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.

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.

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.