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[quote=wwendorf;550721]A few things to help you out.
#1) Get a "hopping foot" or "embroidery foot" for your sewing machine. A regular foot doesn't give the kind of movement required for quilting operations.
#2) Don't bother with a speed encoder. You can acheive excellent results but keeping the quilting speed of your sewing machine consistent and always moving the cnc portion of the system at a set speed. You will have to figure out some way to create pauses at angles greater than 45 degrees or you will not get detailed points of any kind and the sewing will look very sloppy. When the PCQuilter was first designed and created, the inventor was unable to make use of standard CNC software and had to create his own XY language and controller software because of the lack of features required by running a sewing machine.
#3) On your quilting frame, you will need some way to keep the rollers locked and taught. You will also have to attach something to the sides of the quilt (i'd suggest elastic bands) to keep the left and right movement of the machine from distorting your sewing.
Hope that helps somewhat.
Wade[/quote]
First of all I am very thankful to u for highliting good points...Following is my views:
[quote=wwendorf;550721]A few things to help you out.
#1) Get a "hopping foot" or "embroidery foot" for your sewing machine. A regular foot doesn't give the kind of movement required for quilting operations.
Wade[/quote]
1-) Wade.. I am really searching for Quilting foot (draining foot) but still not got one... I know about the fact that the Other foots (All types of press foot) are distorting the quilt operation...I must add that the experimentation i previously did on my router was without any press foot and feed dog was also made disabled by putting paper card on it..
[quote=wwendorf;550721]
#2) Don't bother with a speed encoder. You can acheive excellent results but keeping the quilting speed of your sewing machine consistent and always moving the cnc portion of the system at a set speed. You will have to figure out some way to create pauses at angles greater than 45 degrees or you will not get detailed points of any kind and the sewing will look very sloppy. When the PCQuilter was first designed and created, the inventor was unable to make use of standard CNC software and had to create his own XY language and controller software because of the lack of features required by running a sewing machine.
Wade[/quote]
2)- I discussed with my friend EMMKAY in detail about the cruise controller and we didn't see this cruise controller stuff at PC-quilter website...so we come into the conclusion to have a cheap optical encoder fitted into the machine, so that we can regulate the stitches to equal lengths at tight corners...I just afraid that not using SPEED ENCODER will keep breaking the thread/needle...
I really appreciate the great idea of yours to CREATE PAUSES AT ANGLES greater than 45:) this have to be done in the CAM processor, or we will need help to generate the Post Processor for these pauses...I hope the VECTRIC or anybody from other softwares will help us in making PP for this purpose...
[quote=wwendorf;550721]
#3) On your quilting frame, you will need some way to keep the rollers locked and taught. You will also have to attach something to the sides of the quilt (i'd suggest elastic bands) to keep the left and right movement of the machine from distorting your sewing.
Wade[/quote]
Wade i already made a simple arrangement in the drawings to easily lock both the rollers in place, for this i have many options, but the current better one is to have a drilled circular plate on the roller end, same drilled patterns on the roller support plate and the dowel pin... Just rotate the roller to its position and insert one or two dowel pins in the holes..the other is the ratchet-cam option...
If you can please explain the sides movement restriction with band....
Thanks again, we learn something from you and you really a good contributor.
Thanks
Bets Regards
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On #1, the foot that is attached to all industrial and consumer quilting machines is a hopping foot. I have been doing quilting for nearly 7 years and I have never heard of a draining foot. Can you send a pic? This might be the same as a draining foot. A hopping foot should only cost you about $10-$15.
On #2, the cruise control is not a pcquilter product. If you can move the machine at the same speed in any direction, and do slight slowdowns at corners with a pause, you will not have any issue. This is how the PCQuilter works. The thread and needle will not break if you use the suggested hopping foot and YLI bobbin thread. The YLI bobbin thread is also referred to as Lingere Thread, but it is made by YLI. You can also use prewound bobbin embroidery thread.
On #3, it is very simple. When you have your top and bottom fabric stretched tight, you take a strap of elastic, pin it about 4" up from the takeup roller. Then you pull it tight enough under and over the side rail, and pin the other side about 4" up from the other end of the strap. DO NOT distort your fabric by pulling the elastic too tight. Just enough to eliminate the left and right distortion. You need to do a band on each side of the quilt.
