Amazon.ca has this…may be helpful. The hose is something i have and it works perfectly for me.
Wow, so much information!! Thank you both for your input. I appreciate it very much. Luckily I run a kitchen building shop out of my barn and I have a huge amount of those things that are needed already.!!
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I was a little confused about the pendant because I haven’t gotten that far as to what it’s used for as of yet. Well, I need to purchase one of those controllers on the list or just one come with the machine itself and those are just options?
I have been running a keypad dial. Its 18 personally set buttons. Super cool and one of those puttering add ons.
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Do you know if I need to buy one to be able to run the machine?
Pendant is any sort of control separate from the machine itself.
An SO5 Pro will come with an Emergency Stop/Feed-hold pendant, and a BitRunner will have a “Spindle Enable” pendant.
The typical function for a pendant is jogging the machine — there are a couple of options:
- using the computer/mouse/trackpad/keyboard/touchscreen/stylus — for smaller machines or some setups, this is perfectly workable
- using a numeric keypad (possibly w/ custom key mapping) — the standard keyboard shortcuts are set up to allow this to work: Carbide Create V7 Keyboard Shortcuts and c.f.,
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using a game controller: Using a Game Controller with CM513 and later (I find the control layout kind of confusing, and the device itself awkward)
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using a game pad and remapping the buttons as noted above
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actually building your own — there have been some really amazing efforts on this front, one on the Shapeoko forums including a Raspberry Pi and touch screen in addition to button controls and a joystick, and there was the nifty Streamdeck noted above — I sourced the hardware for this, but never got around to actually doing the project, bought a Techkeys unit instead:
Just use your computer or tablet and a mouse. The others are extras. The unit comes with a power pendant with pause function
Turn to start, push to stop
Do you happen to get into concrete countertops and resin at all?
I bought the Tech Keys board a month or so ago and remapped it so that the wire comes in from the top not bottom.
However, I have been having issues with it that I have not sorted out yet. When I press and hold a key to move an axis it will move a little and then stop. Then I try a different key and nothing works until I change the speed and then the whole thing repeats. I have it hooked to a PI right now and there may be some key repeat rate issue causing the problem. I need to investigate.
@Varty5 I am not doing those things any longer. The heavy stuff is starting to wear on my body so I’m trying to get into finer small things now with the CNC.
I’m watching all the training videos so I know what you guys are talking about. Still not 100% sure what this item is used for.
It’s a buffer issue with CM I think.
I can open a terminal window on the PI and the keys seem to repeat just fine.
I modified the settings for the keyboard and it helps but using CM it will move smoothly for a bit and then get jerky and or stop and then restart. The “Busy” indication on CM is on. If the machine stops it once the indicator is off it will start again.
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Hello again, so I finished watching all of the videos for how to run your shapeoko.
No, where in the video does he use a controller module so I’m really confused as to what one of those is actually for can anyone in the simplest terms explain that to me please? I’m sorry for the redundant questions.
If you need to jog the machine relative to a piece of stock there are two options:
- work at the computer and use the keyboard/mouse/trackpad/touchscreen/stylus to jog the machine around
Note that this may involve some back-and-forth — jog machine, check position relative to the stock, jog machine — this can be tedious if it requires moving between viewing the stock/machine, and working with Carbide Motion on the computer.
- use a numeric keypad (wired or wireless), or game controller, or other pendant — this allows being close in and adjusting the machine position while being quite close to it
To be clear since you seem confused.
There is no need for the controllers that have been mentioned.
They are a nice to have but not in anyway something you have to have to make the machine work.
Get your machine. Set it up. Learn it. Use it.
If you feel Ike your going back and forth to a computer then get a deepest controller to make your life easier if you wish.
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Thank you guys so much. I now understand what it’s for.!!!
In my experience and from what I have seen by many users, the current value combo is the Fusion 5 Windows Tablet and Rii mini keypad on Amazon. Cheap and effective.
Clear out every program and stop every process you don’t need on the tablet to make it as fast as possible. I keep Carbide Motion, Google Chrome, and Carbide Create on it and little else.
On the Rii mini keypad the PageUp/PageDown keys jog Z. The directional keys jog X and Y. Keys 1,2,3, and 4 select your jog speed. It is so simple and just plain works with the least amount of effort and drama.
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I have this same issue on my rpi4, but I thought it was because I was using an old wireless mouse to control it. If it’s happening with a wired accessory, it sounds like we have an issue with CM itself. I found the keyboard shortcuts for CM the other day, thanks to Will’s detailed Design into 3D website, but I haven’t tried them on the old mac keyboard I have on the pi.