Fun New Site

I recently found a fun site called Thiniverse.com where you can post and download object files for CNC and Reprap machines. I spied plenty of .DXF, .STL, .SVG, and Eagle Cad files. I saw everything from gears to birdhouses and DIY sunglasses. It's sites like this that make the internet really shine. So join in the fun and share something.

My Experience With EMC

After a long time of playing with EMC and figuring out how it works, I like it way better than TurboCNC. While TurboCNC was a good beginners choice that runs on almost any piece of hardware and easy to learn, EMC is far more configurable, has a more professional look and feel, and lets not forget totally free. In the last few weeks I've been working on settings for customizable controls to run small sections of G-code by the press of a button. I wanted my machine to automatically detect the top of my workpiece using a few simple lines of code. Automatic probe moves are much more fun than a feeler guage and the arrow key. Turns out It wasn't so easy though, as I didn't know much about EMC. My online inquiries attracted the attention of two talented individuals from the linux CNC wiki who were gratious enough to introduce me to classic ladder, a PLC language used for more complicated tasks. If your the adventurous sort you can try out my configuration files, but be careful as they still have a few bugs. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!! You can check out the details here as well as some other programs. Hopefully I can get a video up soon to clairify exactly what they do.

EMC was definately a steep learning curve but well worth the effort. It is very configurable for custom controls and routing physical input pins to virtually any function in EMC. It doesn't require very expensive hardware either, though I would recommend more than the minimum requirements which I just barely reached with my current setup. Most impressive is its ability to cater to a large range of setups including robotic arms. I always put off building one, but after what I've learned here, I think It'll make my todo list. I would love to hear any questions, comments, or ideas. If there's enough interest I might try expanding the usefullness of this type of function to include some other generally mundane repetative tasks.

Software and Other Stuff

I'm trying EMC2 with my machine. I'm getting tired of the occasional run time error with Turbocnc. Not sure how it's going to work though as my computer is a little underpowered for it. I'll have to let everyone know how it works out later this week. I'm gonna test it out on some small Halloween projects.

WasteOfSpace posted a comment on my previous post about oak that got me a little curious. I smell an experiment brewing. Anyways I've been quiet here for a little while and its about time I start making dust, just in time for the holiday. Oh and be sure to check out these Halloween pictures that switcher was nice enough to make for us.

Chucks CNC Rebuild: Part 1

Well I finally have my machine rebuilt and I'm pretty happy with the results. So far I've replaced the MDF x-axis supports with oak and shortened the z-axis to hopefully help reduce some vibration problems(It was too tall anyways). I've also decided I like lovejoy couplings better than my direct coupling I used before. I'll have to do some research into power transmission and see if it really makes much difference. If anyone already knows then please leave a comment, I'd love to hear some opinions. I also added some aluminum adjustment blocks for the bearing slides. Using a cheap indicator dial I was able to adjust either end of the lead rod within 0.001in which was something I was previously unable to do. I was thrilled, then I remembered the bearing slides flex a little so I measured without changing my setup and you know what it was?.04in difference!! Keep in mind this is with respect to a level board clamped to my table which I'm fairly certain isn't 100% flat. Regardless that will have to go. I plan on changing my bearing slides from 1/2in to 3/4in. I'll do that next along with all new oak parts for the x and z carriages. Despite my disappointment This is a big improvement on the rigidity and adjustability front. I should be able to handle some higher cutting speeds. So whats next? I'm gonna make some stuff. Namely some new parts over the next who knows how long. I have a small laundry list of upgrades for the future:

1. A new QUIETER spindle that can hold 1/4in bits
2. emc2(I use TurboCNC now)
   
3. a vacuum setup instead of just blowing air
4. 3/4in x-axis bearing slides
5. oak z-axis parts(I already designed these in CAMBAM)
6. new, more rigid y-axis
   

After cleaning up the basement starting school and vacation at the cottage I'm finally ready to get back to work. I've finished most of my parts for upgrading to oak parts from MDF. Picture to come when I'm done hopefully by this weekend. Then I can return to switch plates part II.
And to accompany my new upgrade I'll need a new pendant, partially because the first one leaves much to be desired but mostly because I need something a bit more retro. That's why I picked this up at the flee market this weekend.


