All in one 3D Printer, CNC, CNC Engraving Laser cutting Laser engraving

Tonns of open questions came up while reading through a huge contend of the reprap pages.
For a "newbe" in terms of 3D Printing who does not know the correct termonology a search is really difficult.
So I would like to ask all of you about the first thing:
What CAM chain would be the best to use?
Goal is that my machine is as open as possible for changes.
To be able to do all functions wanted I would need a “Printer” program handling the different settings as well as a printer Firmware that is able to do it.
So I have the question:
Is there a CAM chain that works with all at once, just by deciding at the beginning on what I want to do? 3d Print or CNC or Laser….
- This CAM should also have possibilities like triple extrusion support later on or a 4’th axis for cnc milling?
I think the HW I got as an present, should be able to do this, but what firmware to use slicer etc...
HW I have:
SKR Pro V1.2
MKS TFT 3.5 V4 and the fitting WIFI Modul ESP-12S
Motors: Vextra PK244 PB + PK246 PB +C9441-90212P ( The Motors are all out of some scrapped devices. I have from each motor at least 3)
And I have tonns of optical sensors with a 3 pin molex connction as well....this ones I have to test, but I guess they will give an High or low signal on the third pin.

I do not expect to get all answered right away, but it would be nice if you at least can help me finding the relevant pages here in the forum.

Rough plan up to now is to use a Build like BuildersBot, but as a huge difference I would Have the 3DPrinter on the main fraim (lower "floor") and CNC as well as Laser stuff should be mounted on a "upper floor" . This floor should be easily exchangable as well as the tools on Z. For this reason I thought it is good to have an upper level in the Machine. Second reason of cause is that you do not need the compete hight when CNC'ing or laser some stuff.
Hopefully this will start a nice discussion...
Best regards

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/28/2021 10:06AM by HHbastel.

... my nearest fit to an "all in one machine" ist an Isel-prototype of the first MiniFlat series with Servos (the later series had all steppers), fixed gantry for X and Z, moving bed in Y, 275x210x210mm and up to 300mm/s max. speed (my actual configuration can only move max 150mm/s).

The controller is a STM32F4Discovery board, UHU servo drivers, Software+Firmware-bundle is Editask10 ... runs with STEP+DIR mode, so same controlling like steppers - could be controlled with any 3D-printer hardware too.

Using it for laser-engraving anc -cutting, sometimes for 3D-printing and paste-dispensing too ... will avoid to use it for CNC-milling.

Better source separate machines for CNC-milling (high accuracy and force, low speeds), and 3D-printing and laser, where you have lightweight heads and needs much higher speeds for proper results ...

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

I agree with VDX. CNC and 3d printing don't mix well. Requirements are opposites. Besides, how are you going to CNC something while your 3d printer is in the middle of a 30 hour print?

... beside the "near fit" (e.g. the Isel MiniFlat prototype with servos) I have a "normal" CNC-mill, 5 or 6 FDM-printers (2 in working conditions) ... 2 resin-3D-printers (and some gears from my old projects with DLP-beamers) ... a galvo-laserengraver with 30Watt fiberlaser ... and some 10+ laserdiode-modules with different wavelengths and powers of up to 270Watts ... and some space too -- so no real interest in "all in one" setups

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

Hi all, and thanks for the comments. For me there is a question comming up if I read Different speed is needed.
Is there no possibility to configure the system in a way that you have to coose a "setup" before actually the machine is startet completely?
In this way you could change the settings for each application you want to run. It does than not matter if the motors are stronger.

... I've done something in this direction, when testing 3D-FDM-printing with my CNC-mill some 10+ years before.

Here I've built a drop-in replacement-board to switch the CNC-controller for a 3D-printer-elecronics (Gen3) - with inserting the original controller and starting the CAD/CAM it was working as CNC-mill ... replacing with the Gen3-board and starting Pronterface it was working as a 3D-printer.

For switching between 3D-printing, pastedispensing and laserengraving it was simply by creating different G-code-flavours with the speeds and PWM-characteristics per G-code-line ...

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/30/2021 03:49AM by VDX.

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

Quote
HHbastel
Hi all, and thanks for the comments. For me there is a question comming up if I read Different speed is needed.
Is there no possibility to configure the system in a way that you have to coose a "setup" before actually the machine is startet completely?
In this way you could change the settings for each application you want to run. It does than not matter if the motors are stronger.

RepRapFirmware supports this in two ways:
- The M451, M452 and M453 commands allow you to switch between FDM, Laser and CNC modes on-the-fly
- The M505 command allows you to switch quickly between different machine profiles held in different folders of the SD card

So from a firmware perspective, it's doable. The problems are mechanical. For example, building a motion system that is powerful enough for CNC but fast enough for FDM; and providing a bed that can be heated for FDM but is sturdy enough for CNC.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Hi Dc42, this sounds interesting. Do you have eventually a link where this is explained in detail? The Bed I will provide at the ground Floor of my system. I will slide in a first floor (over the bed) that is stable enough for CNC. So now it comes to the motors needed. I am not sure if the Vextra PK244 PB + PK246 PB I have are enough. So if I can switch between settings with just some Gcode commands this would be perfect :-) But I did not found anything about that my SKR-Pro is compatible with reprap firmware. If you have a link where I can read how to "port" this to my board, this would be perfect.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2021 03:55AM by HHbastel.

RepRapFirmware was developed originally for Duet boards but it has been ported to some LPC and SKR boards. Those ports are at [github.com]. You will find support links in the Readme file there.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].