Testing the FoxAlien Offline GRBL Controller for my Masuter Pro CNC Machine!
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- I highly recommend investing in an Offline GRBL controller if you own a FoxAlien CNC Machine! Check out the links below to buy your CNC stuff today!
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#foxalien #cncmachine #cnc
Your review video convinced me to purchase a Masuter Pro, which I'm ordering soon, this video was exactly what I needed. I was on the fence about getting the offline controller, but now, it's a must. Thanks soo much for this in-depth review!
100%!! I have 3-4 files that we cut regularly so it’s def a win for not having to hook up a PC over and over. Don’t forget I have links to these in the description which is my Amazon affiliate acct! Thanks for watching!
@@TheCrawlspaceCraftsman I work off a desktop pc so I would've needed a laptop when I got the Masuter, this makes things much easier for me. I'll definitely use your links. Thanks again 👍👍
@@TheCrawlspaceCraftsmanhow to get to the description
glad to see you like it! I bought my machine and purchased the offline in the same cart. it was a big selling point to me since I'm not moving my desktop pc to the workshop
Love it! Super awesome!
Also just got my WM3020 few weeks ago. Seems like the offline controller is good but still need your laptop with Candle to initially set it all up.
@J87513 are you sure I have to set the machine up witjh Candle first? I just bought a masuter pro but can't connect it to my computer with Candle because my computer is so old. I want to bypass Candle altogether and just use Easel to create gcode and save it to sd card and directly to the offline controller.
Dude that screen is awesome! I would just use that even if I had a laptop free lol
💯 !!! I really love it!!! Especially for files that I know cut perfect and use over and over!!! 🔥!!! Thanks for watching!!!
Awesome video - you make it so simple in the way you explain.
I just ordered a FoxAlien Masuter Pro with an offline controller. It will be fun to get it set up and try to use it.
Awesome!!! Make sure you check out “Foxalien CNC & Router Machine Group” on Facebook!!! There’s a lot of good people that will help along your journey!!! Thanks for watching!!!
Thank you for the video!
Just got a small WM3020 with offline controller
Awesome!!! I have more awesome CNC vids in the works! Stay tuned!
great vid, cant wait to get my fox, i put everything on hold, and im drawing up a incloser to put the machine in to bring down the noise.
Sweet!! I’m going to do the same. If you get the smaller motor, it doest create very much “wind” but when you upgrade kine I did….. dust will fly! I recommend the Offline Controller too. Make sure you check the links in the video description too! Thanks for watching!
I have two of them. Be aware that there are two ribbon cables for controllers. 8 pin and 10 pin. FoxAlien uses 8. Some cnc's use 10.
Great tip! Thanks for watching!
This looks awesome! Could you move the mill while it’s on and control via the controller? So basically manually milling via the controller?
Nope. All those settings are within the .gcode so you can’t adjust. It’s just a file reader so you don’t need to use a PC to hook up to. Great if you need multiple machines running at the same time or do not have laptop.
@@TheCrawlspaceCraftsman Got it, thanks!
but….. you can move around the gantry pre cutting to set the Z-probe and things like that so essentially you can move it around just not during a project.
The video is really awesome!!!
Thank you!!! Much appreciated!
Can you do a video on how to get your work from the computer onto the SD card?
It’s pretty easy. Just export your gcode file to your PC and then send that to your SD card. If your pc doesn’t have an sd slot…. You may need to get an adapter.
Yep that is the reason I got the offline controller
Awesome!!! More videos coming soon! Thanks for watching and commenting!!
For carving a name or design in 3d. ¿Is it just to add the deep desired to the controller? I have the 3018 pro cnc machine and I'm not able to make it work with the computer, so I have decided to use this controller.
You cannot use the controller to change anything within your design. The depth of cut is all in the file.
Thanks! I bought mine last week.
Have you ever tried the Z -probe with the offline controller?
If so, could you please make a video to show us?
