[rlockwood]

I always love reading your posts Ray. Thanks for sharing.
I have used the Miteebite fixture clamps before and often had them come loose during machining and my part and cutter was instantly ruined. I hope you have better luck than I have had.

They make various clamps, some of which work fantastic, and I'd go so far as to say that every one of the clamps they sell has its place when properly applied..

[SCzEngrgGroup]

I always love reading your posts Ray. Thanks for sharing.
I have used the Miteebite fixture clamps before and often had them come loose during machining and my part and cutter was instantly ruined. I hope you have better luck than I have had.

What I'm using is Uniforce clamps, which appear to work very nicely. I agree with your comments regarding the hex eccentric clamps.

Regards,
Ray L.

[polaraligned]

Yes Ray, it was the hex clamps that I have had problems with. They really work poorly.
I will look into the Uniforce clamps.

BTW, what brand/style HSS endmill are you currently using? I am thinking about dropping using carbide and switching to HSS. Price of carbide is getting to be too much.

[slowtwitch]

Yes Ray, it was the hex clamps that I have had problems with. They really work poorly.

I also had issues with the hex type clamps. I have since changed to the MiteeBite PitBull clamps and I have been very happy with the change

[SCzEngrgGroup]

Yes Ray, it was the hex clamps that I have had problems with. They really work poorly.
I will look into the Uniforce clamps.

BTW, what brand/style HSS endmill are you currently using? I am thinking about dropping using carbide and switching to HSS. Price of carbide is getting to be too much.

I'm using exclusively Hertels, from Enco. They're about $12 each for a 1/2" 2-flute. HSS will give you all the performance your machine can handle. Without more RPM, and more power, and more rigidity, carbide doesn't have a lot to offer, except in smaller sizes (1/4" and below), where the extra stiffness of carbide is helpful, even if run at HSS speeds.

Regards,
Ray L.

[SCzEngrgGroup]

My metal order finally showed up a few days ago, so I've finally been able to finish the last of the PDB production fixtures:

Attachment 201382

Attachment 201388

Attachment 201390

Attachment 201392

Attachment 201394

Tomorrow I hope to start actually making parts!

I've also just ordered PCBs to "integrate" and clean-up the electronics. The PCB replaces the Plexiglas panel used in the beta units, but will make assembly of the electronics MUCH faster and easier.

Attachment 201396

Still TBD whether the spindle load function will be enabled in the production firmware....

Regards,
Ray L.

[SCzEngrgGroup]

BTW - A really tiny, but very useful "upgrade" I made to my machine recently:

Make a punch mark on the front of the table, indicating the exact center of X axis travel (i.e. - the point that will be directly under the centerline of the spindle when the table is at the mid-point of its travel. Put matching marks on any long fixtures. I have quite a few fixtures that are over 23" long. Especially when fabricating them, I have to move the tool outside the bounds of the fixture to machine the ends. If the fixture is not pretty close to dead-center on the table travels (which is nowhere near the physical center of the table itself), I'll run into a limit at one end or the other. Having the punchmarks makes it very easy to get things pretty well centered by eye, and be confident I have enough room to do what I need. Of course, I also know the limits of travel are 12.5" either side of the punch mark.

Regards,
Ray L.

[SCzEngrgGroup]

First "production" parts!



Regards,
Ray L.

[SCzEngrgGroup]

This was a good day! In addition to getting a bunch of PDB parts made, I just did something really cool:

I've been concerned about the possibility of a bug being found in the PDB firmware after a number of units are out in the field. Or, perhaps a new function is added. How do we distribute and install new and improved firmware without requiring users to ship their electronics back to the "factory" to be upgraded? In addition, while I've included an interface for the PDB and ATC to communicate with each other, there is a good chance that once the ATC is developed, I'll find that more communications is required to make everything work really smoothly. The problem is, loading new firmware into these MCUs normally requires use of a PC, and a special programming adaptor to connect the PC to the MCU board in the PDB. What I did today completely eliminates the need for the PC and programming adaptor. I created a function that allows the MCU in the PDB to be programmed by another, identical MCU. The MCUs themselves are cheap, so a "firmware update" can take the form of a new "upgrade" MCU board that is mailed to the user. The user need only connect the "upgrade" MCU to the ATC connector on the PDB, and press a button. The "upgrade" MCU will then re-program the MCU on the PDB with the new firmware. Simple, cheap, pretty much idiot-proof, and it works perfectly!

