Hi All, :)

Like a lot of people on here, this forum has captured my interest.

I now no longer pass heaps of scrap metal without wondering what use they can be used for....

I'm from the U.K and would like to pass my thanks to Alan at www.fromorbit.com as his Picstep controller design will be the 1st elements of my project.

It's early days but hopefully writing my log here will be an incentive to keep going...

Enough rambling.... thanks for having me on here....

Stage 1

I need to make 3 controller boards and 1 interface board.

Had some spare photo-resist board so after printing the artwork on a HP laserjet printer to clear film It was time to hunt out the UV exposure box.

Some of the pads are not as thick as I would like, especially as they need to be hand drilled.

Photoresist was not too bad so I will continue.

After exposing the 4 boards to UV light, the exposed resist was removed.
Not one of my favourite jobs !

The boards were then placed in the etching tank and overall I was quite happy with the track detail.

After washing the boards I hunted for some tin plating solution I knew I had somewhere.....

This certainly helps when soldering to the boards and it stops the copper contamination.

So with 4 boards etched I call it a day... I will drill them tomorrow. Oh how I will enjoy that....

(As a side note can anyone recommend a pcb prototyping company in the UK ?)

End of day 1 :)

Image of boards after using the tin plating solution

(As a side note can anyone recommend a pcb prototyping company in the UK ?)

http://www.pcb-pool.com/ppuk/info.html

Arvid

I must say they came out really good. I am also in the process of making these boards although I wanted some more bells and whistles so I redesigned the layout but still using the same firmware and basic design he layed out. I am interested to see how they perform when you get that far. What size motors are you using for this? What size power supply?

I'm also building these boards for my router. I'm trying to, "isolation mill" the tracks on the boards using my CNC. Still some work to do on them to get them usable. You can check out the progress at:

http://www.terry-is.f2s.com/


Regards Terry.....

Well I started etching the driver boards and they came out really well. I used the "toner transfer" method to make them which has to be the best way to make a board I have ever come across. (that is until I get my CNC working :boxing: )

http://www.boblweiss.com/CooperEtch.jpg

And then I tinned them. I made all 3 drivers boards and the breakout board.

http://www.boblweiss.com/TinnedBoards.jpg

Thanks Alan for the design!

I should know better !

Things never go to plan. Somewhere in my workshop is a large collection of pcb drills. The problem is I searched high and low and didn't find them. I ordered a few mail order after a frustrating hour or two.

Unfortunately these have still not turned up. No progress at all.

I have found a few useful looking items at work. Linear rails and what looks like a sealed ball-screw assembly. I'll grab some pics and post shortly.

To answer a few questions posted.

Thanks for the link arvidb. Will check this out for future pcb's. I mailed one company who are quite local to me. They have quoted £12 approx per pcb. If anyone is interested I can pass on the details.


@ BobLWeiss, I'm afraid I have not really planned this project very well. At this stage I knew that the Picstep controller would be suitable, I'm more biased to electronics than mechanical construction so I thought, Get the controllers built as an incentive and then research the mechanical bits. I'm still at the research stage :)

The toner transfer method certainly looks like it produces good quality boards. I have never used this method but would like to understand it a bit more. Time to ask Google how it's done.

(If I make any more of the Picstep boards I will change a few pads as some are on the small side.)

I will be interested how your construction goes. Maybe you can keep me on the right track !

@MrBean, Really enjoyed visiting your site. I have often wanted to do pcb's in the method you are using. Good to see someone else in the UK. (North East here).

Thanks all,

(Alan if your reading any of this. Your artwork still shows v2.0 for the V2.1 boards. - I thought I had etched the wrong ones !)

You can find more about the toner transfer method by going to the yahoo-group for homemade pcb's and also here:

Toner Transfer Method (http://www.fullnet.com/u/tomg/gooteepc.htm)

I am also waiting on bits to arrive so I can drill out those boards and begin contrustion of the drivers. I have most of the machine finsihed and can post pictures later on when I get the camera back..(wife...hehe)

(Alan if your reading any of this. Your artwork still shows v2.0 for the V2.1 boards. - I thought I had etched the wrong ones !)

Doh! I'll fix that now. I've also got to upload my latest firmware that fixes a small bug. It's nothing major and almost completely cosmetic but it should be fixed (I brain faded and used a call instead of a goto in the main loop, so it just overflowing the stack each iteration. No harm done).

I'm glad you guys have built these boards with such furvor. It's impressive! Let me know if you have any problems or if you need help. PICStep has been throughly tested, but you never know what happens in different situations.

Thanks,
Alan.

I have just spent a good 10 minutes on the site you posted BobLWeiss, quite impressive !

This is certainly a method I will investigate in future. Can you comment on how easy / successful it is ? From the images you posted it looks great.

It sounds like your well ahead of me if your machine is built. I look forward to seeing the pics. (And grab some ideas...)

@Alan,

Good to see the master is watching ! Thanks again. Will post any queries here.

Cheers

Alen, what kind of speed (rpm's) are you getting with your design? I built one as a test and I cannot get it to move fast at all. I changed the source to make it run continuoulsy so I can test my hardware and I had to put a delay loop in between each step (40ms). With this delay its painfully slow. It could be something on my end that is wrong but I just wanted to see what speed you were able to get by using the computer to generate steps (TurboCNC, etc). Thanks!

Can you comment on how easy / successful it is ? From the images you posted it looks great.

To me it can't be any easier, after printing it out (I use Staples Picture Paper and haven't tried anything else), I press a hot iron on it for about 7 minutes and move it around to make sure I get every inch. After that I let it cool for about 5 minutes then place it in warm water with some dish soap in it. I let it sit for about 15 minutes and peel the first layer of paper off. Then soak some more and do this until you get 90% of the paper off (total of 30-45 minutes). I then use an eraser on a number 2 lead pencil and rub off the remaining bits (make sure you do this in the water and not dry).

Sometimes it rubs off a little piece of toner so you will need to look at it with a magnifying glass and touch up the spot(s) with a fine pointed Sharpie. Now your ready to etch away. I can get as small as 10mil traces with 10mil spacing between them. I haven't tried any smaller yet but I'm sure if your careful it can be done.

Bob

Andy, what kind of speed (rpm's) are you getting with your design? I built one as a test and I cannot get it to move fast at all. I changed the source to make it run continuoulsy so I can test my hardware and I had to put a delay loop in between each step (40ms). With this delay its painfully slow. It could be something on my end that is wrong but I just wanted to see what speed you were able to get by using the computer to generate steps (TurboCNC, etc). Thanks!

Andy or Alan?

Umm I have a video on my website of the PICStep running a motor via TurboCNC on a crappy Celeron 300. I guess the motor was turning at about 1000 - 2000 rpm.

That's if you're talking about PICStep that is..

I'm confused. :)

I ment Alen, sorry. Yeah I saw that video..so it must be my mistake somewhere. I am anxious to get one of them completely built and try it out using TurboCNC.

I ment Alen, sorry.

Closer! It's Alan. :)

Yeah I saw that video..so it must be my mistake somewhere. I am anxious to get one of them completely built and try it out using TurboCNC.

Silly question, you using a 20MHz resonator/crystal setup? I ask as you mentioned you've modified the design a bit and I'm wondering if your clock is one hundred percent.

Cheers,
Alan.

Closer! It's Alan. :)

Ignore my stupidity...sorry again. I am bad with names, both in person and in type. :(


Silly question, you using a 20MHz resonator/crystal setup? I ask as you mentioned you've modified the design a bit and I'm wondering if your clock is one hundred percent.


Yes, I am using a 20Mhz crystal and its running 100%. I checked it with a frequency meter. I tried to speed it up by making the loop 30ms and it won't run at that interval. It starts to work at 40ms and slower. I am not going to worry too much about it unless it does the same thing on the new boards (which I didn't modify at all as you can see from the pictures I posted.) I am waiting on the resonators and drill bits so I can put those together then I can fully test it using the computer to drive it.

Here's some piccys of my freshly CNC milled board. No holes yet, as it was just a test to see how the modified track layout would work. Looks like it should be usable.

Regards Terry.....

Yes, I am using a 20Mhz crystal and its running 100%. I checked it with a frequency meter. I tried to speed it up by making the loop 30ms and it won't run at that interval. It starts to work at 40ms and slower. I am not going to worry too much about it unless it does the same thing on the new boards (which I didn't modify at all as you can see from the pictures I posted.) I am waiting on the resonators and drill bits so I can put those together then I can fully test it using the computer to drive it.

Hmm weird, by my ruff calculations with a 16KHz pulse you'd get around 600rpm with a 1.8degree motor at 1/8th step.

16000 steps per second
1600 steps per 360 (360 / (1.8 / 8))

16000 / 1600 = 10 revs per second
10 * 60 seconds = 600rpm

I've had my motors up to at least that high.

Also by my calculations using the 200ns instruction time would mean one step per 0.0135 milliseconds with the current firmware. This could theoretically be achievable by the 20MHz PIC.

1000 ms / 0.0135 = 74074 steps per sec
1600 steps per 360 (360 / (1.8 / 8))

74074 / 1600 = 46 rev per second
46 * 60 seconds = 2760 rpm

So what does it do with a 40ms delay that's different from the 30ms? Are the motors singing like the current limiting is working? Also what drive current do you have set? Can you email me your source code for your driver so I can see if there isn't something else going on.

Cheers,
Alan.

I just emailed you the code. As far as the motors singing, all it did was step, step, step, step...sort of like 4 steps per second if that. I know something is not right as it should got alot faster than that. I used a 10K resistor for 2amps per phase and I used a 24vdc powersupply. If I changed it to 30ms it does absolutly nothing. No noise, nothing.