This new one will be a whole lot better and more complex so probably in the distant future I'll have another tutorial. I'll leave this one for instructables though.

Down Time

Sorry for no posts this weekend but were getting a new heater installed which happens to be right in the middle of my workspace. In the meantime, my copy of Corel Draw arrived, so Im playing with converting some of my grandfathers drawings. Also my router upgrade soon to come, hopefully by this next weekend before classes start.

Switch Plate Part 1

Today I attempted engraving switch plates. Why? They're dirt cheap. You can pick up a few plastic ones for less than a dollar. Turns out I already have some. If your feeling rich and fancy you could also get some wooden ones for a whopping 5-10$ each. I picked up one just to try. In addition to carving way deeper than I intended you'll notice they're off center but still potentially better looking than they were before. I started by drawing a template for each plate so I knew where the holes were. Then I used stylish picture fonts that I converted to polylines and split up. The only issue was I whether or not the template was accurate. As you can see It wasn't, so back to the drawing board for part 2. Not sure It's worth the time though. Part 2 to come as soon as I get it right. I'd love to hear your comments. What do you think ye or nay?

Mass Carnage

Today I killed my dremel. Grrrrrrr.... Somehow all of the clamps on my table slipped off while I was upstairs. My machine survived but I broke a bit, snapped the head off of my dremel and fried the motor. How you ask did that happen? Beats me, but $70 and a few hours later I'm back in business.
So after my pricey adventure I feel like having the opportunity to do it again on Sunday when I tackle switch plates. The regular plastic switch plates in my house are pretty boring, so I'm going to try to trick them out with some ridiculous designs just for the hell of it. Stay tuned Sunday.

Between Projects

I've decided to share some of my project files as I go. Here's the resulting file from last weeks chinese font experiment. I'm planning on cutting out some coasters from it tomorrow. Right now I'm in the process of replacing some of the MDF parts on my machine to red oak and adding some mechanical adjustments I skipped during Version 1. I'll post pictures when I'm finished. Might take me a while though. In the meantime I've ordered a copy of CorelDraw for my next project. My grandfather was a brilliant artist and carpenter. He kept detailed pictures and diagrams of everything, and when CorelDraw arrives I plan on scanning some for use in CNC. Results to follow either next week or week after depending on how fast it arrives. And please take the time to vote on my survey, only two days left and I know I have more than 3 readers, your feedback is much appreciated.

Chinese characters

Want to add Chinese characters to your next project? I had a project lined up for tonight but needed to add Chinese characters to complete it. Took me a while to figure it out. Here's how you can do the same. If you run Windows XP or Vista your in luck because you probably have Chinese installed already like I did, otherwise you'll have to remedy that first. How can you tell? If you can see this 水空火尘 then your ready to start. I'll assume you can at step one.

1. First goto Control Panel > Regional and Language Options and change current format to Chinese under the Formats Tab. There are probably several choices. I chose Traditional.
2. Now click on Administrative Tab and Change system Locale. Choose Chinese here as well. This one requires a restart. Don't worry most everything will still be in English when you restart.
3. Have you restarted now? Good. Goto Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Character Map.
4. In Character Map under 'Group by' select 'simplified Chinese by Pinyin'. You have to spell out the sound of the word in English to find the symbol you want, Pinyin means "spell sound"(Wikipedia).
5. Now open your browser and go here. Type the English word in the search field and it should give you symbols, their Pinyin, and English translation.
6. Once you find the Pinyin for the word you want all you have to do is click it's first letter on the mini keyboard on your screen and find it on the character map. Match up the symbol on the dictionary with one on the character map and click select. Add as many as you want then click copy.
   
7. Open your Cad/Cam and add text where you like. In the text field press ctrl+v and wallah! A foreign language.
8. Now just convert whatever you added to polylines so it won't disappear when you change your settings back to normal.
   

