[gully]

Hi Mactec54

Thanks for your input.
I have not wound any preload onto the linear bearings (I made sure the adjustment screws were loose) The only load on the bearings at this point would just be the weight of the gantry

Gully

[mactec54]

Hi Mactec54

Thanks for your input.
I have not wound any preload onto the linear bearings (I made sure the adjustment screws were loose) The only load on the bearings at this point would just be the weight of the gantry

Gully

I think you misunderstood what I said, the linear rails when you buy them com in different Preload levels most get a medium preload, is they are preloaded then the rail mounting have to be near zero for straightness in all directions or they will wear quite quick

If the Linear Rails bearings have no Preload the your rail mounting does not have to be perfect it can be within the tolerance of that Rail Bearing set

[pippin88]

I think you misunderstood what I said, the linear rails when you buy them com in different Preload levels most get a medium preload, is they are preloaded then the rail mounting have to be near zero for straightness in all directions or they will wear quite quick

If the Linear Rails bearings have no Preload the your rail mounting does not have to be perfect it can be within the tolerance of that Rail Bearing set

He is using round supported rail.

[Sterob]

Finally pulled the finger out and picked up the slotted duct.:banana:
To celebrate the occasion, today I banged in all the AC side of the electrics
Attachment 459382 Attachment 459384
Have tested it for correct switching, continuity, insulation and resistance and all is good so will be happy to power it up.
Just need to fit some din rail end stops to keep all the connectors together properly.
DC stuff next

Gully

An observation Gully.
You are shorting all you Terminal Blocks using wire. Best practise is to screw in shorting links along the centre of the sections to achieve this.
Your way will work ok, but there a higher ( abiet small ) chance of a wire coming loose only because there are more of them.
A shorting strip also allow you to use both sides of the blocks, so you can save some room.

That might not be a problem for you....lol Your way is cheaper!


Steve

[mactec54]

He is using round supported rail.

Not a problem then, he has no preload to worry about almost anything goes for this type of Rail, as they normally have around .1mm clearance and some are adjustable

[pippin88]

Not a problem then, he has no preload to worry about almost anything goes for this type of Rail, as they normally have around .1mm clearance and some are adjustable

Yes. Fairly unusual to see someone shim / try to achieve precision with round rail.

Looking good Gully.

[gully]

Finally have had time to get back on the cnc build
Control box wiring is completed apart from a couple of switches I have ordered
AC side all tested and working as advertised
limit switches, steppers etc have just been belled out at this point to confirm they are wired /operate correctly
Still need to order a smooth stepper and get that installed to go much further with setting up the axis and getting movement
All the cable drag chain is fitted as well and I've started on the spoil board. So progressing slowly.
Attachment 460754

Gully

[gully]

Another job off the to do list.
Spoil board base strips sealed and fitted and hold down track installed.
The base strips will get a layer of black 5mm PVC board glued to it and that will then get leveled to become the machine bed.
Attachment 461098 Attachment 461100

Smooth stepper has been ordered so hopefully over the Easter break I can get that all working and have some moving parts to show off.

Gully

[gully]

Well my high hopes of moving parts over Easter came and went as Wifey had other plans for me
But this weekend I had time to devote to making this bad boy move.

Smooth stepper set up went well on the laptop. Had it playing nice with their recommended version of Mac3. (R3.043.062) Happy days!
Configuration and general set up of the machine was going great till I tried to set up the steps per..... function on the motors. Then for some reason the software started doing really weird stuff.
Changing the steps on any axis would drastically alter the speed and acceleration of it without input
For one distance test it would move in the right direction then on the check test it would move in reverse for about 15mm and stop.
Never had that issue with any of the other versions of Mach Iv'e run in my Joe's.

