So, my MPCNC is finished, it runs, homes, moves, etc. I am running Klipper on a Mellow Fly D5, RaspberryPi 4 and a BTT HDMI5 with Klipper screen. I even have the V1 Theme in Mailsail.
I have added the Macros, and here is where I am stuck.
I can’t figure out how to configure Fusion 360 to output Gcode that I can use.
Post Processor? How do I find it and install it? What settings do I need to set up or change? I have been using Fusion 360 for several years, but only the design side, the MFG side is new to me.
Any help or tutorials would be a lot of help. Getting to here was easy for me, I am familiar with Klipper and all the building. This is another story.
We’ve had some people who got it to work with Estlcam. Start reading here for the tldr: Klipper cnc CAM workflow - #2 by jeffeb3
Most of these steps should be applicable to the Fusion pp as well.
Someone did a post processor for fusion - but it wasn’t for klipper. Might have some relevant info anyway I’m not sure.
I am beginning to think I bit off more than I can chew. I am using the Flyfisher604 PP and I suspect it works fine for Marlin. So far Klipper will not open the files. Not sure why. I have tried a different branch of Klipper, this is giving me issues, it now gives me an error and shut down because the G28 command is now not recognized.
I wish there was more info out there on doing this. It also seems that what info is out there is intended for people that know more than I do. They seem to skip over what they think is common knowledge, but I don’t know. So, it leaves me with stuff that doesn’t work because I don’t know what I have missed.
I hate to go back to Marlin, but I just can’t seem to find the info I need to get a complete understanding of what I need to do.
According to this Marlin gcode reference G 28 is auto homing. I don’t run Klipper, so don’t know it’s prefferred syntax but if that’s the only bad command your should be able to replace it.
If it then starts complaining about others, you can use the reference to track them down as well, although I admit I’d probably rather invest the time to find an existing post-processor than to build my own by playing syntax whack-a-mole.
So, the G28 worked just fine until I switched to the “Klipper-for-cnc” branch. It worked just fine running main line Klipper.
I do not know your exact answer. I do know that the post processor can be like marlin, but it needs to send G1 not G01 and relative arc coordinates for G2 and G3. Have it preface with metric and absolute
G21 ;metric
G90 ; absolute
and that should work. I hope that is helpful. I use a macro to zero z and zero xy which turns on the motors where they are and allow you to move things around before homing:
[gcode_macro ZERO_XYZ]
this homes the machine to move it without actually using end stops
gcode:
SET_KINEMATIC_POSITION X=0 Y=0 Z=0
[gcode_macro ZERO_XY]
gcode:
SET_KINEMATIC_POSITION X=0 Y=0
[gcode_macro ZERO_Z]
gcode:
SET_KINEMATIC_POSITION Z=0
When I post it in Fusion, it creates a .gcode file. I load that into Mainsail and try to run it, and it says “unable to open file”.
I am not sure what I am missing.
I started with that error with the marlin pp in estlcam. I’ll look again to see how I got around that. Manually rename the file extension to .nc instead of .gcode
EDIT: nevermind. the .gcode is what I’m using. I based my pp in estlcam off of marlin post processor. There is a log file you should look at to see where the error is as it reads the gcode file in. There may be settings like tools (T01, T02) or such that may need to be removed, which is one of the things I dealt with. Check your logs.
So, as much as I love Klipper and use it exclusively on all 7 Voron printers, I am looking at FluidNC. It is configured almost the same way as Klipper, yaml file instead of a config, but very much the same idea. FluidNC does not require a RaspberryPI or other SBC. It uses the ESP32 boards, you can get 3 for $15, the RPi is $30-100 each depending on specs. I am already familiar with using small development boards. I use PR2040 boards a lot.
So, as much as I love Klipper, I think I am expending a lot of extra time and energy trying to force something to work, when there is a better option out there that will allow me to learn the CNC side of things and not spend all my time getting a 3D printer software to work as a CNC software.
that makes sense, but I only spend the time at first setting it up and then it just works. The one I finished setting up this morning is a hodge podge of parts and I had to split X and Y axis over a couple different mcu’s, which you cannot do on an esp32. Yes it is more expensive and it is a little more complicated, but I’m limiting my machines to one firmware set at this point. Your points are totally valid and I’d be interested to hear after some time what your take is on it. I’ve been doing CNC for several years and just barely figuring out the 3d printer, so my take on this is a bit different. Perhaps we will meet in the middle with millmage when it comes out. Time will tell. Good luck!