Hello everyone.

So I have been reading the forums for some time now with great interest. Especially the JGRO design which was possible for me to build with the tools I have access to. But since all messurements in the plans where imperial I had a hard time adapting it to the the things we have available in hardware-stores here in Denmark.
So, since I really wanted to build the cnc-router, I made a new set of drawings from scratch.
Heres a snapshot of the almost finished drawings in SW:
http://www.control.aau.dk/~mhpe03/cnc-router.jpg

I have been working in my parents garage for two weeks now. Cutting and assembling it. Here are some pictures of my progress:
http://www.control.aau.dk/~mhpe03/DSC00098-1.JPG
http://www.control.aau.dk/~mhpe03/DSC00105-1.JPG
http://www.control.aau.dk/~mhpe03/DSC00106-1.JPG

This last bit I did today. The rails aren't fixed to the bridge yet but i really wanted to see how the rails worked, so I put them on anyway:
http://www.control.aau.dk/~mhpe03/DSC00107-1.JPG
This is also the router i want to use.

Closeup of a rail:
http://www.control.aau.dk/~mhpe03/DSC00108-1.JPG

One last picture with the top on:
http://www.control.aau.dk/~mhpe03/DSC00110-1.JPG

So I just wanted to tell you all how it was going..

Looks impressive, what size is it?

That is a lot of work considering you had to convert everything to metric.If you have done the converting, you should post the metric version of the plans so others can start a machine. I'm sure the task of converting has kept a lot of people from starting their own machine.

The machine is (x,y,z) 84x65x63 cm.. So it's not the biggest, but I dimensioned it to take a cutting material of 35x53x7cm, which is enough for me. It should be small enough to fit in the back of a car as it has to be moved a bit.

As to the posting of the plans - I will do so, shortly. I really want to make the plans as complete as possible, maybe even with some instructions. I am not a woodworker by trade (studieing control engineering), so I had to figure techniques out by myself for making it as accurate as possible. It's really hard work when you don't own a table saw :( Maybe instructions would be helpfull to people in a similar situation. I am thinking about starting a free wiki-site so the build process could be refined and optimized. I think a lot of people would be interested in building and owning such a woodworking machine without having to do it almost from scratch, as I did. Yes, I used JGRO ideas with the rail system and adjusters, but redesigning it to metric really took a lot of time. It was easier starting from scratch and incorporating my own ideas in the process.

Best Regards
Martin Holm Pedersen
Denmark

Nice work, keep the pics coming...

Russell.

So I have finally been able to get some work done on my project. Eventhough I still need some assembling of the router i thought i would get started on the electronics.

I have ripped some steppers out of an old copier that i got for nothing. It had two usable motors(I think) and a lot of other small thingies, some of which I can use(limitswitches etc..). One Unipolar 1,27Nm MF 2A 1.8 deg motor and a smaller one which i couldn't find any info on.

http://www.control.aau.dk/~mhpe03/DSC00113.JPG

Anyone know what is needed to control these motors? I have seen some drivers around but im not quite sure what i need. The big one has 6 wires and the small one 5 wires.

Best Regars
Martin H. Pedersen
Denmark

Five, six and eight wire steppers are wired "uni-polar". See this link for details on the motors: http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/step/circuits.html#practvr. One source for a driver for these is HobbyCNC at http://www.hobbycnc.com/. Another is http://pminmo.com/.
I also built the jgro. You can see it on my web site at http://cnc-hobby-site/cnc.
Keep the pictures coming! Good work so far...

Thunterman

Good work on the machine. I like the steppers, if the serial number on the motor is shown more clearly I may be able to get some info.

Jason

thunterman

The link to your build does not work.

Okay. The serial numbers are:
The big square one:
TYPE 103H7522-8221
LOT NO 01720
AX060124
The round one:
TYPE 103H7126-0413
AX060117B

I found a little info on the square one, but not much. No wireing but i found that it must be a unipolar 2-phase model.

The round one I haven't found any info on yet.

If anyone can help it will be greatly appriciated..

I thought about building something similar to:
http://pminmo.com/discrete/discrete.htm

which uses discrete components rather than chips. I also thought about using the L297+L298N combo. But im not sure that will run a unipolar stepper.


Regards
Martin

The 5 wire are not the go, the six is the better option. have a lookat the Gecko page on motor basics. http://www.geckodrive.com/photos/Step_motor_basics.pdf
I use gecko's with six wire steppers and they work a treat,

The link to your build does not work.
Yup, I fat fingered the link. It should be http://cnc.hobby-site.com/cnc.htm

Thunterman

Okay, so I decided to buy the 4AUPC Chopper Driver Board Kit from hobby-cnc. http://www.hobbycnc.com/4aupc.php. I figure it's hard to beat the price by building it myself. Espcially since i havn't got anything to to etch the pcb-board with and I get a proven driver with no childhood diseases.. Im hoping it will arrive before my vacation ends.. :wee: ;)

Best Regards
Martin H. Pedersen

Forget the round motor it looks like a 5 phase motor (0.72deg / step) Torque in the region of 104oz/inch. Not very strong in this case but 5 phase motors are very smooth. Its also hard to find a DIY CONTROLLER.

Your torque for the square one is correct.

Jason

I guess I have to find some more copiers then.. :o

- Martin

So today i tried getting some more stepper motors from this copier service technician. But I forgot to check the copier to see if it was 2-phase or 5-phase. So of course I wounded up with another 5-phase 5 wire motor.. Sux.. :frown: I guess I'll have to buy the last two from http://motioncontrolproducts.co.uk..

I read the specs for the controller I bought and it actually says that it will run 5-wire motors. But not the 5-phase ones? anyone?

- Martin

Okay. Time for another update. Today i went to my local blacksmith to get some steel made for running the x-y-z sleds on spindles.
I had these three made. I will make threads in the small hole to run the threaded rods and thereby pulling the sleds.
http://www.control.aau.dk/~mhpe03/DSC00127.JPG

So today i got the y-axis on there, after a lot of fiddling an redoing:)
http://www.control.aau.dk/~mhpe03/DSC00128.JPG

I wonder how to adjust it when I'm done? Is there a good approach?

- Martin

Nice work
M.V.H
dkmp

Good to see some danes in here:-)

Today I tested my soldered together my new hobbycnc-kit. Didn't take too long, and even though I lost a 1uF capacitor I just substituted it with a 2,2uF that i fortunately had lying around.

But everything works perfectly. I adjusted the amperage for the stepper and hooked it up.
http://www.control.aau.dk/~mhpe03/DSC00130.JPG

I used the free and open source EMC2 program to drive it and the xyza-stepper configuration and it worked without any configuration! Excellent :)

http://www.control.aau.dk/~mhpe03/DSC00133.JPG