Regards,
Ray L.

[keithmcelhinney]

Ray you the man! Going to be ordering my machine in the next couple of weeks and can't wait for the PDB. Did you decide on the load meter? What if I said pretty please?

-Keith

[SCzEngrgGroup]

Ray you the man! Going to be ordering my machine in the next couple of weeks and can't wait for the PDB. Did you decide on the load meter? What if I said pretty please?

-Keith

Keith,

Haven't made a final decision on the load meter. Personally, I find it pretty useless. I may leave it in there, but disabled, and provide a way for the user to enable it.

Regards,
Ray L.

[keithmcelhinney]

That would work!

[SCzEngrgGroup]

Lots of progress the last few days! I've now got nearly all the aluminum bits for 20 PDBs done. I'll get the rest done over the next couple of days, then off to the anodizers. Lots of updates to the firmware as well. I added the new "field upgrade" mode, so firmware will be easily upgradable, for bug fixes and new features. I also built a prototype of the "field programmer" - a little box about the size of a pack of cigarettes. Plug it into the ATC connector on the PDB, press one buttton, and it upgrades the PDB firmware. I wanted to show that working today, but it looks like the display I built it with is defective. I'll have to debug that tomorrow. I made the spindle load meter optional - it can be turned on and off by the user. Personally, I find it pretty useless. The new PCBs are due in any day, so I hope to have them in-hand and have the first one built up later this week. I also designed an automated test/burn-in fixture that will "exercise" 5 units simulaneously. Once that's done, all units leaving here will have been thoroughly tested and burned in, so there should be no problems when installed, other than installation errors.

Below are most of the aluminum bits for the first 20 units. They're really coming out beautifully, and the new fixtures are working wonderfully. The Torus Pro is, as always, an absolute rock - solid, dead-reliable and consistent. The biggest problem I have is figuring out where store the mountains of chips it generates every day. I'm running out of garbage sans....

Attachment 201982

[MRM RCModels]

Lots of progress the last few days! I've now got nearly all the aluminum bits for 20 PDBs done. I'll get the rest done over the next couple of days, then off to the anodizers. Lots of updates to the firmware as well. I added the new "field upgrade" mode, so firmware will be easily upgradable, for bug fixes and new features. I also built a prototype of the "field programmer" - a little box about the size of a pack of cigarettes. Plug it into the ATC connector on the PDB, press one buttton, and it upgrades the PDB firmware. I wanted to show that working today, but it looks like the display I built it with is defective. I'll have to debug that tomorrow. I made the spindle load meter optional - it can be turned on and off by the user. Personally, I find it pretty useless. The new PCBs are due in any day, so I hope to have them in-hand and have the first one built up later this week. I also designed an automated test/burn-in fixture that will "exercise" 5 units simulaneously. Once that's done, all units leaving here will have been thoroughly tested and burned in, so there should be no problems when installed, other than installation errors.

Below are most of the aluminum bits for the first 20 units. They're really coming out beautifully, and the new fixtures are working wonderfully. The Torus Pro is, as always, an absolute rock - solid, dead-reliable and consistent. The biggest problem I have is figuring out where store the mountains of chips it generates every day. I'm running out of garbage sans....

Attachment 201982

Looks like money!

[Susan673]

I also had issues with the hex type clamps.

[BTP]

I just wanted to say this power draw bar is probably the sole reason I will choose a Torus Pro over a Tormach. I mean the bigger work cube is a factor as well, but I can't afford to have tools slipping, and from what Ray has been posting it seems it never happens with this style draw bar.

Just thought I'd share.

