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  #31  
Old Sat 22 September 2007, 15:34
Richards
Just call me: Mike
 
South Jordan, UT
United States of America
Some of the really large steppers are hard to tune. I think that it has something to do with the large inductance ratings that large motors typically have. I've misplaced the email that gave the range of inductance for each Gecko G20x stepper driver, but I seem to remember that the G203 works best with motors that have an inductance rating of 0.5uH to 20.0uH. The G202 stepper driver is designed for motors in the 1uF to 40uF range. (Gerald, please correct these figures if I've remembered incorrectly.)

Some of the inductance ratings of large motors can be well out of range. For instance, the Oriental Motor PK2913-0A1A motor is rated at 76.8uH. That's a worse case example, but it seems to support the 'problem' posts made on other forums when the user can't get a large motor to run smoothly.

I like Gerald's idea of using worm gears. I've never tried using them - mostly because I assumed that they could only be run at low speeds. My assumptions can really get in the way of finding workable solutions.
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  #32  
Old Sat 22 September 2007, 18:38
Art
Just call me: Art #2
 
Lancaster,Texas
United States of America
gear box

All the gear boxes I have seen were very expensive. Gear box was my original ides but were too expensive. Where do you shop? As for the data transfer rate I am worried that the port itself can handle the data rate.
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  #33  
Old Sat 22 September 2007, 20:24
Richards
Just call me: Mike
 
South Jordan, UT
United States of America
Art,
I think you'll be okay with 25:1 final reduction at 15 RPM. The math says that you'll need:
25 X 2000 pulses = 50,000 pulses per revolution
15 X 50,000 = 750,000 pulses per minute
750,000 / 60 seconds = 12,500 pulses per second.

So, even at the slowest rate of 25,000 pulses per second, you would only need 1/2 of the available bandwidth to spin the rotary axis.

(I've downloaded the 100K speed version of Mach3, but with my particular computer, I actually end up with about 60K. In fact, there really isn't much discernable difference between Mach 3 running at 45K and my setup. A faster computer would help. This particular computer is a 2004 model running a 32-bit AMD processor. In today's world, it is a dinosaur.)
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  #34  
Old Sat 22 September 2007, 21:32
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
Mike the G202 can handle 1mH to 40mH inductance range while the G203V can handle 0.5mH to 20mH.

Art, worm boxes are typically used for roller shutter doors or conveyor belts. Most metalwork (milling) indexers are worm driven.
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  #35  
Old Sun 23 September 2007, 20:00
Art
Just call me: Art #2
 
Lancaster,Texas
United States of America
I have to brag!!!

http://www.turningaround.org/4_axis_mill.htm
http://www.turningaround.org/MechMat...onProjects.htm
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  #36  
Old Sun 23 September 2007, 22:13
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
Art, you said the other day that you would be posting new photos soon, but the links above go to old pages? Am I missing something?
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  #37  
Old Sun 23 September 2007, 22:39
Art
Just call me: Art #2
 
Lancaster,Texas
United States of America
The second one is the first job that I posted today. I will be posting more as I get them done. It is a thumbnail to the details.
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  #38  
Old Mon 24 September 2007, 00:05
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
Okay, it was the December 2006 date at the bottom that confused me.

Did you also cut the overall square outside shape with the "MechMill"?

(PS. MechMill is a rare word - only 10 obscure results in google - mechmill.com is still up for grabs - if you like it, you can have it )
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  #39  
Old Mon 24 September 2007, 01:00
Art
Just call me: Art #2
 
Lancaster,Texas
United States of America
No the timbers came as S4S 8 by 8's. Actually they were exceptionaly true for wood though on several faces I had to adjust a end and up to .15" and rerun the last surfacing pass to get the face with same at both ends. As a point of interest these were radio frequency dried. This involves usinf a vacumn kiln with RF transmiters inside. Think BIG, DAMN BIG, microwave in a vacumn. Fir cured this way mills and turns better but still has a lot of tear out. Easy to tell if large timbers are RF dried is that they have few if any cracks in them.
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  #40  
Old Sun 30 September 2007, 19:20
domino11
Just call me: Heath
 
Cornwall, Ontario
Canada
Art,
Do you have any more recent pictures? I really like your site. Also your rail modification is pretty neat. How is it holding out for you? Do you have any more close up pictures in case anyone else would want to try this rail arrangement?

Gerald, do you have any comments on the type of rail system and its use with the specified rollers? Feel free to move this part of the post to another section if its out of place.
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  #41  
Old Sun 28 October 2007, 20:00
javeria
Just call me: Irfan #33
 
Bangalore
India
Quote:
Originally Posted by Art View Post
Brief search and I found a 1800 oz stepper without gear ratio. I was thinking of a geared stepper of the 900 oz range or better with 5:1 or 10:1 gear ratio toreplace my present stepper. The stepper would be cheaper and easier than adding another gear or the speed reducer. With a 5:1 stepper and present belt wouldn't that give me a 22.5:1 ratio or 22470 oz to the A axis shaft with a 900 oz stepper? This brings up data transfer rate limits of the printer port. How do I determine the max data transfer rate of my printer ports?
Hi Art,

Why not try Harmonic drives, they usually have a reduction of 1:100 to 1:50 or is it the other way, whatever they do reduce teh speed and you can pick them up on ebay for around 50 bucks used and 150 new on ebay. I picked up one new on ebay for 150USD postage included. then you will have your baaby purring for more!