I just emailed you the code. As far as the motors singing, all it did was step, step, step, step...sort of like 4 steps per second if that. I know something is not right as it should got alot faster than that. I used a 10K resistor for 2amps per phase and I used a 24vdc powersupply. If I changed it to 30ms it does absolutly nothing. No noise, nothing.

Hmm the fact the motors aren't singing leads me to believe that something isn't right with the oscillators the LMD's use (R1,R3, C1,C3). These set the switching frequency for the current limiting of the LMD's. Normally when the motor is just sitting without any stepping and the coils engergised the motors will sing a little (more so when they're in a 1/8 step quadrant).

Do you have a CRO or a frequency meter?

If so, check the RC pins on the LMD's to see they're oscillating at about 19KHz, also check the LSB (RA0, RB2) pins (and the others if you want) of the PIC while running the step pulses, you should see quite a bit of action there with a CRO. If not, something is not right with the firmware you're using. I'll have a look at the code when I get some spare time.

Cheers,
Alan.

I think I see one problem, your schematic calls for a 2.2nf cap and I used a 2.2uf. I just noticed that so that could be it since it messed up the timing circuit. I do have a meter and will check it out. Don't worry about the code part since it was only for testing the hardware. I will have the "real' boards built by this weekend and it should be good. I am also using your original code from the website too. Thanks for taking the time to check it out for me though. Back to the original intent of this post...sorry for "hijacking" it. Hopefully it helps someone out.

Here is a picture of my Z axis with motor. I got it off ebay, custom built to my specs...nice guy and great deal:

Finally received my pcb drill's today and amazingly managed to drill all four boards without snapping a bit ! That's got to be a first maybe things are looking up :)

I have all the components now to build the boards except the damn resonator !

If anyone can recommend a source for a 20MHz 3 pin resonators in the U.K I would be very grateful. R.S and Farnell don't have them (Or I cannot find them).

I need to sit back now and see what Stepping motor's I require.

What else...

I upgraded the firmware of my Microchip Picstart programmer. This required a new I.C in the past but they released a small module that replaces this. This module is flash upgradable via the release of MPLAB IDE. So hopefully this will meet my needs for a while.

I downloaded Alan's firmware v1.01 code for the micro's as well.

That Z axis looks top quality Bob, very professional.

Mr Bean, good to see the progress on your milled boards. I'm interested how you create the cutter path from pcb artwork. I can imagine this being a very useful tool.

Cheer's
:)

I have all the components now to build the boards except the damn resonator !

If anyone can recommend a source for a 20MHz 3 pin resonators in the U.K I would be very grateful. R.S and Farnell don't have them (Or I cannot find them).


http://www.dontronics.com/ (http://www.dontronics.com/cat_hard_micro_xtl.html)

He's a really nice guy and ships to anywhere in the world. Plus for 20MHz resonators they're pretty cheap to buy and ship from anywhere in the world really.


I downloaded Alan's firmware v1.01 code for the micro's as well.


Cool, it's only minor. But you might as well upgrade to it. :)


Mr Bean, good to see the progress on your milled boards. I'm interested how you create the cutter path from pcb artwork. I can imagine this being a very useful tool.


I believe he did it very skillfully by hand in photoshop. I'd be very interested to see if it works. Perhaps I should start using polygons for traces rather than tracks and pads.. :)

Alan.

I have also been looking for the 20 Mhz Resonator. I decieded I'd buy the surface mount ones from Farnell and mount them under the board. Lead pitch is still the same. Other than that It's buying from the US.


http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp?SKU=648190&N=401




Regards Terry..... http://www.terry-is.f2s.com/

Finally received my pcb drill's today and amazingly managed to drill all four boards without snapping a bit ! That's got to be a first maybe things are looking up :)

That's funny, I received my bits today as well....I just finished drilling the BOB board and one of the stepper controllers....I have everything except the caps and resonator...waiting on Mouser order...should be tomorrow.


I upgraded the firmware of my Microchip Picstart programmer. This required a new I.C in the past but they released a small module that replaces this. This module is flash upgradable via the release of MPLAB IDE. So hopefully this will meet my needs for a while.

I just bought one on ebay an it is a revision 4 model...a little older. Why did you upgrade? Doesn't it do the 628's already? What revision did you have before you upgraded? How much was it to get the new chip?

That Z axis looks top quality Bob, very professional.

Thanks...I can't take the credit as I didn't build it but it is quite nice. He is making me a X and Y axis for NEMA 23's too...I am going to use this for PCB work and the other one I am building now (bigger) for wood, metal etc...

For the US you can get them from ALL ELECTRONICS (http://www.allelectronics.com)

It looks like the wrong time of year to make progress :rolleyes:

Too many Christmas parties, works doo's and hangovers... :)

To answer the Picstart upgrade.

The details are here :-

http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=1406&dDocName=en010069

I had already upgraded to the last revision of the firmware v3.11 prior to the upgrade mentioned above.

If anyone want's this I have two v3.11 Rom's free to anyone.

The upgrade was purchased from Farnelll electronics in the U.K

http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp?SKU=5010925&N=401

It's simply a matter of removing 4 screws, unplugging an I.C and dropping in a small daughter board in the original I.C socket. 2 mins work.

Price £15.94

We use the programmers at work so they cover the upgrade cost's.
(I was tired of seeing the upgrade messages in the MPLAB software!)


I have been told that a 20Mhz Crystal would be o.k for the resonator. These I can source easily so my intentions are to purchase these instead of resonators. (I hope this is correct)


Interested to see how the boards are coming along Mr Bean. Have you made progress ?

Lastly, Alan if you have a spare moment can you take some pictures of the interface board. I'm struggling to make out some of the components, i.e switch type, connectors etc.
Thanks !

Cheers all,

The boards are not comming along at the minute. Waiting to get some spare time. Work and a new baby have to come first. I'm purchasing parts while I wait. I have some parts ordered and I'll be ordering the remainder before the weekend.

Santiniuk. I have ordered 40 X 3 pin 20 Mhz resonators. If they turn up soon and you can hang on, I can send you 3. I know they're pretty hard to find over here. (UK).

Hopefully I'll have 3 boards machined and drilled over the weekend. I'll post some pictures, when I've made some progress.


Regards Terry.....
http://www.terry-is.f2s.com

Sorry. I forgot, about the resonators. They are not the SMD one's I was going to buy. They are the same type as shown on Alan's PICStep boards.

Regards Terry.....

Thanks for the offer Mr Bean or do you prefer Terry :)

Will certainly cover any costs for the correct parts.

I know what you mean about time. I have Twins. Just gone 4 and it's non stop !

This is one of those projects that I won't be rushing so this may be a long thread.....

Regards,

I have no idea what this circuit looks like but, generally resonators are self contained and crystals (not crystal drivers) require a few external capacitors to get them oscillating....

I have no idea what this circuit looks like but, generally resonators are self contained and crystals (not crystal drivers) require a few external capacitors to get them oscillating....


The one that Alan used for his circuit is the 3 leaded one that has built in capacitors. I am getting them for $1 a piece in the US.

Thanks for the offer Mr Bean or do you prefer Terry :)

Will certainly cover any costs for the correct parts.

I know what you mean about time. I have Twins. Just gone 4 and it's non stop !

This is one of those projects that I won't be rushing so this may be a long thread.....

Regards,


Either name is fine.

I got a really good deal on 40, and I only need 4 at most, maybe a few for spares too. I'll let you know when/if, they arrive and I'll post you some for free.

Regards Terry.....

Top Stuff Terry. Appreciated :)

@Viper - Thanks for the tip. I'll look into the external cap's as Crystals are due tomorrow and I will be itching to test them.

Can someone confirm the value of Resistors R1-R5 on the interface board. They look like pull-ups.

Also the switches, I'm not entirely sure what all 14 are required for. Can someone please clarify ?

Lastly on the control boards I have some 470pf caps instead of the 500pf specified will these be ok ?

Thanks all,

Top Stuff Terry. Appreciated :)

@Viper - Thanks for the tip. I'll look into the external cap's as Crystals are due tomorrow and I will be itching to test them.

Can someone confirm the value of Resistors R1-R5 on the interface board. They look like pull-ups.

Also the switches, I'm not entirely sure what all 14 are required for. Can someone please clarify ?

Lastly on the control boards I have some 470pf caps instead of the 500pf specified will these be ok ?

Thanks all,

Look at the tolerance on the 470 pf...the 500 pf should work. What does the schematic look like.

Can someone confirm the value of Resistors R1-R5 on the interface board. They look like pull-ups.



Indeed, they're 10K. Just a normal pull-up resistor



Also the switches, I'm not entirely sure what all 14 are required for. Can someone please clarify ?



The 2x2 blocks are for setting the modes of the controllers (Full, Half, 1/4, 1/8th), they're just jumper blocks. The other six are just general inputs for home switches etc. If you don't need them you can just leave them out along with the pull-up resistors. The "CONN7" block is an output block for 3 pins on the parallel port which you can use to trigger your own relay drivers to turn on/off motors/pumps/routers.



Lastly on the control boards I have some 470pf caps instead of the 500pf specified will these be ok ?



470pF will be fine to replace the C2/C4 capacitors. The only critical value there is the 2.2nF's of C1/C3 as they set the RC up for the PWM timing.

Also ignore the error in the schematic for the values of R2/R4 these two resistors set the current limit for each coil and should be set the same using this equation to work out their values :-

resistor value = 20000 / coil current

eg 20000 / 0.7A = 28K


The interface board uses the same screw terminal block of the controller boards. The 2x2 are just 2x2 IDC pins.


Cheers,
Alan.

PS quite busy organising new infrastructure at work, so I cannot monitor these forums or my email for the next few weeks. Thanks.

As always help when needed. Thank's guy's.

I appreciate the assistance.

Cheers

I used a 470pf cap as well. I cannot find a 500pf cap anywhere and believe me I looked. I don't belive they make one. It should be ok.

