stepper motor crank knob

[HereinCS]

I have a couple of dual shaft stepper motors with 1/4 inch shaft. Anyone know where I can buy a knob or a crank that'll fit? Thanks.

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[Dorsal]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=260374443483

[HereinCS]

Perfect. Thanks.

[CarveOne]

Most round knobs with two set screws are made to fit 1/4" shafts like are used on Nema23 step motors. By using round electronics utility knobs you can leave them on the shafts. If you forget to take a crank handle off and then do a fast jog you may cause some damage to the motor. On the other hand, the crank handle probably doesn't leave set screw marks on the motor shafts.

CarveOne

[UUU]

What you need is some kind of machine to make them.

[Pplug]

Yeah a drill press a thread tap and a scroll saw!

[CarveOne]

If you want a large knob, you can find instructions and gcode here on the Solsylva site. It's a knob for a hold down clamp, but it can be used with some modification to the center hole. I just use 1" diameter plastic knobs and leave them on the motors. They can be cut from just about anything that is solid enough. I suppose that Nylon or Delrin dowels can be cut to length, center drilled, then possibly just pressed on.

CarveOne

[Garage Elf]

I picked up a pack of knobs at radio shack today, put them on - but it is really tough to turn the motor while it is powered...is there a setting or button in Mach3 I'm supposed to switch to allow a hand-jog of the axis?

[PaulRowntree]

I use the estop on the G540 to kill power, but it kills all motors. The system might jerk a bit when you re-power them. I don't see anyway to avoid this though.

You could use a two-pole single throw switch on the stepper wires.

To be honest, I just found it easier to use the manual jog in Mach3 even after I added a knob to my Z.

[jharvey407]

I picked up a pack of knobs at radio shack today, put them on - but it is really tough to turn the motor while it is powered...is there a setting or button in Mach3 I'm supposed to switch to allow a hand-jog of the axis?

Mach3 is not designed for hand jogging. Using the E-stop is going to cause lost steps. It would be better to use the jog or MDI's to move your machine than a knob on the stepper shaft.

I use the arrow keys for quick jogging around the table, but the MDI's will allow to position the machine accurately.

Why are you trying to acheive when you hand jog your machine?

James

[Devastator]

I have a couple of dual shaft stepper motors with 1/4 inch shaft. Anyone know where I can buy a knob or a crank that'll fit? Thanks.

You could always put a damper on the back shaft. That's what I use if I need to hand crank it. It's a crank and a damper, it's a "cramper".

[Garage Elf]

Why are you trying to acheive when you hand jog your machine?

James

James - to zero the Z axis, to lower the bit down to the stock. Right now I jog the axis with a sheet of paper underneath it and zero it out when i can't move the paper. I thought the hand crank might make that easier, but maybe not.

[Pplug]

Just take a piece of al or PCb board and make a touch plate. Very simple and more accurate.

[jharvey407]

James - to zero the Z axis, to lower the bit down to the stock. Right now I jog the axis with a sheet of paper underneath it and zero it out when i can't move the paper. I thought the hand crank might make that easier, but maybe not.

I see. You may find it easier to use a touch plate and the REF command on the diagnostics page. I am assuming you are using Mach3.

The touch plate is wired to one input of your BOB. When the endmill makes contact with the touchplate Mach3 sets the Z axis height based on the offset that you have entered into Mach3.

My touch plate is .25" think, so when the bit makes contact Mach3 sets the Z axis to .25, giving me 0 at the material surface.

J

[Garage Elf]

OK - that sounds smart, but now a bigger question is about hooking up stops and limit and home switches.

I am running Mach 3 and my board is a TB6560 like in this picture:



In order to connect the wires from the steppers, the kit came with these green plastic lugs that snapped onto the board and the wires were secured in with a small set screw. But that fixture for the limit switches doesn't have a connector and it seems like there is something special required; plus I'm not sure what gauge wire those limits would be wired with...

any ideas? I've searched through cnczone and haven't found anything that gets to that level of detail with these boards.

[Devastator]

Just take a piece of al or PCb board and make a touch plate. Very simple and more accurate.

Agreed, although the touch plate can break or damage small micro mills. In this case, a hand wheel and sheet of paper is a valid procedure.

I've built a couple of machines and invariably I find a need to hand jog the axes on occasion. When building and working on the machine (cleaning, fine tuning preloads etc.). Plus you can determine binding very easily this way. I was able to track down binding on my X that was limiting me to 200 IPM max and increase it to 400 IPM. I include hand adjustment on all of my axes. The human senses are very delicate in this regard and you get instant feedback on your fine tuning efforts.

[Devastator]

OK - that sounds smart, but now a bigger question is about hooking up stops and limit and home switches.

I'm not familiar with the board, but you'd use the "four input interface" for those functions. Hard to believe that they dont give you a connector with the board. I can't remember where you can buy those, but I've seen them somewhere for cheap and they had a pigtail already on them. Maybe someone else can help with a link. If you don't have a pin out schematic, you'll have to determine which pins go where. You may be able to trace them on the back of the board to see which pins they go to on your DB25. Or just hook stuff up and do some testing.

For your input wires, they carry very little so 22 or 24 ga. should be fine depending on length of the wire.

[dodger889]

OK - that sounds smart, but now a bigger question is about hooking up stops and limit and home switches.

I am running Mach 3 and my board is a TB6560 like in this picture:



In order to connect the wires from the steppers, the kit came with these green plastic lugs that snapped onto the board and the wires were secured in with a small set screw. But that fixture for the limit switches doesn't have a connector and it seems like there is something special required; plus I'm not sure what gauge wire those limits would be wired with...

any ideas? I've searched through cnczone and haven't found anything that gets to that level of detail with these boards.

Are those pins in a straight line? If so check your local computer shops for a connector for it.

[jharvey407]

Are those pins in a straight line? If so check your local computer shops for a connector for it.

You can also try Jameco, they are a great supplier for small electrical parts.

Jameco Electronics - Electronic Components Distributor