[CarveOne]

A breakout board is required to interface the parallel port to the B (and C) axis motor driver. Then the driver connects to the motor. The C10 board (~$28) from cnc4pc.com is a popular choice for breakout boards. The driver can be an individual driver module from Gecko or other source.

This will get you a 5th operational axis, but your software must know how to use it and generate gcode for the 5th axis motor. Make sure it can do that.

[nekidfrog]

What about something like this ?
USB DB25 5 Axis Breakout Board Interface Adapter for PC Stepper Motor Driver | eBay

it seems to use the usb to power the breakout board.

[CarveOne]

ger21, Al_The_Man, and some others can give you more details. A second pport will be required and I forgot that. Fortunately, most pport cards work with the Gecko drivers now that the Gecko drivers support the 3.3vdc pport signal levels that is commonly available now.

[nekidfrog]

I have a question.. on the g540 I noticed there are 2 output pins... what are those normally used for? touch probe? almost all other breakout boards don't list outputs.. but also include another axis.... which makes me think.. is it possible to take those 2 outputs and just configure them in linuxcnc or mach3 as a new step/dir for another axis?

[CarveOne]

I don't have any experience with the USB interface devices since all of my CNC computers have pports and slots to add more. For reliability, the old pport has served well. It will eventually go away though, and mostly already has.

[Dylwad]

I have a question.. on the g540 I noticed there are 2 output pins... what are those normally used for? touch probe? almost all other breakout boards don't list outputs.. but also include another axis.... which makes me think.. is it possible to take those 2 outputs and just configure them in linuxcnc or mach3 as a new step/dir for another axis?

Probably coolant pump or vacuum hold down, dust collector, etc. I don't think you can turn them into step/dir outputs since they are rated for driving relay coils.

Touch probe would be hooked to an input.

Sent from tapatalk

[CarveOne]

It's an output level change that turns a router or spindle on and off under software control if your breakout board has the relay for doing that.

[nekidfrog]

ahh! damn then! Will look into another breakoutboard and such when the time comes to add my 4th axis.

[CarveOne]

The outputs can be used to drive solid state relays and mechanical relays for turning on and off other equipment. For low current applications a pull up or pull down resistor can be used to turn on LEDs and similar applications.

Let me know when you guys want to play music on your machines to impress your friends. Mine plays Led Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven and a few others. It isn't Dolby 5.1 quality though, and it has to be customized for your machine's gear ratios and a few other parameters.

[nekidfrog]

HAHAHA serious? I need a video of this!

[CarveOne]

Go to YouTube and search on CNC Music to see some videos. ShopBot had a 10th anniversary video of a machine playing Happy Birthday and then it blew out the candles on a birthday cake - then it "sliced the cake". Very messy.

Find a midi music file you like with a Google search for "midi music" and go to the Home Constructor site to convert it to gcode for your machine. It's free, and easy to use. Some midi files sound better than others. The Star Wars Imperial March works well. Pick something that isn't too fast and is a fairly simple music.

[nekidfrog]

Well, emailed geckodrives about the outputs and got a surprisingly awesome response!

Thank you for contacting Geckodrive technical support.

You can use the OUTPUTs of the G540 to drive another motor control, but they are not high speed outputs. The optoisolator used is a LTV-846 that has a maximum usable frequency output of around 10kHz.

Please let me know if you have any more questions. Thank you!

Then asked specifically if it could support a single 251x drive for a rotary 4th axis and got this!

Yes, it should be able to do that.
Please let me know if you have any more questions. Thank you!

So, looks like I won't need another breakout board and secondary parallel card to run 5 axes.

[CDF]

Well, emailed geckodrives about the outputs and got a surprisingly awesome response!



Then asked specifically if it could support a single 251x drive for a rotary 4th axis and got this!



So, looks like I won't need another breakout board and secondary parallel card to run 5 axes.

I wish they would be more forthcoming. I already bought a new breakout board and all the connectors to wire the g250 drives I pulled from my g540.

[nekidfrog]

Agreed! would have been nice to have this in the manual, but figuring how awesome their customer service is, figured I'd ask them directly and got an awesome answer back.

[CDF]

So how do we configure mach3 to drive a 251x from the screw terminal outputs? I started getting ready to solder connectors for the g250 drives from my g540 and realized they are missing the pots. While geckodrive is happy to tell you that your g540 has 4 g250 drives they fail to mention that they are not complete. So I'm back to trying to use the g540 breakout board. I am very interested in how you set this up.

[nekidfrog]

That's an interesting question. The g250 and g251x don't have the pots for fine adjustment. I have not used mach3 so can't say much from there. I also have not setup to use a 5th drive. I merely emailed in advance for when I will need to for my 4th axis if I use my 4th drive as a slave to X

[CDF]

That's an interesting question. The g250 and g251x don't have the pots for fine adjustment. I have not used mach3 so can't say much from there. I also have not setup to use a 5th drive. I merely emailed in advance for when I will need to for my 4th axis if I use my 4th drive as a slave to X

They do have pots if they were sold individually. The g250 drives that I pulled from a g540 don't have pots. My g251x drives do have pots.

[nekidfrog]

So got another update!

Bought picture holder wire and tried the cable system. First thoughts.. it works good but realized I have the wrong cable... It stretches and doesn't keep the racking well. So went and purchased galvanized 1/16th cable rated for 300+ lb-ft. This stuff worked PERFECT. No stretching no nothing and holds racking very well.

On another note, I've also ordered a bosch 1617evs router for the cnc. I also ordered and installed heatsinks/fans on the g540 due to it getting really warm. I also have an old pc fan controller I'll be using to work the fans... either that or I pull out one of my custom arduino's I've made and convert it to a fan controller based on temps.

I'll get some picture later of the new stuff, but lately it's been over 102F and probably 110F in the garage.. Making it really hard to work out there and get anything done without feeling dehydrated.

[nekidfrog]

Recently just got my Bosch 1617EVS router!! man is that thing pretty and awesome!! Been taking a break to work on another one of my paying projects, so haven't had time to get much done other than the cable system and setting up LinuxCNC software and testing that out.

All I really have left is mdf for the spillboard, creating the Z axis plate and router mount, then cable management, and then I'll have a functioning cnc machine!

But in other news... Here is another project I'm working on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6Tg...e_gdata_player

[Oh, Herro]

Just curious, how is the screw whip? I'm looking into a build that will require a similar length x-axis (dual drive however). In your test video what was your IPM set to?
Thanks.

Enjoying the build btw.