The 5 resistors are pullups for the external input switches. The reason for so many is because the lines are available so why not use them? (I'm guessing). I am using them for home and limit switches.

Not guite 100% but nearly there....

Missing a couple of components but got all 4 boards built to 99%

Not going to have a chance to do much this weekend so it will be Monday before much more is done.

I have the bits to make the IDC leads and will make these on Monday.

I messed a bit with my camera trying to get some decent pic's. Not great, maybe when you have some time Alan you can give a few pointers on how to get good closeup shots.

I must dust off the boards before I take pics next time :rolleyes:
Cheers,

Looks good...your pictures are fine the way they are now.

I am at the same stage as well..they messed up my order so I have to wait till Monday to get the rest of my parts...its a race to see who's done first... :cheers:

Bob

Not guite 100% but nearly there....

Missing a couple of components but got all 4 boards built to 99%

Not going to have a chance to do much this weekend so it will be Monday before much more is done.

I have the bits to make the IDC leads and will make these on Monday.


Looks excellent. Making massive progress! Well done.


I messed a bit with my camera trying to get some decent pic's. Not great, maybe when you have some time Alan you can give a few pointers on how to get good closeup shots.


Unfortunately it's called a really expensive camera and a really good 35mm lens. I have a Canon 10D and I used a Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 lens. But! you can get really good results with everyday digital cameras. My mate Dan has written a very good basic photographic tutorial at :

http://www.dansdata.com/ (http://www.dansdata.com/phototute.htm)



I must dust off the boards before I take pics next time :rolleyes:
Cheers,

Guilty of that too!

http://www.fromorbit.com/projects/picstep/images/PICStep-Pro-Board2.jpg

-A

Just to make sure I read your code right, whats the four jumper settings for the modes? I mean what is both off, both on, left on & right off (looking at the board from the top with the parallel port to the bottom) & finally right on & left off?

Thanks

Just to make sure I read your code right, whats the four jumper settings for the modes? I mean what is both off, both on, left on & right off (looking at the board from the top with the parallel port to the bottom) & finally right on & left off?

Thanks

From memory it's like this :-

00 - 1/8th
01 - 1/4
10 - 1/2
11 - Full

(or it could be the reverse. you can change it easily enough while the drivers are running if you wish. It's pretty obvious which is which, hence why I cannot remember)

-A.

Not guite 100% but nearly there....

One thing I noticed with your pictures is that you've soldered in the current setting resistors in place. Did you mean to do this?

I normally use the inner of a round pin IC-Socket so I can push the legs of the resistors into place and replace/change them easily. Unless you extremely happy with your load setting straight up that's fine to solder them in.

When I first powered up my drivers I had my motors driven with like 100mA just so I could get a feel for what the drivers where doing before I juiced them to 1.5A.

Just an idea. :)

Yeah I used a breakable female header strip and just soldered 1 pin into each of the resistor holes on the pc so I could change the resistors easily down the road. I am not sure what current I want to drive the motors with either at first.

Thanks for the feedback folks. It's certainly the incentive to keep going.

Bob I too was going to post a query on the jumper settings but you beat me too it. Let the race begin ;)

Dan's photographic tutorial is a good read, I like the writing style. Will put some of his tips into action on the next pic's.

Looks like I was caught out on the current setting resistors. I noticed this after the boards were built. Will swap these for some socket's.

I intend to try the 20 Mhz Crystals on Monday with two 27pf cap's from each leg down to gnd. Hopefully this will work. Will I need to change any config bits during the programming stage of the micro ? Not too sure on that.

I made a few notes when putting the pcb's together and marked up Alans image. On my pcb's the pads highlighted in red were almost merged into the track.There is very little clearance. The pads marked in blue are just about usable after being drilled for the connector. Maybe a bigger pad is required for home etching.

That's it I have one stepper motor to try out that has 8 wires. R.S components part number 440-470. I better see how this converts to a 4 wire device now.

Cheers,

What size bit are you using for drilling? I used a 56 for most of the board and there is adequate room for soldering. I had to use a bigger bit for the ic's and screw terminals.

As for using a crystal instead of a resonator, you don't have to change anything with the code or config bits.

I am too going to be trying a 8 lead stepper.

Great progress guys. I'm going to mill my boards tomorrow (19th). I've got most of the components ready to go now. Just waiting on the resonators and a few of the caps.

I need to buy a PIC programmer as I don't have one. I was looking at these:

http://www.quasarelectronics.com/pic_programmers.htm

What do you guys think. Any of them any good or would you recommend something else.

Regards Terry.....

I need to buy a PIC programmer as I don't have one. I was looking at these:

http://www.quasarelectronics.com/pic_programmers.htm

What do you guys think. Any of them any good or would you recommend something else.

I have the 3149 programmer and it I could only get it to program certain chips. I know it has something to do with programming voltage but I can't figure it out. I sent it back and got a new one and it still does the same thing. I got so pissed I just ordered the Picstart Plus from Microchip because I figure if it comes from the manufacturer of the chips it must be good. Plus you can burn right from MPLAB IDE and don't have to deal with someones third party software. I am sure the programmer works, I just found it strange I have gotten 2 units that only program like 4 different pics when it supposed to do all of them. I guess you get what you pay for.

Cannot comment on the Quasar Programmer I'm afraid Terry but the Picstart has been fine for my use at work. I cannot claim to use it a lot but seems ok.

If your struggling to get the PIC devices I can send you three programmed ones as a swap for the resonators :) Let me know if you need them. Can post Tuesday if required.

Is there any way you can capture some video of your boards being milled ? I'm intrigued at how the milling process performs.

Bob, I cannot remember what drill size I used. It may be on the large side, or maybe just the etching quality of my boards.

Cheers

Thanks santiniuk. I may well take you up on that offer. I'm hoping the resonators will arrive monday. Will mail you when I know for sure.

I think I'll get the Picstart that you and Bob mention, at some point. (Birthday comming up). A bit pricier (£110) but sounds like it may be worth the money.

I just bought a webcam the other day for the purpose of making a video of the machine doing it's thing. It's not going to be the best quality, but should suffice.

Thanks

Regards Terry.....
http://www.terry-is.f2s.com/

I need to buy a PIC programmer as I don't have one. I was looking at these:

http://www.quasarelectronics.com/pic_programmers.htm

What do you guys think. Any of them any good or would you recommend something else.


Well in UK speak I have one of these :-

3150 (http://www.quasarelectronics.com/3150.htm)

In Australia it's called a Kit150V2 and it comes from kitrus.com in HK. :)

It's an excellent little programmer, although don't accidently short out the VPP voltage to ground when using ICSP else you'll have to replace these tiny transistors like I had to. :(



-A.

You can find more about the toner transfer method by going to the yahoo-group for homemade pcb's and also here:

Toner Transfer Method (http://www.fullnet.com/u/tomg/gooteepc.htm)

I am also waiting on bits to arrive so I can drill out those boards and begin contrustion of the drivers. I have most of the machine finsihed and can post pictures later on when I get the camera back..(wife...hehe)

What's the name of that group?

What's the name of that group?


Homebrew_PCBs

Things have been going too well :)

Had one of those days where things didn't go to plan.

Made the interface to Controller board IDC leads no problem.

Then made the interface lead to pc 25 pin D plug. This didn't go to plan.
I used a 26way IDC header one end (Fine) and then used a 25 pin IDC D plug the other end.
Be careful, I'm sure I'm not that daft but basically the IDC pins of the 25 pin D-plug when assembled do not match the lines of the IDC header when spliced onto the ribbon.
I had to use a standard 25 pin D-plug and solder the connections in place.
No great loss.

I then programmed the Pic with Alans latest code. Seemed to program ok and verified ok.

I then tried a 20Mhz crystal with two 22pf cap's from each lead to gnd.

I thought I would power it up at this stage and check to see what the clock looked like on the PIC. I scoped the pins but not a sign of the clock signal. The micro supply is fine.

I messed around trying the crystal without the caps but no joy.

Have other things to do now so put this to a side for a bit. Am I correct, I should see a clock signal. (I did not have the pc interface connected as I didn't have any software with me)

:(


Cheers

Have other things to do now so put this to a side for a bit. Am I correct, I should see a clock signal. (I did not have the pc interface connected as I didn't have any software with me)

:(


Cheers


Yes, you should have gotten a signal on one of the crystal leads...20mhz clock signal so you know its running. Something has to be off...it has nothing to do with the computer connection either. First get the PIC running, make sure gound and power are good +5vdc, and that one end of each cap is grounded, the other end to each lead of the crystal. Make sure the crystal is connected to the OSC pins 1 & 2 on the PIC also. Since you changed it from being a resonator are you still using his mounting holes in the circuit board?

Bob,

Had a clean 5V supply to micro across pin 5-14. I mounted the crystal in the same pads as the resonator. Used the outer holes for the crystal leads and then from each crystal lead to the center pad (gnd).

I was checking pins 15 & 16 of the pic for a clock signal.

Thanks

When you say you put the leads from the crystal to the center hole (gnd) did you go through a cap from each lead first then to gnd? In other words, the crystal leads are not grounded themselves right? They must go to one end of each cap, then the cap's other leads are grounded.

Bob

Yes,

Sorry didnt clarify. One cap lead to gnd the other to a Xtal lead. both sides.

Config bits programmed as per attached image of micro.

Ok ?

NO, I see your problem. You have the oscillator bits set to IO mode. They must be set to _HS_OSC. Hi frequency Oscillator mode.

I just checked his code (newer version and I think he changed it and its wrong I beleive)

Yes, you should have gotten a signal on one of the crystal leads...20mhz clock signal so you know its running. Something has to be off...it has nothing to do with the computer connection either. First get the PIC running, make sure gound and power are good +5vdc, and that one end of each cap is grounded, the other end to each lead of the crystal. Make sure the crystal is connected to the OSC pins 1 & 2 on the PIC also. Since you changed it from being a resonator are you still using his mounting holes in the circuit board?

