The red beast is cutting planes for the Red Baron? #8 - Alamogordo, NM

[Richards]

I agree with Gerald. Hard-wiring a motor is a very reliable way to connect things. Although others are using XLR connectors, I would prefer using a simple DIN Terminal Block at each motor. In my test setup, I use a terminal block for each motor. Swapping out a motor is as simple as loosening seven screw terminals (four for the motor's coils, two for the current limiting resistor, and one for the shield.).

[Gerald D]

Mike, I believe his -12V indicates the negative pole of his 12V supply

[sailfl]

Mike,

You have a terminal block in an enclosure located close to the motors?

[ekdenton]

Thanks for the replies, I will hold off for awhile on the router relay and work on getting my Mach 3 set up and my motors spinning.


I can't seem to find my port address on my new computer. The tab that is shown on the tutorial that gives the I/O address on the mach tutorial is not even on my computer. I found on the general info tab of parallel port properties......"Location 513 {PCI EPP/ECP Parallel port1}" So is the port location supposed to be the port I/O address?

[Gerald D]

Ed, we only set up the port once, and the default worked, so we don't have real experience of steps involved. . . . .

. . . . .come to think of it, I am lying. We have swopped PC's a couple of times.

It seems that Mach "auto-detects" the port number quite successfully every time.

Go into Config > Ports & Pins > Port Setup and Axis Selection and for Port #1, leave the detected Port Address alone. It should be right. I recall now that folk sometimes have issues with a second port, but nobody seems to have issues getting the first port right. (You only get involved with a second port when you run a second BoB)

On the relay side, could you tell us the name/part number of the relay as well as the router?

[ekdenton]

Thanks Gerald, I finally found it Dell support was no help the manufacturer of the I/0 card showed me where to find the address, it was under multifunction adaptors rather than the ports as in the mach tutorial. What a wreck I was yesterday

I have three of the four motors turning with the jog control on mach. I loaded a little rectangular pocketing wizard and everything seemed to be working as it should, the motors seemed to turn slow compared to how fast the Gcode was scrolling down the screen. I need to watch more tutorials and continue on, with motor tuning and input signals ect.

The pmdx manual has #'s to assign to functions (pin 2 for X axis dir and so fourth)

What do I do for the extra x axis motor as far as getting it to run? Do I use the A axis Dir and Step pin numbers shown in the pmdx manual for the second x axis motor?

[smreish]

ED,
Under the "config" menu, go to slave axis. Select "a" to slave to "x" and you will now have a linked to x so they run together. Remember, that the slaved axis needs to run the opposite direction of the master axis. Thus, you will have to hardwire reverse the coils on the gecko output on the slaved axis to make sure that they run the same direction as each other when sitting across from each other.

Make sure that under "ports and pins" you have them mapped as well for the "a" axis.

Good luck,
Sean

[ekdenton]

Thanks sean, they work now, both turn the same direction. To reverse wiring, do I just swap the two A coil and the two B coil positions on one of the two geckos contoling the x axis?

[Gerald D]

Only swop the two A wires with each other at the Gecko. (Or just the B wires). In other words, only reverse one coil.

But wait till the capacitors are discharged after switching off!

[ekdenton]

Gotcha, thanks Gerald I have that working correct now. This is fun. Who needs a table to cutt wood, it's fun just watching and listening to the motors turn

[ekdenton]

Here is my control board. I am so glad I got this part working with no bad misshaps.

[smreish]

Yep...looks like a kitchen project.
Great job Ed.
Is that a Programmable Relay I see in the bottom of the cabinet? Nice.

You stole my next best idea to consolidate the control inside the cabinet.

[ekdenton]

The far right on the DIN rail is a 12V 2amp power supply from factorymation. I may want to add some lighting (LED's) under my gantry since the area my MechMate will be in is like a bat cave (kinda dark). So I decided to seperate my power supplies, I don't like the idea of running everything off the motor supply. On the far left of the DIN rail there is a Magnicraft SSR to control the on/off of the router.

[ekdenton]

Originally Posted by smreish

Ed,
if your asking if you can turn on/off the router via the BOB...Yes, you can.
To handle the high current switching, I used the small relay located at J7 on the PMDX board. You may refer to page 20 of the PMDX manual for connection details. Essentially, I used a 110V, low current source to go through the PMDX to pull in the coil on the larger contactor, thus Isolating the small little relay on the BOB for a much bigger (and easier to replace when it fails) relay.

In your case, you could supply the NO side of the relay with 3-32V from your power supply (which would switch) your larger relay on/off.

