I tried converting a svg path pcb file in laserweb to gcode and it does it great . But the issue is that it doesnot support a z axis to lift a pen. Is there a way to do that? I am trying to plot a pcb on a reprap .
@Ariel_Yahni_UniKpty recently showed off a pen plotter that had Z working. I believe it was running on LaserWeb4. Maybe Ariel can shed some light on how to do this.
he is using a servo to lift the pen. so i guess he is using a m code in the firmware to execute that… What i am looking for is a way to lift a traditional reprap’s z axis without modifying the firmware .
@ekaggrat_singh_kalsi I added the Z movement on the tool On/Off command in LaserWeb4. So maybe you could add a G0 Z1 / G0Z-1
@Ariel_Yahni_UniKpty another question… how do you trace a image in laserweb4? the documentation shows how to do it in laserweb3 with the cam tab which seems to be missing in Lw4!
@ekaggrat_singh_kalsi I don’t think it’s possible in LW4. Just use Inkscape to trace to vector, save as svg, then import into LW4.
i did that , i thought it would be much easier if that function was inbuilt. I was looking for a continent tool chain for pen plotting pcbs. It turns out that there no straight way to do it… The easiest way is via inkscape and lw4. I hope future versions have pcb plotting built in. It is a fast and clean way of doing diy pcbs rather than the messy toner transfer method.
@ekaggrat_singh_kalsi In LW3 it had the same trace library built in that Inkscape uses (I think I read it was called Pottrace or something similar). Not sure if it’s planned to be reimplemented or not, but you could check either of these github issues lists (not sure which one it would go in) to see if it is planned.