On the main page, where it shows the CoreXY frame, it shows the motors in the front. I just started designing something, and it I wasn’t paying attention and I have the motors in the back. It’s not a huge deal to change it up (my design is mostly symmetric) but I’m wondering if it matters at all?
I have a wooden frame/skirt that goes all the way around and should fully enclose the corners and motors, so I’m guessing it doesn’t matter.
I think of the motor corners as the “front” because of the home position and the right hand coordinate system.
Even though my usual viewing position is along the X min side Y rail (very similar to how I use my LR, actually.) So when I do stuff in sandify it appears in portrait orientation, most text layers end up sideways for the typical viewing orientation. (Of course it’s a table, so sometimes there is text facing all directions.)
From above the table, nobody can see the motors, and once the pattern starts, the home position is no longer apparent. So it doesn’t actually matter if the motors are the front or the back, but using right hand coordinates is still important if you want to be able to read text in the sand without a mirror.
The belts cross the side without motors. So we put the motors on the front.
But you can configure it however you like. You may need to do some learning to make the homing position +X and +Y. Or you can flip the patterns before drawing them.
I assumed I can just flip the motor directions (in software or hardware/wiring) to get what is intuitive for my viewing angle. I also assumed that defining where the switches are would be straightforward in a config file (or worst case, compiling new firmware).
I don’t have much FluidNC experience, but plenty of 3dprinting/Marlin/Klipper experience, so I know what I’m looking for. I’ll have to dig into the wiki to confirm.
Since the whole motion frame is hidden, it sounds like it really doesn’t matter which way, as long as I get the config synchronized.
If you’re good enough with the firmware, you can do whatever you want… but there are some hardware limits.
So let’s toss some arbitrary numbers in. Give your machine 300mm X and 600mm Y nominal, if the machine’s mechanical home is at 0, 0, that puts the motors on the Y Min side
Say you want to reverse the table. Moving the home point requires a redesign, but redefining it doesn’t. You could call that home point X=300, Y=600, and the table is reversed 180° with the belt crossing side now at Ymin.
Or you could swap the X and Y axes, so now you have 600mm of X and 300mm of Y, and have home be X=600, Y=0. Going the other way would have home with X=0, Y=300. Since sandify doesn’t really care where the table is when it starts, any of these will work.
If however you swap the axes and leave home at X=0, Y=0, you will end up with everything mirror imaged.
Honestly, it is so much easier to just imagine sitting at the motor end of the table when working with sandify, and using everything how it is. This would be my 100% suggestion if you do not already know how to make the requisite changes in your firmware.
I am 98% sure this is just a few lones change in the config file for fluid. And if you have experience with klipper, it should be a piece of cake for you. I can’t think of a reason why it wouldn’t work fine.
I agree, the admonitions there were just that is really easy to get things messed up, and then it’s tricky to get them fixed.
Even if you are comfortable with the changes, I think it’s a good idea to get it working as-is, save that config.yaml so that you have a known good starting point, and then modify. The configuration isn’t difficult to understand (but I’ve been a coder since the 80s, so my opinion is probably skewed.)