Jeff Epler's blog

Got a 3D printer

I bought a 3D printer, called Rostock MAX. I'm keeping a record of my experience with it. So far it's just a work in progress, but maybe this week I'll progress to the point that I can extrude plastic. Later I'll make it work with LinuxCNC.

StippleGen 2—Stippler, turned friendly

Mark Twain, 5000 white stipples by oskay

A long time ago I wrote stippler and put the source on my blog. However, it was pretty user-hostile software and doesn't even build with current versions of Linux without modification. That's why I'm gratified to see StippleGen 2, free software (LGPLv2.1+) that performs a similar function but with a nice-looking user interface. I haven't tried it myself, but if you are interested in making this kind of art it surely warrants a look.

RELEASED: emc 2.3.5

I'm pleased to announce the next bugfix release in the emc 2.3 series, emc 2.3.5. A number of problems in earlier releases have been fixed.

The new packages are now available for Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy Heron" in the package repositories. Packages for Ubuntu 6.06 "Dapper Drake" should follow within the next few days. If you have already installed an earlier 2.3.x version of emc, this will be offered as an update.

If you still have 2.2.8 or earlier installed, 2.3.5 will not be available as an automatic upgrade. For more information and installation/upgrade instructions, please see the wiki

git users can get this release by checking out the v2.3.5 tag (or follow bugfixes on v2_3_branch). Source tarballs are available from the package repository: http://linuxcnc.org/hardy/dists/hardy/emc2.3/source

Many thanks to the people who have contributed bugfixes for this release.

Change since 2.3.4:

fix jog increments for mini
interpreter: detect gouging in last corner before turning off cutter comp
interpreter: fix another case of a skipped full-circle arc
task: fix toolchange at quill-up and g30 positions (SF#2941688)
stepconf: fix direction of 2nd and 3rd parports
configs: add smithy 516 sample configuration
image2gcode: respect current TLO and fixture settings
image2gcode: "extend image" crash on non-square image (SF#2947390)
documentation improvements
hostmot2: Accept "idrom v3" firmwares. these are the firmwares that will be released with emc 2.4.x.
axis: mitigate a memory leak each time a program is loaded or reloaded

RELEASED: emc 2.3.4

I'm pleased to announce the next bugfix release in the emc 2.3 series, emc 2.3.4. A number of problems with the last release have been fixed.

Zenbot is back in business

(M)(L)

Small circuitboard injects home switch signal into encoder cable

After weeks of not touching zenbot, I finally milled some circuit boards. Of course, they were for the zenbot itself.

RELEASED: emc 2.3.2

I'm pleased to announce a new bugfix release in the emc 2.3 series, emc 2.3.2. A number of problems in the 2.3.1 release were fixed. See below for a list.

Zenbot upgrades

(M)(L)

Zenbot's new servo motor

After some tiny little problems with ruined stepper drivers that I don't care to talk about, I kept moping on IRC until Sam found me these pittman dc servos and I ordered some, intending on upgrading the zenbot to servos.

Remebering values between runs of emc

This is a userspace hal component which stores values to disk so that it can be preserved from run to run.

Usage

loadusr -W remember v1 v2 f:floatv u:unsignedv