Cheers,
Wade
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[quote=wwendorf;550804]On #1, the foot that is attached to all industrial and consumer quilting machines is a hopping foot....
Wade[/quote]
oops.. It was darning foot sorry... Okay I am sorry for not that much know about sewing machine stuff..been a slow learner.. I am attaching the darning foor and hopping foot pics, are not they both same??
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Yes, both foots work exactly the same. You can use either one.
Wade
[quote=Khalid;550814]oops.. It was darning foot sorry... Okay I am sorry for not that much know about sewing machine stuff..been a slow learner.. I am attaching the darning foor and hopping foot pics, are not they both same??[/quote]
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Wade..you told that u have seven years of experience with quilting, so can u please tell us whether you are doing quilting with industrial machines or you have made one urself...
Now one thing more, in standard milling operation the router slows down (accelerate and deccelerate) when the direction changes... So how can we keep constant speed control...I think using CV mode on Mach3 will work some trick... What will be the ways to insert small pauses between the G-code?....and how to define the Pauses Length in seconds?...
The weekend i will start cutting the parts and hope so some more experimentation will be carried out in couple of weeks..
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Yes, that is correct. I have had the PCQuilter for most of that time. I have also worked on the statler stitcher which is an industrial robotics system that is attached to a Gammil quilting machine.
As far as handling the acceleration I can't really say. As i mentioned, the PCQuilter and Statler Stitcher have custom software that handles all the movements of the machine, as well as custom commands. It was determined that standard CNC control would not be sufficient as the needs regarding quilting was so varied.
Pause lengths are not seconds, they are milliseconds, usually about 100-150 milliseconds. You have to keep in mind that an average sewing machine sews at speeds of about 600-1000 stitches per minute. At this speed, to get 10 stitches per inch, you need to move at about 1 inch per second at 600 stitches per minute. The settings all vary depending on the number of stitches per inch that you want. I'll tell you that most users select 10-12 stitches per inch.
Due to the weight of the sewing machine, you also have to ramp down in speed every so slightly when you are coming up to a sharp turn. If you don't, you loose steps on your stepper motor as the weight of the machine causes it to skip on the stepper.
Wade
[quote=Khalid;550848]Wade..you told that u have seven years of experience with quilting, so can u please tell us whether you are doing quilting with industrial machines or you have made one urself...
Now one thing more, in standard milling operation the router slows down (accelerate and deccelerate) when the direction changes... So how can we keep constant speed control...I think using CV mode on Mach3 will work some trick... What will be the ways to insert small pauses between the G-code?....and how to define the Pauses Length in seconds?...
The weekend i will start cutting the parts and hope so some more experimentation will be carried out in couple of weeks..[/quote]
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I use Vb.net, & the timer event works in milliseconds, I think that is a standard for most other programming languages.
.
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Hmmmm.. thanks for such agood information..its really help.. I saw a Quilting machine being controlled with Mach3 (you can see it in the first page of this thread)..So Mach3 will be controller software for my machine, as far as the CAM software do u know any low cost or Free Quilting software out there in market??:)
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[quote=Switcher;550864]I use Vb.net, & the timer event works in milliseconds, I think that is a standard for most other programming languages.
.[/quote]
Switcher..welcome and don't go away again from this thread... you are the programmer of this project ..OKAY!!!:) ... Can't we adjust that timing in Gcode!! i think there is DWELL command....
P.S: I did some programming with VB Timer function but its not trustworthy;)(nuts)
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There is no software already written. The PCQuilter software is proprietary. I know the quilting machine you mentioned is being controlled with mach3, but you are very limited in the features that you could get vs. the features that custom software would allow you, such as repeats, mirrors, flips, echo's, etc.
For what you are doing, you will just need to use standard 2d cad software for digitizing as you are going to use mach3 as the controller.
