Hey Dan,
the commands M3 (start spindle clockwise) in conjunction with S (Set Spindle Speed) (with speed set > 0) and M5 (stop spindle) are provided by your CAD/CAM program when you export your toolpath as g-code.
It is up to the CNC Controller to start the milling motor appropriately when it encounters such a command.
Traditionally, the Onefinity Controller, which is a hardware and a software fork of the Buildbotics Controller, has two methods of controlling the start/stop and the speed of the milling motor:
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The analog way, which controls start/stop by switching the ‘tool enable’ pin 15 on DB-25 I/O port on and off (and the ‘tool direction’ pin 16 according to M3 or M4 command given), and the speed by providing a PWM signal on pin 17 as described here, and
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the digital way, which is a ModBus communication over a RS-485 serial communication line to a device like a VFD which is able to communicate this way.
In order to choose the first way to communicate, the analog one, traditionally the Onefinity and the Buildbotics Controllers had one entry for selecting the right ‘tool type’ in the TOOL Configuration tab: “PWM Spindle”. You had to choose this entry if you wanted to use
- a PWM Spindle
- a Laser
- a milling motor that has no interface (like the Makita hand trim router) and that you want to be switched on and off by a relay.
Since having to choose “PWM spindle” when in fact you wanted to use a laser or a hand router was confusing, so with firmware 1.0.9, the Onefinity developers created two new entries for selecting ‘tool type’:
“Router (Makita, etc)”
“Laser (J Tech, etc)”
But internally in fact it still selects “PWM Spindle”.
Welcome to the forum!