Home Built 3 Axis CNC router with Centroid Allin1DC control


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Thread: Home Built 3 Axis CNC router with Centroid Allin1DC control

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    Moderator cnckeith's Avatar
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    Default Home Built 3 Axis CNC router with Centroid Allin1DC control

    I thought some of you might like to see some photos of my home built CNC router.
    I built this system around a Centroid Allin1DC CNC control board.
    It is a 3 axis X,Y,Z machine with a moving Gantry that has two servo motors and two ballscrews on the Gantry axis (Y axis) so it is driven on both sides for maximum rigidity and speed.*
    Since I have a small shop, I chose a moving gantry layout over a moving table design since a moving gantry usually takes up less room than a moving table. This size difference between the two types typically isn't a concern until the machine starts to get up in size. My home machine has about 43” of travel in the Y axis. (Note: A moving table is typically a better way to go for a CNC router so, if you can afford the space or are building a small machine go for a moving table design.)*
    The Allin1DC is really nice since it combines the CNC functionality what regularly would take many different PC boards and cables to accomplish all on one PC board. It is well thought out and is geared toward running a machine tool so its really just a matter of hooking everything up and it works. Its the little things that add up... Built-in Analog OUT to run an inverter is standard. Its even configurable to match the voltage range that the inverter requires. Built-in fused relay outputs! These outputs are ready to go. Just wire them up to what you want to control. They even come preprogrammed for common machine tool accessories like, Flood, Mist, Lube, Tool Light, Vac ON/Off, Air Blast and more.. this is great. All I had to do was connect the mister solenoid to the mist output connection on the Allin1DC and the mister was ready to go. Same for all the other accessories. Compared to other system I’ve been around the Allin1DC has eliminated significant parts and labor from the control integration. The backbone of the Allin1DC is of course as the name implies is the 3 axis built in closed loop digital DC servo drives. The Allin1DC has a maximum output of 15 amps per axis which can run a pretty big DC servo. I used mine set at 12 amps on X and Y axis and 9 amps on Z. I used 29 in-lb servos on X and Y axes and a 17 in-lb servo on Z. Each axis max current setting is adjustable so you can run different sized motors on each axis. The Allin1DC drive bus voltage is flexible and operates from 20 to 180 DC volts so it can run a wide variety of servo motors. The X and Y axis motors I have installed are rated up to 180 volts, but the Z axis motor I have installed is only rated at 140 volts DC. So to be safe i'm running the Allin1DC drive bus DC voltage at 125 VDC. In the future I hope to upgrade the Z axis motor to one that is rated at 180 VDC to match the X Y axis motors. This will allow me to run a higher drive bus voltage which will increase both speed and power (its pretty fast now) but more importantly will eliminate yet another part: a Step Down Transformer. Currently I have installed in the control a Step Down Transformer which steps down, as the name implies, regular house 110 vac power down to around 85-88 volts AC before it is rectified into DC drive bus power. This produces DC servo motor power in the 120-125 VDC range which is safe for the Z axis motor I have installed. (note: typically on most retrofits this step down transformer is already present in the old system so you just reuse it if you plan on keeping the original servo motors since they are already voltage matched) When I get a Z axis servo installed rated at 180 vdc, I’ll be able to directly rectify the 110 vac which will make around 160 VDC for the drive bus power with the Ajax “Cap Board Combo” eliminating the hot step down transformer entirely. The Ajax “Cap Board Combo” is another real time saver design. Its a Bridge rectifier PC board that is designed to mount (screw) to the top of a power supply capacitor.. you simple connect AC power in to one set of terminals and DC servo bus power comes out the other set, its a beautiful thing!.. I mounted mine under the Allin1DC to save space in the cabinet.*
    I built my own CNC PC. I purchased the PC parts from Newegg.com, while I could have bought a CNC PC already configured from Ajax which is a nice thing, i've been building PC's now for 20 years..so its no big deal to do for me. I spent about $500 in total and I chose some good reliable PC components that meet and exceed the minimum PC compatibility requirements set be Centroid for the Allin1DC control board. I used a samsung SSD and installed Windows 7 OS. (windows 8 or 10 work as well). I also bought the Centroid Operators Control Pendant, while this is not a requirement to run the Allin1DC this control panel to me it is worth its weight in gold. immensely more convenient than using the keyboard (or LCD display screen like some others) to move an axis or control the spindle, the Operators Control Pendant has dedicated axis jog buttons and a analog feedrate overide knob along with spindle, flood, mist and other accessories controls all on one easy to use control panel, its completely plug and play with the Allin1DC, I just plugged it in and it works. It even has extra buttons called auxiliary keys which can be programmed to perform a variety of functions. I programmed 4 extra auxiliary keys to control ON/OFF for a dust connection motor and a compressed air nozzle use to cool the cutter and evauate chips so I have easy manual control over each. I programmed it so that the buttons overide the program so I can turn them on or off at any point in the job with out interrupting the part machining. While I could have purchased the Centroid CNC console, I like just using the Centroid Operators Control panel in the pendant format so I can use a large LCD monitor. I used a 24” Asus unit which you can pick up for under $170 on sale. I like this since there is plenty of room on the screen and I can run the font sizes large which makes them easy to see. I also run the windows task bar on the right side of the screen so its out of the way of the CNC software but still on top all the time for easy access. I installed a 2nd ethernet port on the CNC PC I built (which is mounted in the electrical cabinets to keep it away from dust and chips) so I can connect the CNC PC to the internet. I find this immensely useful. Everyday I use google to convert mm to inches and vise verse or look up machinist information like drill and tap sizes while I program parts right on the machine. In addition to running the Centroid CNC software (called CNC11) I installed Notepad ++ and configured it for G code editing. This is a nice fast and free little text editor that is real handy to have and much more capable than regular notepad and is well worth download and setting up for G code editing. I'm also running Rhino for Modeling and Mastercam for creating complex 3D surfacing. I use the Centroid conversational every day as well. Its the way to go for those quick tasks when its too much hassle to draw up a cad drawing for. I use it to drill holes, make slots, face off material and even some more complex parts. I like it since it generates g code like a cad/cam system so you have full control and can tweaks things the way you want. Intercon has a bunch of built in canned cycle which I use to quickly create hold down fixtures.
    During the Allin1DC installation I used a piece of software called Teamviewer to connect to Centroid Tech support, I couldn't get the two servo motors that are slaved together on the Y axis running. During the installation, I got stuck on the configuration of the 4th axis servo drive (the Centroid DC1), its simple to addition to the Allin1DC, its just a cable that goes from the Allin1DC to the DC1 and 'wa-la' you have a 4 axis CNC control! But, I couldn't seem to get the axis drive assignments in the software setup correct. Centroid tech support was able to log right into the Control PC using Teamviewer and take a look a my setting and within minutes they determined that I had the drive assignments backward, with settings changed and I was up and running in minutes. What a great way to receive support. Questions are now solved in minutes where before that might have been stretched out for days of going back and forth with email. I also installed a web cam with mic and speakers on the CNC computer, and I use Skype to call customers to work out any questions I or they have right there on the machine with the information I need on the CNC control screen. I even take CNC screen shots with the windows 7 snipping tool and email them directly from the CNC PC to help clarify points of discussion. I cut aluminum, plastics, composites and wood.*
    I used a cool feature in the Centroid cnc control software that really saved my butt. Being a home built machine the X and Y axis are not exactly perpendicular to each other. During construction of the machine I got them as close as i could with the tools that i had. The Centroid has a feature called "deskew" in which the control will make up for the X and Y axis not being perfectly perpendicular! This is fantastic. Now the machine will cut accurate circles and squares even though the machine itself is out of wack! all i had to do measure the diagonals of a square (bigger is better), one was longer than the other showing how much out of square it was and then do some simple math and plug in a correction factor amount. then repeat.. measure the diagonals again, keep tweaking in until its perfect. and i got the machine cutting square all with only using a basic machinist rule in about 30 minutes of homing in on it. While you could use more accurate method of measurement the machinist rule is all i had and the trail and error and correction procedure works. If anyone has questions, I'll be glad to share any information on any aspect of my CNC installation.