Thank you so very much in advance!
Again I have the WM-3020 so it might be different for other machines. There is a Z-probe that comes with this but I can only set the offset in integers and not decimals. And the Z-probe thingy that comes with the machine is 14.83 mm high. Which ... I can't set as offset on the remote controller. Very odd.
Great review on the offline controller. What is the maximum cut area?
Thanks!! It’s 400x400 mm or 15.5x15.5”. If you upgrade and get the extension kit it’s 400x800 or 15.5”x31”
Ok, thank you. Good luck 👍 with your channel.
Man, thanx for the test. But I hate to be critical. But way to long of endmill. Rule of thumb is only as long as you need. If you can get shorter 1/8 dia then it would be less cost maybe ? Also the longer the more vibrations and the worse the cut/finish. But I guess there is always the sander. Thanks again for the review.
Thanks for watching! So honestly MOST of my CNCing consists of cutting out shapes for my wife’s Etsy shop. 90% of the time I’m cutting through 18-20mm pine board so I usually keep in my 2 flute 1” upcut (switching to down cut) 1/4” shank bit. I’m learning these things as I go… lol. Thanks again for stopping by!
Kalind- do you have any videos of how you modeled your cad files? Did you use fusion 360?
Unfortunately I don’t. I plan on more project videos soon but at the moment I dont. Thanks so much for watching!!
Could you please show or tell me how to change from a rough cut to the detail cut and it cut in the correct spot with the controller . thank you very much. Les M
Doing 3D cuts is a little tricky. You need to have two end mills (bits) in the program and set to rough and finish. Once your rough cut is done… change out your bit and rehome the machine using LAST SETTINGS so it goes to the exact position just incase you move the spindle after changing out the bits. I don’t have any videos “Yet” on this but I believe @JamesDeanDesigns does that will be very informative! Work on scrap and small projects to get the hang of it as it can me a little frustrating at first!
Ok thank you very much I have a place to start now I will sure give it a try . thank you again. (-: @@TheCrawlspaceCraftsman
Yes it is useful but ... and this is a big no no for me (I have their WM3020 btw)
The stepper motors are not holding position when in the movement/jog menu. This is a deal breaker for me. I get that on occasion that might be desirable but I want to be able to set it so the steppers are no free to move without a digital signal (i.e. with the manual knobs). Also I seem to have no way to change the speed of motion in the jog mode from the controller itself. It does rapid move changes and nothing else not great if you are trying to sneak up on a corner or surface to where you can just hear it starting to cut.
I wish there was more options in that controller thing. Alas.
It is pretty basic but gets the job done for me. Thanks for watching!
Please tell me which postprocessor uses offline GRBL controller?
Not really sure honestly! Sorry. Thanks for watching!
Isn’t the z probe easy to use also what feed and speed you using on that type of wood?
Yes it is. Im going to do a video on just that with the Offline Controller soon! And I honestly can’t remember what the speed settings were. Thanks for watching. I’ll be doing more videos real soon!
You didn’t have to probe ?
I don’t know!? I’m sure I did. But if not I might have done by paper method. Don’t remember and didn’t look back. LoL
I just bought a Masuter Pro and the controller, and I'm using Carveco Maker for design. Problem I'm having is, what file type do I save the toolpath in? I see a bunch of ".nc" options, but which one is the right one?
Thanks for watching. I don’t think it matters honestly. I personally don’t use Carveco but would think all .nc files are created equally. Once your design is made and downloaded… the controller reads all the gcode and sends to your FA Mpro. I say just make a simple design like a square and see what happens honestly!
Hi I just bought a masuter pro but can't connect it to my Mac using Candle because my computer is so old. Wont install Candle or ch340 drivers. Can i bypass Candle etc altogether and just use Easel on my office Mac to create files and gcode and save it to sd card and then import to the offline controller? I read that somone said you still have to initially set up the cnc machine with a computer/candle anyway. ?