Good luck. I really hope I just made sense!
Sean

Sean when I drew the little wiring diagram earlier on the relay switching for a router, the area in red is what I thought you were saying to do. Did I missunderstand what you were trying to say? The way I drew it..... when the relay on the PMDX board closes it will engage the larger relay, and turn on the router. Or maybe not, I have built alot of electron tube amps the last few years but they use High voltage/low amp circuts with no relays to speak of, so my understanding of how relays work will take some time and head scratching myself.

[smreish]

That clears it up. Thanks

[Gerald D]

Ed, the full wiring diagram for your type of relay is at post #7 of this thread:
http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?t=290

It is a different approach to that what Sean is suggesting, and this approach will only work for the solid state relay. It is simpler because you don't have to find 12V power.

[ekdenton]

Okay that is simple.

I see what he has drawn up but I am confused still on his pin numbering does he mean to use the 5v+ aux. out pin and J8 pin #14 or one of the others if #14 is taken already?

Kind of a dumb question but I just want to be sure.

nevrermind i read further and you explained my question.

[smreish]

Ed,
I think I missed something....are you okay with your wiring? It looks like your using a SSR, which would be the solution Gerald linked you towards.
The hard relay contact is what I am using, thus, does not apply.
Just chime in if you need something else.

[ekdenton]

Sean, yes I have it all working good, just need a little more set up in mach. I know now, how to wire the relay for the router now but I have been busy making a place to put everything, so I haven't had time to get back to it yet.


I am hoping that I can have this thing all together by early to mid June.

[ekdenton]

I used 6" channel on my table, and I am not sure which of the slide plate and tubes I should use for my table.
Should I go with the 10" slide, or would there be any advatage in making it longer since I didn't use 7 or 8 inch channel?

On plan drawing 10 40 330 there is a metric option on the 10" slide that is about 2-3/4" longer. So I wasn't certain which one of those to go by, the short or long one.

[Doug_Ford]

I guess it really depends on what you plan to cut. If you know you will only cut 3/4" sheet goods, there is no need for a longer slide. On the other hand, if you think you might like to do some 3D work, the ability to go higher will definitely come in handy.

I built the Classic MM and I didn't realize that in the uppermost position, the bottom of my bit would only be a few inches from the top of the table. That's my fault because Gerald was very clear from the beginning that the MM will carve 3-4 inches. I guess it just didn't sink in. No big deal in my case because I don't expect to cut anything thicker than 1" or so.

Hope that helps.

[Gerald D]

Well said Doug.

There is no harm in building the longer z-slide - it might increase the re-sale value one day

On a serious note, I added the longer versions as options so that folk could see what is involved when they kept on asking "How can we extend the z-axis?" Hopefully I have left enough warnings around that things will flex a lot more in this case. But Ed, with your 6" channels on the table sides, you can can only use a short end of the slide, the longer bit sticking out the top doesn't cause you any more flex.

[domino11]

Gerald,
If you build the longer Z slide, do you need taller side rail to take full advantage of it? Or does it just allow you to retract the Z farther up than the shorter one?

[ekdenton]

I wanted to make sure that I understand how the cable trays layout and work. I think from all the photos and plans I understand it to have a layout as in this picture. Is this the correct layout for the cable trays when router is at 0,0? Both cable trays will be fully extended?

Also having problems finding anything close to the 5" springs with 25lbs of tension. I tried local hardware and grangers. Where are you guys finding those?

[DMS]

I could not find here so I got mine from local spring maker. Easy for them and are perfect. And are cheap < than $5

[sailfl]

Ed,

I think you are talking about the springs and not the gaslift.

McMaster-Carr 9654K324 Spring-Tempered Steel Wire Springs
S-597 Century Spring Alternative
25 lbs when extended 5"


Gaslifts McMaster-Carr 9416K2 15lbs for router version


Hope that helps

[ekdenton]

thanks I will check with McMaster Carr.


Does the layout above look correct as far as the home position for the router and the cable trays?

[Gerald D]

Ed, unfortunately your layout looks very mixed up.

If you look at your computer screen, 0,0 is bottom left.
y=0 is the bottom horizontal edge of the screen, y=max is the top edge.(long edges)
x=0 is the left vertical edge, x=max is the right vertical edge (short edges)

[Gerald D]

Ed, if your drawing shows the green bands being the cable chains folded to the top (hanging under their own weight), then they are correct in relation to the off-center cross-bearers. So I think you have the table assembly drawing correct.

But then 0,0 in your drawing must move vertically down to the bottom corner.

And most people locate the keyboard & screen convenient to the left side of your drawing.

[Gerald D]

When the router is in the home 0,0 position, the y-chain is lying down on the support bracket, while the x-chain is pulled up into the air.