Hi all. I’m thinking about building an MPCNC with my new 3d printer but am an absolute beginner at all this. I don’t think I’ll have any trouble at all with the build itself, but the programming part intimidates me. Are there any courses or learning resources anyone could suggest so my machine doesn’t turn into a paperweight? Thanks for your help.
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Welcome to the family! You’re not alone with being a newbie. I’ve gone from a total rookie to making my first signs this weekend. I’d advise you to use forum, search it and read up on threads dealing with issues you wonder about. The programming has not been an obstacle at all, if you get the boards from Ryan and make a stock mpcnc - you’ll be good.
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I echo the same as said above. I had some additional comments that might be interesting on the topic here (MPCNC build in Montreal, CA).
Also, there really is no programming per se. You have to learn a little bit of software. A very minor amount of learning resulting is a lot of productivity. It’s like learning a slicer when you get a 3D printer. Probably less than that actually.
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Although - it doesn’t hurt to get an Arduino and play around with microcontrollers, it’s fun on it’s own and helpful when tinkering with the MPCNC!
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If you enjoy the journey, you’ll have a lot of fun. These are the main parts of software you need to learn:
- CAD. There aren’t many designs you can just use (although there are a few). If you want to make art and signs, then inkscape is a good choice. If you want to make plywood furniture, then a full blown CAD is needed. Something like OnShape, Fusion360, or sketchup.
- CAM This takes the 2D (or 3D, but usually 2D) drawings and determines which lines to cut out, which areas to pocket, and what speeds and depths to run the router. Estlcam is the easiest to start, and is a fully featured, inexpensive option. Fusion 360 also has CAM, but I highly recommend learning Estlcam first. The skills will transfer over, and fusion is much harder to learn. This ends up being where we spend a lot of our time, and go back and forth between a new material and CAM to get the settings right. The output of this step is a .gcode file, which is just a list of instructions, one after the other, that can “play” to cut things out.
- Gcode sender. You need something to play back the gcode file. You can use an attached LCD and an SD card to do this. Or you can attach a computer and use Repetier Host or pronterface. You can attach a raspberry pi and use the v1pi image.
- Firmware. When the gcode is played, the firmware is taking each command and precisely controlling the motors to move the router to follow it’s instructions. We use Marlin most of the time around here. Grbl is another option, although not as common, and doesn’t support and LCD screen. Along with just following along with the gcode, Marlin also needs some interraction to set up the cut. You need to tell it where to start the job (On a printer, the home position is 0,0. On a CNC, the wood you’re cutting is the 0,0).
The only place where actual programming comes in is sometimes in 4. But you don’t have to. You can buy a controller from the v1 shop and it will come flashed with Marlin. If you need to flash it, but don’t need a special configuration, then you can just download the Marlin files, and flash the board. You don’t have to edit anything. If you need some special configuration, then we can help you out, but you’re usually just turning on and off a few configuration items in Marlin. So no real programming needed.
Browse through the docs. There are complete instructions on assembly, electronics, flashing marlin, and running repetier host, milling basics, and estlcam basics.
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Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. I’'m encouraged and looking forward to getting started. This seems to be a great site for useful information and I’m sure I’ll be doing a lot of research here.
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We also do non-sequiters, smoked meats, light theology, and the odd bit of neo-classical dadaism…
Well, I do, at least… 
Everyone else just tolerates me. So far… 
In all seriousness, this is a great resource. Folks are willing to help out with pretty much any DIY CNC rig to the best of their knowledge/ability, although we do have a decided bias towards the V1 designs… 
We are also devout saftey zealots (or at least, that’s what the signs on the door say), incorrigible tinkerers, and self-proclaimed engineers (some even have the bona-fides to prove it).
Welcome to the fun house! Keep your fleshy nubbins 
away from the spinny death noodles, and always keep an eye out for Old Smokey hiding in depths of crashed bits and stalled cuts, he’d love nothing more than to burn it all down… 
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Upvote on dadaism. Ubu Roi for the win!
The mpcnc forums, where the only thing that stays on the rails are the routers!
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Welcome to the wold of CNC (Completely No Control) or (Crash N Crunch)
Post Processors are the part of whatever software you use that help translate what you want into what you get (Garbage in , Garbage out)
When you send a program to the controller, it will try it’s hardest to obey you.
Understanding Gcode is not too hard, G1 X100 Y100 F2000 . Practice with sending sending simple commands. Look at the Gcode.if you are using arc commands that is a different story.
Basically when you hit the start button it will try it’s hardest to go where you send it.
I just wrote up a page in the docs for basic gcode:
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Thanks to all for replying. I’m looking at all the links you’ve provided, a lot of good info and advice. I can tell so far that the great people on this site can offer some great help. I’ve got some homework to do before I get started, and I’ll be sure to post, and of course I know I’ll have more questions. Thanks again.
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This post has been reformatted and smoothed out in the docs:
https://docs.v1engineering.com/learn/software_overview/
Let us know what you think.
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Great post for someone new like me. I now have a much better understanding of the process involved, which gives me more confidence going forward. Thanks.
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