[mr_westie]

Got the docs now, well sunday afternoon lcoal time, but have not had time to do much.
Maybe this weekend.


Looks like christmas rush time at customs.

[mr_westie]

1 more problem.

If you were observant you may have noticed in my earlier pictures that the control box and motor connectors were different.

I didn't until I went to connect them

A quick run down to my local electronics store(Jaycar) to get the right connectors.
Then an educated guess how they were wired up.
Luckily just straight pins 1-4 mapping.
Screwed them on for now as I wasn't sure how they were mapped.



Made using a Drewtronics 30deg Bit


Have not measured the runout on the supplied motor, but seems to be pretty good judging by the results.
There does appear to be some backlash as shown by the diagonal lines. They should be the same width.
Order of cuts while I was tuning the PCBGcode parameters, top left 1, right 2, bottom left 3.



The other cuts on the board is from a ThinkAndTinker 60 Degree bit.
Might be a little blunt as the cut width is about 0.3mm
vs 0.18mm? for the fresh DT.

Need a new spindle as the supplied one is only 8k rpm.
Won't be able to take advantage of the higher movement speed until I do.


Other than the shipping mixup I am relatively happy with the machine.
Would be great if I could get rid of that backlash or compensate for it in Mach3.
At this stage not big enough for me to worry about it.
Maybe next weekend

[brazza]

Think i'm about to take the plunge and get the tonsen III
has anyone had experience with the largest one?
how do you reckon they will go as a wood cnc i don't really plan
to mill pcbs , would the z axis be strong enough to support a trimmer router?

[fiend]

Mr. Westie,

I can now call myself the proud owner of a 3020 down here in Christchurch. My cnc control box looks a little different than yours, maybe I've got old stock, no cooling fan and different connectors..

I'm using EMC2 on Linux, what comms/timings/step settings did you end up with for Mach3 ?

Packing was a bit rough.. I've noticed about 0.5mm play in each of the axis so wondering how I could tighten that up..

[brazza]

After some questions that i asked jarrod about the tonsen III
i have decided not to get one , but he did a very good job
of convincing me to buy the 3040 model , he sent me detailed pics and a
manual , it looks great , he also answed all my questions without hesitation
so due to the service i got , im going to get the 3040 , i will report back
in a few weeks with pictures , and performance it's gona cost me around
$1500(aud) delivered , it has 20mm hardend rails for the Y and 16mm for the X
so shouldn't be too much flex
cheers

[PeterBKK]

I moved my post to http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96821

Peter

[sv1eps]

I'm wondering if anyone could help me with my new Tonsen machine. I bought it 6 months ago and now I'm trying to activate it with my laptop and a pcmcia card OX12PCI840 PCI Parallel port. I'm using Windows XP SP3. The problem is that stepper motors seems to stack and to move like they have a block. They are moving very nervous and sometimes they stop but the counter in the Mach program continue to count.
The manual control of the Mach program, controls the stepper motors the same way like the auto milling procedure. Sometimes in the auto situation, it moves smoothly the steppers when I pressed several times the tab key (open/close the manual window).
I'd tried to close all the running programs, security programs, internet and I left running only the Mach. But the same bad behaviour of the machine happened again.
Could anyone help me?
Thank you.
Theofanakis Konstantinos

[sanderz]

Things seem to have gone quiet about this machine. Anybody have anything else to say about it now that thye have had it for a while, I'm considering buying one for small scale pcb prototyping and doing plastic box engraving for mounting electronics.

Interested in seeing more pictures and opinions from everyone before I drop 1k or more onto a machine.

Cheers

Sanderz

[brazza]

I am more than happy with my 3040 , i don't do pcb work , but i have done
a tone of engravings and 3d carvings out of wood with it and it has been acurate within the sub .1's of a mil and never failed me yet , and also faced a chunk of aluminum , not to sure about the cheaper tonsen ones , because they are alot cheaper than the 3040 , and obviously a less quality machine
i'm sorry i don't have much time on my hands to be posting pics and videos
im to busy at school , and goin out , the only spare time i get is spent on
designin and making a part , but if i find time to i will post pics and a vid i made of it joggin around at 7500mm per minute (lol dont expect it to cut at this speed though!!)it cuts nicely and comftably at around 1600mm a min , any faster and stepper jaming becomes more noticable but you could get away with it up to 2000mm a min depending on material , mine arived a bit differntly than some of the earlyer posts , because mine was very well packed and wraped , it had around 8-10in thick of foam around the outside of machine a bit surprised realy, anyway i think it would be best to stick to
the 3020,3040 and the 6040 they seem alot better machines

cheers

[mr_westie]

I am happy with my 3040.
Have only recently used it for something other than PCBs.
The Z Axis backlash was giving me grief until I worked out the right values compensation to put into Mach3.
On this machine it was 0.028mm

Enough accuracy to do fine PCBs.
0.2mm cuts no problem with the right bit.

