Homemade, cheap, plasma CNC

Try

rodw wrote:

Try

Code:

BUTTON_2_NAME = LASER BUTTON_2_CODE = toggle-halpin hm2_7i96.0.ssr.00.out-01

I think that won't work. Based on previous conversations with Phill, hal.set_p (what toggle-halpin uses) cannot write to an output pin.

That said, if he wants a separate laser button to control power to the laser outside of the touchoff LASER button that will appear based on the info in my previous post, he could probably do this:

Thanks Rod & Snowgoer540.

Still running PlasmaC.

I have a button to offset from laser to plasma.

Now trying to get a button to turn on the laser so I can do it all from the computer.

I'll try it tomorrow when I'm in the shed again Rod.

Cheers

if you are using gmoccappy then you can use one of the macro buttons too.

Thanks Rod,

It didn't work.

Not sure what to do or how to fix it.

Running PlasmaC, using AXIS gui.

Cheers

Probably not what you want to hear, but any aversion to switching over to QtPlasmaC? Tons more features, bug fixes from the PlasmaC days, etc.

It does require being on 2.9 (master branch). At any rate, some of the stuff you are asking for has been made way easier/possible in QtPlasmaC. Plus, no more development/limited support on PlasmaC.

Hey snowgoer540, no objection to changing over, having spent a few months getting 2.8.0 to work I’m reluctant to change is all. Also the cnc is in the shed with no internet available so I have to do everything in the house then take USB to the shed to load up. This caused no end of frustration when I changed from Mach 3 to LinuxCNC to start with.

If it’s all it’s cracked up to be I’ll look at changing, however, for 99% of the time 2.8.2 is doing everything I need and I know how to manipulate it now to get around its limitations.

Cheers

If you are on Buster, it's a much easier task, but I can understand the frustrations of lack of internet, etc.

No chance to take the pc to the house to do most of the heavy lifting, then work on the config in the shed?

I think it's all it's cracked up to be, but perhaps I am biased. I'd recommend a good thumb through the docs: linuxcnc.org/docs/devel/html/plasma/qtplasmac.html

Somewhere around here I've made a list of key features/upgrades, etc, and it's only grown since then. That said, 2.9 is the development version, and as such it doesn't come risk free. Generally issues are quickly resolved, but they do pop up from time to time. To me the reward > the risk. But obviously everyone needs to weigh the benefits for themselves. All that disclaimer stuff said, QtPlasmaC has been stable.

At any rate, I can appreciate your situation and why you'd want to stay put. If you decide to switch over, there are plenty of people here willing to help get you going.

There is always a way.
If the toggle will only work on an input pin, I think you could fake that with an and2 component give or take a typo or two

If any and2s jhave been added previously, you might need to modify the existing loadrt statement

I would not rush into QTplasmac until the dust settles after the move to Python3. I think have QTplasmac sorted but I'm not in love with it. It is very sluggish on my hardware

rodw wrote:

I think have QTplasmac sorted but I'm not in love with it. It is very sluggish on my hardware[/code]

It works fine on my old Dual-Core 2.80GHz Pentium with 2gb RAM and also a Gigabyte Brix Dual Core 1.5GHz Celeron with 4Gb RAM.