difalkner Posted September 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2016 In all 4 hours ago, Tom Cancelleri said: I'll say it again, but I can't wait to see it in action. You have any idea what your first cut is gonna be? I say do something fairly big for speed purposes. See how fast it is truly is with that beefy spindle and those NEMA 34s My first 'cuts' will be in the air - LOL! In all seriousness the first real cut will likely be just surfacing the spoil board and I'll probably do that at a variety of speeds. I have sooooo many projects I want to get to but the next big hurdle for me is reacquainting myself with Fusion 360 and deciding whether I want to get one of the Vectric products, like VCarve Pro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cancelleri Posted September 9, 2016 Report Share Posted September 9, 2016 4 minutes ago, difalkner said: In all My first 'cuts' will be in the air - LOL! In all seriousness the first real cut will likely be just surfacing the spoil board and I'll probably do that at a variety of speeds. I have sooooo many projects I want to get to but the next big hurdle for me is reacquainting myself with Fusion 360 and deciding whether I want to get one of the Vectric products, like VCarve Pro. I've been mucking around in Fusion 360 for the last 2 weeks. It's not that difficult to use, and seems really powerful. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
difalkner Posted September 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2016 Well, I finally made it to the switches for the door of the enclosure so I took my CorelDRAW file and headed over to my favorite laser shop, Bud's Trophy Case in Bossier City. They do excellent work and are so easy to work with - it's always a fun visit! I needed three switch plates cut and one label for the spindle hour meter. It took all of 10 minutes from loading the file to holding the finished items in my hand. There are a lot more things I could add to the door but for now this will work just fine. If you've never seen a laser running then you'll enjoy the short video. Next will be mounting the door and then wiring the switches. More later!! 1 minute ago, Tom Cancelleri said: I've been mucking around in Fusion 360 for the last 2 weeks. It's not that difficult to use, and seems really powerful. Earlier this year I downloaded about 10 different CAD programs and worked through each of them. I kept going back to Fusion 360 not only because I liked it but because of the price point. Hard to beat free! But then I settled into getting back to working on my guitar builds and then building this CNC so I haven't touched Fusion 360 in about 4 months. I'm sure it will come back to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
difalkner Posted September 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2016 Today I spent all morning tilling up the flower beds and then early afternoon doing some video editing for a friend starting his YouTube channel with a song he performed; not so much time on the CNC build. But the EMI filters came in so I did manage to get those mounted and the load side wired. The upper filter is 120V and the lower filter is 240V. Everything will be labeled when I finish the wiring. Still have to mount the panel into the enclosure and wire the steppers, spindle, water pump, fans, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted September 11, 2016 Report Share Posted September 11, 2016 That Lazer engraving thing was pretty darn cool. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
difalkner Posted September 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2016 5 hours ago, Brendon_t said: That Lazer engraving thing was pretty darn cool. Everybody ought to have one of those, right??!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick S Posted September 11, 2016 Report Share Posted September 11, 2016 2 hours ago, difalkner said: Everybody ought to have one of those, right??!! Not to mention one of these - Wazercut.com 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
difalkner Posted September 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2016 3 hours ago, micks said: Not to mention one of these - Wazercut.com Now THAT would be a cool addition to any shop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
difalkner Posted September 13, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2016 Today I ran some ground wires on the panel, set the panel into the enclosure (still need to bolt it to the enclosure cabinet, hope I don't forget that little step), finalized how I am going to run the shielded cable to the stepper drivers, and managed to get the Z axis cable run before shutting down tonight. The biggest thing accomplished today was getting with the Hitachi dealer technician to verify the shielded cable connections to the VFD to take advantage of Modbus for controlling the spindle. More to come - thanks for following along! David Because I can't use the 'Insert other media from URL' I'm just guessing where the photos will end up for me to comment on them, so here are the comments for the photos - Stepper driver end of the cable - Connector end with shrink wrapped protection - Cable run from side panel to Z axis stepper driver; the shield clamp is homemade from a 4-fuse block but works great to provide ground for the shield. I still need to run a bunch more of these cables/connectors for the other drivers and the proximity sensors, water pump, fans, etc. - 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post difalkner Posted September 13, 2016 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted September 13, 2016 Today I got to the point where I could run the stepper motor cables to the stepper drivers, or at least from the 5-pin connectors on the enclosure to the drivers. As you can imagine this took a while because each wire end had to be properly tinned to ensure a good solder joint on the connector terminal, then placement with shrink wrap tubing in the small area of the connector, then run to the stepper driver with part of the insulation removed for the makeshift shield clamp for grounding. Anyway, it was a lot of tedious steps but was also a blast to do! I've said it before but until the wiring is complete and tested I won't clean up the grouping and tying of the wires, so they just have temporary ties in place right now. You'll notice the top connector has green shrink wrap tubing and that's because that is the A rotary axis that will come later. I figured it was much easier to run the cable and do all the soldering now while I was in that mode. Oh, the other reason the shrink wrap is green is because I ran out of the correct size of black but my justification satisfies my OCD nature... LOL! Next in line will be the proximity sensors and those will be done the same way as these stepper motor cables. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
difalkner Posted September 15, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2016 It was time to begin running wires from the door panel switches to the main panel in the enclosure so I ran a few and then tested to see how they would react when the door is opened and closed. The wires will be encapsulated in black plastic mesh that should adequately protect them from rubbing anything. I don't plan on opening the door often, though, so it's probably not as critical as some other pieces of the puzzle. Here's a quick shot of the enclosure with the door attached and a couple of switches wired to the EMI filters - And here's a short but high action video of me closing the door - exciting stuff!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted September 15, 2016 Report Share Posted September 15, 2016 I'm glad you know what your doing because I'm about lost 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted September 15, 2016 Report Share Posted September 15, 2016 I like that you are thinking ahead to prevent any problems while showing some cool video skills ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
