5-axis (BC/AC) head construction

[metalworkz]

Hello,
I made some more progress with the B-C head assembly today and I came in feeling pretty good about the way it all went together so far. I got the head assembled to the carriage and the stepper motor mounted so the complete assembly is getting very close to a testing state in that all the mechanical aspects have come together very well.
The rotation is smooth both vertically and horizontally although there is a little work to be done routing the wiring and providing enough support and slack for the wires when in operation. That is something that will be more obvious and easier to plan for when the head is mounted to the gantry Y axis of the machine. The location of the mounting holes and positioning on the Z axis is the next probable step but I have taken some pictures of the head bolted to my surface plate in order to get some shots at different angles with the axis positioned to different angles. I have not powered the motors up yet and that will take a little work in itself as my current machine is using all 4 Gecko motor controllers just to operate the X, Y, and Z axis so I will need to add a couple more controllers and do some configuring and wiring as well as perhaps another break out board as I am not sure if my C10 will control 6 axis.
Here are the pictures of the assembled B-C head to show the state of the build at this point in time. In one of the pics my larger machine is in the background and that is the machine I plan on trying to test the head on.

[Docop]

Hi

Pretty great so far ! As for the controller, had you look into the smoothstepper, it might be more easier to handle all the axis at same time and with less problem of connection to any pc too.

On the new stepper motor , the shorter one , as you said, what torque is it ? Have you loose torque by reducing or the gear let you have a more large headroom of available torque needed ?

thanks

[metalworkz]

Hi, I am not sure of the stepper motor rating on the shorter one but it came off of an actuator and I figured it would be enough torque for the use. It was one I had on hand and I can easily change it out with a new stepper if I find it is insufficient. I have an Ehternet smooth stepper controller on the large machine I planned to try this head on, but I think I will need at least two more motor drives for the extra motors on the head, and am not sure the breakout board will handle two more axis. I have another newer 6 axis breakout board and also a 6 axis controller that I planned to use with my 3D printer build but it is still in the box so I may even be able to use that instead of what I currently have. I really have not given too much thought yet to the wiring and configuration but I know that step is very near so thanks for the input and suggestions. I appreciate any and all comments and suggestions and often the input from other members provides information to help me adjust my thinking or make needed changes.

[diyengineer]

I have a large multi axis head for sale if anyone is interested?

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[Docop]

Hi
Indeed, the forum is quite helpfull for lots of subjects.. Actually, I was thinking was it better to have a higher resolution, as a 0.9 deg step for the stepper on the
C axis ?

About the smothstepper, It really give a lot of room and all input/output and no noise at all for running it. I test run over a Virtual machine through a
remote desktop and control are perfect. Can even run everything on my cellphone.I had to test the C41 to control the spindle. Have you check into this too ?

[metalworkz]

I think it would not be hard to just add two more motor drivers to the system and I have a newer BOB that supports 6 axis. It may be just as cost effective to buy a new 6 axis controller, but I am using 4 Gecko drivers for the current set up and I think I would prefer to keep those Geckos installed. I will just have to get a couple more stepper motor drivers. I really like the smooth stepper and have the Ethernet model on this machine and a USB model on my smaller CNC router. I kind of prefer the Ethernet model to the USB as I have had numerous problems with the USB one as far as homing goes and I get a time out error if I leave the machine idle for very long between parts. It is some kind of watch dog timer or something and I had found a work around to avoid it but I do not remember what I did now. Mostly happened if I would spend too much time between actually running toolpaths. With the Ethernet model once I got it set up correctly I do not think I have encountered any problems.

[awerby]

I have a large multi axis head for sale if anyone is interested?

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

Is it still available? I sent you a private message, but didn't get a reply.

[ChristianLL]

Thought I'd drop a line here, directing people to my 5 axis machine build. Just to help out anyone scouring the internet for knowledge like I was before my build.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/genera...ml#post1786780

[SgtBunny]

I just found your thread. Have you had any luck?

I would love to get something going especially something like this:

5 Axis Gantry Router