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  1. #1
    Hi Everyone,

    This is the controller box I've put together from a Sun Micro tower server case, bought from fleabay for 20 quid.



    As you can see there is a little battle damage at the bottom, combination of poor packing and brutal postman but as I am a sheetmetal worker by trade, that little dent will soon be gone :). I knew Sun Micro cases were nice but this thing is built like a Rolls Royce, I can't beleive I got it for 20 quid
    Anyway, once you take off the side, just press two catches down and it pulls off, you have a perspex window covering the inside, this is lockable so you can display the gubbins of the control equipment but keep little and not so little fingers out :)



    This too just slides off when you move the catches (everything is QD).



    Another unexpected bonus were the three 120mm fans in a removable pod just where you need them most. The drivers are Motion Control Products MDS 542's, the PSU's are MCP PS407's. Should provide enough power for a 4th axis. The breakout board (bottom left) is by DIYCNC (Optoport). It's fully opto-isolated, has a charge pump and spindle and coolant/extractor relays built in. The charge pump is also gated into these so they cannot switch if the PC crashes or another error occurs, IMPORTANT!

    Above the BOB is the Smoothstepper and yes I am in love with it :D



    These are the connectors I am using for the steppers. They are military type bayonet fix. I bought them from fleabay from a Hong Kong seller. He does them up to 14 contacts on each connector. They are not quite as good as a true NATO Mil connector but at 2 quid a pair (socket and plug) I 'aint complaining. They are certainly more robust than the XLR types I was planning to use.



    This is my laptop running Mach3 with the blue screenset modified for the touch probe I refered to in my router build log. The laptop is a DELL C640, Pentium 4 mobile @ 2.4 GHz, 1 gig ram and 150 quid from the bay.

    Finally for now is my E-Stop Switch.



    As you can see it not only contains the E-Stop which is connected to the BOB, it is also the main on/off switch for the electronics in the case. This means that when the router returns to 0,0,0 for a tool change, I can also turn off power to the case ensuring doubly that both no axis can move and neither can the spindle while I'm changing the bit.

    <EDIT> Re: the above, the E-Stop is not wired to mach through the BOB. The E-stop is wired to a contactor which shuts off ALL POWER to the stepper drives and router. It also switches off a relay that is outputting 5v to the BOB's chargepump circuit. Mach only enters software E-Stop when it detects the chargepump circuit has gone dead (which should be the instant I push the E-stop). Just thought I'd make it clear as on second reading it is ambiguous

    Hope these pics came out ok. I still have to wire up the spindle relay and I'll post more when I've done that.
    Last edited by Smiler; 18-12-2008 at 12:51 PM.
    Nothing is foolproof......to a sufficiently talented fool!

  2. That's impressive. I like your attention to detail, well engineered.

    I had a quick look for one of those but nothing to be found. Still looking for something suitable...

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by irving2008 View Post
    That's impressive. I like your attention to detail, well engineered.

    I had a quick look for one of those but nothing to be found. Still looking for something suitable...
    This is where I got mine......

    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SUN-MICROSYSTEMS-LARGE-PC-SERVER-TOWER-CASE-w-PSU_W0QQitemZ250302595189QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item2 50302595189&_trkparms=72%3A1350|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3 A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

    Still have some left.
    Nothing is foolproof......to a sufficiently talented fool!

  4. Ah yes, I found that a few minutes ago.. I was also looking at this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=250302820843 which is smaller. The one you found includes the PSU - did you use that at all. As far as I can make out it is a Sun Ultra40 workstation case (the top of the range one has 3 fans and a 1000W PSU, the others in the range only have one fan and a 400W PSU). Does your have an ID, part # etc on it?

  5. #5
    Jeff the images dont seem to be loading mate any ideas?
    .Me

  6. #6
    Should be back on now Lee.

    I had been experimenting with changing our own website (just a site for family to keep up with what we are doing since we are so far away from them) and had started to muck about with Joomla! Well, the inevitable happened, I got the CNC bug and forgot all about our site until SWMBO asked what I was doing about it. So I thought I'd better re-install the latest Joomla! and go from there, forgot one of the subdirectories had my linked photos in it and deleted them by mistake. Sorry.

    I suppose I could upload them to your site now and edit my original messsage?

    Regards, Jeff.
    Nothing is foolproof......to a sufficiently talented fool!

  7. #7
    You could do, i have reinstalled the photo system but all the images are still hosted so yours would never be lost if i had to do that again.
    .Me

  8. #8
    Any chance of a link to the Ebay seller of the plugs ?

    John S.

  9. Quote Originally Posted by John S View Post
    Any chance of a link to the Ebay seller of the plugs ?

    John S.
    These are the ones I use, I think they are the same or similar... 4-pin (for bipolar motors but they do 6 and 8 pin too)

    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-4-Pin-Male-F...mZ270316694740

    Arrived in 8 days!

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by irving2008 View Post
    These are the ones I use, I think they are the same or similar... 4-pin (for bipolar motors but they do 6 and 8 pin too)

    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-4-Pin-Male-F...mZ270316694740

    Arrived in 8 days!
    Thats the guy I bought from Irving. Very fast delivery considering the distance.

    The ones I used are these:

    Nato style Mil connectors

    Rather than a screw down locking ring, these are a bayonet type that pulls the pins into the socket as you twist the outer shell. They are a bit on the chunky side but then so am I. Very pleased with mine and yours look the dogs danglers too

    Regards, and Merry Christmas to you and yours, Jeff.
    Nothing is foolproof......to a sufficiently talented fool!

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