Jtech rotary on HDM

In my current hair pulling quest to decide on a path to take to upgrade my lasering, I have stumbled upon yet another option. I currently have a 7w Pro Jtech diode laser on my HDM and everything is great. However, I see he now has a rotary axis ( and 24w quad diode laser!) that will work with several models of Shapeoko. It appears as though the rotary works by simply disconnecting the y motors and hooking one to the rotary. Is there any reason why I could do the same with the HDM provided I have the right connector? @Julien @WillAdams

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No technical reason why it would not work, and the guys at JTech are knowledgeable about the Shapeoko and trustworthy, shoot them an email if you have doubts? That said, I’m sure you are aware that from a support and warranty standpoint you will be on your own (no more no less that you already are with your JTech 7W laser)
Interesting that they moved there, I was not aware.
SO5 users should hold their breath though, given the recent announcement from @robgrz about SO5 electronics support for laser mode, and a partnership with a vendor :slight_smile:

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I see that onefinity has partnered with Jtech. I’d love to see a supported upgrade path for the HDM. Possibly even with a new 32 bit controller.

Can you provide info about the pinout and connector for the y-axis on the HDM or is that available somewhere?

Does the HDM motor use the same electronic connector as the Pro? I know the voltage is different, but I’m hoping the physical connector is the same.

I couldn’t say, I’ll let one of the owners of both types of machines confirm (maybe @Griff ?). Beyond the connector type you should also check the electrical compatibility, because I think HDMs have different stepper motors, so not sure the JTech kit is directly compatible after all? Sorry I have no direct access to HDM detailed specs.

EDIT: what I mean is that, if the stepper motor driver/electronics of the HDM is “just”’ a beefed up version of the SO4’s/SO Pro’s, I suppose it can be backward compatible with a SO4/Pro-style stepper, which I assume is what is included in that JTech kit, but it may not be the case. I’m sure @Luke is in a much better position to answer that.

EDIT2: and now I see you mention different voltages. Boy am I distracted today, so basically ignore everything I said…

Sorry, no help here.

I am considering the same and hope to see @DiscoJon follow on dedicated thread :grinning:.

Spoke to Jtech and he confirmed the kit for the Pro would work no issues. I have the rotary and 24w laser ordered. I’ll start a thread once I integrate. on a side note, my 7w pro module is now for sale :wink:

Direct quote from the legend himself.

" If you choose on the drop down the Shapeoko4 or Shapeoko PRO, then you will have the correct cable to connect to your machine. The stepper motor in the rotary is a NEMA23 that will accept 36 volts, so there is no issue there. We have it connected on our machine with no issues."

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@discojon - Have you received your Jtech Rotary? Any initial comments or usage reports you can share?

@discojon - Sorry - I jumped the gun and just found your post from a couple weeks ago:

When you say the roller isn’t “dead nuts”, do you mean the resulting cups are less than professional?

Not exactly. I’ve only processed a few cups so far but they have turned out good. The rotary is built to a price point that makes is approachable but not professional. It works as intended, actually quite well for the price. But, there is no reason you couldn’t use any rotary assume the proper stepper and connector configuration. I previously owned a PiBurn v4 and it was in a different class.

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