Regards
IRfan

A used one for you on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/HARMONIC-DRIVE-T...QQcmdZViewItem

Last edited by javeria; Sun 28 October 2007 at 20:08.. Reason: additing of a link
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  #42  
Old Sun 28 October 2007, 20:21
javeria
Just call me: Irfan #33
 
Bangalore
India
http://www.harmonicdrive.de/contenid...t.php?idart=53

about harmonic drives

For complete assy's

http://www.pro.com.sg/CNC-PARTS/4th-axis/4TH-AXIS.htm

Last edited by javeria; Sun 28 October 2007 at 20:22.. Reason: May be the best for you! best of luck!
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  #43  
Old Mon 29 October 2007, 08:48
Art
Just call me: Art #2
 
Lancaster,Texas
United States of America
simple sol;ution

The problem was that during milling the A axis would move when depth of cut was too deep. This occured only when the A axis had not moved within 1 second. Problem solved by removing the jumper that causes power to be reduced to the stepper after 1 second of no movement. This feature is avaliable on the Gecko 202 but I don't believe is avaliable on the 203. When milling wood you get a much better cut when cutting with the grain and side cutting is prefered. Here is the last 2 hours of the program to mill a 4x4 to round. Because fir tears so bad cuts have to small.

G90 Z1 F300
G90 X0 y0 Z0 m3
M98 P23 L2

M30
O23
(G91 z-.04)
g91 y-.02( 2hr runtime P23 L6 A6 L35 on P22 .24" depth of cut)
M98 P22 L90
M99
O22
G91 A2
G90 X90
G91 A2
G90 X0
M99

Last edited by Art; Mon 29 October 2007 at 09:02..
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  #44  
Old Mon 29 October 2007, 19:18
javeria
Just call me: Irfan #33
 
Bangalore
India
Art,

I just purchased a harmonic drive for a smaller CNC than the Mechmate approx 2x4 machine. and was planning to run it on the 203v, think there will be a problem? and what software are you using to generate teh code for teh rotary axis.

sorry if you have already mentioned this in your earlier posts , any ways kindly post some pictures of the your work to me at irfanulla@gmail.com.

Regards
IRfan
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  #45  
Old Mon 29 October 2007, 21:10
Art
Just call me: Art #2
 
Lancaster,Texas
United States of America
projects

Presently I am just running hand coded programs. Figured out how to do fluting, barley/rope twist and rounding stock. So far only posted one example at http://www.turningaround.org/MechMat...ercial_job.htm .
Things like customer keep getting the way. Working on a interesting project. Building a Mechmate to cut tire rims so they can have an insert welded in to make the wide tires for off road use. It will be cutting 3/16" steel and apparently I will need at least a 12 hp spindle. Still researching spindle. Because of the expected weight I doubt that I can use the rack and pinion on the Z.
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  #46  
Old Mon 29 October 2007, 22:19
driller
Just call me:
 
3/16" can be cut with a mini-mill and that has less than a 1hp spindle.

I would look at the cutting tools. it might be that a simple jewelers saw could do it. lots of cutting oil, and slow speeds. not a fast job, but not hard.

a plasma cutter would do it with less machine than a MechMate.

Dave
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  #47  
Old Mon 29 October 2007, 22:49
Art
Just call me: Art #2
 
Lancaster,Texas
United States of America
cutting

need 100+ cut a day. Table will hold 20 rims and at 25IPM should take 1 hr for all 20. Actual setup the machine will not normally stop between batches. Projecting 180 rims a day.
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  #48  
Old Wed 31 October 2007, 07:26
driller
Just call me:
 
OK, you have a heavy metal cutting project. 251 IPM on a 3/16 steel part is really heavy work.

I can see why you need the 12 hp spindle.

Dave
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  #49  
Old Wed 31 October 2007, 10:17
soulvoid
Just call me: Håvard
 
Stavanger
Norway
Quote:
Originally Posted by Art View Post
need 100+ cut a day. Table will hold 20 rims and at 25IPM should take 1 hr for all 20. Actual setup the machine will not normally stop between batches. Projecting 180 rims a day.
If you are really going to reproduce the same piece over and over again you might as well weld another gantry and 3 more carts, add z axis, the motors, drivers and spindles and cut 4 rims at a time... ;-)
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  #50  
Old Thu 26 February 2009, 18:50
Art
Just call me: Art #2
 
