So I’m working on building a cnc plasma table, will have thc, and floating head. I’ve been tinkering with marlin and 3d printers for about 8 years, and I also converted a milling machine with mach4. But I want to use this plasma table as a way to learn grbl and Arduino, as I really know very little about that. My research has brought me a lot of info on grbl and plasma, but I’m having a hard time finding info on a start to finish project, with clear instruction, which makes sense as it seems most of this is learn as you go, as such write ups are written over time. I have been messing around with open builds cam, and have sort of successfully uploaded a test post to fusion360, and run simulations in open cad controller, which for me had an easier learning curve than mach4, perhaps just the simplicity really. TLDR: any write ups, start to finish for a plasma table with thc and floating head simple touch off or ohmic sensing. I have no idea where to start, never touched an arduino. Unless the skr board in my 3d printer is one… not sure honestly, and that’s what we are dealing with lol. But I really like the idea of being able to use my MacBook for this, as much as I dislike apple, I haven’t seen a pc that can dumb down software to my level in a way that Apple does. And I don’t have to buy another pc, or link the plasma to my mills pc.
Checkout And Also check out the kit: OpenBuilds LEAD Plasma way easier than DIY And no, you don't need the complications of THC. Thats exactly what the floating head handles for you. Draggable consumables has been a thing for years now Run it off an X32 docs:blackbox-x32:start [OpenBuilds Documentation] bare uno or 3D printer boards are going to be disappointing at handling the EMI Software: see docs:software:overview [OpenBuilds Documentation] CONTROL and Fusion360 can run on mac
the x32 controller is pretty sweet, and I did look into it, but I plan to run a Nema 34 on my Y axis so that I can do a single motor, a large nema23 might be enough, but I’m not sure I’d get the speed I want, I’m doing this so that I can make the opposite side openable, by removing that sides gantry plate, and hang larger sheets off the side. Can the x32 run external drivers? And is it possible to run closed loop units with encoders? I don’t have to, but thought it might be nice.