Quick Start Tech Article

[High Seas]

I posted this rather long-winded reply on another forum. It then occurred it has a better fit on this one - so I provided some much needed edits on the way:

BACKGROUND
It occurred to me, that a "Quick Start" Checklist/Discussion/Article in the Technical Articles would be a great place for a "newbie" to begin. The technical articles section was the first place I looked and found this topic empty.

I had envisioned it as focusing on the hobbyist level, the newbie with little hard-core machinist background, but skilled enough to source and assemble the bits to make a go at it.

For me, getting into this CNC thing seems like I am at the bottom of a very steep learning curve looking a LONG way uphill. The CNC'Zone is the best source I've found on the 'net. Thankfully there is a lot of help/encouragement/experience on this site!

WHATS IN IT FOR THE "ZONE?
Hitching on an earlier discussion (thread) that involved free/low cost plans and "pay as you go support" -- access to the Technical Articles" could help fund the "Zone."

CONCEPT
A homebrew quick-start article, design ideas and maybe even plans, etc would be real helpful to newbies. Especially if it had the support and experience from members tghat have been down that track! It could also help refresh those little "lost great ideas" we all have misplaced from time to time. A series of articles that could lead a newbie from "thinking about it" to "doing it".

WHATS IN IT FOR MEMBERS?
A chance to give back that stays posted. Pride of authorship, participation, KARMA.

WHAT CAN I OFFER?
I started putting together an outline of what I'd be looking for - (was and still am looking for -- but have been reluctant to ask a hundred questions and tie up the great exchange of info here). But, it is only one person's view. I'd be willing top post the outline and work with a few members (all electronically) to bring such an atricle together.

Heck - maybe such a resource is already been done and just need a dusting off.
Mind you right now I'm staring at a pile of 80/20, a bunch of linear rails, screws and a near empty martini glass! Got a way to go 'til I can truely SWEEP CHIPS!


I've been very encouraged by level of knowledge on this BB -- its good old fashioned machine knowledge, high tech electronic wizzardry and a whole heap of programming skill here.

If some could be captured, organized, and put in a set of articles wouldn't that be great! As a newbie I'd say yes!

As a member - I say how do we get it started?

JIM

PS I know this is a slippery slope!

[vacpress]

look at cncadmins project management software - it looks like the missing piece of this puzzle..

Unrelatedly: heres an image from a PCB design I did. its a simple unipolar board, but its a snap to build. once i get some 5804s, i will make a similar PCB for those, with high-power transistor output stages.

[mvaughn]

hey vac,

I'm interested in your unipolar driver design. It looks simple enough that a beginner with some patience could produce a set of them.

Have you constructed and tested it?

Do you have a higher resolution copy of the plans? Higher resolution that the 18page zip in the opensource forum?

[mvaughn]

I agree with the project managment software. It will bring some needed structure to this endeavour.

[vacpress]

i have made 3 of these boards, as well as the other modular boards. there are pictures of it all in those pages in the zip file. there is a problem with the design in that it has no clamping diodes. the design is essentially a mopdularized version of the only flip flop & xor gate uniploar circuit.. Its so close to being radioshack only.... imagine this: in chicago, with our 4 million people, we do not have 1 single electronics component store for a 60 mile radius - which encompases 6 or 7 million people!

i have 300 dpi PDFs of the origionals - they are 75mb. it takes quite a minute to save all these pages as seperate files, becuase of limitations in illustrators ability to have multiple pages in a single document. adobe claims i have to buy indesign... indesgn is basically a crippled illustrator mixed with microsoft word.. stoopid marketing-inspired software development.

reasonable size for these documents is 100k per 8 1/2 x 11in page. each .jpg in the zip represents 1 landscape tabloid page.



as for structure. i have repeatedly offered to design this whole mess in to an attractive, readable whole. we need to look into CNCadmin's project management software thread! it dosent have to look like my plans i put up - i will do this like a professional project that is being managed by telecommunications.

[BENHILL]

Hi Vacpress,

I'm doing my usual version of stupid, but where is the zip you allude to? I'd like to download if poss.

Thanks.

Ben.

[mvaughn]

Ben,

It's in the downloads section under the category Free/Opensource CNC machine plans / Wood Router plans.

Here is a direct link:
http://www.cnczone.com/modules.php?s...op=getit&lid=8