I've never been able to see a OSC pulse on the OSC1 and OSC2 pins. You need really low capacitance probes etc. Whenever I've touched the OSC pins with anything the oscillation stops instantly, it's very fussy!

I can verify what Bob has found. I've uploaded a 4MHz version of the code instead of the 20MHz. With this version the boards can be used without a crystal/resonator. I'll upload the 20MHz version now.

Sorry!

Alan.

I've never been able to see a OSC pulse on the OSC1 and OSC2 pins. You need really low capacitance probes etc. Whenever I've touched the OSC pins with anything the oscillation stops instantly, it's very fussy!

I use a good probe with my scope and can see a nice sin wave output on the screen usually. That's how I can tell if my chips are running at all..First debug mode when working with PIC's, otherwise I'm in the dark.

Yes,

Sorry didnt clarify. One cap lead to gnd the other to a Xtal lead. both sides.

Config bits programmed as per attached image of micro.

Ok ?
For grins pull the reset line on the processor with VCC on. I'm wondering if you have a power on reset problem....don't know what your circuit looks like...

For grins pull the reset line on the processor with VCC on. I'm wondering if you have a power on reset problem....don't know what your circuit looks like...

MCLR is internally pulled high and the MCLR line is being used as an input.

What is the problem you're seeing?

Alan.

I use a good probe with my scope and can see a nice sin wave output on the screen usually. That's how I can tell if my chips are running at all..First debug mode when working with PIC's, otherwise I'm in the dark.

Not everyone has a "nice" scope.. :P

:)

Alan.

Things have been going too well :)

Had one of those days where things didn't go to plan.

Made the interface to Controller board IDC leads no problem.

Then made the interface lead to pc 25 pin D plug. This didn't go to plan.
I used a 26way IDC header one end (Fine) and then used a 25 pin IDC D plug the other end.
Be careful, I'm sure I'm not that daft but basically the IDC pins of the 25 pin D-plug when assembled do not match the lines of the IDC header when spliced onto the ribbon.
I had to use a standard 25 pin D-plug and solder the connections in place.
No great loss.



Keh! They're suppose to line up exactly..!?! That was the whole idea of the IDC.

Your 25pin D plug should accept a 26 way cable. The 26th pin is dormant.





I then programmed the Pic with Alans latest code. Seemed to program ok and verified ok.

I then tried a 20Mhz crystal with two 22pf cap's from each lead to gnd.

I thought I would power it up at this stage and check to see what the clock looked like on the PIC. I scoped the pins but not a sign of the clock signal. The micro supply is fine.

I messed around trying the crystal without the caps but no joy.

Have other things to do now so put this to a side for a bit. Am I correct, I should see a clock signal. (I did not have the pc interface connected as I didn't have any software with me)


Yeah that's my fault. You've got the internal oscillator version. I'd mistakenly uploaded a 4MHz version I was testing, so the HS oscillator is turned off!

Sorry,
Alan.

Bob, Many thanks again. I totally missed the oscilllator error. It was just one of those days :) Alan, thanks for the speedy fix !

It's not wise trying to rush things during a lunch worktime .......

Well I guess other's may have stumbled on this too so at least some good from my misfortune.

So tomorrow is a fresh start. Fingers crossed.

ViperTX the details are on Alans website :- http://www.fromorbit.com/projects/picstep/

Alan, If I use the 4Mhz code I can remove the resonator or Xtal and caps in my case ?

I presume the 20Mhz code requires an external Resonator or Xtal / cap config ?

Is there any major disadvantages to the 4Mhz code ?

Finally I won't make any excuse it was a rough weekend. ;) I will review my IDC lead tomorrow at work. I must have missed something. (Plonker!)

Cheers all ....

Alan,

Downloaded the latest files you have uploaded.

It appears that inside the zip file there are two set's of code.

At root level the .asm code is declaring

TITLE "PICStep V1.01"

LIST R=DEC
INCLUDE "p16f628a.inc"

__CONFIG _CP_OFF & _WDT_ON & _INTOSC_OSC_NOCLKOUT & _PWRTE_ON & _LVP_OFF & _BOREN_ON & _MCLRE_OFF

There is a folder called home that also contains code. The .asm file in this calls for :-

TITLE "PICStep V1.01"

LIST R=DEC
INCLUDE "p16f628a.inc"

__CONFIG _CP_OFF & _WDT_ON & _HS_OSC & _PWRTE_ON & _LVP_OFF & _BOREN_ON & _MCLRE_OFF

This is for the 4Mhz and 20Mhz code.

New code...

20Mhz Crystal and 22pf cap's

I have a clock......

Also sorted the IDC problem. Stupidly I was trying to match the IDC header pins to the 25 Pin D Plug. i.e 1-1 2-2 3-3 4-4 etc....

So what's the verdict? Are you controlling the stepper motor yet? How's it working out? I just got the rest of my parts last night and put together the board. I have to run out today and get some wire for my power supply so I can test it all out tonight. Anxious to hear how it works..

Alan,

Downloaded the latest files you have uploaded.

It appears that inside the zip file there are two set's of code.

At root level the .asm code is declaring

TITLE "PICStep V1.01"

LIST R=DEC
INCLUDE "p16f628a.inc"

__CONFIG _CP_OFF & _WDT_ON & _INTOSC_OSC_NOCLKOUT & _PWRTE_ON & _LVP_OFF & _BOREN_ON & _MCLRE_OFF

There is a folder called home that also contains code. The .asm file in this calls for :-

TITLE "PICStep V1.01"

LIST R=DEC
INCLUDE "p16f628a.inc"

__CONFIG _CP_OFF & _WDT_ON & _HS_OSC & _PWRTE_ON & _LVP_OFF & _BOREN_ON & _MCLRE_OFF

This is for the 4Mhz and 20Mhz code.

DAMN IT! I'm so busy at the moment I keep stuffin things up.. Sorry.

I'll update it later today, I must have zip'd it in my home dir and I didn't delete the old code first! Or I did something daft like I accidently appended the new files to an old zip file.. (probably that last one)

Will fix.

Alan.

New code...

20Mhz Crystal and 22pf cap's

I have a clock......


Cool.. what software/hardware you using to do that? I've got like a 1972 BWD dual trace 20MHz CRO, but I'd love a PC based DSO. What is it! :)


Also sorted the IDC problem. Stupidly I was trying to match the IDC header pins to the 25 Pin D Plug. i.e 1-1 2-2 3-3 4-4 etc....

Excellent.. Thought I wasn't stupid lat time I checked... :)

It should go 1-1, 2-3, 4-5, 5-7 etc etc for the top and 14-2,15-4,16-6 yadda yadda for the bottom

Alan.

A brief post.

:)

It's alive !

Just connected to turbocnc and all axis are working.

Played with the jumpers and tried the various step modes. All work.

Time for a tidy up and review what software to go for.

Alan, many thanks for sharing this. Quite amazing that we are at opposite ends of the earth. (The scope is one I use at work. Tektronix TDS5000 series. Some hideous price. £10k when we purchased it. - I barely scratch the surface with what it can do)

Bob, appreciate all of the support on this. :cheers:

Hopefully grab some images shortly.

Terry I can sort your pics out now I am confident I programmed the pics with the right code.

A brief post.

:)

It's alive !

Just connected to turbocnc and all axis are working.

Played with the jumpers and tried the various step modes. All work.

Time for a tidy up and review what software to go for.


Excellent, now lets see if the dreaded CNC motor controller curse doesn't grip you! It's the one where once you see motors spinning via software control, you never actually build the machine. It's amazing how many people stop with CNC once they see motors spinning under computer control. :)

Hope you push on through!


Alan, many thanks for sharing this. Quite amazing that we are at opposite ends of the earth. (The scope is one I use at work. Tektronix TDS5000 series. Some hideous price. £10k when we purchased it. - I barely scratch the surface with what it can do)

Many thanks. Well if anyone feels super generous, I'd very graciously accept a Tektronix anything.. :)

Well done.

Cheers,
Alan.

Bob, appreciate all of the support on this. :cheers:

Hopefully grab some images shortly.

No problem...I want to thank Alan as well...great work!

I am working on mine now and hopefully get the motors spinning tonight. My machine is built, it just needed a driver so I might be actually cutting something soon!!!

Can't wait to see pictures...I will post some as well

Bob

I got mine to work...well sort of. I only have 1 axis built and the breakout board and I'm running TurboCNC in DOS mode. I tried to jog the motor using F8 and the arrow keys and the Y axis controlling the first IDC header. (It is set as using pin 2 as step and 3 as direction by default) and the arrow key is moving the motor nicely in both directions...

I tried to configure the program so that X was using pin 4 as step and 7 as direction and it doesn't do anything on any of the headers...Strange problem. So the only header working is the first one and just the Y arrows let it move. I am thinking its my parallel cable (which I did not build, I got it out of an old PC that had and IDC header on the motherboard and the 25pin female port on the other.) I have to figure this problem out and then I'm ready to role.


EDITED: I made a cable using what Alan recommends, IDC 26 pin header and a 25pin IDC DB25 connector and it still does the same thing. Only the y axis arrow works and nothing else. The motor is running great in all 4 modes so it can't be the controller board, it has to be something with either the computer port, breakout board or TurboCNC setup.

What are your setup parameters for TurboCNC for the 3 axis's? What pins are you using for X, Y & Z step and direction? Active Low right? Linear mode and what is your step pulse 10?

Thanks,
Bob

Bob,

My turbocnc.ini file is attached. I didn't change anything from the default install for it to work on all headers.

Good luck.