[SCzEngrgGroup]

I just wanted to say this power draw bar is probably the sole reason I will choose a Torus Pro over a Tormach. I mean the bigger work cube is a factor as well, but I can't afford to have tools slipping, and from what Ray has been posting it seems it never happens with this style draw bar.

Just thought I'd share.

You won't regret that decision - It's a wonderful machine! I could not be happier with mine.

Regards,
Ray L.

[SCzEngrgGroup]

Another very good day today. I got 25 bezels made, and made some progress on the drawbar "couplings". Tomorrow should be interesting, as I hope to do the machining on the drawbar couplings and the support tubes using the mill as a lathe. Once that's all done, I'm off to the anodizer - should be either Thursday or Friday. Then I just have to do the plastic parts, which go quickly.

I had hoped to post a video showing how the new firmware updater works, but I could not get either of my cameras to take a video where you could actually read the LCD display - the bright blue backlight seems to really mess with the auto exposure. But, here's what the "fancy" updater prototype looks like:

Attachment 202070

Inside is the same tiny (3/4" x 1.5") MCU board that is the "brains" of the PDB, along with the same LCD display. An LED peeks out through one of the holes near the right side of the case, and a push-button switch on the left side.

The connector near the left edge of the photo plugs into the ATC connector at the top-left of the PDB electronics. As soon as it's plugged in, the updater powers up, and displays "FW Update vx.xxx", where x.xxx is the version of firmware it will install if the update is performed. The version of the current firmware in the PDB is also viewable, using one of the several "diagnostic" modes built into the firmware. To proceed with the update, you simply press the button on the left side of the updater , and it will connect to the MCU in the PDB, load the new firmware, then reset the PDB. While the update is underway, one of the LEDs blinks to indicate programming is taking place. The LCD display shows a sequence of status messages, and a "progress" countdown, so you can easily see how the update is progressing. Full programming takes about 30 seconds. Should anything go wrong, a clear error message is displayed, indicating what failed.

The "less fancy" version of the updater is simply the MCU board, pushbutton, and cable - no LCD, no enclosure. The LED is on solid to indicate it is ready to do the update. Once the button is pressed, the LED blinks to indicate programming is underway. Should anything go wrong, the LED will repeatedly blink from one to size times, then go out for two seconds. The number of blinks indicates the specific error that caused programming to fail.

My intent is to offer both programmers. The "fancy" one will be provided on a "loaner" basis. It will be mailed to a user to perform his update, then either returned, or mailed on to the next user. The "less fancy" version will be treated as a one-time "throw-away". The user will pay a nominal fee for it (under $20), and once the update is done, he can either return it, throw it away, or pass it along to another user. My hope is most users will never have a need to update their firmware, but you never know....

I'm very confident in the PDB design at this point. Feedback from the beta users has been very positive, and there were only a few very minors problems found in beta testing. I've heard nothing from the beta testers in several weeks now, so I'm assuming they're still happy, and making lots of chips. Either that, or they've both gotten thoroughly disgusted and given up! :-)

The unit I've been running for the last 6 weeks or so was one of the beta units originally slated to go to Novakon. Testing on that unit revealed a couple of issues I wanted to dig into: The motor current was higher than the other units I'd tested up to that time, and the "lift" mechanism was sometimes "sticky", and would not always return fully to the "up" position after PDB use. I made a few very minor dimensional changes to a few components, and a couple of firmware changes including adding numerous "tuneable" parameters and a means of testing to determine the optimum values for some of them, to address these issues. Interestingly, after just a few days of regular use, that unit began working very nicely. Apart from those first few days, it has been working absolutely flawlessly for many weeks now. I guess some things just needed to get "bedded in" to work as smoothly as they should, which is why the production units will be "burned in" by several hours of intense operational testing, to ensure no problems in the field.

Regards,
Ray L.

[AUSTINMACHINING]

Looking great Ray. You are pumping out some parts...

[dammachines]

Ray,

Just curious - if you're using an Arduino with (I'm assuming here) the Arduino boot loader - why not just use a PC to upload the new firmware over USB/Serial?

Thanks,
Dave