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CNC build

Second winter, indeed. We were without internet service for about 2 days due to ice storms, and it's been intermittent since. April 18th, and it's only 40 degrees outside.
 
Cagey said:
Second winter, indeed. We were without internet service for about 2 days due to ice storms, and it's been intermittent since. April 18th, and it's only 40 degrees outside.
Click to expand...

It is supposed to snow again today. This after the foot and a half of snow or so on the weekend.

There is still ice covering the lakes.

Going to start taking meteorologists hostage. I know they aren't responsible but they enjoy this crap just way too much.
 
'supposed to be a balmy 17 deg here next week.  Time to get the snow tires off and the mags on!!
 
Turns out a 1000mm by 750mm CNC takes up a lot of space. Was hoping to bequeath that 20 year old oil and paint to my heirs but it looks like I'll have to take it to the hazardous waste place to clear enough space for this thing. Alternately I could leave it by the curb for the curb side pickup this week and see if the vultures mistake it for something worth having. Once the broken car batteries went I knew I could put anything out there.

Some progress. Finally. Drag chain mounts are on. I don't have the right sized m4 or m5's. Got the rest of my Panucatt order. Crimper arrived. CNC is on a stand on a cleared spot. I have garage floor debris lung. Hitachi saw horses are not confidence inspiring.
 
It's amazing what the scavengers will grab from the curb.

DarkPenguin said:
Hitachi saw horses are not confidence inspiring.
Click to expand...

Just throw a few bucks at some 2x4s and plywood and make a stand. With a little planning, you can make a helluva thing for not much cash outlay. Leave room for a drawer - you're going to want at least one for hold-down clamps, cutters, and other assorted support pieces. Put 4" casters on it so you can shuffle it around according to work flow/requirements.
 
I think two neighbors think I'm making a bomb. But this is the control box. I've moved a bunch of stuff to this with the intent of keeping it safe and making it something I can connect and disconnect.

This after frying a variety of things while working on it.

Trying to sort out how to make the air flow on this. I have a couple small blower fans coming that I'll use to blow air across the heat sinks. I have another fan that will likely be an exhaust fan on the side. Air comes in from the bottom. Might want to put some holes in the top.

The connectors across the top are aircraft connectors. Most are going to the steppers. The remaining two are going to the limit switches and z-probe. Stuff on the side is reset, halt and continue? Something like that.

ctrlbox.jpg
 
Not so waterproof after all the holes I've drilled in it. Also drilled a hole in my finger making it. For some reason the spindle is giving me grief of a sudden. It is almost certainly going to be replaced with my makita just to get on with CNCing.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/hn3NcfyWS_4[/youtube]
 
Thanks. It has been slower than I'd hoped but then I wasn't sure how to do the electronic bits until after I'd seen them and tried a couple things.

Still not sure about the 0-10V spindle control on the Gradus and the 0-10V input on the spindle. I think I can just connect them up and hopefully something will happen... Not sure and this spindle doesn't have any hall effect sensor. I did find a slightly nicer (more powerful) version of this for like $120. Might order that. I hope it isn't hit with a 200% tariff. Unemployment makes spending a bit difficult at the moment.
 
[youtube]https://youtu.be/0PUmXRqDu4g[/youtube]

Still doesn't have limit switches. Turns out they are normally closed on a CNC and if you want them normally open you need a cap and a resistor attached or noise will hose you.

So, screw it going to soft limits for now.

Oh, and some of the other issues had to do with software expecting GRBL 1.1 while the board came with 0.9.

Also, if your limit switches are miss-wired and you're running 0.9 the board wont really tell you what the issue is. 1.1 might but I don't know that, either. It was the 1.1 manual's giant section on homing that led me to figure it out.

On the plus side now that I'm unemployed I have plenty of time.
 
N.C. travel limits make sense, as they'll fail safe. Cut a cable, break a switch, actually overtravel, etc. will all fault the thing out. You may not need filter networks for the lines, though. Review the circuit - it's possible it just needs a pull-up or pull-down resistor to force a state in the event of a high-impedance situation.
 
Cagey said:
N.C. travel limits make sense, as they'll fail safe. Cut a cable, break a switch, actually overtravel, etc. will all fault the thing out. You may not need filter networks for the lines, though. Review the circuit - it's possible it just needs a pull-up or pull-down resistor to force a state in the event of a high-impedance situation.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it made sense when I thought about it. For right now I'm just going without.

After using it in anger I might switch over to a palm router.  The 400W spindle seems a little light.

Some comments after seeing it work...

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOQQx4I7tTg[/youtube]

3d printed clamps...

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53BsjhezFs4[/youtube]

And it surfacing ...

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLCUrgRPdF0[/youtube]
 
Hey! It works! That's 90% of the battle.

I'm not sure the 400W spindle is too light, but it depends what you're intending to do. I didn't hear it complain when it was cutting, so it must have been reasonably happy. Chuck a 3/4" roundover bit into it and and feed it some oak. I'll bet that'll make it grunt. Makes my 2 1/2 hp router pay attention, and that's what, 1.8KW?
 
Cagey said:
Hey! It works! That's 90% of the battle.

I'm not sure the 400W spindle is too light, but it depends what you're intending to do. I didn't hear it complain when it was cutting, so it must have been reasonably happy. Chuck a 3/4" roundover bit into it and and feed it some oak. I'll bet that'll make it grunt. Makes my 2 1/2 hp router pay attention, and that's what, 1.8KW?
Click to expand...
That's exactly true, you need to push it to find the limit and create a feel of what the machine can do.
 
DangerousR6 said:
Cagey said:
Hey! It works! That's 90% of the battle.

I'm not sure the 400W spindle is too light, but it depends what you're intending to do. I didn't hear it complain when it was cutting, so it must have been reasonably happy. Chuck a 3/4" roundover bit into it and and feed it some oak. I'll bet that'll make it grunt. Makes my 2 1/2 hp router pay attention, and that's what, 1.8KW?
Click to expand...
That's exactly true, you need to push it to find the limit and create a feel of what the machine can do.
Click to expand...
Yep. Been buying some bits. Clear that I don't have what I need yet. Otherwise I've done a Fender logo in Cedar and am currently watching CAM how-to videos. (If I'm not sure what I told it to do it is hard to figure out if it did it.)
 
Damn cutting tools will nickel-dime you to death. I got more money in bits than I do my router, and I've got a pretty nice router.
 
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