[peteeng]

Evening All - Today I picked up the ballscrews. I even tidied the project bench and put back anything Frankie wasn't going to use. I picked out a screw and tried to slip the bearings on and found they did not fit by hand. This happened last time as well. So I shall have to take it to the Menshed and give the lands a slight polish on the lathe so they fit. Yesterday I designed the spindle plate and made a paper template and checked its fit. All good, so have to plan the mould and cast it... then pull down the Z axis and cross drill it and reassemble. Hmmm maybe next week for sawdust... Peter

[peteeng]

Hi All and Sundry - Today I fitted the bearings to one of the ballscrews that was a bit tight. The two others were fine. Now I can fit them. A wipe with a file then some 400G and it was a great fit. For those worried about the screw surface in the chuck I did use a split plastic tube around the screw...Peter

[peteeng]

Hi All - Started mounting the motor mounts and screws today. Tomorrow work on the mould for the spindle plate. Lots of shiny bits. One advantage of the round rails is being chrome plated they don't rust... Peter

[peteeng]

Hi All - been a bad day today. let the smoke out of one controller then the next ones Y axis is weird. Waiting to see if the supplier will replace them Peter

[peteeng]

Hi all and sundry - Well yesterday started well but ended badly. In the morning I reshaped a spanner so I could snug down the ballscrews better. That went well. I then assembled the gantry ballscrews and decided its time to turn the motors on. Since Musk tested his "Big Boy" yesterday I thought its time for Frankie's static test as well. So last checks of motor coil loops, continuities and low amp settings and power up! stutters and smoke! expletives. Y chip has fried... Looked over everything and found a loose wire but nothing to do this. The unit is current protected, overload protected, voltage protected etc etc.... So I have another in stock so with great trepidation put it in place , recheck everything and power up , no smoke and the motors turn... except the Y axis its got a buzz but no spin. So I swap the plugs over and the Y axis motor spins fine from the A axis. So I swap the X axis plugs and they are fine. So seems the Y axis has a bug. So I sent photos of smoke and units to the supplier requesting replacement. We shall see what happens. I have used 4 of these and one did blow up on power up some years ago. Otherwise they have been simple and reliable. Phenolic resin has a particular and lasting smell.

I'm moving to 3D printer motherboards anyways, hopefully their smoke is sealed in better (see prior entry for smoke images).... Peter

[mactec54]

Hi all and sundry - Well yesterday started well but ended badly. In the morning I reshaped a spanner so I could snug down the ballscrews better. That went well. I then assembled the gantry ballscrews and decided its time to turn the motors on. Since Musk tested his "Big Boy" yesterday I thought its time for Frankie's static test as well. So last checks of motor coil loops, continuities and low amp settings and power up! stutters and smoke! expletives. Y chip has fried... Looked over everything and found a loose wire but nothing to do this. The unit is current protected, overload protected, voltage protected etc etc.... So I have another in stock so with great trepidation put it in place , recheck everything and power up , no smoke and the motors turn... except the Y axis its got a buzz but no spin. So I swap the plugs over and the Y axis motor spins fine from the A axis. So I swap the X axis plugs and they are fine. So seems the Y axis has a bug. So I sent photos of smoke and units to the supplier requesting replacement. We shall see what happens. I have used 4 of these and one did blow up on power up some years ago. Otherwise they have been simple and reliable. Phenolic resin has a particular and lasting smell.

I'm moving to 3D printer motherboards anyways, hopefully their smoke is sealed in better (see prior entry for smoke images).... Peter

You should not be using a package like this, this could have been much worse, Breakout Boards should be separate from the Drives, this is a junk package at its best, no matter if you have used it before, you need to change, so the Drives are separate.

Most 3D Printer Boards are light weight, so make sure they can handle your Router power requirements.