Wade
[quote=Khalid;550869]Hmmmm.. thanks for such agood information..its really help.. I saw a Quilting machine being controlled with Mach3 (you can see it in the first page of this thread)..So Mach3 will be controller software for my machine, as far as the CAM software do u know any low cost or Free Quilting software out there in market??:)[/quote]
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SWITCHER..are you listnining to Wade... You can do it man..You can do it:)
OKAY... Wade..so nice of you for being with us as a supportive Team Member...Now apart from the flip,rotate etc functions Mach3 is good choice for Hobbiest... We can do all that things in separate Gcode files and load it in Mach3 as per our requirements...
we are happy that we have an experienced person in quiltining business for guiding us...Thanks wade
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For creating code, start with a image file and strip it to the colors you want for a given item. Force it to black (for fill) and white (for background). Run and Image to Gcode software (included with EMC other versions should be available as well). If you need additional colors or need to add thread (some known point) invoke a toolchange to swap bobbins.
Why not use Z values to run the needle motor speed. This way as you approach the edges, smaller Z's slow the "spindle".
Just some thoughts - interesting project.
BMG
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[quote=Khalid;550870]Switcher..welcome and don't go away again from this thread... you are the programmer of this project ..OKAY!!!:) ... Can't we adjust that timing in Gcode!! i think there is DWELL command....
P.S: I did some programming with VB Timer function but its not trustworthy;)(nuts)[/quote]
I think Mach3 should be able to handle all your timing with no prob, with a g-code "G04 (dwell)".
So adjust any pause in the g-code, like you said.
.
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[quote=BMG;551144]For creating code, start with a image file and strip it to the colors you want for a given item. Force it to black (for fill) and white (for background). Run and Image to Gcode software (included with EMC other versions should be available as well). If you need additional colors or need to add thread (some known point) invoke a toolchange to swap bobbins.
Why not use Z values to run the needle motor speed. This way as you approach the edges, smaller Z's slow the "spindle".
Just some thoughts - interesting project.
BMG[/quote]
BMG..Thanks for your input.. we are not going to Image to G-code programming for at least right now..The concept you posted seems workable.. However, We have following phases of work..
PHASE-I:
To make a CNC quilting machine with manual rolling of fabric.
PHASE-II:
To CNC control the rolling mechanism
PHASE-III
To convert this machine to CNC embroidary.
Replacing the Spindle motor with Stepper motor is a good option..but we not going toward it..because no one here will modify the original design of machine.. We are going to rather very simple and cost effective solution for controlling the stitches length....
Regards
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So I recieved my V-rollers and angle brackets.. Tomorrow i will survey the structural steel market for some angle iron...
The Original V-rollers in the last pictures are used in my new Metallic CNC Machine;)
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For Quilting Patch work..I want to cut the layesrs of Fabric on my CNC ROuter..Now if some one give my the details of Knife-cutter OR any cutter that can be used on CNC router..
Somebody tell me how they hold the fabric and how the knife cutter function?
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Khalid
Man, I go away for a few days and you have about gotten this thing figured out.. I see you have some heavy hitters in here helping you out. I am sorry I havent gotten by to get pictures of the manual unit, She has not been available when I can get there to take pics.
But I will try before the weekend. However you have drawn the exact carriage I saw on her machine. And the foot is very simular. If she can manually quilt with the machine I saw, I think the timing issue is not very important (on Quilting). You will need to attack that for Embroidery though.
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Blackbeared52 ..Thanks you come back and join the thread...
I didn't found the quilting foot here, and have no resources to get from the foreign.. Here Paypal or any other account not working for me in Pakistan..I am stucked only for the hopping foot:( that doesn't cost more than 10~15bucks... I am also surveying for the Knife-Cutter that can be easily used with my CNC Router for fabric cutting..but still found nothing here:(
All things except 'Hopping Foot' and 'Knife Cutter' are available with me......
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Contribution
Hello everybody, a few days ago I read the thread, I wish to lose no, please!
In fact long time ago I read this forum, but I register now.
This is my contribution
[url]http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YTBXHLMD[/url]
The pass is FACTORARGENTO as my nickname...
This is a very rudimentary peruvian CNC embroiderer, but it works.! :banana:
All the info is in Spanish (sorry)
The author of this work and I just want this to be shared for free with no commercial purposes.
Thank you.
Ivan.
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[quote]All the info is in Spanish (sorry) [/quote]
And loosely translated into English
Bob