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    Default Re: Home Built 3 Axis CNC router with Centroid Allin1DC control

    Have you made any videos of your router in action?



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    Moderator cnckeith's Avatar
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    Default Re: Home Built 3 Axis CNC router with Centroid Allin1DC control

    i'm woking on a cool project right now.. should be cutting next week.. lots of cad/cam work to do to get the tool path just right. i'll post some then.
    Home Built 3 Axis CNC router with Centroid Allin1DC control-cutting_weed-jpg



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    Default Re: Home Built 3 Axis CNC router with Centroid Allin1DC control

    Quote Originally Posted by cnckeith View Post
    i'm woking on a cool project right now.. should be cutting next week.. lots of cad/cam work to do to get the tool path just right. i'll post some then.
    Home Built 3 Axis CNC router with Centroid Allin1DC control-cutting_weed-jpg
    Indeed, I would be interested to see pictures of your machine and control cabinet Keith. I'd like to build a small version, but one primary as a plasma table but could also be used with a router. Seems doable to me if designed correctly.
    Marty



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    Default Re: Home Built 3 Axis CNC router with Centroid Allin1DC control

    marty, hello. photos of the home built machine and cabinet are at the top of the thread:-) are they not showing up ? thanks, k



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    Default Re: Home Built 3 Axis CNC router with Centroid Allin1DC control

    Quote Originally Posted by cnckeith View Post
    marty, hello. photos of the home built machine and cabinet are at the top of the thread:-) are they not showing up ? thanks, k
    Yes, I see them know. Thanks Keith, nice work....
    Marty



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