Hi,
a few days ago some friends have spoken to me of LinuxCNC and reading on the internet I read can be a software to control both CNC and 3d printers …
someone uses it?
You know give me some information to be able to try and use?
looking for information on LinuxCNC often reports EMC2 results is the same thing? or a different Linux software?
I’d like to be able to replace RepetierHost to launch gcode formats Fusion360.
Thank you
Linuxcnc is the new name for EMC. it’s a much better name anyway. I use it with MPCNC and it works well. It’s quite complicated to get started but it does have some useful and solid features.
Can you elaborate? I’ve seen occasional mention of it, but I couldn’t see much advantage over Duet or Smoothie to justify the cost and complexity.
Hi David,
Well Linuxcnc is a true open source cnc platform that is well supported by an active community and is highly customizable. It requires a dedicated computer running a real time version of Linux. In it’s simplest form it also requires a computer with a parallel port, I bought an old Lenovo desktop for $50 and it runs just fine. You can download a single image and load from a usb stick.
Here is the driver that I’m currently using:
There is a configuration program called stepconf that can be used to describe the machine. A 3 axis milling machine like MPCNC is almost the default. You set up things like the working envelope, steps per mm and max acceleration and velocity. Stepconf also has a useful diagnostic capability that can drive each axis independently.
Finally Linuxcnc supports manual homing so no endstops are required. Once the machine is homed you can set up a coordinate system based on the work piece and run gcode. Most programs like Fusion 360 will have a standard post processor for Linuxcnc.
Hope that helps.
Derek
Hi, Derek. Does Linuxcnc support Arduino Mega 2560? Somewhere in this forum I read it couldn’t?
The Arduino Mega is a micro-controller and doesn’t require a operating system to run.
LinuxCnc requires the Linux operating system to run. You needs to run that on a PC or a single board computer.
I’m currently running my MPCNC with MachineKit, which is a fork of LinuxCNC, which runs on a Beaglebone black. As it happens, I happen have an part 1 of an article in Digital Machinist (which you pick up at Barnes and Noble 
) on the very topic.
It sounds like you’re just starting out with this stuff. You might want to just stick with Ryan’s Mega solution using Marlin and get that under your belt before going to LinuxCNC or MachineKit. There’s a lot of people who have work through this already and it’s your quickest route to success.
Tom
I should also point out that stepconf, only works for X86 processor and not on Arm Processors like the Beaglebone. At some-point, there will be configuration tools to help auto configure the Hal and Ini files, but they only partially exist now.
What this means is that you’ll have to manually configure this yourself or tweak an existing configuration. This isn’t trivial.
Here is my configuration, using a machinekit, BBB and cramps shield, which uses gantrykins. It works but I’m not satisfied with yet, which I’m going to be getting into on part2 or my article.
https://github.com/Workshop88/MPCNC
Hi, Thomas. Thank you for answering. Yes, I’m new with this and I’ll stick with Ryan’s Mega solution in the beginnning. But looking ahead in time, being a fan of open/free software and of Linux of course, my ideal is to use the fantastic MPCNC with this kind of stuff.
Are you using a parallel port with that driver set, or are you using something like a MESA 5I25 to drive that?
I’m very interested in using linuxcnc.
Thanks,
Chris