A bit of digression, some exploration, a dose of boredom, 3dprinter sitting idle, parts on hand, a whim of fancy, and a bit of folly… it’s PLAYTIME! Can’t nap all the time 
Poor FoamRipper. Built originally with Marlin/Mega/RAMPS, I recently took a nostalgic trip back in time to convert it over to LinuxCNC, the control software I started with, way back in my initial forays into CNC. I had used it, along with SketchUp and the Phlatboyz CAM extensions, to create gcode for all the little bluecore fan-fold foam aircraft my late flying/fishing buddy and I flew in my pasture… as well as all the parts for a second CNC machine for him. I really do like LinuxCNC and thoroughly enjoyed developing the inexpensive LinuxCNC interface documented in this thread… but, by today’s standards (Marlin/Grbl), it is a bit big and clunky. And since there seems little interest, beyond my own, and my curiosity is now satisfied, it’s time to move on to something new…
I’ve built more than a dozen CNC machines over the past several years and virtually all of them started with Marlin/Mega/RAMPS. Since I had a number of the little board sets that I knew worked, I kept using them. One of the machines still in use, an MPCNC laser engraver, sports a miniRambo board now… having been used to help debug the laser raster-engraving issue in newer versions of Marlin.
Somewhere along the way, however, I picked up a couple of MKS Gen L v1.0 controllers. I don’t remember exactly why… other than they were supposedly 100% compatible with the Mega/RAMPS combo I’d been using and was so familiar with.
The digression and exploration… I reverted to the Marlin/Mega/RAMPS scheme from before. However, I used the MKS Gen L v1.0 board this time. I flashed it with the Marlin/RAMPS firmware from this site and applied the RAMPS “pin44 remap” mod (isolated white wire) and set it up for the full-graphics LCD display.
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The isolated white and gray wires are the RAMPS “remapped Fan1 to pin 44” mod for TTL laser modulation, using M107 and M106 Sxxx gcodes for control…
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Boredom and fancy… I had thought I might play with putting a laser on the FoamRipper. Pretty useless, really – diode lasers won’t cut foam-board – but I thought it could be fun to play with as an engraver. So, my compact carriage and Z-lift got a new appendage and became a bit the monstrosity… sporting one of the Eleksmaker 2.5 watt laser modules I had on hand. Pen/marker, needle-cutter, and now laser… all mounted on the same carriage together.
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And, in action…
So, it works… but is of dubious value. But it keeps me off the streets and gives me something to do between naps
– David