DUH!! I think I found my problem. I was going by the schematic on his site which has the pins from the 26 IDC connector going to each of the axis connectors labeled wrong. When I looked at the actual board layout and I see that X is pins 2 & 3, Y is 4 & 5 and Z is 6 & 7. I should have no problem now..I have to put TurboCNC's setup back to the default.

Thanks for the ini file, I will be using that instead of messing anymore with the software. Now I have to finish the other 2 boards tonight and I can begin to cut something...This has been a 2 month project so far and loving every minute of it...

How far away are you from a competed machine? Did you start building yet?

Bob

Well that's it. Finished work now and return on the 4th Jan.

Bob,

All I did was download Turbocnc v4.0 from the website. I have not installed any Hotfix.
I'll explain my setup.

* I changed no settings in turbocnc. I am using an old laptop with 98 / dos on. (I didn't want to kill my good laptop!)

* I run turbocnc in dos mode.

* Now I have had chance to play with it this is what turbocnc operates from a clean install.

* I did make the breakout/pc interface board too.

Using the jog keys:-

X axis controls Conn2
Y axis controls Conn1
Z axis controls Conn3

I have not used Conn4

So basically if I use the jog keys all motors are controlled correctly. Using the alt-Jog key makes a fast jog which works fine.

The default turbocnc settings seem to use pins :-

xstep 4
xdir 5

Ystep 2
ydir 3

zstep 6
zdir 7

step pins defined as active Hi
direction pins defined as Hi

motion Linear
Drive Type Step/Dir
pulse width 10

I hope this helps. I'm afraid it just worked.

I do have a query. All of the switch inputs work fine. They work in software and I can see them work. But one connector S2 when closed puts a brief pulse out onto the motors. This doesn't sound right ?

Cheers,

Time for a beer !

I do have a query. All of the switch inputs work fine. They work in software and I can see them work. But one connector S2 when closed puts a brief pulse out onto the motors. This doesn't sound right ?

Cheers,

Time for a beer !

Yeah I hear ya on that one... :cheers:

I will check that out tonight with the switch...I have limit switches setup on my machine and gonna run wire to them and use the switch connectors on the breakout board to tell TurboCNC that it reached the limits.. I did play around with the Alt-jog keys too and I like the movement it has..very smooth. What mode are you planning on running in once your setup? I think I might stick with the Full-step mode..seems to be good enough for what I'm going to be using it for...What voltage is your powersupply?

I think I might stick with the Full-step mode..seems to be good enough for what I'm going to be using it for...What voltage is your powersupply?

Full step mode doesn't give you any of the advantages of a microstepping controller! It's basically becomes a chopped full step controller. Microstepping only happens when you use the other modes (1/2,1/4,1/8). I was playing with the idea of making the full step mode actually a burst of 8 x 1/8 steps so you get the advantage of the microstepping motor control and a full step operation.

I'd recommend you use 1/4 for most things, and just set up TurboCNC with a 1/4 step adjustment in the motor settings. The smoothness will be worth the extra alignment time.

Cheers,
Alan.


PS PICTURES PLEASE I wanna put some more photos of people's boards/setups on my site!!

DUH!! I think I found my problem. I was going by the schematic on his site which has the pins from the 26 IDC connector going to each of the axis connectors labeled wrong.

Ahem! NOT LABELED WRONG.. :P

READ WRONG.. :)

26 way IDC != DB25 pinout (chair)

Cheers,
Alan.

I hope this helps. I'm afraid it just worked.

Glad to hear that!



I do have a query. All of the switch inputs work fine. They work in software and I can see them work. But one connector S2 when closed puts a brief pulse out onto the motors. This doesn't sound right ?


The S2 thing sounds like a software glitch or something, there should be no electronic reason for it since it's just grounding a parallel port pin. Unless you've got a really long cable and it's inducing interference in the port (guessing here). I've not seen such a problem here.

I am attempting to build an opto-isolated breakout board soon, that is compatible with PICStep and PICServo (once I complete the new firmware). I've attached a photo of my PICServo testbed... it's getting there.

Cheers,
Alan.

Alan, Sorry no pics so far. Been to a panto with the kids tonight.

He's behind you.......... ;)

I am very interested in the Opto-Isolated interface. Would prefer the isolation on my 'good' laptop.

Bob, your miles ahead of me. I need to start from scratch with the mechanical stuff.
I cannot complain. Time has not been good lately but seeing the controllers running is a good incentive. (I really hope I don't fall into the trap Alan mentioned)

At this stage I'm using a 12V 20A supply I had laying around. The motors are only 12V 0.6A for testing things.

Cheers.

Here are 2 pictures of my completed Y and Z drivers. I made them on 1 piece of copper.

Bob

http://www.boblweiss.com/Completed_YZ.jpg

http://www.boblweiss.com/Completed_YZ2.jpg

Bob,

I like the idea of two axis on one pcb. Did you manage to see any life from your machine ? I was hoping to see some pic's of it in action. That will really spur me on...
I have a friend who is dropping hints that he would like to join me on my project. If so I may try and use Alan's original design but combine 3 axis on one pcb. I don't have a need for the ICP feature so may miss this out and maybe combine the power lines etc.

Overall really enjoyed this construction. Even that damn IDC mistake. Alan's code error had me going mad. Surely even I can get a clock working :)

My wife asked me if I wanted to go shopping today or would I prefer to look after the kids. It was a hard choice but at least looking after kids allowed me a bit of time.

So... Mounted the boards on some MDF and tidied things up a bit. Pictures attached. The motors are 8 wire one's I used for testing only. Only 12V 0.6A devices so wiring is on the light side. Will butch it up when I get to the next stages. The heatsinks are just bits I had around and roughly cut to size.

Again thanks to all who contributed. I wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !

Cheers,

Shaun

They look good. First, and most important, Merry Christmas to you and yours also!!! :)

I am only working 1/2 day today so I can go home and play a little too... :cheers:

I got all the axis working last night (my mistake), and all I have left is to wire up the limit switches and spindle power and call it complete. I have to stop at the store today and pick up wire, my motors are also 8 wire and the leads are not long enough to reach the box I have everything in. So I will be doing some wiring tonight. Can't wait to see it all in action...I will take pictures.

I like the idea of two axis on one pcb. Did you manage to see any life from your machine ? I was hoping to see some pic's of it in action. That will really spur me on...
I have a friend who is dropping hints that he would like to join me on my project. If so I may try and use Alan's original design but combine 3 axis on one pcb. I don't have a need for the ICP feature so may miss this out and maybe combine the power lines etc.


My original design had all axis on the one PCB. I opted to make them seperate incase I ever damaged one I could easily replace a module, and not risk the entire board. These are motor drivers so sometimes things can go mightly wrong! :)


So... Mounted the boards on some MDF and tidied things up a bit. Pictures attached. The motors are 8 wire one's I used for testing only. Only 12V 0.6A devices so wiring is on the light side. Will butch it up when I get to the next stages. The heatsinks are just bits I had around and roughly cut to size.


Looks excellent. Well done. Although it looks like you're missing the 1uF MKT's that bypass the LMD's from your photos. If you haven't already you might want to reconsider putting them in place as they stop high frequency back-EMF killing the MOSFETs. The datasheet for the LMD's where quite specific that an electro and a ceramic/MKT are needed to bypass the supply. It'll probably work just fine without it, but when you start cranking the amps and the motors are spinning at high RPM I'd rather have them on mine than not! :)


Again thanks to all who contributed. I wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year !


Merry Xmas to you too.. I'll race you to who gets to unwrap presents first :P

(GMT +10 hours) hehehe

Cheers,
Alan.

I Don't believe it !

The .1uF Caps I ordered are the wrong pitch. I remember thinking, ahh big electrolytic there in parallel, will probably work for testing but must get the right ones !

It seems I have a dislike for .1uF as it's missing from the interface psu too.

Thanks for reminding me on that one Alan, must get them in before any real action.

Not that there will be much for a while .....

I joined Terry and 'virutally' milled one of your board tonight. I need to get out more ;)

Thanks

Yeah I would make sure you have it installed before you do any actual motor spinning. What's your next step? Do you have any hardware for your machine yet or still in the planning stages? What's your design like?

I got my boards all wired up in the case with the power supply. I am wiring up the limit switches now.

Let me ask this, what is better if your motors can produce enough torque in either configuration (series and parallel), what are the benefits to running the motors (6 & 8 lead) in one way or the other? For testing I just wired them up using just the top half of the phases and left the bottom halves disconnected. Would one way give more speed or it doesn't matter...

Thanks!

Yeah I would make sure you have it installed before you do any actual motor spinning. What's your next step? Do you have any hardware for your machine yet or still in the planning stages? What's your design like?

I got my boards all wired up in the case with the power supply. I am wiring up the limit switches now.

Let me ask this, what is better if your motors can produce enough torque in either configuration (series and parallel), what are the benefits to running the motors (6 & 8 lead) in one way or the other? For testing I just wired them up using just the top half of the phases and left the bottom halves disconnected. Would one way give more speed or it doesn't matter...

Thanks!

To run either, series or parallel, you'll use all 8 wires. What you choose depends on your motor specs and power supply. Parallel will use double the Amps of series = more torque.

Regards Terry.....

To run either, series or parallel, you'll use all 8 wires. What you choose depends on your motor specs and power supply. Parallel will use double the Amps of series = more torque.

Regards Terry.....

Well you could use just the top half of each phase and totally ignore the bottom half (4 wires total) correct? What I would like to know though is besides torque, is their any other benefit to wiring it either series or parallel? Is there any wiring combination that increases speed? My power supply is 42vdc, 16amps (able to source). The motors are NEMA 23's, 1.1v, 1amp per phase.

