[bigbunny5]

Help, I'm s Total NOOB at desktop CNC, but I am currently working on a small 3"x5" Desk Top Mill to learn more before trying to do a conversion on my own Commercial Made tools,
So far I am thinking I am going to use either This open source DIY Controller or the FET3 Controller or maybe the Hobby CNC board. so the next step is to figure out the software I'm going to need and that has me going round and round. I OWN Acad 2000 and acad 2002, so if possible I'd like to figure out the best lowest cost easiest most idiot proof way of going from acad 2000 to mill what do I need? I'd like to stay with lower cost (Cost effective) software that I can try before I buy. I'm hoping to use a Toshiba Libretto P166 running win 98 so a win 98 or dos would be best also any ideas on other cost effective all in one controller would be welcome
TIA

[bpereira@comcas]

I started to get into CNC about three years ago when I built a small router. It went through very many improvements and I learned quite a bit about the various aspects of getting a machine running well.
I started with homemade 297/298 chipset controllers. If you are looking for a cheap controller to get started this would be a good place to start. You can find a lot of info on the net for these type of controllers. I just built the reference design from the data sheets. These controllers will work OK but will not give you the performance of a microstepping controller.
I ran these controllers from a windows 98 laptop using TurboCNC. This is a free program you can find on the net and will give you reliable service under 98. It's a pretty basic program and does not do everything well. Constant velocity is not possible so the movement is not as smooth as it could be. Circular interpolation is very slow and the tool basically comes to a stop at the four quadrants.
I eventually built a microstepping controller and the improvement to the motor control was vastly improved. With microstepping you will get more torque and speed from whatever motor you are using.
Early in the process I bought Kcam to control the machine. This is a windows program (TurboCNC is DOS) and the pulse train was very erratic. This is because windows spends most of it's time doing windows things. DOS is a real time OS and spends all it time running your program. With that said, I still wanted to switch to WindowsXP. I found Mach3 online and after testing it for about ten minutes I bought it. This is a windows program but it has it's own driver that installs like a piece of hardware. That driver generates the pulse train and is very stable. It does constant velocity and that alone will get you much faster run times as the tool is not constantly acceling/deceling. This will also give you cleaner cut.
For a CAM program I first purchase VcarvePro. This is a CAM program that is mainly meant for the signage industry but I have found it useful for many type of jobs. It will do most of common types of tool paths and I have used it to do full 3D cut parts. It is also very easy to use and is one of the cheapest solutions you will find. I believe I paid $450 of it.
You can import DXF's from your AutoCad. Last year I purchased BOBCad. This is a CAD and CAM package. I like you have AutoCad, Solidworks, etc.. so I didn't need the CAD side of it but it's CAM side is very capable and will generate tool paths that Vcarve cannot. Like 3D surfaces. It is a bit harder to use, especially if you are not familiar with CAM. It is one of the cheapest solution you will find but is still not cheap. I think they list it at $2500 but I got it for $799. They will work with you on the price. Especially if it is just for personal use. As you can see, the software will probable be your greatest expense. So you can do it on the cheap but you will get the performance you pay for. Oh, BTW Mach3 is very reasonably priced and it even has some toolpath generation features.
Hope this helps.

[dertsap]

for what you need i would say go with the hobbycnc board
the fet is an ok board but the need for power resistors is a pain when you want to add more voltage

[bigbunny5]

Thanks bpereira:
where the main Confusion comes in is, Do I need 3 separate pieces of software? DO I need a separate CAD, Tool Path Generator, and CAM for control of the machine ? or will Turbo CNC do it all from DXF to Machine? Right now just for learning, I'm gonna have to take the COST EFFECTIVE path first, and once I got it figured out and it stars becoming useful in my model building, I'll step up and get the Better Commercial products.

Edit:Spelling

[bigbunny5]

for what you need i would say go with the hobbycnc board

That's been the leading thought as it is the most cost effective way to go.

[dertsap]

i ve got a fet3 as well as geckos , the gecko came after i squeezed as much as i could out of the fet board
i have no experience with the the hobby board but anything ive read about it is positive , as long as you plan to stick with small motors the hobby board should do

[bigbunny5]

as long as you plan to stick with small motors the hobby board should do

For this Machine, I am defiantly going to stick with smaller Steppers out of old FULL hight Tandon 5 1/4 Floppies or maybe out of some old 20meg RLL Seagate Drives. this first machine is just a learning experience. once I prove to myself I can make it work I'll invest in Better quality stuff like the Geckos.%99.999999 of what I'll be doing will be silver, magnesium, plastics and some brass

[dertsap]

keep an eye on ebay , nice lil motors come up quite often that are cheap

[ikifar]

Hi
for real cheap controller boards for small steppers try
Easy Driver stepper motor driver
commercially made http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/pro...oducts_id=8368
build you own
http://greta.dhs.org/EasyDriver/

Regards

[joecnc1234]

I LOVE THIS HOBBY,I bought a MATSUURA 510V FOR 4000.00 PUT A COUPLE OF RELAYS IN IT AND I HAVE A REAL CNC MAKNG PARTS GO FOR IT?????????? IF YOU TAKE A CHANCE SOMETIMMES IT WORKS YOU CAN'T GO WRONG WITH MATSUURA. IF YOU BUY ONE AND NEED SOME HELP PM ME I SPENT 80 HRS WITH MY BABY.

[bigbunny5]

for real cheap controller boards for small steppers try
Easy Driver stepper motor driver

Those are Kool , but I'm realy looking for a controller that is the driver and interface all in one kinda thing. Being a portable thing I'm trying to minimise all the wireing and components

[bpereira@comcas]

It sound like you know the steps you have to take to get from drawing to part.
You are going to need at least two pieces of software. You already have the first covered with AutoCad. Most of the time you will be saving as a DXF or HPGL. Then you are going to need to generate the toolpath and run it on the machine. These are usually two different programs. I use Mach3 to run my machine and I really like it. The cost is $159. Pretty steep if you are on a tight budget but still one of the cheapest programs you will find. You get two for one with this program as it will generate tool paths and has what they call wizards for generating quite a few standard toolpaths like, slots, surfaces, even gears.
It also comes with a program called LazyCam. I have not used these CAM features much so I can't tell you much about them but it seems like they would fit the bill for you.
TurboCNC is only for machine control and has no CAM capabilities and it will only run well under Windows98 in DOS mode. It is free though. You may find some freeware DXF/HPGL to CNC converters if you look around. But like anything else you get what you pay for.

hope it helps

[bigbunny5]

It sound like you know the steps you have to take to get from drawing to part.
You are going to need at least two pieces of software. You already have the first covered with AutoCad. .....
TurboCNC is only for machine control and has no CAM capabilities and it will only run well under Windows98 in DOS mode. It is free though.

Thanx man , I'm thinking I'm going to run Turbo CNC for now and maybe invest in Mach 3 at some point. My main Idea is I want to use my old P166/64MB/2 Gb Toshiba Libretto laptop as my Machine Controller. and dos is real appealing to me right now for stability reasons.and autocad 12 for dos runs real niceon it and so does autocad 2000 in win 98. I also just picked up a 486/66 P.O.S. touch screen all in one computer I'd like to try to use , agan bringing me back to dos. MOST if not ALL of my drawing will probaly be done on my Vista Laptop or Win 2K Desktop in ACAD 2002. I'm gona try Enroute to generate my tool paths, but I'm open to other ideas My biggest question is while I'm stuck in the learning curve I can come up with thousands of things TO draw, like clipart. so when working in AutoCADD, do I want to do 2D or 3D Drawings?
do I want to do solid models or wireframes?
What are the rules for doing drawings ?