Kit's Machine

[Clive S]

though I'm less impressed than I wanted to be with the bootlace crimps I bought for it,

The best crimping tool I have found is this style.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353421516...Cclp%3A2334524

On the very small size i usually crimp it then rotate it a few degrees then crimp it again.

Also then is an adjustment on the tool to make a tighter crimp

[Kitwn]

Clive,
That looks exactly like the one I bought. I had to wind up the ratchet to max to get the small ones to grip but the biggest problem was them shearing off. One would break as I was putting in the one next to it. I persevered out of bloody-mindedness but I don't think the result is any more reliable than just putting the twisted wire into the terminal.

I note your technique of crimping twice and it might prevent the breakages by not crimping tight up to the plastic surround, leaving a short length of unmollested metal tube.

Anyway the connections all seem to be working for now and the next time we get some rain (I'm too busy gardenning while the sun shines) I hope to get the homing and spindle control all sorted out. Acceleration, max speeds etc. have all been copied over from my LinuxCNC setup so I'm hoping for a smooth transition.


Kit

[Kitwn]

If all else fails, read the instructions.

I'd forgotten Port 1 pinO1 on the AXBB-E is for the charge pump. Fingers crossed that turns out to be the only problem and a switch to pinO2 will bring the spindle to life. I'm hoping for a bit more rain than the five minutes of drizzle we've just had in between the sunshine, otherwise the lady of the manor will have me working on our estates all weekend

Kit

[JAZZCNC]

If all else fails, read the instructions.

I'd forgotten Port 1 pinO1 on the AXBB-E is for the charge pump. Fingers crossed that turns out to be the only problem and a switch to pinO2 will bring the spindle to life.

One more thing which can be different from what the manual says is the analog voltage might be set to 10V rather than 5v.? The manual says the default is 5v but the last 20 controllers we have just fit have been set to 10V by default.

[Kitwn]

One more thing which can be different from what the manual says is the analog voltage might be set to 10V rather than 5v.? The manual says the default is 5v but the last 20 controllers we have just fit have been set to 10V by default.

Thanks Dean,
At present I just want to start the spindle by energising a relay as before, hence the use of an isolated output as described in section 9.1.1 of the AXBB-E manual, but I do plan to implement analogue speed control in the future. Presumably I'll need a properly organised tool library to make the most of that.

Kit

[Kitwn]

I've been quite busy lately doing Other Very Important Things, but managed to get back to my router today. The upgraded controller is complete with a nice new set of 4 and 8 pin connectors on top for the limit switches and motors plus auxiliaries respectively. The overall wiring is greatly simplified compared to the old version thanks to the controller being mounted directly below the machine on it's new welded base rather than on a separate trolley. Each motor and limit switch cable ends in a pug which connects directly to a socket on the controller case. The whole thing is still built into the same old PC case as before, electricity is not house-proud and will work just as well in here as in a swanky, expensive, lockable wall box from RS. Whilst the overall wiring is much shorter it is still possible to set up the controller on a table for testing and fault-finding as shown below. You won't find a dyed-in-the-wool wireless engineer throwing his oscilloscope or spectrum analyser in the bin just yet!

The basic machine arrangement now has the controller plus spindle cooling water pump and reservoir sitting on a shelf under the bed of the router with the spindle VFD attached under there as well. A relay controlled by the AXBB-E starts the spindle and switches the 240V mains on to the dust extractor. A mains distribution board on the frame allows separate switching of mains to the controller, water pump, VFD and dust extractor so that the whole machine is self contained requiring only a single mains power input plus relay switched mains output to the dust extractor and Ethernet connection from the UCCNC laptop to operate.
A safety switch is in series with the spindle/DE start relay to reduce the chances of a manual tool change affecting my ability to do Jimmy Page impersonations in the hours immediately afterwards.

UCCNC and the new AXBB-E are working as expected, setup being very simple as long as you read the instructions and remember what they say! I have yet to install a finely adjustable limit switch for accurate gantry squaring. A shiny new license for Vectric Vcarve Desktop is sitting on my shiny new Dell laptop ( the much--revered ten+-year-old HP laptop it has replaced is going to be used primarily for UCCNC).

My next quest is finding out what I can easily make with Vectric that I couldn't with CamBam and if I can use the $8 USB Nintendo game controller that Worked in LinuxCNC to control UCCNC or if I have to buy a new Xbox360 game console. The preferred UCR201 wireless pendant will have to go on the Christmas list for this year, next year, sometime, never or after I've found out how to make saleable items with the help of Vectric!

It's just possible I may actually be able to make something interesting over the next few days if it keeps raining and I can skive off the gardening and taxi duties for a few hours









Kit

[Kitwn]

So I haven't managed to make anything over the last few days but now have my workshop almost completely emptied of other people's furniture and tidy to the point of being genuinely usable. I'm so excited I took some photographs! It'll never be this tidy again.

Some issues with Vectric and UCCNC but probably nothing too difficult. I'll ask for help if I can't get everything working tickety-boo in a few days.

[Doddy]

Oooph. That's tidy. And big. And jealous.

[Kitwn]

Oooph. That's tidy. And big. And jealous.

It's a bit of a change from the rather cramped space I had before. We had to move 5000Km to be able to afford this though. Well worth it!. S**tloads of hobby space was a prime requirement for the new home when we retired last year and Tasmania ticked all the boxes for our needs/wants.

Kit