[peteeng]

Hi Mactec - Its a simple solution for a simple router at $53usd they are attractive but not if they fail!! . They have worked fine in the past. The 3D printer boards can handle up to 6A from memory so they are beefy, the one I'm looking at uses external drivers so I can pick the driver needed. Peter

[peteeng]

Hi All - I spent some time today working thru the controller issue. I decided that the Y axis has an internal short preventing the motor from turning. If I pull the motor plug out of the board I can turn the motor, Put it in and I can't so its shorted. This may also explain why No1 blew up. We wait to see what the supplier does. Peter

3d printer board 6A peak....https://www.duet3d.com/duet3mainboard6hc something like this next time

[mactec54]

Hi All - I spent some time today working thru the controller issue. I decided that the Y axis has an internal short preventing the motor from turning. If I pull the motor plug out of the board I can turn the motor, Put it in and I can't so its shorted. This may also explain why No1 blew up. We wait to see what the supplier does. Peter

3d printer board 6A peak....https://www.duet3d.com/duet3mainboard6hc something like this next time

Compact being all in one does not make it ideal with an open Board like this, the link is expensive also and has a lot of stuff you don't need for a CNC Router, Ideal you what each drive separate so if you have a problem with one drive, you don't have to change out the whole package, and can keep a spare in case of any problems, snip below this type of package is what most use, most want away from the open Board packages years ago, the only well-known and best all in one package is the Gecko 540

[peteeng]

Hi Mactec - I've used a Gecko540 in the past and it is a good unit. Its downside is soldering up all the connections. But it does not have input shaping. I've used a cheap BOB and separate drivers (DM542) on a few builds and that's fine too. But I want to improve the next machines motion and the printer controllers offer that. Here's the Duet3D board that uses external drivers. The BTT boards have plug in drivers so that solves that concern as well. BTT are cheaper but don't seem to have as much info on the CNC side. Its worth keeping an eye on BTT and Clipper they are moving ahead with motion control whereas the CNC world seems to be stuck.

I want to get Frankie making sawdust before I dive seriously into this new area. Peter

https://www.duet3d.com/duet3mainboard6xd

https://biqu.equipment/products/bigt...der3pro-ender5

Also the board integration has come up in another thread. I disagree that the parts should be separate. The CNC hobby industry has shot itself in the foot by keeping parts separate. Its cheaper & better to integrate all of the bits into one device. The industry is fragmented into computers software/machine controllers/BOBs/drivers etc with no chance of improvement unless all of these people get together to streamline and improve things, which has not happened & won't happen. The 3D printer people immediately realised this and made integrated units, investigated motion control and improved everything. Now there are 3D printer retail shops & 3D printer conventions its a whole industry. Routers and mills may well one day not exist. New upcoming young Makers will be familiar with 3D printing tech and will go down the BTT path for their machines, not the clumsy CNC path we now have. Companies like UCCNC that make their own motion controllers may integrate and improve but companies like Mach are out on a limb and will perish. The industry has been "disrupted" and the new wave coming will wash many companies away.....

[mactec54]

Hi Mactec - I've used a Gecko540 in the past and it is a good unit. Its downside is soldering up all the connections. But it does not have input shaping. I've used a cheap BOB and separate drivers (DM542) on a few builds and that's fine too. But I want to improve the next machines motion and the printer controllers offer that. Here's the Duet3D board that uses external drivers. The BTT boards have plug in drivers so that solves that concern as well. BTT are cheaper but don't seem to have as much info on the CNC side. Its worth keeping an eye on BTT and Clipper they are moving ahead with motion control whereas the CNC world seems to be stuck.

