BitSetter - Disabling

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

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

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Thanks Will.

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

Bill

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

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Julien:

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

Plotter Fixture for CNC

Bill

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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?

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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

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

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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.

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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

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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.

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