I’m using estlcam v.11. and have been for about 4 years now as it can output software to generate CNC gcode for several different systems. It does most everything I need it to. I recently changed my control software from marlin to klipper for the CNC and ran into several issues I’ve managed to navigate except I need help on one.
There is no PP file for klipper, so I made one and it works. I can’t get it to show up on the post processor options page. While that isn’t necessarily a showstopper, I regularly switch between grbl and klipper gcode generation and it would be a nice thing to have it there. Is there a registration listing where I can add it or is it simply required to manually find the file and load it each time?
You can run two instances of Estlcam next to each other via different shortcuts, I run two versions, one for Fluid and one for Estlcam as the controller,
Will using PP Save settings to save a klipper.pp and grbl.pp work? I’m all Estlcam, but there is one setting I need to change when using thin stock and using PP Open settings is the easiest way to insure I’m using the right settings.
I don’t get it, isn’t it just the PP settings that need to be different? If you’ve saved a klipper.pp file you can use the PP ‘Open settings’ button to open/load/use those settings (and the ‘Save settings’ button to save changes to that file).
The default PP preset options are just that, bare bone defaults. The only way to save any GRBL PP customization is to use the ‘Save settings’ button so why not save as grbl.pp so that you can use the ‘Open settings’ button to easily switch between klipper and grbl settings.
Another icon to save a …few clicks, no thanks. It sounds like this is just about CAM, not two machines that need different settings. What happens when you need to change any non PP setting, do you need to separately apply that change to both profiles?
Yes - and I need to toggle back and forth depending on what project I’m working on and there is no indication of which one is loaded. If I save over the grbl setting with klipper settings then I can’t toggle back to it when I use that grbl system. Marlin default and grbl default are different. The klipper pp file is based on the marlin pp file.
Since the different gcode flavors are not the same, there are not global settings that need to pass between them. I have several times generated the gcode to realize I should have loaded the correct pp file then I have to go load the file and then go back and regenerate. Which isn’t a huge deal. It is “just a few clicks” but it is inefficient. By setting up two start shortcuts I will know what one system I’m trying to use and that the correct profile will be in use when it comes time to push out gcode.
Open only requires double clicking on the desired filename (e.g. grbl.pp), those settings are automatically loaded and used until you Open another file. The only time you need to use Save (after the initial file creation) is when you want to make changes to the currently open file (e.g. grbl.pp). My only point is that toggling is easy and reliable, use whatever method works best for you.
You guys prompted me to improve and expand my use of custom PP files. In the process I was reminded of one of the reasons why most of my work is still done with v11.
I used to just reload the desired PP file if I was unsure of which one was currently loaded. My PP files now have a descriptive header comment (Setup : PP : Texts) so it’s easy to check which file is loaded (CAM) and to see which PP file was used to create the loaded G-code (controller). I also realized that I can avoid some repeated manual G-code editing on oddball projects by creating a project based PP file.
Doing that with a project that needed v12 (improved 3D mask functionality) reminded me that opening/saving PP files in v12 defaults to the last used / current project directory and having to navigate to a PP directory makes it a non trivial task. V11 always saves/opens PP files to/from its Postprocessing directory.
