Duplicate driver to drive additional motor

[firex726 (IK)]

Machine: K40 - Custom rebuild - Cartesian

Board: LaserBoard

Firmware: Smoothie

Problem/ Question: Long story short is there a way I can duplicate/copy one driver to another in the config file?

I’m rebuilding my K40 into a larger open frame design and am driving the Y axis with two seperate steppers. They home and move normally at slower speeds but are both plugged into the Y driver, I would like to repurpose the Z or A driver and make it a duplicate of the Y.

I’ve done this before using Reprap firmware on Duet Boards, I am hoping Smoothie and this board would have a similar ability.

Attached is a photo and my current config file.
config.txt (28.4 KB)

[loather]

You’re in luck - it’s actually a simple hardware fix. You can slave A to Y using those three jumpers on the board. Move them all to the “follow Y” position and you’re good to go.

I must caution and warn you against doing this on a CO2 laser, however, as if one motor stalls or loses steps or something all of a sudden your mirrors will be out of alignment and a high power laser will now be pointing somewhere other than the laser head, which could be extremely dangerous. It’s generally better to build the machine using a single motor and use a shaft to connect both driven elements. The mirrors will stay in alignment a lot better and you’ll have a rigid coupling to keep the machine square when you inevitably move the gantry by hand.