I am still thinking about an upgrade from the standard dsp chinese controller to a smoothieboard, but i don’t know if this make sense, because I do not know whether the software works as expected. How about cutting, engraving and all that, does that work properly?
I am very interested in upgrading to the smoothieboard. HOWEVER I tend to get myself in a heap of trouble with most electro mechanical devices. Maybe I don’t have the patience for it and don’t want to learn more. I looked over the documentation for the smoothieboard and I am reluctant to tackle it - especially since the stock k40 seems to be paying for itself right now. Maybe I need to order another one and crash this one (which seems to fit my needs perfectly). Yes a bigger build volume might be nice but I am stuck making keychains (not reluctantly) at the moment so the build volume is not necessarily a factor. The Glowforge is larger but still a bit unhandy at 20". I am weighing here the benefit of the ease of use.
Just how difficult is it to swap out this board and allow for network control, etc? I would much rather have parts on hand to get me on an upgrade path regardless but hate spending money for dust collectors (my makerspace is shrinking)
@Ben_Walker Smoothiebrainz is not exactly ready just yet, a bit of patience … real smoothie board 4XC will leave you with 2 unused driver, possible (I did it) but maybe better to wait a bit for peter.