Author Topic: X45 CNC upgrade  (Read 8159 times)

Offline RonGinger

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Re: X45 CNC upgrade
« Reply #30 on: March 07, 2019, 02:09:51 PM »
Quote
Now for the second killer question. I used the nesting feature in Mach3 more than a few times, and I can't do without it. I don't want to buy nesting from BobCam.

---- Is there a nesting wizard for Mach4? ------

Thanks,
maury

What did you use in Mach3?  I do the support for the Mach native wizards and I do not know of nesting. Likewise we  have not done a nesting wizard for Mach4, although Brian is working on a special plasma package and that may have some nesting. I will find out.

Offline maury

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Re: X45 CNC upgrade
« Reply #31 on: March 07, 2019, 03:37:19 PM »
Ron, thanks for the reply. The wizard I use is called "Nesting" in the wizards menu. It is by Oliver ADLER.

Thanks,
maury
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Offline RonGinger

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Re: X45 CNC upgrade
« Reply #32 on: March 07, 2019, 07:59:57 PM »
OK, those were user contributed and never  supported by Mach. I do not know of any similar program, sorry.

Offline maury

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Re: X45 CNC upgrade
« Reply #33 on: April 01, 2019, 04:33:43 PM »
Folks, it's been a while, and a lot of work has gone into the project.  I want to thank all the
responders for their comments and help. So here is an update.

I ordered the "Y" ball screw directly from the factory in China. Didn't know what I was going
to get, but it was only a little more than $30, so I just took a gamble.

In the mean time, I ordered the electronics and motors, and set out making the panels.

Pic1 is the whole system torn down.

Pic2 is the start of making the motor control panel. After everything was laid out I drilled the
holes, sanity checking the fit into the box.

Pic3 is the motor control panel with the parts mounted and beginning of the

Pic4 I'm laying out the power supply panel.

Pic5 is both panels mounted to the machine. most of the wiring is complete.

Thanks for tuning in
maury
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Online Vixen

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Re: X45 CNC upgrade
« Reply #34 on: April 01, 2019, 07:46:53 PM »
Hi Maury,

That looks like a very tidy electrical installation.  :ThumbsUp: :ThumbsUp:

When do the mechanicals arrive?

Mike
It is the journey that matters, not the destination

Sometimes, it can be a long and winding road

Offline steamer

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Re: X45 CNC upgrade
« Reply #35 on: April 02, 2019, 12:17:22 AM »
[quote

All ballscrews are not all pre-loaded. Its the old pay for quality game.
[/quote]

Yes im sure you can get ballscrews without preload...but why would you.   

Dave
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Damned ijjit!

Offline maury

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Re: X45 CNC upgrade
« Reply #36 on: April 18, 2019, 10:18:03 PM »
Guys, thanks for the comments.

It's been a while, and a lot has happened.I have refinished most of my back deck and have started
planting flowers in the many pots I have. Started a lot of them from seed. The garden is in,
and the tomatoes and peppers are starting ot bloom. So, in my spare time I worked in my CNC project.

I am using ball screws with two nuts which are adjusted to squeeze against each other to remove
the backlash. We'll see how that works. The Y axis is all done, and the X axis is also in except
for wiring up the motor. I also painted the walls in my shop while I had everything torn up.

The electronics/wiring is all done, so, since the Y axis is all done I wanted to fire it up and test
what I have so far. I am currently using Mach 3 because I have a license and it does nesting.
I may move to Mach 4 in the future,but it's not priority right now. I was able to get Mach 3 and
the ESS configured, so I went fro broke and connected the big power supply to the Y  motor driver.
Everything was smooth so far.

So what I observed when jogging the Y motor was an erratic behavior. The jog was .001. As I jogged
the motor it went in one direction on the first jog, then reversed direction on the second jog, and
alternated with each additional jog. If I up the jog to .010, the behavior was motr random and jumpy.
I spent a half day checking the wiring and documentation, and have come up with no explanation.
I am probably going to need some help with this. I can post the details of what I have and all my
configuration data if there is someone who can help debug this problem. I appreciate any help.

Here are some pics of the progress. The 10mm tap came in today, so I can finish the mechanical on
the Z axis.

"The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."... Margaret Thatcher

Offline maury

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Re: X45 CNC upgrade
« Reply #37 on: April 20, 2019, 02:33:04 PM »
Well folks, I found the problem. After a near sleepless night thinking about what could be wrong I came up with a few more things to check and re-check.

I was poking around when I decided to check the motor connector with an ohm meter. One of the windings seemed open - BAD. So I rechecked the wiring with the motor document. Well, there it was. I misread the drawing. Fixed the problem and the motor worked great. I connected the X motor and re-tuned both. They are very robust and smooth running.

Now, I',m working in the Z mechanical. Hope to get the Z and A working in the next week.

Happy Easter
maury
"The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."... Margaret Thatcher

Offline maury

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Re: X45 CNC upgrade
« Reply #38 on: April 20, 2019, 10:27:33 PM »
The Z axis is in now too. Motor working properly. Just need to mount the head and counterweight and I can test out the machine.

I have a config question:
in the Port setup dialog there is a Kernel speed setting. Does anybody know what this does, and how I may set it to my best advantage?

Thanks,
maury
"The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."... Margaret Thatcher

Offline Neil-Lickfold

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Re: X45 CNC upgrade
« Reply #39 on: April 20, 2019, 11:54:24 PM »
When people add a gas strut for the Z (head counter balance), what spec or model number do they use?
I don't want a weight going up and down the back of the machine.
Thanks,
Neil

Offline kvom

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Re: X45 CNC upgrade
« Reply #40 on: April 21, 2019, 12:40:40 PM »
The Z axis is in now too. Motor working properly. Just need to mount the head and counterweight and I can test out the machine.

I have a config question:
in the Port setup dialog there is a Kernel speed setting. Does anybody know what this does, and how I may set it to my best advantage?

Thanks,
maury

I believe that's used for the pulse rate when using parallel port interface.  With ESS pulsing the value is ignored.

Offline maury

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Re: X45 CNC upgrade
« Reply #41 on: April 21, 2019, 01:58:52 PM »
Thanks KVOM, that simplifies things a bit.

As far as picking the gas struts goes, my machine has a counterweight on the back. I know it's a kludge but it works. Its not an exact balance, there is still some weight in favor of the head. You will need to get the weight of your head and pick a size that works. Not much help, but every machine is different.

maury
"The trouble with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money."... Margaret Thatcher

 

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