I killed two 0.15mm end mills in quick succession during initial tests.
Had not blown nz$90 that quick in ages.
Will stick with v cutters for now.

The problem is not how fine a track you can cut but getting those fine pitched components soldered on there


Have not done any fine engraving, just cutting out some plastic.


It is at the stage now of just being used.
Which is a good thing I guess, knowing it will just work.


I was also happy with the smaller machine, it just didn't have the Z travel I wanted.
It was also a lot less hassle getting up and running.
If you don't need the size or speed I would have stuck with the smaller one.

[sanderz]

Thanks for the replies

verycnc on ebay has these mills available. Was just thinking of getting a TI to do PCBs and then get something like an X2/X3 to actually do metal parts later. Is the TI a tonsen mill or only the 30200 and 30400 numbered ones? has anyone used one of these smaller ones?

Cheers

Sanderz

[Valisk]

I have to say I'm pleased with my Tonsen I.

I've been cutting and engraving cast Acrylic. I've also used it to cut 2mm aluminium sheet.

If the seller has sorted his packaging out, go for it - it's a nice little machine.

[sv1eps]

Could anyone tell me how I can convert the pcb that I designed with the Eagle software, to the correct format, in order the cnc to remove the unused copper from the pcb and leave the lines on it. When I'm using the produced Gcode from the Eagle sw, the cnc starts cutting on the line.
Thank you in advance.

[asadou]

Is this the machine you are all talking about?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...#ht_4850wt_940

CNC router engraver drilling and milling machine TI
US $610.00

is that the seller too?

I'm quite interested in this machine

thanks

[sv1eps]

Yes Asadou, this is my machine. I bought it at June 2009 and the price was $580+$200 for shipping. I'm very pleased with this machine, but remember, you must have a parallel port to drive the machine. I solved this problem and now I make my pcbs which are very fine (smd components). I don't know yet the way to design something and to engrave it on wood or 3d engravings. I'm still trying to find the correct program.
jarod19810127 is the seller.
Theofanakis Konstantinos

[Valisk]

Yep, that's the machine I have too. I bought it around the same time as Theo.

[asadou]

I'm almost there. Very very tempted of getting one. Which should I get?
TI? 30200???? quality comparison? which is better built?
I mainly want to do PCB milling and so I guess the high speed spindle of TI will be useful. Which is better? any experience? recommendations? what are the advantages of having the spindle motor mounted on the Z axis as the 30200 has instead of having the motor at the side and connecting it with that flexible shaft as the TI does? thanks guys.
cheers

[sv1eps]

I'm almost there. Very very tempted of getting one. Which should I get?
TI? 30200???? quality comparison? which is better built?
I mainly want to do PCB milling and so I guess the high speed spindle of TI will be useful. Which is better? any experience? recommendations? what are the advantages of having the spindle motor mounted on the Z axis as the 30200 has instead of having the motor at the side and connecting it with that flexible shaft as the TI does? thanks guys.
cheers

Hi Asadoumine is with the flexible cable. The first time I was wondering if it could do the job and how I could find a way to have it above the machine. It is very simple to consolidate it on the wall. The cable is straight and everything goes ok. I don't know if it is better to have it on the Z axis, but I beleive that it would be.
Now I'm trying to engrave a bmp file on rock. I will inform you with a foto.
Theofanakis Konstantinos

[Lanthan]

Dear all,

I am considering getting a 3040 from verycnc as a first machine. Considering emc2 (linuxcnc) to run it. Projected use: hobby: plexi and light aluminium.
Apparently jarod does not have any settings files for 3040 and emc2

Does anyone have experience with emc2 and this machine or similar, 3020? Settings? Things I should be attentive to? Thank you for any hints.

[mar-tec]

Hi!
I read whole topic but haven't found basic information about Tonsen (TI) machine- what is the diameter of guide rails (X,Y and Z)? What kind of Nema motor does the machine use? Nema17? 23? (Seller doesn't provide this information but I'll send a question to him also).
Is anybody who tried to engrave something in aluminium?
Thank you guys and sorry for my english.