those £55 usb bob's and those £5 tb6560 drivers pic for scale of them = tiny!!

[nobby]

A big part of any learning curve is to investigate how others have gone about achieving your aims.
If you have a fixed plan for all aspects of a project you have concieved and find that when you ask for help in getting it to work you universally get suggestions for alternate designs it's either that no-one understands or its that they do understand very well ;-)
The fact that no one has made a Chocolate Fire Guard doesn't necessarily mean it's a not good idea but it should give you pause for thought, lots of pause and lots of thought,
ATB,
Nick

yes, its a pickler.....
I think I have fathomed the crux - I was under the impression that the post-processor 'sheet-cam' exchanged the cartisian 'standard x/y' co-ordinates and generated the g-code specifically for a h-plot gantry. It now appears to me that in fact it has nothing to do with post processing for g-code, PLUS then
has nothing to do with converting the G-code into step pulses - AND THAT its all to do with the
break out board interpolating the whatsnames for motion control. its the break -out bored firmware that
does the majic, I.E. with an arduino controller fitted with a ramps 1.4 break - out board, you simply load
the h-plot firmware onto the ramps controller, it still receives cartesian co-ordination but simply outputs the pulses differently to the standard gantry system.
right so IF that is correct, you are simply restricted to nema 17's as the max juice you can pull through a ramps 1.4 board is 3a so basicallly a 12 volt psu arduino and little nema 17's - fine, but alas no good for me
What the rub is - is that the break-out boards for cnc that can draw 5a, 24/36v, nema 23's and 5a drivers are made where they are made, and the firmware on them is the thing that need to be altered - I can't do that as I am stoopid.


SO to re-cap my blown cap
EVEN though someones writted a 3d printer wizard extrusion doo-dah.
no one can make a 4 foot square, nema 23, 5 amp ,36 volt, htd 8m belted,24 toothen, h - plot gantried, three dimensional goo squirter as the firmware for the usb break - out boards don't exist.

I simply want a h-plot .hpgl plasma plotter 2 foot square and 4 inches high, with a magnetically detatchable hinged plasma torch and small control box, so that I can pick it up and carry it.

I did try lifting my 500mm square tard gantry minus the z axis and motors and still split my trousering.

overview:
The market is too small to manufacture a 5 axis usb 5a break out board with specific h-plot firmware.
OR no one can be arsed to re-write the existing firmware for a 5a bob
OR its impossible to do.

thank you
p.s. by the time I have lashed together this thing and bent over the six inch nails tight enough hopefully someone will have done the business.

anyplops, the IDEAL is simply a 24volt brick psu.
a combined usb h-plot bob and drivers in a vented and cooled box with the motor output connectors on the board sticking through the box 4 pin and earth.

then the motor manufacturers to 'simply' supply the motors with sheilded cables straight from the motor cap/bearing housing, with the corresponding plug to the board.

I must admit I am an advocate of keeping the mains away from the control box, I don't know why though.

oh and to end on a good note... now I know its impossible I can refrain from asking again!!!

[Neale]

Still asking questions that no-one understands, and not listening to any of the answers...
Try a question like, "Could someone point me at a beginner's guide to the relationship between post-processors, gcode, motion control, BOB, and drivers?" Until you understand that, you won't understand why no-one is ever going to build a "5-axis USB 5A break-out board with H-bot firmware" - or indeed why a "5-axis USB 5A break-out board" doesn't exist, or indeed whether or not such a hypothetical device might or might not have firmware in it, or why talking about a ".hpgl h-plot" device is a non-starter from the very outset.