sign me up :D

Gerald,

I promised some pictures of the stop. These are for the gantry. You see I laid the 1/2 x 1 x 2 aluminum on its side. The Y car does clear them.

As you can see progress continues.

Today, I learned I made an error when I made the slide plate. I cut it according to the plans which calls for 4" wide. I did not consider the impact that adding the preground rails would have on the remaining space for installation of the VWheels and the spider. I could not make adjustments once I installed the Z slide.

I have purchased another slide plate 3.5" wide. More drilling and taping but a better plan.

Putting the pieces together. Y-Car, Z Slide, Motor, Gas Spring even tested the Milwaukee router. From this test, I decided to move the top bracket for the gas spring down so that the Z Slide is higher at rest.

Sean is closing this shop and moving every thing to his new shop. My machine will be moved to my garage. The move will be interesting.

Mechanically every thing is completed. I will add all the motors, proximity switches and wiring when the machine has been moved.

I will miss the space that I have had to work on my machine. Sean has been very generous with his shop space and time. I am grateful.

Looks good! (Why is that other machine at the back so clean?)

clean? Your not looking close enough
 

Gerald,
For once, I actually vacuumed up the mess on top and around the table when I left for the weekend. I can't wait to post the pic's of this mornings mess. It is some interesting CNC cutting to say the least.

*that's what we call a teaser!* :D

....more to follow!

*subscribe thread for audio alert of new picture post*

...check my thread for some photo's :)

Moving Day. With Sean closing this shop, I have to move my machine to my garage. Here are some photos of the preparations and break down.

Good luck on the move for both of you guys !

Robert

Thanks! I think the move will go smoothly. It will be a tight fit in my garage but it will work. More pictures later.

...Move went fine, only one bruised toe! Mine!

Sean,

Thank you so much for moving the machine from your shop and having two of your people assist in the move.

Every one,

The move did go very smoothly. The rails fit nicely on the trailer laying down and we placed the cross bearers with the MDF attached on top of them with a couple pieces of foam in between. We placed the gantry in the back of my truck.

When we got to my garage, putting the unit back together went very smoothly also. It helped to have 4 people holding and bolting every thing together. It also helped that the MDF was attached to the cross bearers. Made the process easier.

There is more room in the garage than I thought. Pictures Thursday.

I have to tighten every thing down and insure that the machine is square again. Place the gantry back on the rails and start wiring.

Sean, I hope you toe is not too bruised.

Nils,

Can't wait to see the first cuts. :)

...toe's fine :)

Now, I have to get my machine ready to move next week. I'm glad my shop had a machine to learn on! :D

Greg,

I am eager to see the first cut also.

Sean,

Good to hear that your toe is good. Happy that the student could help the teacher.

Nils had a blue face and now he has a blue toe. You have covered your extremities . . . guard those bits in the middle now!

Who can give me a new title for Nils' thread? :)

Gerald,

Sorry but I did not have the bruised toe. Sean did! Save the new thread for later when I start cutting stuff.

I read those posts too quickly at the airport, and I tend to avoid inspecting other people's toes too closely - sorry for the mix-up. :)

Progress continues.... The machine is in its new home and I have stated to install the motors and to tighten things down. Yesterday, I started to finish wiring the control box and today I hope to cut holes in the box and maybe paint.

and you call it a tight fit Nils? enjoy cutting nils :)

Woaoww Nils… This is GREAT !
So happy for you, getting close to “ take off ” ! ;)

Very nice Nils.

A tight fit, but my mid section MAY block a little more sun than yours. :)

Now, let see some cutting action. :D

Greg,
Dont worry, I think I am in the same boat with you. :) Im going to leave a little more room than Nils did for my midsection to get around. :eek:

Nils,
Cant wait to see your first cuts. :)

Nils has cleverly positioned his MM so that he does not have to get around it. If he needs to work on the x-motor he will do that extramurally . . . . through the window! :D

Gerald,

Good idea. It is tight but I can move around with a motor attached. But the design is so good, I don't expect any problems.

I have all but one hole cut in the controller box and have started to paint it. I had to repaint. The paint dept had a quality control problem. We have one last coat to add. Then I will add all the switches and finish the last of the wiring.

