Use cases¶
Every machine below has the same problem: your eyes need to be at the tool, and the controls are somewhere else. Each story says whether jogpad covers it today.
What works today
jogpad talks to Klipper through Moonraker. Other firmwares are planned, not built. Where a story needs one of them, it says so.
3D printer: levelling the bed¶
You slide a sheet of paper under the nozzle and lower Z until the paper drags. On a touchscreen that means looking at the screen for every tap, or tapping blind while you watch the paper. One slip onto the next button and the nozzle moves 10 mm instead of 0.1, or the wrong way.
With jogpad, Z− is a key under your finger. You switch to 0.01 mm steps with another key and keep your eyes on the paper. The same goes for setting the Z offset, checking a probe, or positioning the nozzle over a mark.
Works today with Klipper.
3D printer: loading filament and tidying up¶
Pushing filament through by a few millimetres, pulling it back, moving the head out of the way to clear a blob: small moves you want to do with one hand while the other hand is busy.
Works today with Klipper. Extruder keys have no default; assign them on the web page.
CNC mill: touching off a workpiece¶
To find the edge of a workpiece you move the tool towards it in ever smaller steps, with a sheet of paper or an edge finder, until it just touches. That is what a handwheel (MPG) is for: one detent, one step, eyes on the tool.
Planned. Most hobby mills run GRBL, FluidNC or LinuxCNC. FluidNC is on the
list; LinuxCNC already reads keyboards with hal_input. A mill running
Klipper works today.
Laser cutter and engraver: setting the origin and the focus¶
Before a job you move the head to the corner of the sheet and set the focus distance, often with a gauge between nozzle and material. You watch the head, not the screen.
Planned for GRBL-based lasers via FluidNC support.
The beam stays off
jogpad only moves axes. It never switches a laser on, and positioning is done with the beam off. Add a lock so jogpad refuses to move while the laser is enabled, see Locks. STOP is not an emergency stop; see Safety.
Plasma cutter: tracing the outline¶
Before cutting, many people trace the outline of the job over the sheet to check it fits. Small corrections of the start point are easier with a knob than with a mouse while looking at the torch.
Planned, depends on the firmware (often LinuxCNC or GRBL-based). The same rule as for lasers applies: the torch stays off, and a lock should refuse moves while it could fire.
Metal additive manufacturing: positioning the head¶
On wire or powder deposition machines (DED) the head is positioned over an edge or a previous layer and the distance to the workpiece is set by eye, often with the operator wearing gloves and protective eyewear. Keys you can feel help more than a touchscreen there.
Works today where the machine runs Klipper, with locks on everything that can emit: the energy source must be off whenever jogpad may move.
Your machine is not listed?¶
Open an issue with the feature request template: which machine, which firmware, and what you need to move by hand.