I was having a bit of trouble scaling .dxf files imported into Estlcam. the “rescale” function initially shows a big menu with the options to input values and stuff, but that extended menu disappears and leaves me only with % scaling. I was sure I set the mm correctly in Inkscape and told Estlcam to “look for” mm as well. But the Estlcam object opened from an Inkscape .dxf always ends up scaled down greatly, and I’m not sure why. Anybody know why this happens and how to maintain scale from Inkscape to Estlcam?
Just saw this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1QPC_V9cNE and there’s a comment under it that says the ‘steps per revolution’ option is a thing. Guess that’s one thing to investigate. I vaguely recall that being an important parameter. Guess that varies among nema 17 motors?
It does vary between motors but most of us buy 200 steps/revolution which is sort-of-standard. Much more common is differences in microstepping supported by the drivers. If you use A4988 or TMC2208 you need to adjust the firmware, which is configured for DRV8825 by default.
If you jog 10 mm your tool should move 10 mm. If it doesn’t, fixing the scale in estlcam will give only headaches.
Every time I post a question I end up answering my own question, it’s getting on my nerves. My stepping in RAMPS is at 200 steps per revolution, and my Estlcam was set to 1600! before it was going sooo slow. Changed the settings in Estlcam and now it is going nice and fast. just using a sharpie now. Now to figure out how to get the inkscape strokes to translate to .dxf
ok i spoke too soon. I have no idea what is going on here. I make a 20cm box in inkscape, export as .dxf, create Gcode in Estlcam, and the box gets drawn 5cm big.
repetier host seems to automatically be able to jog the MPCNC with RAMPS with precision. how, I have no idea. the “200” number I see in the LCD controller under “advanced” says 200 steps per mm which i confused with the Estlcam setting which is “Steps per revolution” which seems like it should be steps per mm. A 16t gear has 32 steps per revolution. So 32 times 200 is 6400. I put that number in “steps per revolution” in Estlcam and the gcode ends up being exactly four times too small once it’s loaded into repetier. Any idea why?
EDIT
Inkscape was the culprit (not user error)
add to knowledge base: if .dxf from Inkscape is not scaling right, uninstall Inkscape, install newest version, select “trash preferences” on Inkscape re-install. Works now.