See, that wasn't so hard. Have fun and don't forget to change your regional settings back when your done. I'm making a giant Feng Shui coin, what about you? I'll post some pictures when I mill it out.

Back In Business

Well I finally got my machine running again which means more posts every Sunday for now on. Sorry to all for taking so long but I plan on making up for it. I've upgraded from mere threaded rod to stainless steel. I should have much better accuracy thanks to my cousin Matt and for under $100; Not too shabby. I should have some fun projects coming up including another go at box joints.
In the meantime, I've found a fun new resource, this time for machine designs that might as well be art. I was checking out The Steampunk Workshop which has some interesting stuff from a time when technology worked with a bit more style and sophistication. Thats when I noticed this. A site with tons of interesting mechanical devices some of which are accompanied by cad files (SolidWorks?) for creating your own. I just need to covert them to something I can use with CamBam and you'll see it here whether it works or not. Plan to make your own? Post a comment, I'd love to see it and so would plenty of others.
I'm back and I'll see you Sunday with a last minute and ill conceived plan to make something interesting and completely useless.

Update 2

I'm told I should be all set with my new lead screws by next week. I can't wait to see what kind of havoc I can wreak on my pile of projects then. In the meantime I have a ton of school work to take care of. Regular postings will resume when I get my machine up and running.

Update

Sorry, I haven't posted in a loooooong time. My free art bookend turned out OK, but I also experimented with box joints to join pieces which didn't work out so well. I'll try again later. Anyone have any suggestions? In the meantime my cousin is helping me out with upgrading my lead screws so my machine will be out of commission for a while. While that's being sorted out I've begun a new robotics project based around a linksys router but thats a subject for another time. I'll post a link when I get a site up.

In other news I'm considering making my updates more regular, maybe weekly and slightly longer. Not sure which day though. I'll revisit that later.

Free Art

I see a lot of people in forums asking where to find free art for CNC because they either don't have the resources or they don't have the time. I've already shared one source earlier but heres some other sources to look. One of the first places I've found some decent designs is Microsoft fonts. Their free font site isn't up any more but there are plenty other font sites. So far I've found ninjas, leafy dingbats, old English designs, zodiac signs and many more. Best of all there are some free programs out there that can generate g code from text. The first one I used was Desk Engrave. So try blowing it up and making some bookends or whatever.

Another low budget solution for anyone with software that supports 3d figures is an abundance of free download sites for graphics design. Most of them are insignificant items like couches and fountain drinks but there is a lot out there. Try searching for "3ds download" in Google.

The best source however is to join a group like cnczone or mechmate where there are plent of people who are more than willing to share some of their designs. But remember with all of these, that your using someone else's work, so please get permission for more than personal use. Ill post some stuff I made from fonts later this weekend.

Delays

It's been a few days since my last post but I got sidetracked. After making two signs in a row without trouble I've been unable to make anything else without missing steps. So after using most of my wood I decided to try to put my old 12v PSU in series with my new 24-28v PSU. Looks like I may get to increase my feedrate but not before doing one more sign. For anyone interested this is how you hook up two power supplies together without blowing them. My new power supply stayed the same and the second already modified ATX supply had it's ground isolated from its case with some cheap plastic hardware.


Don't forget to test it's independence from ground and hook it up to a cheaper supply first just in case. If you see smoke you screwed up and need two more supplies. Then I just fed the 24-28v to ground of the modified supply yielding 36 -40vdc on it's previously 12v output. Looks like I'll be back to business tomorrow where I promise another post. price of this modification was $2.50 for plastic hardware. Old pc supplies are easily found for free in many unwanted computers.

Signs

At work a few weeks ago we had to label our doors for emergency personnel and such. So the boss went out and printed some signs with word and taped them on each of the doors. Thats all fine and dandy for regulations but not very attractive so I made these:



Much better! I have to give credit to Switcher from cnczone because my signs are a modified version of one of his. You can check out his site here, and in my links section, where he posts a great variety of vector art free for download, and well worth a bookmark. I gotta respect the people out there willing to share what they know.

