Hi All,

Some more goodies arrived today :D

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...IMG_1685-1.jpg

Cheers
Tony.

DB9 two wire cable ??
Can you remind me where that goes in your system Tony.

Also checked my stuff and it is still there so that must be your adapter and 50mm bit. Good luck with them both.

Finally I'm still laughing at my own kangaroo joke, sad but true.

Regards
Ross

Hi All,

The industrial grade RS485 to USB that Ross suggested and trialled is now installed and working :D and appears to be totally bullet proof.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfMdLPgGKf0

Spindle control is all working under Mach3 when running some GCode :D few other little settings to sort out like RPM etc, but other that that we are now all good !!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtCUoT3yKFA

Cheers
Tony.

Great photos of the move!

A flatbed tow truck is exactly what I had in mind, should I ever need to relocate my MechMate :). Sure beats trying to lift and carry all the parts.... :rolleyes:

Great Build Guys.

Paul RE: XBOX360 Mach 3 control. Have you used this yet? Are you using wireless or Wired? If Wired, how long is the cable?

I am spending today configuring a Mach3 dedicated computer in a server case, could a long play day.

Graeme

Graeme,

The XBox 360 Control works just great !! :D we are both running wireless with no probs. Very configurable too!! we also use a docking station with re-chargeable's and is permanently connected, just pick it up and away we go ;)

Cheers
Tony.

Mental as Anything! :)

Hi all,

Nothing much to report, other than i am currently having a ball on holiday in Vietnam. Currently in Nah trang, what a beaut part of of the world.

I see in post #266 that you have a hole in the y-car to accomodate the proxy sensor. I assume you drilled this because my sensors are too tall to fit without a hole drilled?

If memory serves me right, the hole is on the laser cut drawing?

Check 10 30 422 P

Ahem


Long embarrassed pause


Moved part to other side of y-car where there is indeed a hole to accomodate the proxy sensor.:o

Note:
If your using standard 4 pin connectors m4/m12 on a 45mm body sensor or longer, you will need to enlarge that hole to about 19mm so the bonnet on the shell will screw on the proximity body. Depends on your supplier, but all 3 of my machines required a little adjustment to the hole.

Good luck!
Sean

Hi Guys,

Sorry for the late reply is I have been overseas a lot of late and also just had a stint in hospital.
Gerald is correct the hole is in the laser cut parts.
Sean is also correct, the hole in the Y car did not appear to be in alignment with the Y car stop so if the sensor we used was any larger in diameter or length a small adjustment to the hole would have been required in the Y car. :)

Cheers
Tony.

Tony - hope you patch up quickly.

Regards
Ross

Hi All,

Starting to feel a bit better after a stint in hospital and a few weeks off work recovering and taking things easy from my recent diagnosis of Myopericarditis.
I felt like trying to do something today so made my first few pens using the new wood lathe that I recently purchased. Took me a few goes to get them right but got there in the end.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...k/DSC01255.jpg

Hope to get onto a few MM projects soon too. ;)

Cheers
Tony.

Tony,

I hope everything work out allright. It good to take on projects to take your mind off the other stuff.
The pens look great, what type of woods did you use? The two outer pens look similar.

Jason

Hi Jason,

Sure is Jason certainly helps keeping the brain occupied!!. The timber used starting with the pen at the top was Ringed Blackwood, Black Palm, and an Australian Hardwood donated by Ross (Surfcnc) I have also just finished turning my first acrylic pen I am pleased with how it turned out also.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...k/DSC01273.jpg

Thanks
Tony.

Another skill mastered there Tony.
They look great.

Regards
Ross

Looking nice there.. Where do you buy the pen kits (working parts) from ?

Probably from stripping down a working pen?

No I know you buy these HARDWARE kits...but sometimes they are a bit expensive.

Hi Kobus,

Do a google search for Pen Kits there are lots of them around :) with many different types of kits from cheap ones to very expensive ones. You can also make the pens from very rare pieces of timber or the more common timbers as well as either buying or making your own acrylic blanks for making the pens.

Cheers
Tony.

Hi All,

Have not been around much lately, doing so much traveling with my work. It was great to be able to take some time to finally cut something with MM a couple of weekends ago. Now how do I create more time ??? mmmmm!!

Well here is the small sign that I cut, it was great standing there watching MM do its thing that it was designed and built to do :D

What Timber
 

Hi Tony

Looks great
What Sort of timber did you use.

Pete

Hi Pete,

Good to hear from you again !!
The Harley shield was cut from some really old pine built in shelves i removed in my house.
I have several more so a few things to come yet, if and when i get some spare time :(

Cheers
Tony

Hey All,

I hope you all had a great Christmas and I certainly wish you all the best and and a Happy New Year into 2012.
I have been a little bit quite on the MM front as I have been doing a lot of travel with work and also working on my other little business venture being custom made pens :)
Now if only I could get that 4th axis happening I could probably find many uses for it with my pens :D
Here are some recent pens I have made and if anybody wishes to check out my website you can check it out here.
www.perfectpensandpencils.com.au or by visiting www.facebook.com/perfectpensandpencils

Please make sure to click the Like button at the top of our Facebook page :D and I would appreciate your feedback regarding either or both.

