable if the spindle does not require the index pin as THCAD requires only a single pin.
Or wire the THCAD to the IDC26 connector, might need firmware flashing.
2. Get a LM331 chip, some resistors and capacitors, and build a voltage to frequency converter, 8 pin chip, 1-3$ a piece, info here:
www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm231.pdf?ts=1...Fwww.google.com%252F
3. same as 2 but get a ready made module, under 10$ usually.

Having installed probably over 70 or 80 (most probably more) of Mesa boards that are in daily use mostly on industrial machines, i would say chances of getting a dud are slim to none, and slim is apparently out of town !
The only issue i have with Mesa is a never seem to have enough !!!
Installed the last 7i92T and THCAD-10 weeks ago, so the only thing left is a 7i73.

Are those cuts supposed to end like that?
I do not think so, so :
-check the THCAD division jumper is seated properly and does not move
-try to catch the screen when that happens, does the voltage rise a lot?
-tighten the screw terminals on both sides of THCAD cable, just in case
-check the high voltage cables from plasma to THCAD
And, do you get latency warnings when running LinuxCNC?

So, we ran our first production run using the 7i96s, THCad2 and QTPlasmac, and it was like jumping in a Cadillac after driving a pinto. Night and day between Mach4 and linuxcnc. Soo happy I invested in switching electronics over and making the switch. 

Couple of issues I encountered and would like to get corrected.
I don't think i have my Z set correctly no issues in cutting or height control, When the machine is homed for the first program run, it runs up to the Z+ Prox / Z home from their it drops down to I'm guessing an offset I put in. it than drops down about 2 inches and zeros the Z drive. not a big deal but when I'm trying to line the torch up it won't go below 0.00 is it better to let the Z axis home off the probe or an upper limit. 

On Probe it does this weird little double probe you can watch it come off the probe switch than go back to it than proceeds to cut height. is this normal or am I missing something in the settings?

Randomly had no arc signal from the Hypertherm 65. this was closer to the end of the program about 45 minutes into cutting. I'm guessing it was a Hypertherm issue as I turned it off reseated the CPC port and it came back no issues but eventually did it again. I'm running Mode 1 in QTPlasmac which I believed was the setting when there is a separate ARC ok Signal?

During that no arc ok phase I also noticed that QTPlasmac will attempt three times to fire the torch after the third round of that it powers off with the screen switch and resets the program. Is this normal if it is, is there a way to change the number of rounds it will go through before resetting the whole program. 

Appreciate any info on these Items