r/Makera

Given the atrocious state of cam/controller softwares on mac (performance and ui), i decided to try my luck to see how far i can get. Would be nice to make the entire studio, but i’ll be happy with just the controller and then use the cam from fusion. The controller has some functionality working already, all the commands from makera wiki are defined and ready to use, but i cannot send the nc to the cnc or preview the toolpaths yet. What bothers me the most is the 5 step quiz to start the job and that some settings are not even preserved. The cam is even worse how much scrolling you need to do and how much info is hidden.

Tested also the community app but that is not much better either, when you resize the window the whole ui stretches…

It will be opensource if someone interested to contribute.

Just started playing around with using Fusion to generate my programs. It's pretty neat how it shows you the entire machine and the model on the table ;-)

Using the Carvera Community Fusion profiles and post processor. I have 2 tool operations - I don't think the simulation bothers going through the tool change motions and instead just goes from one tool to the next. I'm lucky to have access to a licensed version of Fusion through my employer, but all this should also work in the free version.

I think this is going to work well once I get the hang of it ;-) Fusion provides a lot more granular control over tool paths, including the ability to cut slots by selecting simple lines (MakeraCAM does not allow toolpaths on 'unclosed' geometry) and lead-in / lead-out options.

EDIT - I am also going to start checking out the open-source EasyShape5000 posted here. That would be a great option to have as no license fees with open source ;-)

EDIT 2- My model and tooling was slapped on quick just for testing - the table highlights in red to warn that I have a collision error. That's very handy!

MACHINING A CUMMINS EMBLEM WITH MY CARVERA AIR

Just received my Z1 and run the demo job the software comes with.

Very pleased with the initial result.

Compared to the carvera I am glad Z1 comes with the non-wireless probe and the control soft has seen much needed polish.

Also glad to see they adopted the fan for blowing off the chips.

Next steps for me:
- fusion360 setup [done]
- get the vice on [done]
- churn the backlog of projects

Update1:
Anyone wondering about getting fusion setup working:
Simply import the carvera profile and machine definition from the wiki and just change the file type that the post file generates from ‘.cnc’ to ‘.nc’.

After that I have no issues running fusion CAM files via the makera studio.

Hi everyone, just to say that I've finally added an experimental 3d rendering pipeline and 3d operations to EasyShape5000.
I've mostly posted about EasyTrace5000 in the past but the new app builds on the same geometry engine so it also handles analytic arcs which means proper G2 and G3 commands.

Everything should work fine and be safe but post-processor combinations, especially for 4th axis are machine setup dependent so there's a lot of user input needed and I'll need feedback to make sure things connect in a predictable way that makes sense. (UI may be a little off, been having to add a lot of new inputs so layout styling isn't 100%.)

I have since renamed the repository to EasyCAM5000 since it's two apps now and I'm planning more stuff, all sharing the same foundations. If you wanna follow development keep track of https://github.com/RicardoJCMarques/EasyCAM5000 and the change-log.

Currently I'm finishing tool-changing logic and trying to optimize vcarving (plus fixing some missing geometry). I'm expecting to commit these in the next few days.

I need all the feedback I can get, especially with post-processor/4th axis stuff. With some luck I'll update documentation on the next commit too although work-flow should feel familiar. And yes it's free and will remain free (do what y'all want with it, although more donations would help wink wink nudge nudge :3).

C’est ma première CNC et ma première expérience en CNC. Je trouve que la machine est très simple à prendre en main et le logiciel est vraiment intuitif avec et fiable (aucun bug sur MacBook Pro m4). Seul problème la sonde probe v2 ne fonctionne pas

The Carvera Community Firmware and Controller has some neat CMM (Coordinate Measuring Machine) features that allow you to use a 3D probe to take a variety of measurements of parts, either for creating CAD models or centering stock on the table (ie a vice). You can take multiple measurements of corners, bore holes, face angles etc and save those points as a DXF file to import into a CAD program, SVG for a vector application or just a CSV data file.

Basically, you jog the head around near the location you want to measure and then select the appropriate measurement type - the machine will automatically measure multiple points if needed, such as locating the center of an opening. You can visualize the points on the screen and create basic line paths etc, though I haven't nailed that down yet. I have a WHB04 wireless remote pendant that makes jogging the head around much easier than using a touchscreen or even a keyboard.

One thing to note is that the current beta has a bug because the Makera communication protocol doesn't like a lot of information passed quickly - but they are working on that and for now you can switch to the Smoothie protocol and everything works correctly.

>workaround for now please switch the machine to using the Smoothie protocol either temporarily using M485.1 or via persistent config config-set sd protocol smoothie

Anyway, this is a very cool feature set and adds to the machine's abilities. Hopefully the official Makera code will implement something similar.

EDIT - the version I am using is beta, so please only use if you are comfortable with that. The current stable release may not be compatible with the official Makera software such as Studio and the CMM feature set does not include the ability to save or export the measurements. That said, I have been running the Community Firmware since the day I unpacked my Air and have had no issues whatsoever (other than the wifi bug in the CMM Workbench mentioned earlier). It goes without saying that I cannot assume responsibility

EDIT 2 - The Community Firmware / Controller may be particularly interesting to those who plan to migrate to non-Makera CAM apps, such as going 100% Fusion or similar.

EDIT 3 - Carvera Community Website and Github for more information.

LAST EDIT - the Community Firmware only supports the original Carvera and the Air. Z1 support is in progress, but not yet available for testing.

It now has been 3 weeks, how long did it take with you guys? ive seen website orders that will get sooner to the customer while i am a kickstarter backer

I've just gotten a Makera Z1 as my first CNC, and I'm still learning CAD/CAM. I've only been at it for a couple weeks now, so any insight is appreciated. I tried making a two sided program using Fusion. I've set up Fusion using Makera's official profiles, tools, post and everything. Took about a week to learn how to make a top operation, and it click a little so I finished up the bottom op today. Everything looked good in the simulation (both sides lined up), so I exported the Gcode, sent it to my Z1 and ran it.

Top side came out perfect, but the bottom side was shifted about 2mm to the left. Y and Z dimensions were perfect. X was my flip axis.

I originally drilled holes for dowels to be inserted into preexisting holes in the spoilboard, but they were too small in the stock and also misaligned from what is in the fusion profile. The stock I used was stated as 10cm x 10cm (also what I told Fusion it was) and squared on all sides, so I figured I could just flip it along the X axis and put it in the L bracket and it would be fine.

After closer examination with the calipers, the stock is actually 102mm x 102.. Is this the likely source of the 2mm X deviation, or maybe missed motor steps, or something else? I've attached a comparison of both setups as well.