LinuxCNC (specifically MachineKit) is a hell of a thing. Should have done this a long time ago. Bulletproof stability. Every mod I’ve done (or wanted to do) works. No fiddling or tweaking to get it do a job. Or random things that destroys the work piece. Load gcode, touch off and hit start. Complete bliss.
Wow. So, what sort of machine did you use? And do you have to use a parallel port card to work with it?
Machine as a desktop? It’s an old Pentium 3 /w 1.5GB of ram and a 250gb HDD.The breakout board is a 20 dollar board off amazon. Since I already had the external drivers and what not. It was an easy switch over.
http://www.amazon.com/SainSmart-Breakout-Board-Stepper-Driver/dp/B0093Y89J8/ is the breakout board.
Or you can do something like this > http://www.amazon.com/SainSmart-TB6560-Stepper-Motor-Controller/dp/B0093Y8A1A/
This is the board I am using for a rotary machine I am working on.
that’s interesting. so i’m guessing you already had a parallel port on that one. might have to consider this as my upgrade path. and the jog dial… works out of the box? where did you get it?
Yes the pendent is supported in LinuxCNC. There is an example profile included that you can use to get it working. In my case I used that and added custom MDI commands and shortcuts to function I used most often.
It was purchased from Amazon also about a year ago. They go for anywhere from 79~99 USD. The newer ones look completely different than mine, but works the same.