Bob

If you use only 4 wires, that is niether series or parallel. Voltage = speed so Series would give you more speed at half the torque of parallel. Amps = torque so parallel gives more torque at half the speed of series. I think thats more or less how it goes. If that mokes sense to you.

Regards Terry.....

I finally completed the drivers and power supply. I also made a circuit board last night to give me 12vdc for my spindle motor and also have a relay for operating it. I secured it all in an old PC case and its ready to start cutting. The specs came out as 53vdc, 15 amp PS, 3 PicStep (http://www.fromorbit.com/projects/picstep/) drivers, and a 12vdc regulator for accesories.

http://www.boblweiss.com/images/Complete_Driver.jpg

Looking good Bob !

I guess you must be really close to cutting now if you have not done so already.

I'm not sure if you have posted any details of your hardware so keep the updates coming.

Are you using Turbocnc or something else ?

(I now need to focus on the hardware side so look forward to some guidance as usual....)

Cheer's

I guess you must be really close to cutting now if you have not done so already.

I still have a few things to finish on the machine side and also finsih running the wiring for the motors. I bought some wire loom to hide all those wires and make it nice and tidy.

I'm not sure if you have posted any details of your hardware so keep the updates coming.

I will take some pictures of the machine and post them soon. It mostly made of MDF and drawer slides. I bought 2 lead screws for X & Y from here. (http://www.herbach.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=HAR&Product_Code=TM94MEC2601&Category_Code=MEC) and the Z axis was made for me with spindle.

I am using TurboCNC for now until I decide which program I want to stick with. I want to try Mach2 as well.

I don't have anything to cut right away and was looking online for something cool to cut out of wood to give it a test run. Does anyone know of any sites that have Gcode of wooden projects ready to cut?

Bob

Well Santa has been and the kids are finally starting to calm down !

Hope you all had a good day.

Time to sit back now and plan the next stages. Quite amazing some of the creations on this forum.

I'm trying out some of the trial downloads for software at the moment. I prefer the windows evironment but I understand you have to watch out for timing issues etc.

Waiting eagerly to see your posts Bob.

Thanks

What I would like to know though is besides torque, is their any other benefit to wiring it either series or parallel? Is there any wiring combination that increases speed?
Bob


Typically, when wired in series, you'll get full torque from the motor at low speeds, but torque will drop off very fast as rpm's increase. When wired parallel, you might get a litlle less low speed torque, but you'll have much more torque at higher speeds, which will usually allow faster motion on your machine. generally, parallel is the way to go if you can supply enough current to wire them that way.

Typically, when wired in series, you'll get full torque from the motor at low speeds, but torque will drop off very fast as rpm's increase. When wired parallel, you might get a litlle less low speed torque, but you'll have much more torque at higher speeds, which will usually allow faster motion on your machine. generally, parallel is the way to go if you can supply enough current to wire them that way.

Thanks for the input, which leads me to another question, I also have a 6 wire motor, if power supply is able to provide enough power for whatever arrangement, would you wire that motor using the whole coil per phase (ignoring the center tap) or just use 1/2 the coil and ignore the bottom end of each coil? (Remember, I am going for max speed since torque is not an issue)

@santiniuk

Glad to hear you had a good day yesterday, I did as well. Kids loved it!!

Now today is Dad's day to play, back to the machine. I will take some pictures today for you. I am going to be test running it this afternoon. I found some Gcode's of a clock gear to test cut with. Crossing my fingers.... :rolleyes:

I believe that with 6 wire motors, 1/2 coil gives the best speed. Not 100% sure, though.

Hi guy's. Nice to hear you all had a good time over Christmas.
I've finished my first PICStep board, made on the CNC router. Looks ok, but I can't test it as I have no PIC's yet. Could this be the only milled PICStep in existance??

If only I could get the machine to do the soldering...........Maybe one for the future.

Anyway, here's some pictures.

Wahay, that is so impressive ! Well done.

It really must be rewarding knowing you actually built the machine that milled the board. It's a shame about the pic's. If you manage to get them the offer still stands on the programming. I'm really interested to see how much of an improvement these boards are over your old ones. I don't have anything to compare against or a machine built :)

That I.C socket looks so lonely too ;)

Thanks for the update.

santiniuk. Thanks for the offer. I think I'll take the plunge once we're into the new year and buy a programmer. I'll need one for some other projects soon anyway.
Toner transfer would've been easier, but I wanted to make these using the router. I learned a lot doing it this way and as I get more experience, milling boards should be quicker, especially with some decent drivers. I'll let you know how much difference these make over the ol' crappo ones, once they're running and I've done some testing.

Regards Terry.....
http://www.terry-is.f2s.com

Mr Bean: Did you use Eagle to generate the Gcodes for it? If so which ULP did you run to get the output? Was the output ready to run in TurboCNC or did you need to do more steps in between? If you didn't use TurboCNC then which program do you use? I would love to try it out on my machine to test the accuracy. Which type and size bit did you use? Sorry for all the questions...just learning this stuff myself.

Thanks,
Bob

By the way, great job!! Looks real good. :cheers:

Mr Bean: Did you use Eagle to generate the Gcodes for it? If so which ULP did you run to get the output? Was the output ready to run in TurboCNC or did you need to do more steps in between? If you didn't use TurboCNC then which program do you use? I would love to try it out on my machine to test the accuracy. Which type and size bit did you use? Sorry for all the questions...just learning this stuff myself.

Thanks,
Bob

By the way, great job!! Looks real good. :cheers:



Hi Bob. I did'nt use Eagle or the ULP scripts. There was quite alot of manual work to do. I took the original artwork (EPS) and converted to a raster image. I then manually drew between the tracks to make an isolation "patchwork" rather than tracks. I then deleted the tracks to leave the patchwork lines, saved this as a GIF. I then converted the patchwork back to vector (DXF). I have a few ideas to speed this process up, but I don't have time to try them yet. Using this approach you can lift trace artwork from magazines etc..and convert them for isolation milling.

I used Mach2 to import the DXF and create the G-code. I manually added a few G commands (exact stop mode and inch units.) I also edited the rapid Z height moves in the code as by default it wanted to make all G00 moves 1" above the board. Mach2 was used to run the G-Code. Mach2 is great.

I made my own cutter in the end. All the bought ones I tried were crap, and I tried quite a few. On my website there's a picture of one of the cutters I bought. I ground the end of that cutter to a sharp pointy cone and then ground half of the cone away at the side, to leave one flat side. I used that to cut the boards, cleaned them up with some wet & dry and finished with wire wool.

I'll put the G-code and DXF's for the isolation path and drill path on my website ( http://www.terry-is.f2s.com ), sometime today. So you can try them out. Two holes on the drill file are missing. They are for the link wire that goes between the LMD18245's, right next to the 10nf MKT Cap. There are also two extra holes in opposite corners of the board, they are on the rectangle that surrounds the entire board and were used as reference points so that the two G-Codes line up exactly. If you try it let us know how it goes.

Regards Terry.....
http://www.terry-is.f2s.com

Well I had a setback today. I burned up 2 of my controller boards, actually the LMD18245's. I was hooking everything up and testing each axis in turn and all of a sudden one of the driver chips popped! Then a second one. Well I don't know what actually caused this since I had them running before fine, I am thinking that my power supply is too big for it. The power supply I used the first time was 24vdc and the one I just hooked up is the one I built that was outputting 53vdc without a load. I know the chips are rated to 55vdc but I can't seem to figure what else it could have been. I did notice that the chips popped on the Voltage In pin (9) and melted it. Thank God I have a few more chips left over, I am desoldering them now and gonna replace them and try it all again but with the 24vdc supply. If it works fine with that one than I am just gonna use that instead of the toridal transformer one. What's another couple days.... stay tuned.

Well I had a setback today. I burned up 2 of my controller boards, actually the LMD18245's. I was hooking everything up and testing each axis in turn and all of a sudden one of the driver chips popped! Then a second one. Well I don't know what actually caused this since I had them running before fine, I am thinking that my power supply is too big for it. The power supply I used the first time was 24vdc and the one I just hooked up is the one I built that was outputting 53vdc without a load. I know the chips are rated to 55vdc but I can't seem to figure what else it could have been. I did notice that the chips popped on the Voltage In pin (9) and melted it. Thank God I have a few more chips left over, I am desoldering them now and gonna replace them and try it all again but with the 24vdc supply. If it works fine with that one than I am just gonna use that instead of the toridal transformer one. What's another couple days.... stay tuned.
I suspect that this circuit uses 2 of the LMD's to drive 2 phases on one stepper, if that is the case then I suspect that one phase encountered an overload condition, it appears from the data sheet that over 30 vdc the built-in current limiting might not work.

The problem with these chips is that the inputs must be closely synchronized otherwise it's very easy to get the timing off a bit and you end up with catastropic results....I bet the circuit design is not robust enough...just a thought... (chair)

That's a real bummer. Those LMD's aren't cheap. I hope you get it sorted soon, we're all itching to hear how they perform on the machine. Fingers are crossed for you Bob.

Regards Terry.....

Oh Nightmare. I know the LMD's are not cheap in the UK. Hope they are not too bad in the U.S.

I stumbled across a site a few days ago which had a neat design too for a microstep controller.

The address is http://www.embeddedtronics.com/

Click the microstep link.

It's interesting that they state on there site :-

We have tested the LMD18245 driver chips continuously with a 44volt power supply. Although the driver chip can handle 55volts, there should be some safety margin for stepper motor induced back EMF voltage. We recommend no more than a 44volt supply for reliable and trouble free operation.


Let's hope this is not too much of a setback for you Bob. How did you have the phases of the stepper's wired ? I'm keen not to repeat this burnout !

