Tiddy CNC.

[TonyD]

As a saw the frame take shape I did find it amazing to see CAD tranform into a real (and heavy) object, it felt great to see, thanks for your help with that Silyavski. Originally I wanted to design the machine to fit an alcove in my study but as I explained what I was doing to friends and family, someone said "You could cut the parts for a kitchen [cupboard chassis and doors] I want to build" so that became a goal. If I were starting again I'd design it to cut 8x4 foot plywood as the Wikihouse project facinates me. I dont really have the space for a machine that big really so maybe if we move house. :) I mounted the Z Axis on the Y last week and fitted that to the linear rails, its getting close now. I've got some bearings on the way from Chai and then I'll be able to mount the X Axis screws and start some movement; I will get the limit switches working first though, last time I played with the Z Axis I crushed a limit switch that wasnt wired in yet!!

[Skysurfer]

Tony, I'm heading into this size machine, any chance you could throw those sketches my way? I haven't even started, yet, so I'm trying to figure out what will suit me best (size wise). I have a load of steel in my shop at the mo, and I'm trying to use it all ('cos I'm tight;-)
Cheers,
Pete

[mekanik]

Skysurfer
Post 24 has the required info
Mike

[TonyD]

Skysurfer,If you cant find what you're looking for, let me know.
I have made progress last few months, I'll post some photos this weekend, maybe a video even. I'm close to turning on now. :)

[Skysurfer]

Cheers, Mike & TonyD, will take a look. I'm still playing with my Zen 7x7
Pete

[GEOFFREY]

Cheers, Mike & TonyD, will take a look. I'm still playing with my Zen 7x7
Pete

I wish I had 7" to play with! G.

[TonyD]

Current Status:
I'm nearly there as far as the initial build goes. I've tested the safety circuit & limits now but not powered on the drives and motors lately, although they were spinning many months ago. Learning a lot along the way, lots to try differently in version 2.0, more on that when its working. Right now am waiting for a PC from Ebay that I can dedicate to running the machine so should be able to run the smooth stepper and BOB up fully in a week or so and once the Home switches work I can start to join all the dots together and get some movement. Enjoy the photos (When I see a way to enter them).

[TonyD]

[GEOFFREY]

A nice neat looking unit Tony. This site really does seem to have members that do some lovely work. Well done. G.

[TonyD]

Hello.

This is with reference my build http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/gantry...tiddy-cnc.html

I have slowly configured the components and tested at each step along the way. I have the e/stop circuitry killing the main PSU's (Thanks AudioAndy and Dean), the smoothstepper and BOB working, home switches trigger the Mach3 Diagnostics page and all of the AM882's have driven thier motors. So far so good..

This morning as I was jogging the machine around (thankfully slowly) I noticed it start to rack on the X Axis, only a little, maybe 2-4mm then I killed the power & released the mechanical stress by uncoupling one of the X Axis connecting plate and looked closer.

I couldnt reproduce the fault until a few mins ago when I noticed that one of the 882's went into an error state and stopped the motor with 4 blinks which per the manual is 'phase error protection' (short/break).

So my plan is to replace the cabling between the 882 and the control box socket, I'm going to pay particular attention to the soldering and shrink wrap on the connector. The reason I suspect this the most is that I noticed that as I opened the door of the electrical cabinet a little wider the X Axis motor in question made a little noise like a non continous jog so I assumed the mechanical action of the wires moving are causing the short/break within the cabinet.

My question really is, if this is intermittent how will I know when I've fixed it and what am I missing? oh.. and yes I'm now a fan of Wobblycogs alarm circuit and will look to impliment that sharpish! Thanks for any advice. Tony.