Pendants

[KissSys]

I think I've come to this forum a dozen times in hopes that someone would make a cheap pendant for my Tormach PCNC1000. I have a Tormach Shuttle and it works fine but it's not handheld. I have a Mach3 pendant on my router and love it.
I see that Linux CNC can run a Mach3 pendant version so Pathpilot could. Maybe I'm missing something (Let me know if I'm am) but over the last few months I've played with modifying a Shuttle and creating my own. I'm happy for now but would really like Tormach to present something worthwhile that is handheld.

Anyway if anyone is adventurous these two creations are on Thingiverse/kisssys





Cheers
Kisssys

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[kstrauss]

Having to install additional drivers and patches with each new release of PP seems too much of a pain. I'd love for Tormach to support a better pendant but the Shuttle remains the only one supported. Tiring of digging aluminum chips out of my shuttle I decided that the easy solution was to make the Shuttle handheld and chip resistant. See the attached pictures for the result. It is actually pretty convenient and has had no chip issues for the last few years although it is not coolant proof.
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[smokediver576]

I really do not understand why Tormach will not add in the code to support Moonlight Prototype pendant and knobs...... I love mine. I have one on both 1100Ms as well as on the Slant Pro.

I wonder how the new pendant works on the new Tormach control panel... Maybe a little reverse engineering there? Or better yet, make it available to us Tormach (without the entire control panel - 1100M compatible).

[KissSys]

Having to install additional drivers and patches with each new release of PP seems too much of a pain. I'd love for Tormach to support a better pendant but the Shuttle remains the only one supported. Tiring of digging aluminum chips out of my shuttle I decided that the easy solution was to make the Shuttle handheld and chip resistant. See the attached pictures for the result. It is actually pretty convenient and has had no chip issues for the last few years although it is not coolant proof.
.

I broke a Haimer tip because of chips and because I kept toggling the step function unknowingly. It wouldn't take Contourdesigns a day to design the pendant the way I modified it. Tormach is very foolish to not take one of the Pendants out their, support the code and sell it for 3 times what it cost them.

[jwatte]

They already have that turny-wheel-thing with the axis buttons on it, right? I never liked that one, but that's their "pendant."

I tried to get them to accept a code patch that would load third party code out of a folder in gcode IF IT EXISTED and otherwise not, but they refused to take it, saying that it would make support harder. (Which I think is weak sauce, because the code did catch and report exceptions on loading, and the number of people who would use custom code, and then ask Tormach for support, is PROBABLY quite low. Probably.)

[KissSys]

That is what I modified, look at the first post.

[toyshop]

I wish the axis buttons weren't circular around the wheel or were at least below surface to avoid accidentally changing.
Haven't had a problem with chips but I like KStrauss's solution. I would probably make the step button not protude though.

Dave

[BIRDTOOL]

Tormach already has a "real" pendant on their fancy $2k control, it appears to be the same one on Amazon for $75. My guess is the code is already in PP, it may just be a matter of setting up the second parallel port on the Mesa card.

[kstrauss]

BIRDTOOL, do you have a link to the Amazon product that you mentioned?

[kstrauss]

I wish the axis buttons weren't circular around the wheel or were at least below surface to avoid accidentally changing.
Haven't had a problem with chips but I like KStrauss's solution. I would probably make the step button not protude though.

Dave

I considered not having a push rod for the step button but finally decided to include it. It would be trivial to omit it. The biggest pain was making a chip proof link to the rotary step control.

[scott216]

kstraus - Is your jog shuttle design available somewhere? It looks very nice.

[kstrauss]

Unfortunately, no. It was mostly done by cut/try design. I've attached a couple of photos which may help if you want to make your own:
The handle is 1/4-inch thick aluminum with the finger indentions to match my hand size.

The white cover is a CPVC cap for 4-inch sewer pipe.

I discarded the Tormach MPG housing and made chip resistant buttons to actuate the Shuttle switches and a link to the Shuttle MPG using two concentric aluminum tubes in small ball bearings. The buttons are 1/4-inch brass rods sliding in Delrin bushings.

Electronics are unmodified.

[BIRDTOOL]

BIRDTOOL, do you have a link to the Amazon product that you mentioned?

https://www.amazon.com/RATTM-MOTOR-Handwheel-Emergency-MITSUBISHI/dp/B07CZ7F3Y3/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia-wc-drs1_0?cv_ct_cx=100ppr&dchild=1&keywords=100ppr&pd _rd_i=B07CZ7F3Y3&pd_rd_r=420ec195-d191-476b-95e7-e4fb84714531&pd_rd_w=Kmqc1&pd_rd_wg=x1AtH&pf_rd_p= 055f7364-94db-4b93-80d6-346300592c66&pf_rd_r=8RY327YN92Q7SAMC44GB&psc=1&qi d=1595170578&sr=1-1-f7123c3d-6c2e-4dbe-9d7a-6185fb77bc58

[KissSys]

The step button has a shroud around it to prevent accidently changing step. That could be printed and put around all the buttons.

[KissSys]

BIRDTOOL


I think you right, here is a guy who did it just that. Not any good unless Tormach keeps the code in updates.https://wapl.es/cnc/2020/02/23/linux...eel-setup.html

USB would be 1000 times easier than hooking to the Mesa Card and wiring it up.

[kstrauss]

Does anyone know the name of the module that controls Tormach's new console?

[rodw]

I would ask on the Tormach section of the Linuxcnc forum. https://forum.linuxcnc.org/pathpilot to see what is possible.

I just don't know how locked up your Tormach flavour of linuxcnc is. Some Mesa cards like the 7i76 and 7i76e have a couple of MPG inputs. It was pretty easy to wire in a pendant like is shown on the Tormach web site. (MPG, scale and axis select) I use a wireless MPG that has a receiver hard wired into my Mesa 7i76e. I would be lost without it. But it fails the cheap criteria. It cost about USD $350. There are also drivers for USB pendants with Linuxcnc but I never wanted to go that way so know nothing about it.

[scott216]

Unfortunately, no. It was mostly done by cut/try design. I've attached a couple of photos which may help if you want to make your own:
The handle is 1/4-inch thick aluminum with the finger indentions to match my hand size.

The white cover is a CPVC cap for 4-inch sewer pipe.

I discarded the Tormach MPG housing and made chip resistant buttons to actuate the Shuttle switches and a link to the Shuttle MPG using two concentric aluminum tubes in small ball bearings. The buttons are 1/4-inch brass rods sliding in Delrin bushings.

Electronics are unmodified.

That's nice work. I had assumed you redid the electronics. I wonder if anyone's figured out how to emulate the jog shuttle using an Arduino or Teensy.

[kstrauss]

The Shuttle has its own USB VID/PID (0b33:0020) so you'll have to figure out how to change the one that Arduino uses and probably change the Arduino IDE to recognize your modified device. Alternatively you can recompile the Shuttle handler used by PP to recognize the usual Arduino VID/PID (ISTR that the Shuttle VID/PID is hardcoded in the C source for the handler rather than relying on UDEV rules but I haven't checked for ages). Unfortunately you will then have to patch each version of PP to use your modified handler.

[mountaindew]

Unfortunately you will then have to patch each version of PP to use your modified handler.

And updates can be very important and useful. The new run from here menu and behaviors are awesome to me and something I wanted from version 1.0

That said, I mentioned in another thread the need for a better hand control for the 24r router. Mill your mostly in front of it working and the control is always handy. The 24r router you end up walking around to set offsets and fixture material. Then walk 4 ft back to hit run. It wears on my old bones fast.

I do understand why high end large format routers or robots have controls that follow you or you carry.