Cheers

Well the good news is that I got the chips sent to me as samples so they didn't cost anything. :)

I am in the process of making 2 new boards today and have to wait for the capacitors to come in since I only ordered enough last time to make the 3 boards. No big deal, cost is only about $5 total for everything that I need, its just the pain in the neck of having to redo 2 boards and hand drill them, and the worst part is making the wire bridges. This time I am leaving out the in circuit programming connector and the dip switches and just going to use wire to bridge those 4 gaps. I use a socket on the PIC anyway, so I can just take it out and reburn it if needed in the future. I also have my machine all ready to go now, all limit and home switches are wired and motors are wired with extended lengths and I used cable looms to make it all look pretty. I am going to use the 24vdc supply when I am ready, it has 3 outputs of 2A each and my motors are rated at 1 to 1.1 amps a phase so this should be good enough. Not sure on what speed I will end up with but I can deal with that since this machine is for me as a hobby and I am not using it for any type of production stuff. If it takes 30minutes to cut something so be it.

I guess using that much power was a bad thing...I know I wired the motors right, so I wouldn't worry about anyone here making the same mistake.

How's it comming along Bob. I've milled up the interface board. (See pictures). I won't be making much progress now for a week or two. I need to get the PIC's, a programmer and some female IDC connectors, as I ordered the wrong ones. (chair)

Have a good new year all.


Regards Terry.....
http://www.terry-is.f2s.com

You have a great new year as well. I am etching my 2 boards now as I type this. I will drill them out tomorrow and begin rebuilding them. Should be back in business by Friday I hope...

Terry the interface board looks like your best work so far. The tracks are so defined. Well impressed.
After you mill the boards do you have to do much 'tidying up' or is the board like the picture you posted ?

Good luck with the boards Bob, I have sympathy with you. The drilling seemed never ending..... And those damned wire links.....

The demo of Mach2 looks impressive. If I get the next stages done I may go for it.

Cheers

Terry the interface board looks like your best work so far. The tracks are so defined. Well impressed.
After you mill the boards do you have to do much 'tidying up' or is the board like the picture you posted ?
Cheers


I reground the end of my homemade cutter for this board and it came out much better. (still a lot of trial end error going on).
The channel edges are left with some very small burrs but 5 seconds or so with some 400 grit paper removes those, then I polish it off with a quick rub of fine wire wool and brush the debris out with a stiff brush.

I'm really glad I don't have to drill all those holes by hand.

Regards Terry.....

I bet the circuit design is not robust enough...just a thought... (chair)


Errmmm I take offense to that!

Alan.

Well I had a setback today. I burned up 2 of my controller boards, actually the LMD18245's. I was hooking everything up and testing each axis in turn and all of a sudden one of the driver chips popped! Then a second one. Well I don't know what actually caused this since I had them running before fine, I am thinking that my power supply is too big for it. The power supply I used the first time was 24vdc and the one I just hooked up is the one I built that was outputting 53vdc without a load. I know the chips are rated to 55vdc but I can't seem to figure what else it could have been. I did notice that the chips popped on the Voltage In pin (9) and melted it. Thank God I have a few more chips left over, I am desoldering them now and gonna replace them and try it all again but with the 24vdc supply. If it works fine with that one than I am just gonna use that instead of the toridal transformer one. What's another couple days.... stay tuned.

Bob, bummer about the blow out, but you were pushing the upper limits of the controllers. Nearing 55VDC I suggest going across the LMD's datasheet and verifying their needs at that voltage, I've mentioned this in previous conversation. I've only had the controllers up to 40VDC (haven't needed any higher as the motors RPM was more than usable) so you've entered "god country" going above that. :)

Hope all is well anyhow. It's all a learning experience.

Alan.

Hi guy's. Nice to hear you all had a good time over Christmas.
I've finished my first PICStep board, made on the CNC router. Looks ok, but I can't test it as I have no PIC's yet. Could this be the only milled PICStep in existance??

If only I could get the machine to do the soldering...........Maybe one for the future.

Anyway, here's some pictures.


Nice work! I'll post these on my website once I return home.

Alan.

The address is http://www.embeddedtronics.com/

Click the microstep link.

It's interesting that they state on there site :-


Let's hope this is not too much of a setback for you Bob. How did you have the phases of the stepper's wired ? I'm keen not to repeat this burnout !


Indeed, it's good advice! Read the spec sheets for the LMD's if you are going to approach their upper limits! I cannot stress this enough! I don't want people faulting the design when it's not at fault!

I've not used PICStep above 40VDC because I've had no need to, this isn't a commercial product and I don't have the resources to test things to destruction, so if you deviate from my design/groundwork I cannot help! :)

Cheers,
Alan.

The drilling seemed never ending..... And those damned wire links.....

The curse of the single layer board.. Heck, you could be saying :

I can never seem to get the holes to line up... those damn layers!... Plus soldering in short pieces of wire in the vias is such a pain, man I wish I had a hole plating machine!


:P

:)

Cheers,
Alan.

Indeed, it's good advice! Read the spec sheets for the LMD's if you are going to approach their upper limits! I cannot stress this enough! I don't want people faulting the design when it's not at fault!

I've not used PICStep above 40VDC because I've had no need to, this isn't a commercial product and I don't have the resources to test things to destruction, so if you deviate from my design/groundwork I cannot help! :)

Cheers,
Alan.

I know I tried pushing the limits and thanks to me, you guys are spared the agony of rebuilding. :rolleyes:

Its not a big deal really...I had more chips to use so no loss. I still think your design is the best one yet and I am almost finished rebuilding it. I am just waiting on some caps to come in this week and I'm back in business. I am going to use the 24vdc supply I have here. I will save the 53vdc supply for servos if I ever go that route. I see your working on a servo driver. I would give that a try when its ready. I could always use a second machine...you know, bigger, faster...all that stuff! :boxing:

Juat a note, do you know you can get samples of these chips for free from National Semiconductor? They will send you 5 of them from their website. I also got 5 of those chips Alan that you are using for the servo driver. The H bridge chips. I used my work address and had them send 5 more so that's how I had spares..these babies are like $12.00 a peice in the stores. If you have an email address that is from like earthlink, comcast etc..they want you to pay $29.00 for shipping but they will still send them. That's still a nice savings for 5 chips.

Juat a note, do you know you can get samples of these chips for free from National Semiconductor? They will send you 5 of them from their website. I also got 5 of those chips Alan that you are using for the servo driver. The H bridge chips. I used my work address and had them send 5 more so that's how I had spares..these babies are like $12.00 a peice in the stores. If you have an email address that is from like earthlink, comcast etc..they want you to pay $29.00 for shipping but they will still send them. That's still a nice savings for 5 chips.

Funny that's how I got mine too.. :)

Although I am actually developing something with them. I hate seeing samples wasted (not to say you're going to waste them, I'm just generalising, don't mind me :)), otherwise they'll stop the service or make it harder to obtain.

Unfortunately there is no such thing as a free lunch. :)


Alan.

I can never seem to get the holes to line up... those damn layers!... Plus soldering in short pieces of wire in the vias is such a pain, man I wish I had a hole plating machine!

Oh I hear you on that Alan !

I remember the time I tried to make a double sided board. Not good memories. In fact I'm sure I had the artwork's in reverse on one side so it was a total waste :rolleyes:

In fact how I enjoyed making those wire links..... Can You add some more next time :)

Good to hear your back on track Bob, thanks for the heads up with the voltage caution.

No progress here at the moment.....

Well looks like I'm building another set of boards. My friend is itching to make a start.

I sent him a small video clip which he has hosted on his unused webspace.

Picstep Test Video (http://www.mikeep.btinternet.co.uk/picstep.zip)

I think it's a virtual mill of a Picstep board in progress !

In fact how I enjoyed making those wire links..... Can You add some more next time :)

I already removed some for you! Now you want me to put them back! hehehe :rolleyes:

I still think I could possibly route it a little better, but not much. It quite time consuming to get it just right.. :)

I'm busy with the firmware for PICServo now, it's progressing nicely! These new boards will have a 16x2LCD that will act as a DRO and also a control interface to setup the PID gains and adjust the step lengths etc etc. I'm working on the RS232 comms routines now. It's looking good!

I might have to start charging for this firmware.. :)

Cheers,
Alan.

Incase you guys building PICStep havn't checked Alan's site recently. He's taking donations, if you like his design.

I for one, have made a donation for the hard work that Alan's put in. For me, it's well worth the money.

Thanks again Alan.

Regards Terry.....

Well I got my parts today and rebuilt 1 of the boards. I now have 2 functional drivers. I am working on the third now. Should be back to where I was by tonight. Tomorrow I plan on cutting and finally getting to see how this bad boy works. I have to fine tune TurboCNC feedrates etc so that will be fun...

Alan, nice to hear your working on the Servo board. I for one would love to check it out!

Totally agree Terry. Donation on it's way. Actually just noticed that we have * Fame * on Alan's site...

Gallery look's great... I just want to make a silk-screen now !

Hey Bob you could have a New Year Celebration switch on :) Look forward to the pictures.

Cheers

Just made a donation to Alan! I would certainly pay for something that saved me a bunch of baord design work and agony of prototyping! Thanks Alan!

Well just finished board 3! Back in business fellows! Working on securing it all to a piece of wood so its nice and neat and I can move it around when needed. I am cutting tonight!!!! By the way, anyone have any cool Gcode files they could send me so I can try it out? Something like artwork I can cut out in wood so my wife sees the potential...(hint, more money!) :cheers:

Hey Bob you could have a New Year Celebration switch on :) Look forward to the pictures.

Cheers


Carefull. Bob had fireworks too at his last switch on. (flame2)

Seriously though. Bobs misfortune may well save others from the same fate. (like me). I was planning for a 35V secondary transformer ~50V DC. Have now deceided on 25V secondary ~35V DC.

Many thanks to you Bob.