I want to get Frankie making sawdust before I dive seriously into this new area. Peter

https://www.duet3d.com/duet3mainboard6xd

https://biqu.equipment/products/bigt...der3pro-ender5

Also the board integration has come up in another thread. I disagree that the parts should be separate. The CNC hobby industry has shot itself in the foot by keeping parts separate. Its cheaper & better to integrate all of the bits into one device. The industry is fragmented into computers software/machine controllers/BOBs/drivers etc with no chance of improvement unless all of these people get together to streamline and improve things, which has not happened & won't happen. The 3D printer people immediately realised this and made integrated units, investigated motion control and improved everything. Now there are 3D printer retail shops & 3D printer conventions its a whole industry. Routers and mills may well one day not exist. New upcoming young Makers will be familiar with 3D printing tech and will go down the BTT path for their machines, not the clumsy CNC path we now have. Companies like UCCNC that make their own motion controllers may integrate and improve but companies like Mach are out on a limb and will perish. The industry has been "disrupted" and the new wave coming will wash many companies away.....

I understand where you are coming from, they do it for compactness, to have a smaller control package, which works very well for the 3D printers, it's not Ideal though in terms of electronics, failure is high with these packages, standalone Controllers like this are becoming very popular, and come in many different options.

[peteeng]

Hi Mactec - How much is the digital dream? Looked on their site now they are at V4.1 Peter

[peteeng]

Hi All and Sundry - Since the controllers were over 12 months old they won't replace them so I'll think about what to do next on that issue. I have started to think about Lanky the next build. It will be a long machine, maybe 3m long. BST can only supply rail in 2m lengths but they do grind the ends to match. Has anyone done this before Is a joined rail OK? I can get 4m local but its twice the price....Peter

[mactec54]

Hi Mactec - How much is the digital dream? Looked on their site now they are at V4.1 Peter

It just depends what package you want to buy from $180 to $560, V3.1 4 Axis is still much the same as the V4.1 which can be 5Axis.

[peteeng]

Hi All - Looking at electronics system costs. Here are my 4 basic systems. S1 & S2 I have used 2 or 3 times each. Now I'm going to move to S3 or S4. The Chinese Big Tree Tech is the cheapest but its CNC side is not developed as well as S3 yet. But its worth investigating as it will always be cheaper then S3. S3 is British and does not have the volume that BTT have. S3 & S4 have input shaping. The printer GUIs are different to CNC GUIs so a bit to figure out there. Peter

[peteeng]

Evening all - I'm now focused on moulding Frankies Spindle Mount., So I have started on the mould, bits and bobs. Cleared off a bench so I have a project bench and started mustering stuff. I think the billet will be 25mm thick, faces of carbon fibre and middle of steel fibres. The part will be 22mm thick I think. I've stopped on the electronics until the new controller arrives. So now to figure out the recipe for the cast. 2 parts this, 6 parts that, a dash of dust, vacuum cook for 6 hrs, let rest for 2 hrs, release... etc.. Peter

Billet to be 340x148x25mm thick...

[peteeng]

So the recipe is - 1005g of epoxy + 163g of CF + 1747g of steel and you have a nice billet... The steel is 20% fibre volume and the CF is 60% fibre volume... Now I have to check the bag I have has no leaks,. Its been in storage for several years and its time to use it or flick it... Peter

[peteeng]

So more done today forwarding the spindle plate casting. I modified a vacuum port so it suited the vac bag port. I haven't used a clothing vac bag for this before, its a bit stiffer then normal vac bag but I'll cope. I then vacuum checked the bag and it came down to <1500Pa which is fine for this job. 1000Pa is 99% vacuum or 1% air, left depending on how you want to look at it. I softened the edges of the mould and started thinking about resin and vacuum strategy. Now to wax the mould and cut the CF. Peter

[peteeng]

Evening all - I have found a guy who builds routers and 3D printers using Big Tree Tech mother boards so I now know thats possible. So the small router I'm rebuilding will morph into a chocolate printer driven by BTT and Clipper. That's after I get Frankenrouter out of the shed!! So I'll get the plate cast asap... Peter

[peteeng]

Hi All - Today I gave the spindle a spin and set up the carbon stack for the spindle plate. I'm short a valve so will get it tomorrow and vacuum cast the billet... Peter