@Danal Hahaha I read your post, very gratefully - making a lot of sense, but then did think twice when reading your last comment about the board being the least important part. Really appreciate the feedback though.

@dc42 - it's so nice to see your name again! I actually ordered your IR board for my old RRP printer. Man it made a difference! Speaking of which, I actually still have it and given that I'm building a CNC I'm not certain it would be used. If not, and if you have a use for it - or someone else does, I'm happy to donate it?? Not sure if it would be appropriate for bed levelling a PCB? Initial thought was to do it manually using a conductive probe but auto would be great... Small steps for now though.

I'm going to design the mechanics and see if I can at least interface with the board. Will keep everyone updated here as to progress.

Thanks again, so much!

Hi all,

I'm new here so please forgive me if I miss anything necessary. After a pretty big life challenge, I'm now back to my tinkering but have unfortunately had an extended break from anything 'maker' related. I have a very old RepRapPro 3D printer that needs to be dismantled due to the bearings ceasing (etc) from lack of use over the years. I would like to re-purpose this, specifically as a PCB mill (which I'll re-build from scratch). If possible, I'd like to use the control board as it seems wasteful to replace it. It's an old Duet board, non-wifi, v0.6 (https://reprap.org/wiki/Duet - scroll down).

The mechanical side of things I'm completely ok with, but the software side is just completely overwhelming me. There seem to be hundreds of different options for CNC which then differ again for PCB milling and few seem to use the board I have.

I would be most appreciative if someone could please point me in the right direction in terms of what software to use, how to configure the board, how to connect the board to the computer and get it to talk to software, etc, and from there, hopefully, I can run with it and learn. Basically, I have the board and have no idea what to do with it next (after connecting the x-y-z motors that is - I can follow the wiring diagram easily enough ) Hopefully, throughout this process, I can learn enough to pass on my knowledge to others in time.

Thanks in advance for any help you may offer!

Terence