Most 3D printers have an SD card slot and almost everyone simply puts the g-code on the card. The printer then runs all by itself and it is ultra-reliable, beig self-contained.
But some of us are lazy and impatient. If I run Octoprint on a Pi3 and put the Pi3 on my WiFi then I can just drop the g-code file into the file->open box and the printer starts and I don't have to walk the SD card across the room. Octoprint can also live-stream video if I give it a webcam aimed at the print bed and it reports progress. Sounds neat but (big BUT) you still need to walk over to the printer to visually check it is adjusted correctly and the glue or hairspray is working. 3D printing is not "plug and play" and many times manual fiddling is required. I'd start with using SD cards but plan later for more automation. For a first attempt just download the little boat test object, copy to SD card, insert and press "print from SD card" and watch the printer either (1) make a bird's nest of plastic spaghetti or (2) do nothing. You want the simplest possible workflow at the beginning because you WILL have to debug. Yes, Octoprint is good. But like most people on this list, I already have a computer in my shop that runs LinuxCNC. My plan is to put Octoprint on that computer. Using a Pi is easy because there is an SD card image with a pre-installed Octoprint for Pi but it seems a waste to own one computer for each program I need. The LinuxCNC machine should be total overkill for Octoprint. THANK YOU for that link to the Unimat CNC conversion. That guy wins for the cleanest and most simple solution I've seen to date. One idea is worth gold: Notice that he placed timing belt teeth on the handwheel. The handwheel is the pulley. *Brilliant*. What could be easier than using a motor to turn the existing handwheels? On Fri, May 29, 2020 at 9:22 PM Gregg Eshelman via Emc-users < emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net> wrote: > If the printer has a network port it should be possible to use it as a > network printer to send it the sliced gcode file. > > There's freeware called Octoprint that runs on a computer (most often a > Raspberry Pi) that's network connected and that then feeds the gcode to the > printer. Printers that have built in slicing of STL tend to be $$$$ > commercial machines, unless that capability has filtered down to us peons > recently. > > A good thing to do is download some testing STL files (such as a cube, > one with various features in graduated sizes, and the Benchy boat) then try > various settings in various slicer programs until you get the test object > printing well with the filament you're using. Change something about the > filament, manufacturer, material, fillers etc and it's very likely > something will need adjusted in settings, at least for temperature. > > I should check on the progress of a project to design 3D printed CNC > conversion brackets for a Unimat lathe > https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1785310 > On Friday, May 29, 2020, 5:51:31 AM MDT, Gene Heskett < > ghesk...@shentel.net> wrote: > On Friday 29 May 2020 02:53:55 Gregg Eshelman via Emc-users wrote: > > I'll check that as I'm assembling it. Otherwise the fire risk and > potential odor would seem to be tolerable, at least for a test run for > effect. > > I assume it will accept an .stl file over a cat5 cable? > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > -- Chris Albertson Redondo Beach, California _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