Things are close.

Nils,
How did the sensing on the Aluminum work out for you?

Heath,

If you are talking proximity switches, it appears that the sensors are finding the aluminium they are just closer. I don't think it will be a problem.

Nils,
Do you have the standard proxies or the extended distance ones that Gerald was mentioning before? Great to hear it will work for you with the Aluminum. :)

Heath,

I have the standard and I am thinking that I need the extended ones. Because of the aluminum, the sensor is very close to the surface of the material. I am calling FactoryMation today to talk with them about my sensors.

Help
 

Help!

I have been quietly working away to get my machine up and running. I am at the point of getting things running. I did not do a kitchen top test which may be a big mistake though we did test my motors.

Earlier I found that I had the switch components for the ON/OFF switch reversed but I have fixed that problem.

What is working.....

I am getting power to every thing.

If I push an E-Stop button things shut down.
My proximity switches register.

I can not get my motors to turn. I may have a problem with my X on the PMDX-122 I am using. The indicator light on the board is not lite for pin 2. All other motor lights are on. The power to the Geckos are on.

I think I may not have the right resistor for my Gecko 203V drives. With power on and I put a multimeter on the two connectors I am reading 4.5. No power 15.

I have the motors configured in Mach 3 as :
.......Step Pin # Dir Pin # Step Port....Dir Port
X..........3 .............2 ............1 ...........1
Y..........5 .............4 ............1 ...........1
Z..........7 .............6 ............1 ...........1

I have checked the continuity of the cables as I wired them so I believe the problem is not there.

When I jog x, y or z nothing happens. Motors do not turn on.

What do I need to check or do to fix my problem?

Thanks

When you attempt to jog "forwards" and then "backwards" (ie. change direction) do you have some LED's on the PMDX that light up?

Hi Nils

Have you checked your motor config in Mach, is it set for the correct step per unit, if too low the motors may well be turning but too slowly to see.

Do the motors give an audible "clunk" when power is applied to the Geckos? this would indicate that power is getting through to the motors.

The motor config on mine is (based on Bob Campbell Board, dont know which one you are using)

Signal, Enabled, Step Pin, Dir Pin, Dir low active, Step low active, Step port, Dir Port

X enabled 2 6 no yes 1 1

Y enabled 3 7 yes yes 1 1

Z enabled 4 8 yes yes 1 1

A enabled 5 9 yes yes 1 1

My system has a slaved axis thats why I am using A, if you dont slave then omit the last row

Motors won't turn after the setting up - PMDX-122 jumpers incorrect

Cannot get motor to turn - Mach Ports & Pins setup

Getting comms between PC and PMDX-122 - Finding the correct port address

Motors do not move after initial setting up - Mach setups

Gerald,

When I power the machine, now all the rights are lite on the PMDX for the motors. When I jog the step light goes out and then comes back on.

I will look at the link you have listed.

I am suppose to be using A because I have two X motors. I thought that X would drive both motors.

Thanks

Fixed
 

Thanks to everyone responding so quickly.

I thought I understood about the JP1 Jumper but I had changed it from the first time I looked at it but once I moved to the lower position the motors started to work.

I also had to reverse one set of the AA wires so that both of my X motors ran in the right direction.

I am a happy MM.

I am using my Shuttle Pro and I like it a lot. Need a longer USB wire.

I will be posting pictures soon.

Thanks again to Gerald and others.
Nils

Update,

My machine is cutting since Sunday but my personal computer is in the shop - I think it is about to die.

I picked up another MDF board for my spoilboard and will glue it down hopefully Tuesday. I have to grease the racks, add logos and configure the pause and resume buttons on the machine. I have my zero laser macro working and I have been working on touch plate - I have a couple issues - it wants to drive the router deeper but I will fix that soon.

I had a little trouble configuring the router to turn on but that is also working.

I will take some pictures for evidence and request my serial number soon.

Thanks to Sean for all his help.

I had to bring in the machine computer so I can get the oem codes I need to configure the buttons.

Every thing seems to be working well.

Pictures soon.

Found the "Setting up a remote push button...." thread so I will fix that easy.

Thanks Gerald

Congratulations Nils, Will eagerly await your next posts. :)