best breakout board and THC/Omic setup
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maacmetal
- 1/2 Star Member
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2021 8:02 pm
best breakout board and THC/Omic setup
Help Please..... I built 4x9 plasma table that runs on mach3-sheetcam-fusion360. i started with a boring plane old usb breakout board from amazon for $25 and individual DS565 drivers. Then i upgraded to a pokeys57cnc board so that i could use a PlasmaSens THC. im fed up with it and am looking for the right way to go. my question is....What is the best control setup for a DIY table? Im looking at the warp9 with 3in1 THC but im not sure if that is the way to go. im sure this topic has been beaten to death before so i apologies for the repeat question.. any help would be AWSOME. Thanks
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acourtjester
- 6 Star Elite Contributing Member
- Posts: 7796
- Joined: Sat Jun 02, 2012 6:04 pm
- Location: Pensacola, Fla
Re: best breakout board and THC/Omic setup
I think cost wise the Linux CNC PlasmaC is the way to, there are some other members doing the move to Linux and you can find good info here about that. The Linux have built in THC and Ohmic sensor setups as a package with free software. You can keep the SheetCam and Fusion 360 for what you are using them for now. Another way is the UCCNC setup with their software but no THC like the Linux route, it would be an add on which will increase the cost. YouTube has many videos about both paths with DIY guys showing what they are doing.
DIY 4X4 Plasma/Router Table
Hypertherm PM65 Machine Torch
Drag Knife and Scribe
Miller Mig welder
13" metal lathe
Small Mill
Everlast PowerTig 255 EXT
Hypertherm PM65 Machine Torch
Drag Knife and Scribe
Miller Mig welder
13" metal lathe
Small Mill
Everlast PowerTig 255 EXT
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robertspark
- 4.5 Star Elite Contributing Member
- Posts: 1816
- Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2017 6:43 pm
Re: best breakout board and THC/Omic setup
warp9 and the TMC3in1 are mach3 and mach4 only.
warp9 have been very slow at development over the years. to be fair with mach4 that development was not exactly good or quick either and it threw up a lot of bugs by simply a new release breaking a working plugin somehow. long story short ... you will probably find you are dependent on artsoft for mach4 development, and warp9 for the ESS and TMC3in1 development if you have a problem or a bug is found.
linuxcnc is cheap (it's free) and open source..... if you can learn to read various coding languages. you can use a parallel port too if you can find a pc with good enough latency (regular timing).
Mesa hardware is lower cost than mach3 or mach 4 licences and seems very flexible from my getting to know the hardware. it seems to be build off a fairly consistent base of code which allows you to easily remap pins on the Mesa FPGA if you have the need but there are a lot of available bit files for standard configurations and the hardware is already flashed to a usable setup to really it's only if you are like me and a real pia and want to run a plasma, mill and router all off the same Mesa 7i76e using different profiles that you have a need (maybe) for a custom .
one thing you do need with linuxcnc is time..... to read the manuals.... to learn some Linux syntax (what the "terminal" is ..... where files reside.... some commands (sudo // apt-get install // etc ))
sure you can get very proficient at installing from the iso and running through the config and changing settings in the bios, but it does take a little time at least..... so did learning to walk... and that was difficult to learn at first too
warp9 have been very slow at development over the years. to be fair with mach4 that development was not exactly good or quick either and it threw up a lot of bugs by simply a new release breaking a working plugin somehow. long story short ... you will probably find you are dependent on artsoft for mach4 development, and warp9 for the ESS and TMC3in1 development if you have a problem or a bug is found.
linuxcnc is cheap (it's free) and open source..... if you can learn to read various coding languages. you can use a parallel port too if you can find a pc with good enough latency (regular timing).
Mesa hardware is lower cost than mach3 or mach 4 licences and seems very flexible from my getting to know the hardware. it seems to be build off a fairly consistent base of code which allows you to easily remap pins on the Mesa FPGA if you have the need but there are a lot of available bit files for standard configurations and the hardware is already flashed to a usable setup to really it's only if you are like me and a real pia and want to run a plasma, mill and router all off the same Mesa 7i76e using different profiles that you have a need (maybe) for a custom .
one thing you do need with linuxcnc is time..... to read the manuals.... to learn some Linux syntax (what the "terminal" is ..... where files reside.... some commands (sudo // apt-get install // etc ))
sure you can get very proficient at installing from the iso and running through the config and changing settings in the bios, but it does take a little time at least..... so did learning to walk... and that was difficult to learn at first too
