(chair) Never let the CNC run unattended...
Not sure what happened, But lost all my electronics last night... Cutting parts to build a RepRap Prusa, things were going good - so I decided family time was in order...
I'll post some pics once I clean up after the fire extinguisher, had either a massive short, or the power supply went nuclear... Luckily the allen bradley panic switch melted off a contact, the GFCI didn't trip...
Word of wisdom - nema1 cabinets for electronics are great for keeping router fodder out, but don't make for easy access in case of fire... Got a nice deep burn on the finger trying to release the top catch...
Damage count - power supply, hobbycnc board, control cabinet, toshiba toughbook (the real pissoff - I hunted for a laptop with an LPT forever - power LED comes on, but don't even get beeps), at least the X & Y axis steppers (not sure on Z - my phidgets stepper controller didn't like the second test - its now dead) Gantry is in pieces, guess overbuilding with 1" acme threaded rods wasn't the smartest idea... Should have had a sacrificial part in there somewhere as a mechanical fuse to protect things...
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Well on the bright side; Guess it's mulligan time... Been pondering some upgrades to the router table; and the 24x24 size wasn't what I hoped; seemed like a good mix when I built it - but I'm usually either doing something much smaller, or wishing I had a 4x8'.
Thinking it's time to suck it up and go crazy, build a high precision 12x12 desktop unit, then start on a 4x8 this summer for the bigger stuff...
But at the same time perhaps it's time for upgrades? Saw that the preorders have started for the grblshield - an arduino via USB is much nicer than trying to chase down more Laptops with LPT ports... And trying to keep legacy hardware running... Dunno - anyone have thoughts?