As long as you can install the drivers on your Mac you should be able to use Easel. It’s a web based application and not installed locally on the Mac.
@@TheCrawlspaceCraftsman ok awesome, thanks so much!
Thans a lot . Can i use it with arduino and ramps 1.4 . Because i'm trying make a cnc machine
I’m not sure honestly! Sorry I can’t help with that one!
Do you need to z probe with the offline controller?
Yes. You still want to tell the controller where exactly its starting point is. You just can’t change the feed rate and speeds of a particular project. All that data is saved within the .gcode
i cant find anywhere how to send the project to the sd card ?
After you crate your ______.gcode file just save and export it to any folder. The. Drag that to the SD card.
How you get the file from easel to the card
Download the gcode file to you HD or directly to the SD card.
Buy the 4040xe foxalien off line
I’m not too sure what you mean?
How do you get the file with all the cut settings on the SD card?
Once you create your file in your software and export it to a .grbl file…. It stores all that info within the file
@@TheCrawlspaceCraftsman Thanks! And that's not something I can do in Easel, correct? I've searched and haven't found a way to export.
How did you load the Mickey file to the sd card from easel? What steps do you take? Looks like the files are NC type . I tried loading to the remote but Get some strange gray displays and the remote won't accept the files. Any suggestions?
Export G-Code from easel to PC and then save it to SD card. Make sure you have 100% correct cut depths and speeds and bits….. you cannot edit anything using the offline controller. Hope that helped some.
@@TheCrawlspaceCraftsman I've got the remote sort of working now. Apparently Easel exports the rough cut and finish cut in separate files so you have to run the rough cut then manually switch to the finish cut. Is that correct or am I missing something? Also the machine appears to do a cut but the motor doesn't run. Ideas?
What software is compatible with the cnc?
There is alot out there but if your just starting out I suggest Easel. It’s web based and super easy to use!
@@TheCrawlspaceCraftsman Appreciate the quick reply. I've been looking at benchtop CNC's now for well over two yrs. This one seems to fit my needs since I have a small shop & the price seems fair as compared to others.
I use Inkscape and dxf2gcode. dxf2gcode needs editing. See another reply here.
How do you z probe using the controller?
You have to make sure that your Z-probe setting / thickness is set correctly first. Then press probe and it will recognize the difference between your project and end mill. It’s pretty easy once you do it once or twice. Hope that helped some!?
Get your x and y home first. Normally in a corner of the workpiece. I then set my z to zero near the center. Paper test. Raze the z and run the file. No need to send the spindle back to 0-0-0. X and Y. Your file will run fine because it will add or subtract the offset when starting,
I use DXF2gcode. Normally I have SVG files from Inscape and use an online converter to DXF. The G-code will not run without changing the first layer. Remove Layer one. Then move M8 and add S10000 to where layer one is. Otherwise the files will not run. T1 and M6 are switch tool and select tool. Kind of impossible with a small table top cnc.
when i add a file to it nothing happens
What program are you using to create Gcode with. You still have to use the controller to Home and Set your Z-probe so it knows where to start and end.
@@TheCrawlspaceCraftsman Hi, so i now subbed to carveco for the month. i was able to save the gcode. i was able to see the file in both candle and uunveral gcode sender (UGS) but how do i install a file to the off line controller?
I am going to need you to stop before my wife gets mad at me....
Hahahaha!! I knew the feeling! LoL
Hahahaha!! I knew the feeling! LoL
Not good
Physical buttons are better
If i have to buy i will buy openbuilds
It’s good like I said if you do certain cuts over and over so no need for PC. Thanks for watching!
@@TheCrawlspaceCraftsman
I disliked it once i saw you pressing the buttons
The way you hold it its messed up
I would rather stick with something which has physical buttons
Fox example x-box controllers
+Jyoti Prakash understood! It’s not for everyone! Thanks for watching and give my channel a chance! Cheers!