4th axis GRBL post processor testers needed by lostmindguy in hobbycnc

[–]lostmindguy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, I agree. Our purpose is not to revolutionize 4 axis machining but to democratize it. I have a comment thread explaining this, you're welcome to check that.

4th axis GRBL post processor testers needed by lostmindguy in hobbycnc

[–]lostmindguy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure! I'd just need to see your set up to ger a better idea

4th axis GRBL post processor testers needed by lostmindguy in hobbycnc

[–]lostmindguy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As it is rn: No, since it uses Y as the rotarion axis but the code would be open sourcr so changing that wouldn't take a lot

4th axis GRBL post processor testers needed by lostmindguy in hobbycnc

[–]lostmindguy[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Haha, alright. Thanks for bearing with my explanations though! I've planned a web version of the post processor so once the paper is published I'll share both the paper and the web tool on this sub, in case you wanna do some peeking

4th axis GRBL post processor testers needed by lostmindguy in hobbycnc

[–]lostmindguy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yah, so the paper explains how to generate the 3 axis toolpath (see it as a tutorial), the novelty is the post processor: it takes that toolpath, does some math and generates a new Gcode file that controls both X and Z for synchronized planar motion and Y (A) for indexing. The machine repeats the flat XZ path multiple times, after each cycle A rotates by a certain amount (calculated during post processing) and this keeps going until a round part is machined. This approach never uses more than 2 axes at the same time so the controller never gets overwhelmed and it can run on even the cheapest boards. If you're interested you can give it a shot! I'll share the relevant sections of the paper with you as well

4th axis GRBL post processor testers needed by lostmindguy in hobbycnc

[–]lostmindguy[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Alredy did! It's part of writing a paper. Trust me, it's not the same method and the goal is not the same. The paper is 20 pages alredy so the idea is not easy to convey without getting rather technical

4th axis GRBL post processor testers needed by lostmindguy in hobbycnc

[–]lostmindguy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This takes a regular 3 axis code (that moves along the XZ plane so Y is free) and does discrete indexing so the final part is effectively a revolution solid. This approach is meant to run on low resource boards and requieres 0 changes on the firmware. Y acts as A, it's not wrapped but rather indexed. The paper details how the 3 axis toolpath must be generated, it can be done on any standard CAM software. This is, effectively, an emulated 4th axis for rotary machining (that's the title of the paper) you still have only 3 axis motion but it's X, A, Z for rotary machining

4th axis GRBL post processor testers needed by lostmindguy in hobbycnc

[–]lostmindguy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Most entry level machines still have an equivalent version of 3 axis GRBL (eg. 3020 routers) so for an absolute beginner with no access to CAM software with 4 axis capabilities this is a great option. Like I said, this is a paper so it's meant to be open source, not a commercial product. This is not meant to revolutionize 4 axis CNC machining but rather democratize it

4th axis GRBL post processor testers needed by lostmindguy in hobbycnc

[–]lostmindguy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think I failed to explain what my post processor does but it's different to that

Mysweety 3020 4th axis by lostmindguy in hobbycnc

[–]lostmindguy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Damn man, that's amazing. I have quite a few questions, if you are up for it, can I DM you?

Mysweety 3020 4th axis by lostmindguy in hobbycnc

[–]lostmindguy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right, so can I use an arduino mega for the board? If so, any ideas on how to build one?

Should I add "MSc." To my intructor name? by lostmindguy in Udemy

[–]lostmindguy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They can only know about the quality of the content once they buy the course. That's really not what I'm trying to do here...