Look out MM you might be up for that 4th axis upgrade sooner than you thought hehe!!

Cheers
Tony

Your site says you just bought a manual indexer in the Pen Wizard machine.
Sounds like you have 4th axis fever.

The MM will run rings around the patterns the Pen wizard produces so I'm not surprised you want an indexer tomorrow !!

Regards
Ross

I do I do I do want an indexer tomorrow :D however I need to look at it and not rush into it like I normally do lol. Still waiting on skippy to finish bits and pieces on my MM too before I continue too much further. I hate having loose ends.

I am not sure which way to go, purchase a small lathe and modify or purchase one of those readily available 4th axis kits?

The other thing I am not sure about at this stage is do I make it so that it sits on the table or do I modify my table to accommodate larger items too.
I guess its all about having flexibility in its use as its not only going to be doing pens all the time!! I hope!!

Good to hear you are getting back on top of things and getting back into what you enjoy "Boards" I must be due to give you another visit sometime soon :) for a catch up, but until then Have a good and safe New Year.

Cheers
Tony.

Hi Tony

The pens are looking the goods by the way, hopefully you moved a few over Christmas.

We both hate loose ends, life is too short for unfinished projects.
I have some very good information on where to find a closed cell foam vacuum sealing tape for Skippy.
I can strategically withhold the fine detail on your behalf as an incentive,:D

My return to proper fitness is killing me after nearly 3 months of down time, oh my aching body !!!

I have hovered over both the 4th axis and belt reduction drives without jumping myself.
No pressing need for either my end, but with your pens I can see great possibilities like custom knurling and personalised engraving.
Like yourself I have the driver and motor for the 4th axis, shame to see them idle.
Happy to run through some concepts together but from memory Art recommended a 10:1 reduction min to overcome any movement in the axis.
The only other thing that is an issue is being satisfied with any limits a particular design imposes on swing or length :)

Cheers and make plenty of stuff in 2012.

Regards
Ross

Hi All,

I have not had much in the way of free time for several months to get creative like some others here on the forum:D however I did take some time out last weekend to cut one of the sample 3d Aspire signs for one of my mates bar. That's what I like about having my own MM its there for when I want it.

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...k/DSC02485.jpg

http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r...k/DSC02483.jpg

I am also venturing into the fine woodworking area of box making and looking to do some nice carving, inlays and engraving to the boxes I make.

I have also bought one of those small Chinese 4th axis's to play around with although I do not know where I am going to find the time to set it up let alone use it :) so volunteers welcome :D Although I am not seen here too much any more I do keep checking in from time to time just to keep up to speed with where everybody is at.Thats all from me for now !!

Cheers
Tony.

Nice Sign Tony! :)

Big Thanks
 

Big Thanks !!

Goes out to Ross for spending several hours with me today carrying out a few tweaks to my MM. We also changed over my spindle to the larger 2.2kw water cooled and also updated my Mach3 screen set. We had a few small hiccups along the way but Ross was quick to sort them out. MM is now running a bit faster and sounds and feels a lot smoother :D

Much appreciated Ross
Cheers
Tony.

Hi All,

Sorry it has been a while between posts, but just letting you all know that MM#71 is still cutting. My day job looking after Australasia kept me very busy and away from home for most of the last 5-6 years so MM never really done too much.
I have just recently left my day job and now enjoying spending each and everyday at home doing all the things I love, mainly working with wood. I also still do my pens as well and also sell pen parts to other pen makers so its a great little hobby business.
However now that I have my time to myself I have decided it is time to dust off the cobwebs and start using MM so look out !!
Just to make sure MM was still all working ok and so that I could make sure I could still remember how to set things up, I run a couple of the Design and Make files through it and all went well other than my gas strut leaking oil over the job. So I will get that fixed tomorrow and then it is onwards and upwards.

Cheers
Tony

Those are really nice, good to have you back cutting again.

Welcome back !!

Very nice design !!

Wishing you all the best in your new venture !
cheers ;)

Nice work, Tony.

Hey All,

Im still kicking around ;-) Big Old Blue is still moving and cutting. Recently fitted a new touch screen to the console along with smooth stepper some LED's to the y carriage and today I just finished the dust foot now to connect up the dusty.
Cheers
Tony
http://i.imgur.com/wob5Gjm.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/A9IGIpH.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/1GVcKdg.jpg

Nice - Still have my old original MDF one I knocked up us temp one 4 years ago. LOL