I persisted for an hour of late afternoon head banging then decided it wasn't happening and that I needed to bin that version and give an earlier version a run. No love there either as the earlier version refused to see the smooth stepper
So that was my Saturday ending in tears.
Spent Sunday morning dumping and reloading software on the laptop. Found a later version of Mach 3 (.066) on Artsofts FTP archive page. So onto the laptop that went for a try.
That appeared to do the trick (touch wood) as I managed to do the steps per inch function in about 10 minutes with no issues.
So as of now I have control over the machine. It moves correctly. The home function works correctly and hopefully the steps per inch will no longer be an issue
Slowly setting it up and trying not to break anything. Will try and get some video of it in motion next weekend if the CNC gods smile on me.
Still have a fair bit of tinkering left to do but it looks like I should even make my unofficial 12 month time frame deadline on this build.

Gully

[peteeng]

Hi Gully - Yes the "1 year" barrier is like the 1 minute mile and the sound barrier. I used to have 6 months in my head until I built two and realised to Design and Build a year horizon is better! It comes and goes as well... Its looking great! Peter

[Sterob]

Have you always used Latops Gully?
Some have horror stories from using, some have none.....

[gully]

Hi Pete
Thanks.
Yes the year barrier is always flexible and is either based on time available or spare cash to throw at it. But dam, it does come round quick.

Hi Sterob
No I'm not a fan of using laptops for running a CNC. Give me a dedicated PC any day. The Dell one running my Joe's is at least 20 years old and hasn't missed a beat
I'm only using the laptop as a stop gap measure for the initial set up to keep things moving along so to speak. I have just had no time to sort out and get a spare PC running to the required spec.
maybe in a month or so I will have that sorted as well

Gully

[InMesh]

Getting there for sure youl have fun once your up and running , I have finally purchased a smooth stepper board after thinking about it too long now I can step away from XP yay locally sourced ,

[gully]

Hi InMesh,
Thanks for dropping past.
Hopefully for you, It should be a pretty straight forward change over on an existing machine.
I thought way too long about swapping over to a spindle from a super PID/ router combo. The 1st time it ran I thought why didn't I do this years ago.

Gully

[InMesh]

Yep I have had the water cooled spindle now for 6 years still going strong done a lot of work ,I would like more than 24k rpm for the 1mm cutters I use but I am happy with my lot .A small water pump with coolant tank and red coolant mix to stop the growth and corrosion all good .cheers John.

[gully]

While my tidy up and to do list to finish off this puppy runs into 2 pages. The fact that it will reliably now move on all axis for me means the hard bit is done and dusted:cheers:
And you also know that its close when you start spending your time adding on stuff that you might never use such as a laser x hair instead of working on finishing the to do list.
Attachment 462386

Also proof of life video as promised



Still need to machine a few more bits and pieces on my Joe's, then I will be able to move the spindle over to its new home.
so close and yet so far!

Gully

[Sterob]

Very nice.

[gully]

HELP:drowning:
Slowed to a stop as I have an issue with the Z axis
Despite working correctly when I first set it up ie: went up when the up button pressed went down when the down button pressed
Suddenly that stopped and now will only go in the down direction when either up or down is pressed.

Wasn't sure if it was a stepper/driver issue, cable issue, software issue or something else. so I have been in fault finding mode
actions so far
Tested stepper windings and belled out cable found no issue.
Swapped from laptop to a PC (was planning to do this anyway) and did a full clean install of warp9 and Mach3 then redid the setup from scratch : Problem persists
Swapped out Z stepper driver for a spare Gecko driver from my Joe's and ran a new test cable from driver to stepper motor: Problem persists
operated the Z stepper from the X axis driver (as X axis) : went up and down so motor ok
So Iv'e ruled out software, driver, stepper motor and cable
That sort of leaves me looking at the breakout board being were issue is lurking. So more testing to be done after work during the week.
Suggestions welcome in case there is some setting in mach that I may have missed.

Gully

[pippin88]

To confirm:
Z axis moves down when you command down
Also moves down when you command up? (Or does nothing when you command up?)

Sounds like direction signal is not changing.

Check direction signal wiring.
Check pulse widths (some drivers require longer pulse widths for direction than step pulses)

[gully]

Hi Pippin88
There is definitely a direction signal issue going on
Slowly working my way through everything and checking it off the suspect list
Will report back with the cause when I have sorted it

Gully