Lancaster,Texas
United States of America
Latest project

Here is my last project off my indexer. You gotta wonder about architecks. He wouldn't settle for 9.5" diameter so I had to mill them from 12" stock. Cost an extra $1000 for an extra .5" of post. They have a coat of Thompson's Water Seal on them. Hard part was drilling a 2 9/16" hole 16" deep in the end. Made from RF/vacuum dried fir at $4.55 BF. It has to be dried this way to totally/almost elimanite splits.
I ran at 200 IPM with .1" depth of cut and rotating 4 degrees on each cut. That was max the router would comfortably cut. Last 2 passes were .05" and total mill time was 3.5 hours.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Fir Posts.jpg (76.0 KB, 1112 views)
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  #51  
Old Sat 18 April 2009, 17:52
Art
Just call me: Art #2
 
Lancaster,Texas
United States of America
Latest sign

MDF dyed and then routed. Nice to be able to make your own signs.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg baleOut.jpg (106.0 KB, 1006 views)
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  #52  
Old Sun 19 April 2009, 01:39
Alan_c
Just call me: Alan (#11)
 
Cape Town (Western Cape)
South Africa
Send a message via Skype™ to Alan_c
well aint you the lucky one...
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  #53  
Old Sun 19 April 2009, 19:37
domino11
Just call me: Heath
 
Cornwall, Ontario
Canada
Art,
Just not as much as some of the executives though.
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  #54  
Old Fri 03 July 2009, 21:53
Art
Just call me: Art #2
 
Lancaster,Texas
United States of America
Updating site

I have starting updating my MM build on my site www.turningaround.org. Comments appreciated.
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  #55  
Old Fri 03 July 2009, 22:24
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
Art, your MechMate page doesn't fit on my computer screen (1024X768) and it is very difficult to read.

Some stats on typical screen sizes being used out there:
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_display.asp
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  #56  
Old Sat 04 July 2009, 08:45
Art
Just call me: Art #2
 
Lancaster,Texas
United States of America
screen size

I changed the screen resolution on the index screen only, I hope. Let me know if it is better or worse.
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  #57  
Old Sat 04 July 2009, 08:54
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
http://www.turningaround.org/index.html - okay
http://www.turningaround.org/products.htm - okay
http://www.turningaround.org/MechMate/Mechmate.htm - too wide

The first two pages auto-adjust for even narrower screens, but the Mechmate page is just one fixed (wide) width.
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  #58  
Old Sat 04 July 2009, 20:27
domino11
Just call me: Heath
 
Cornwall, Ontario
Canada
CNC Evolution Ornamental Mill Projects link does not work for me.

The Mechmate stuff looks good. I use a widescreen though.
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  #59  
Old Sat 11 July 2009, 09:54
Art
Just call me: Art #2
 
Lancaster,Texas
United States of America
update

Frontpage can be a PITA. Can't figure out why some page auto config and other don't. I set them at 1280 wide for the entire site, I belive. I have started a section on the JoeCNC Hybrid 4by4 that I have started. It is no MM but great low volume machine. I just don't have the need for a 4by8 router.
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  #60  
Old Tue 13 April 2010, 19:29
Art
Just call me: Art #2
 
Lancaster,Texas
United States of America
Joe CNC Hybrid up and running.

The Hybrid is doing great but plan on replacing it with a MM after the Laser engraver project. Nice machine but doesen't have the rigity I want especially for non ferous metals. Nice thing is I can sell it for more than I have invested. Confirmed that building a Joes CNC first and then the MM is a good idea. Finally is the 4 by 4 Joe CNC Hybrid router. The green PC is a Dell Insperon on which I do every thing except run Mach 3. Next to it is the Acer Revo, yes the itbity white one. It is used to run Mach 3. Both are tied to an A B switch so they share the monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers. I like the Revo and plan on addinf a solid state drive and probaly bump to 2 Gb RAM. At $199 with XP installed it is a great buy. Both are on the Microsoft Home Server network. The X to the left is where the laser hits the material. Click on proper button and X and Y are set so their 0,0 is at the crosshairs. The bar is a Z touch off plate and used set the Z zero position Part of it's function is the Smart Tool function as provided by Legacy. Sticking out of the dust foot is wrench for the router collet which allows me to loosen the collet with one hand. At the left is the collet wrench and .1.25" collet from Precise Bits. Expensive but nice.


http://cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=100594

Shortly at above link the latest version will be added.

This add-on takes the MachBlue screen set and adds an automatic Z zero function after tool change and also will turn on a set of laser cross hairs. You jog the cross hairs to where you want work coordinates of X0Y0. When you click on laser button the work coordinates of X and Y are set to 0,0 are set to the laser position. Also you can edit M6start and put in the machine coordinates you want the gantry to move to for tool change. If you start with Z zero on surface of spoil board and also the same in your CAD software you can run multiple jobs of different stock thickness without resetting Z zero.

I am not really sure of all the guys that have been involved in this project but they have created the greatest add-on that I have ever seen.. As far as I can see the only thing better would have an ATC.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg 4by42.jpg (81.2 KB, 557 views)
File Type: jpg LaserOffset.jpg (60.0 KB, 555 views)

Last edited by Art; Tue 13 April 2010 at 19:45..
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