Regards Terry.....
http://www.terry-is.f2s.com/

Guys, I've posted some simply assembly instructions on my website. It has some of the lessons learned in this forum and by other guys via email. Plus I walk step by step through the assembly process hopefully making it easier for more people to build.

Let me know if there are any mistakes.

Many thanks,
Alan.

Well looks like I'm building another set of boards. My friend is itching to make a start.

I sent him a small video clip which he has hosted on his unused webspace.

Picstep Test Video (http://www.mikeep.btinternet.co.uk/picstep.zip)

I think it's a virtual mill of a Picstep board in progress !

Wow that's so cool.. :)

Mind if I put this on my website?

Alan.

Carefull. Bob had fireworks too at his last switch on. (flame2)

Seriously though. Bobs misfortune may well save others from the same fate. (like me). I was planning for a 35V secondary transformer ~50V DC. Have now deceided on 25V secondary ~35V DC.

Many thanks to you Bob.


Indeed! I'm 10 hours ahead of GMT, so I'll look north towards the USA at around the US midnight for Bob's fireworks.. I'll be sitting on my lawn drinking a nice cool beer while I admire Bob's handywork from here :cheers:

I'm actually going to the CES show in Las Vegas on January 8th->10th, I fly out on Jan 2nd to HK for a few days then onto the USA.

Anyway I hope it goes smoothly Bob, should be good to see a machine that actually "uses" PICStep rather than a bunch of guys with spinning motors (myself included!).

I've put the warning regarding the greater than 40VDC in the build instructions, hopefull no one else has to suffer that pain! (sorry Bob!)

Post more photos when you're done, so I can keep the gallery up to date!

Cheers,
Alan.

PS Happy neuooo yeeear!

At least it was cool looking! :cool:

Seriously, be careful when working with high voltages...could be a big problem if your not qucik enough to disconnect power. (chair)

I am playing around with TurboCNC's settings now..trying to get the best setup. Currently using the 1/8th step mode...seems to give the best results so far in terms of speed. I will let you all know what the optimum settings I get when I'm finished.

Bob

At least it was cool looking! :cool:

Seriously, be careful when working with high voltages...could be a big problem if your not qucik enough to disconnect power. (chair)

I am playing around with TurboCNC's settings now..trying to get the best setup. Currently using the 1/8th step mode...seems to give the best results so far in terms of speed. I will let you all know what the optimum settings I get when I'm finished.

Bob


Could you also give your motor specs. May make the numbers more meaningfull.

Thanks.

Terry.....

In fact how I enjoyed making those wire links..... Can You add some more next time :)

Yes. Those wire links are really handy. Now the police will never trace me.....

Hahaha I know what you mean..ouch, typing is even hard! :rolleyes:

Well I got my system up and running!!!! :cheers:

It took me all day to sort out the wiring and fine tune the setup. I am still working on the settings, I am going to test cut some stuff tonight and let you know what settings I ended up with. I am running with no jumpers on the breakout board which is 1/8th microstepping mode. Moves nice!!!

Here are some pictures...

http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/data/500/7080Bobs_System_11.JPG
http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/data/500/7080Bobs_System_21.JPG
http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/data/500/7080Bobs_System_31.JPG

What did you use for slides? It looks like they mounted quite nicely...

-- Chuck Knight

Well the New Year is here. I wish you all a peaceful one.

It's good to see the machine in it's full glory Bob, some real nice work there !

I'm also interested in the slides, and the overall materials.

Have you any tips for someone just about to start building ?

What would you change ? What are the tricky bits ? Time to build ?

Have you cut anything to impress your wife yet :)

@Terry, Man I had to take a double look there :) Reminds me of the time I was learning to play the guitar.....

@Alan, feel free to use any images or video I post here.. I take it as a compliment.

All the Best.

Shaun

What did you use for slides? It looks like they mounted quite nicely...

-- Chuck Knight

Drawer slides from Home Depot. They work great, I mounted them so there is no noticable play in any direction other than side to side which is what you want anyway.

What would you change ? What are the tricky bits ? Time to build ?

It took me about a month and a half to build, alot of that time was waiting for glue or paint to dry overnight. I made it out of MDF and drawer slides. If I was to build it over I would have made it gantry style to allow more movement in the x axis but what it has now (11") is good enough for what I'm using it for anyway. I started to cut out the a ruler in some scrap MDF using a file I downloaded from a site. It came out good for a bit then messed up. I need to come up with a way to hold down work on the table. That will be the project of the day.

Well I decided to rebuild my Z axis and not use the pre-built one in the photos. The reason is it is more for PCB work and doesn't give me enough depth of cut to do any wood stuff. I would rather have a Dremel on there and I happen to have an extra one of those laying around and an extra pair of 16" drawer slides. I also have a stepper with 10" lead screw and nut attached to it. I will post pictures of when complete. I am waiting on paint to dry now, should be done by tonight.... I guess that's why they call it a hobby, never ending....my wife thinks I'm nuts..... :cool:


Shaun:
Did you start on your machine yet?

Hey bob, you're making good progress. How's the PICStep dirvers working out, or have you not had a chance to really test them yet?
Nice to see some pictures of your machine. What are the stepper motor specs?

Terry.....

Hey bob, you're making good progress. How's the PICStep dirvers working out, or have you not had a chance to really test them yet?
Nice to see some pictures of your machine. What are the stepper motor specs?

Terry.....


The drivers are working great. They are really worth building in my opinion.

As for the specs of the motos, they are NEMA 23's, and rated at 80 oz/in. 5v, 1.1amp

I thought that they may be a little too weak for the machine but they surprised me and run fabulous. I am getting like 19 IPM feed rate running at 24vdc power supply. The only thing better motors would give me at this point is speed. I can't really get a handle on that yet until I start cutting and measuring the time it takes to complete something. I am going to be milling the PICSTEP boards as a test to see how long it takes to mill and drill one board.

Bob

The drivers are working great. They are really worth building in my opinion.

As for the specs of the motos, they are NEMA 23's, and rated at 80 oz/in. 5v, 1.1amp

I thought that they may be a little too weak for the machine but they surprised me and run fabulous. I am getting like 19 IPM feed rate running at 24vdc power supply. The only thing better motors would give me at this point is speed. I can't really get a handle on that yet until I start cutting and measuring the time it takes to complete something. I am going to be milling the PICSTEP boards as a test to see how long it takes to mill and drill one board.

Bob


Bob. I've updated the DXF's and g-codes. Better placement of holes and none missing this time. Also there are 3 seperate drill files for the different sized holes.
If you would like them, I'll put them on my site for download. Just let me know.

If you plan on using the milled board you may want to have these.

Regards Terry.....

Shaun:
Did you start on your machine yet?

Not yet Bob,

I'm back to work on the 4th. I have a few items salvaged, some rails etc. There is some aluminium profile that may be available too.

So when I'm back it will be easier to see what bit's are available.

Just enjoying seeing your progress at the moment :)

Cheers

Bob. I've updated the DXF's and g-codes. Better placement of holes and none missing this time. Also there are 3 seperate drill files for the different sized holes.
If you would like them, I'll put them on my site for download. Just let me know.

If you plan on using the milled board you may want to have these.

Regards Terry.....

Thanks! That will save me a bunch of time generating them myself. I am only going to cut out 1 to test the accurcy of the machine. I already have the 3 built (save this one for a 4th axis do the road :cool: )

Thanks! That will save me a bunch of time generating them myself. I am only going to cut out 1 to test the accurcy of the machine. I already have the 3 built (save this one for a 4th axis do the road :cool: )

The updated files are now on my website for milling picstep. Help yourselves.

http://www.terry-is.f2s.com/

Regards Terry.....

Well finished building the new Z axis...works great!

http://www.boblweiss.com/images/IM000284.jpg

I cut out the ruler G-code and it was dead on the money in terms of accuracy...Now I am going to purchase TurboCNC so I can set all the settings permantly. Its a drag that it won't save the configuration settings in demo mode...kind of makes it hard to evaluate it..oh well.

Wow that Z-axis came together well !

It's looking like the business now.

Time to reap the rewards of your hard work.

Although I'm not looking forward to going back to work after a holiday, I certainly cannot wait to kick off my mechanical construction !

Bob you mentioned some g-code files you had found above. Any chance of posting them here.

Thanks

I will post the Gcodes once I get them cut out myself to make sure they are good. The program DeskEngrave is nice if you need to engrave text on something. I had a problem with my Y axis going in the wrong direction. I fixed that problem...just changed the wiring. Now its working nice!

Mr Bean:

I am playing around with your files for the PICSTEP board and I am having problems like you did with the table not being exactly flat. First of all how did you solve that problem? Where did you get the bits from? Which ones?

Thanks,
Bob

Bob. I screwed a piece of MDF on the table and surfaced it off with the largest cutter I had for my Dremel. You have to be careful with the MDF though as the hard coating is very thin. If you go right through, it goes all fluffy.

You could use somthing more stable than MDF to create a flat surface but it's ok for small runs.

To do the surfacing I just jogged the machine manually over the piece to be surfaced off. You could easily make a toolpath to do this for you though.

Hope it goes well.

Regards Terry.....

I forgot to say that I ended up holding down the plain copper board, to the new flat surface, with double sided tape. Seemed to work very well, and easy to do too.

Regards Terry.....

Back to work and back to the grind..... :(

Salvaged some bits and decided to draw & model them up as I obtain them.

It will probably be easier for me to 'virtually' construct it before the building starts.... And so here is my first query.

I have two rails and each rail had only one carriage fitted. I thought I would use this for my Z-Axis as it has enough travel. I'm unsure if I can get away using only the one carriage per rail. I seem to see them used in pairs per rail.

Any comments - Will the one carriage per rail be ok for the Z-Axis movement ?

Thanks

That's the exact set-up I have on my machine for the Z axis. No doubt 2 trucks per rail is better but I found that 1 per side works ok.