difalkner Posted September 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2016 I didn't get to spend much time on the build today but did manage to get the bottom fan mounted. Also, a new 8-channel relay board came in so now I need to figure out where and how I'll mount that, may have to pull the panel back out to keep from getting shavings inside the box and next to conductors - I don't want any surprises when I power this up for real! Bottom of the enclosure, fan guard, I'll probably build a small frame to put a finer filter over the inlet. This screen will not stop dust - Looking at it from the inside, again I still am not finished with the wiring so lots of loose wires in there - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
difalkner Posted September 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2016 It only took about 20 minutes to disconnect everything and get the panel out so it wasn't too bad at all. I'm really glad I took it out to drill and tap the holes; this would have been a mess inside the box. I shot a short video showing the testing of the 8-channel board and one proximity sensor. Now I have to build a bracket for the 4-channel board and make sure it's out of the way of everything else. Using my analog meter, to me anyway, is so much easier to see open/close for continuity because the needle swing is just very obvious. With a digital meter I have to take my eyes off of what I'm working on and wait to see where the digits end up after a second but with my peripheral vision I can see the needle swing on the analog meter. Anyway, now I have to finish the 4-channel relay bracket and then mount this back inside the box and then keep plugging away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
difalkner Posted September 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2016 It may look like a simple task but this took about 4 hours total to accomplish; had to undo all the stepper driver wires and wires from the door (that I have yet to put back into place so make that 4.5 hours), take the VFD out (that I have yet to put back into place so make that 5 hours), take the panel out, drill & tap for the 8-channel relay, design and make the bracket for the 4-channel relay, drill & tap for that to mount, then mount everything making certain to use thread locker so all this stuff stays in place, and then run most of the wires back to their respective destinations. Some of y'all could do this in way less time, I know, I know... 4-channel relay bracket - New location for 4-channel relay almost looks like it was designed this way all along, well if you squint when you look at it maybe - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cancelleri Posted September 18, 2016 Report Share Posted September 18, 2016 Are the green jumper wires to reverse the direction of the second stepper motor for each axis? Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
difalkner Posted September 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2016 3 minutes ago, Tom Cancelleri said: Are the green jumper wires to reverse the direction of the second stepper motor for each axis? Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk No sir, those are the ground wires back to the Ethernet Smoothstepper. Look at the second photo I just posted and you'll see the ESS in the bottom right and all the purple/orange wires in the gray terminal strip. On the right side there's one green wire and that goes to all those stepper drivers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post difalkner Posted September 23, 2016 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 It's been a couple of days since I posted my progress on the build but I haven't been idle, not even close. I just didn't want to bore y'all with small steps so here's a significant advance in progress - all stepper and proximity panel mount connectors are complete! If you've never done this I can tell you it takes a while, especially if you plan on doing it neatly and with attention to detail and consistency. Even if you do this all the time it still takes a while. I think the bread wrapper twist ties are a nice touch but when I finally get the wiring finished I'll go with something more traditional like nylon tie wraps. Steppers on the left, proximity on the right (upper and lower when the enclosure is mounted) - Outside of the enclosure, still have a few left to do - Lights off in the shop and powered up - all looks good at this point! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cancelleri Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 Looking good! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
difalkner Posted September 23, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 Thanks, Tom! I thought with all the soldering I'm doing on this CNC build and have done through the years, coupled with some friends who've told me they have issues with soldering, that I would do a Public Service Video. Disclaimer - I am not claiming to be an expert or in any way 'the' soldering guru nor have I covered every facet of soldering but I have been doing a good job at it for over 40 years so with that out of the way, here's my slightly over 9 minute video. I hope this helps any who may have issues with this little task. Kudos to you for watching the entire video! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cancelleri Posted September 23, 2016 Report Share Posted September 23, 2016 Thanks, Tom! I thought with all the soldering I'm doing on this CNC build and have done through the years, coupled with some friends who've told me they have issues with soldering, that I would do a Public Service Video. Disclaimer - I am not claiming to be an expert or in any way 'the' soldering guru nor have I covered every facet of soldering but I have been doing a good job at it for over 40 years so with that out of the way, here's my slightly over 9 minute video. I hope this helps any who may have issues with this little task. Kudos to you for watching the entire video! The key to soldering electrical is flux and a clean tip. If the tip isn't clean and properly tinned the transfer of heat will be off and you'll likely overheat your board and connections risking separation of the traces or layers of the board. Also using the right solder thickness for the iron wattage. I'd say I'm a pro with soldering. I've done surface level component replacement. Your wiring and everything looks fantastic. Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
difalkner Posted September 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 Thanks, Tom! I shot a quick video tonight testing the fans and components powered up - sounds cool to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-MattK- Posted September 24, 2016 Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 it sounds menacing! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
difalkner Posted September 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2016 20 minutes ago, -MattK- said: it sounds menacing! Now I like that term!! I'll have to borrow that - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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