mmmm Skateboards

I haven't posted in awhile... My apologies.  I broke the Monitor to my cnc machine and i now have to save for a new one. Thankfully I had some veneers and fiberglass laying around the house. I added some West Systems  Epoxy to the mix. A mold made from a 3 axis. And a vacuum bag. And bang there's a skateboard.

More posts to come.

Wiring explanation and Plug and Play Connections

Its been a long week. I wired the electronics into their box and extended the motor wires.  I fired the Angry Beaver up and the x axis wouldn't fire. Through trouble shooting i found that my x was grounded by a few free strands of copper that had gotten under the chip. I found this out when i blew the x fuse by wiggling wires.(!!a fuse for each axis and the break out board is vital it will save you money!!) which leads me to plug and play connections

After spending days re wiring my set up over and over. I realised that pluging wires into the chips each time was a real pain in the, so I decided to get male and female connectors to make for easy assembly and disassembly. From this I have learned that connectors are leagues better then twist wires and taping.

Probotix is Epic Awesome Good and Great

So.... What hardware is the Angry Beaver running?
Answer. Probotix.

  Why is Probotix  Epic, Awesome, Good and Great?
 
  Their website is first off well organised and easy to navigate. They provide clear and insightfull images of each product they carry. If they don't have a product then they provide links to websites that do have the product.
  Orders are processed quickly and as advertised and come packed nicely in fitted foam carriages. The os and software to run these motors is downloaded for free from the internet and works on almost any computer made from years 2000-2004/5.

The software to run this hardware is very user friendly. It allows for the user to easily set up their hardware.
For those who run windows there is also support for Mach3 as well.

If you don't want to build your own Machine they also sell complete partially assembled machines.

The wiring diagram provided on their site is very clear and well laid out if you have a good electrical mind wiring the motor,s drivers and break out board is as simple as a nights worth of work. The Steppers and Drivers are top notch. The Angry Beaver pushes 280 oz/in of torque on each stepper at 40 volts.

Customer support is free. They will buy the kit back from you if they can't help you to make it work.

American owned and operated out of Peoria, IL. no dis-respect to other nations but i love  my country and we need jobs.

All in all Probotix runs a Legit operation. I recommend them to anyone getting into CNC machining.

A brief explanation of the composition of my router

the effective cutting area is 54 in by 18 in by 5 in

three main pieces
1 the machine
2 the drivers
3 the computer

The Machine
Gantry,
Lead screws
Steppers
Transmission system
The Computer
OS Unbuntu/linux
Software EMC2
The Chips
Drivers
Wireing
Steppers
power supply

some helpful sites

So I figured I should post some of the sites and how to videos that got my brain going on this machine. The first site was...

http://buildyourcnc.com/default.aspx

Buildyourcnc.com has some machines for sale and they also sell kits and plans. The really nice thing about this site is that it has step by step instructions and videos for how to assemble a simple 3 axis system on a budget. Its really a fantastic site.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Three-Axis-CNC-Machine-Cheaply-and-/

Another great site! This one has diy's (do it your self's) for all sorts of things. Subjects included computers, software, model planes, generators just to scratch the surface. The link above has step by step instructions on how to build another simple 3 axis system.

http://hackaday.com/category/cnc-hacks/

And finally Hackaday.com one of my personal favorites! this site has a hack for anything. CNC, pcb, leds, graphing calculators and xbox's. If you think of it they probably have a hack for it. I have been browsing this website for about 4 or 5 years now and its only gotten better with time.

enjoy the sites, and use the knowledge wisely.

Lead Rod more power and an Angry Beaver

So the machine from here on out will be referred to as The Angry Beaver.

On to more serious business. She runs at dirt slow speeds. i have spent the last day trouble shooting and i believe i have a solution. firstly I need new lead rods. preferably with less than 13 threads per inch and rigged. My leads have a lot of warps and i think it is do to assembly and poor handling essentially they are cheap. Secondly I need more power. A 40 volt supply would be perfect. thirdly an all aluminum and/or iron frame would be spectacular.

each axis working smoother

Diy cnc router. all 3 axis moving with explanation

So I did little bit of tuning on my motors and lead screws. and I got it to turn. My cnc is now operational!!! All it took was a bit of oil and some shim jims! Really though it turns out these machines need alot of tuning. I'm anxious to see how it does on its first cut. I may need the help of master Roshi(dad) to accomplish this.

My steppers wont turn

So I turned everything on and tried to test my axis' with emc2's stepconfig tool and the steppers wouldn't spin. im not sure what the issue is. the steppers turn when not hooked up to the machine frame. could the nuts on the end of the lead screw be to tight? could my amperage be to low? I double checked my wiring. I'm stumped. I need to sleep on this.

Steppers Installed finally

Today I mounted my stepper motors and router. To do this I need to run for inch bolts through the motor mounts. This is what binds the motor to each rail and lead screw system. Fyi mount the lead screw couplers on the steppers before mounting the steppers to the motor mounts. this will save you some nut twist in the long run. I have also extended the wires to my steppers by using some 18 and 16 gauge wire i found hanging around my garage.(make sure to label the wires as you go so you dont have to ohm them at the end. This was quite the process with only two hands.

those pesky lead screws

I set up a lead screw system`and tried to jb weld the nut in place it poped loose.

proposed solution.....
Set plates on each side of the mount to lock the nut/s in place.

drivers steppers and the mobile gantry

 After to straight all nighters I have my gantry system assembled my motors wired to my drivers and spinning. its been a very productive week. Go Probotix!

Probotix

Last week I ordered the Probotix 3 axis kit. It came in the mail today. I'm excited to get home and start assembling it. Rifling through the forums I have seen nothing but good about this kit.
I will post more later tonight.

XY Drive

So I purchased the xd-14 xydrive a few months ago. It did not work at all and website no longer works I advise anyone looking to get into cnc to avoid the xydrive.

New site up and running!!

I hope everyone finds this site useful.