First CNC Build- Joe's

[Ohioflyer]

Hey, I like the idea of those torroids, they can go around groups of wires yes? I don't need one per I hope. And yikes on the sheilded cable, don't need 1000' rolls, so I'll have to check around on that, I would like to go with DIgikey again, as all this rewiring means I'll probably need more molex plugs and pins. I think I may actually have some 4 conductor 24awg shielded around here from a previous project, long forgotten. Thanks again for the help Horrid.

I see now the benifit of the ramps, I just bent one of my switch levers trying to jog off a switch the wrong way, Also even though my z axis is set pretty slow it cinches the levers up tight when they engage. I'll have to come up with a better solution ie the ramps at some point. But right now I'm now too concerned if I break a few.Tey're Chinese speacials, I got 20 for I think $7.50, so I heve plenty to play with until I want to go with something more accurate. I kind of figured that for the emulate thing, as there is the keystroke box right there, but I still don't see how that would effect my coniguration, anyhow I'm not going to worry about it.

Something strange tho, when I got the limits working, I went inti Pin and Ports and activated xyz+- all, and They all showed estops when I tried to run things that way, with the exception of X++, the one I had activated when I got it up and running. I suppose it doesent matter, as that one pin is enough to stop the whole machine, just curious though. But it is obvious now that my machine is REALLY buggy due to RF, so I'm not going to worry too much till I get that sorted, but in the mean time I guess I can tinker with homing! (two to thirty seconds at a time)

[HorridHenry]

I'm sure maplins will have 4 core shielded .

Gawd,you're over the pond,think its call the radio shack over there?

[Ohioflyer]

Yep, we Colonials use Radio Shack, or "The Shack" when we want especially cheap discrete components at an inflated price. Or we used to, they just don't cater to the electronic hobbiest anymore, a few years ago most stores stopped selling that stuff. Maybe there was a big outcry because the one closest to me sells a good selection of them, or meybe when I moved I just got lucky. Anyhow I'll search around on Digikey and see If I can buy 100ft, sorry 30 or so meters , as I am going to need more plugs from them anyway. The Mach manual also mentions the line of Omron relays that work well, so I might grab some of those as well, but hey, happy productive day. This is how things are suppose to progress, I have a day off, and after some reading, some tutorials, and a few different software settings, coupled with good advice a solution is reached! Not weeks of agony, I must be getting better...

Cheers

[Ohioflyer]

I thought I should go ahead and post an update. Been real busy the past few weeks and have not had a chance to do anything. Finally got a weekend off so I thought I should try to get her running. I got the machine homing pretty well. At the default 20% it homes very slowly, but when I bump the speed up to 50% I start bending switch arms. I went ahead and bought some little springs, clipped then down to about an inch, clipped short the swich arm and soldered the two together, now I have a flexible switch arm that will activate the limit and can be bent but staitens out after homing. The only thing is its not very prettl, and I melted a few switch bodies in the process. I'm thinking of wiring the axis limits into different inputs so the machine will home faster, is that correct? it will then be able to home the axis at the same time, rather than individually due to them all being wired in series on one input right now?

Also I set up the soft limits in Mach, but I don't see that they do anything, I can jog right past where they should be . I don't know if they don't work in the demo version, or if I'm doing something wrong, it took a bit of playing to get the machine moving the right direction over the cutting bed, and homing the correct direction.

The biggest thing I have to deal with right now is that the z does not want to move down to where the cutting surface should be. So far the only G-cede I have run is the roadrunner, but it only drops the Z down an inch or so and then does its thing. Also sometimes when I home the system the z does not return all the way to its home position, it will stop short, the x and y home to thier limits just fine. If I home again when the z doesent quite get there it will then make it home??

I had to set the debounce up to 10000, that usually allows me to run the 500 lines of the program, but I stilll get a lot of estops, have yet to get the right wire and torroids, I gulp at the price every time I look.

[Ohioflyer]

Ah, and lastly I took the switch out of the +5v ena leg and hard wired that, and put the switch into the incoming AC 120 to the ps, before whenever the thing was plugged in the drivers were on, now I can turn off the ps and drivers while I mess around and not have them sitting there consuming power and cooking.

[louieatienza]

A lot of designs that use mechanical switches have ramps where the rollers of the switch engage, that might prevent some broken switches...

[ger21]

If the machine is bending the switches when homing to fast, then it will also bend any time you hit a limit.
As Louie says, you should have them activated by ramps that can pass by the switches and not damage them.

I don't recall if Softlimits work in demo mode, but I think they do. If you can post your .xml file, I'll look and see if they are set correctly.

The biggest thing I have to deal with right now is that the z does not want to move down to where the cutting surface should be. So far the only G-cede I have run is the roadrunner, but it only drops the Z down an inch or so and then does its thing

Are you zeroing the Z axis at the work surface? The RR only cuts .1" deep


As for your homing, it sounds like noise is triggering the home switch before you get there.
10000 debounce means you have a lot of noise. Have you tried adding capacitors across the inputs?

[Ohioflyer]

yes, I realize now that I was thinking about it incorrectly, still learning. I was jogging out randomly into the table nd startling the program. I had not realized that the z would not got down to the work surface unless I use an ofsset system. I think I have my head around it now.

I had not thought of using throwback caps, and I'm unsure of the values I would use, maybe I'll search a little more on that as well. and yes, at full speed the limits take a hell of a beating, I will remedy of course, maybe ramps, maybe more springs.

In the meantime I downloaded some trial versions of vetric aspire, way beyond me right now, so I went back and got the cut 2d trial and have been watching the tutoriols. I was under the impression they were cad programs as well, but thy seem mostly to manipulate existing files for g code generation. I need to find a cad program I like and learn it, evertime I try to use Freecad I end up pulling my hair out, I have the correct version, and watch the tutorials, but whenever I try to use the sketchpad and part design it never does what I want...

[TrickyCNC]

I found I got on with QCad. It suits the way I think , and does everything I want it to do.

No gcode though.

Might be worth a look.

[ger21]

V-Carve Pro and Aspire have drawing tools that allow you to do most anything once you know how to use them. Cut 2D not so much.

Most Aspire users go from start to finish inside Aspire. If you're not already married to a CAD program, learning only one program has definite advantages.

Personally, I prefer to draw in AutoCAD and import into Aspire, since AutoCAD is second nature to me, and has more "CAD" tools. If the project requires text, I'll add it in Aspire.

[Ohioflyer]

Yes, I"ll probably give Aspire a try, these vectric products seem pretty user friendly. If I wanted to learn a Cad program I suppose I would have to take a course. But the good news, my machine cut for the first time yesterday! Yes it was just the RR, but the thing actually works. I also got the scrapboard made for it, which was kind of holding me up. So now I have no more excuses, time to order some shielded wire and learn some new software!

[TrickyCNC]

...... But the good news, my machine cut for the first time yesterday!

Cool ! Well done .... oh, but we don't believe you without video LOL

After playing with loads of free software, I've decided to go Vectric too.
Too many of the other programs did 'nearly enough' but no cigar !

Although. like Gerry, I've kind of got used to a cad package, which I will still use for drawing some 2D stuff. QCad is the one I like .

But after playing with a load of free trial Vectric suff, it just seems the way to go ! It's for business use after all, and each program is compatible with each other, and Aspire seems very powerfull.

Rich