Dwell (G4) and spindle/laser start

I’m working on updating how the gcode index buttons work as I’ve noticed what I think are some rather big issues with how it currently works. I’ve developed a routine that makes sure the router is in the correct place and the controller is in the correct state when you hit play. There are some commands, such as spindle-on (M4), laser-on (M106) and dwell (G4) that are implemented in the firmware. I was wondering how people have been using dwell (G4) and if it’s related to giving time for the spindle to get up to speed and/or laser to get up to power. Is there any other reason a dwell is used?

I haven’t been at this long, but I’ve been using a ten inch square as a test.

When cutting the square in the clockwise direction the top left was clipped slightly. When I added a dwell (G4) before the next cut instruction the corner was cut square.

My tentative explanation is that this allows machine movement to complete and for things to “settle”.

I used a dwell of 500 ms initially but have changed to 250 ms with the same result.

For now, at least, I will add dwell after every cut that I write by hand and consider adding it when I see a problem with generated cuts.

This behavior was in firmware version 1.24,which might makea difference.

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