BitSetter - Disabling

[72begin (Bill Tumbleson)]

I made a pen plotter attachment for my Shapeoko XL.

Before testing it out I need to disable the BitSetter. I believe that is a matter of unchecking the BitSetter in the Settings dialog options. I am using Carbide Motion 513

Will the settings for the BitSetter home position be retained when I re-enable it ?

Thanks, Bill

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

Yes, current versions of Carbide Motion retain the BitSetter coordinates, facilitating turning it off, then on again.

[72begin (Bill Tumbleson)]

Thanks Will.

Now to see if I can draw with a Shapeoko
Kind of a poor man’s laser.

Bill

[Julien]

@72begin

Now to see if I can draw with a Shapeoko

Wasn’t that the very first thing you did after assembling your machine (the Hello World with the Sharpie)?
Looking forward to seeing the drawings you get! (I guess an XL will make for spectacular large and intricate ones)

[72begin (Bill Tumbleson)]

Julien:

Credit to this gentleman’s youtube presentation on making the fixtures.
I made the third version.

Plotter Fixture for CNC

Bill

[Intohouse (Brandon)]

Hadn’t seen that video. It’s fantastic.

Now the question @72begin Which approach did you build and what enhancements to the design did you make?

[72begin (Bill Tumbleson)]

Brandon:

I built the version that utilizes three patio door rollers.

Using the Shapeoko CNC it was easy to get the steel rods parallel. Just duplicated a pair of mounting blocks with holes for the rods.

Yes, I couldn’t leave well enough alone. I wanted to remove most of the slop in the bearings. Not super tight tolerance but better than the original. To do this I added wooden rub blocks to keep the pen mounting block from shifting in the x & y axis.

First test using a fine point Sharpie was a simple compass rose.

Bill

[CrookedWoodTex (Tex (Don't Mess With My Texas!))]

I am thinking of multiple color gel pens and a spring-loaded (or gravity-loaded) pen mount.

[CrookedWoodTex (Tex (Don't Mess With My Texas!))]

@72begin

Before testing it out I need to disable the BitSetter. I believe that is a matter of unchecking the BitSetter in the Settings dialog options.

I just reread your post. I found that I had to “clear all offsets" under the zero menu to get the next zero correct after disabling BitSetter.

[72begin (Bill Tumbleson)]

Tex:

As part of the process of manually setting the X, Y & Z coordinates for use with the pen / plotter fixture I am “clearing all offsets”

I think we are saying the same thing. I am open to correction.

Bill

[72begin (Bill Tumbleson)]

Tex:

Another option for a pen / plotter. This one is limited in that it only uses Mini Sharpies.

Idea from this YouTube video.
Simple Pen Holder

I used parts from my local hardware store as seen in the photo.