I started off with a side of a birch bed frame That was hanging around for some time. Then I pulled off the nails and the bed slat shelf. My uncle was kind enough to plane it down for me to reveal a nice piece of wood. I made the signs in CamBam+ which you could also get a free version of. I erased the text in the original sign and entered my own with the text tool. For machining, I used an 1/8in ball mill for the border and a 90deg V-bit for the text. Then the whole thing was cut out with another 1/8in mill. Then I finished it off with a nice walnut stain. Pretty simple. Total cost of this project was about $4.50, the price of some stain. So go out there and find a hidden project. Mine started off pretty ugly so don't discriminate. Next time we'll talk about some basic tooling stuff.

My Pendant

When I first built my machine one of the first problems I encountered was an inability to easily access both the machine and its controls simultaneously. Buying a pendant was out of the question and microcontrollers are a pain, but luckily I recalled hearing about people hacking their old keyboards for custom gaming controllers back in the 90's. At the time I thought it must of been hard but now that I know better I got that old dusty keyboard out of the closet(I know you have one too), rustled up some switches, a prototype board, and bought a suitable enclosure at radioshack. And here it is:
































It plugs right into the keyboard port. I use an old laptop so a full keyboard is also accessible. You could also use a cable splitter. This project can be hardwired to control any function on any program that utilizes keystrokes. Heres a quickie Tutorial to get you started on your own custom controller:

Materials:

• 1 old dusty keyboard (will be cannibalized)
• assorted switches, mostly N.O. momentary contact
• 1 enclosure (buy one or use your imagination)
• old floppy disk ribbon cable or other wire
• zip ties, 1 rubber grommet, standoffs or insulating paper for metal enclosures

Step 1: Preparation

Open up that keyboard and remove the circuit board inside and keep the cable for later. You can see mine in the top picture. It'll have two rows of contacts on it, one for rows and one for columns. connect any one row with one column and wallah a key press. I had to lightly sand off some carbon for soldering. Now strip out two lengths of ribbon cable for soldering to the contacts(4-5in). I had 8 rows and 18 columns. Don't forget to tin the other sides of the wires. This takes a bit of practice and patience, but it all pays off in the end.

Step 2: Discovery

Now get yourself a breadboard and connect the row and column wires so each wire has its own track. Here's what I did. I marked the first wire in each length with a permanent marker. Then I downloaded a keyboard test program and made a table of each row/column combination by connecting jumpers between them and observing the results on the program. Now decide which functions you want to use and consult your table. If I wanted to press f6 I would consult the table and connect row 3 and column 8 (yours will probably be different). You can connect multiple switches at once but some may have unexpected results. For more info look for keyboard ghosting in Google.

Step 3 :Ratsnest

Once testing all my switch combinations, I soldered up my mess of wires on a protoboard just like on the breadboard. Then I drilled some holes for switches and finished it with some fine steel wool and acrylic spray. Now wrap it up in your enclosure, and pretend the inside looks as good as the outside. If you ever need a new function added on, get some switches and drill a new hole. I need to add a feed override switch to mine.

Tips:

• Keep your table for future reference
• label your switches
• insulate the inside of metal enclosures
• I have one non-momentary switch and if its on when I start my computer the keyboard wont work until I turn it off.
• rubber grommets and zip ties make suitable strain reliefs

In the Beginning...

Welcome. This site chronicles my adventures into the fascinating world of CNC (Computer Numeric Control). If CNC is your hobby too, then hopefully you'll find something of interest. If anyone does make anything featured here then send a picture or a link and I'd be happy to post it.

Let me introduce you to my machine:


I call it my money pit. For those of you who know something about CNC, my machine is a simple 3 axis setup with unused provision for a 4th axis, and travels a leisurely 24ipm. So far Ive been able to mill plastics, printed circuit boards and soft woods without a problem. Hardwoods and aluminum are not out of reach but don't turn out very pretty yet. I have some ball nose end mills in the mail so I'll post some project pictures after they arrive.

Anyone out there use Turbocnc? I'll post some pictures of my homemade pendant pretty soon and if people are interested I might start a site with instructions.