Well done Alan. I am sure you can't wait to start cutting!

After what must the slowest build on record :), the end is truly in sight. Finished all the wiring tonight so I will be able to flash her up in the morning, after doing a couple more tests to make sure all the connections are correct :eek:.

This is the gantry box where all the wires (excluding motor cables) from the X chain pass through to their final destinations.

Holding thumbs for you! <---(Apparently this is a rare expression in American - means same as crossing fingers)

That is a busy, and essential, junction box. A lot of work goes into that wiring point. This would also be the point where I would locate the relays for the proxy switches. But then I would use glands (cord grips) that take multiple cables, if I could find them in this country.

Hi Alan, I hope you are documenting where all these cables start and end up. While building it is easy to trace, but after 6 months you open up this box and scratch your head wondering where what is connected. But on the other hand knowing how well you build things I assume this MM is well documented.....and with nice pictures.

Its alive
 

IT MOVES.....!!!!!

Finally we have lift off and no smoke has escaped from anywhere :D

As I dont have a spindle/router yet, a pen works just as well


The one major problem I am experiencing is that the feed hold on Mach is constantly being triggered. The LED's on the board are off (come on when a switch is activated) but the 2 LED's on the diagnostics page are permanently lit (one keeps toggeling). They extinguish when the buttons are pushed, shouldnt they only come ON when the button is pushed :confused: I have tried changing from active high to active low - no change, can only get the machine to run if "emulated" ticks are green - not correct.

Seeing as though everybody else is bragging with their cabinets here is a shot of my (incomplete) computer trolley (still needs to get gas struts - work surface raises for working standing up, and paint)

Congratulations Alan! :eek::):eek::D:D

very nice Alan, - the trolley just needs the Blue color :D

BAIE GELUK ALAN.!!!

Nou kan jy lekker werk. Ek is amper daar.

Well done Alan!

Suggest you disconnect the feedhold button from the BOB to see if the problem is at the button/wire end. If the problem is down there, increase the Debounce setting.

Great job Alan!!:)


Even used blue marker:D:D

Thanks Guys

There is something strange going on. Now the E-stop keeps activating. After doing some fault finding, I found that I forgot to include a bridge on the e-stop circuit (the link that goes to the future VFD) without that it should not have worked at all, but it did. I was wondering why the BOB was not reacting to the e-stop, only the 220v contactor was jumping out because of the high voltage e-stop circuit.

So somewhere there is an induced positive signal, enough to have made Mach think the e-stop circuit was complete and that is also activating the feedhold circuit. That constant signal is now intermittant as can be seen on the diagnostics Tab - LED that indicates emergency input is flashing on and off. This is preventing Mach from going out of e-stop state.

I have come home for the weekend so will only be able to look at it again on Monday, will be spending the weekend scrtaching my head :confused:

ps Gerald, does this qualify for a serial number or does it have to make dust? :)

Alan, how could I refuse? :)

Congratulations, Alan! Your craftsmanship is exceptional.

Congratulations Alan,

You and the other does not build a machine... lapidary jewelry

Nice Build Alan. :)

Congratulations. :D

Nice job Alan...

Looks as tough you can get some cake decorating jobs until your router comes. :D

Is your control box on that same dolley as the computer (can't tell by the picture), and if so, is it stable?

Well gedaan Alan! Baie geluk!

Thanks again Guys, it would not have been as easy without all your input, knowledge and motivation.

Bill, the control box is attached to a pole (holding up the roof) and is stable, only the trolley is on wheels to enable it to be moved away.

I am pulling my hair out...

No joy today at all, I have installed a new PP card and had a new parallel cable made up but still no go - I have no idea why it worked Friday am but since then not again.

My setup is as follows:

Dell GX280 with std onboard parallel port (plus addition of 2nd PCI parallel port)
Sound Logic (Bob Campbell) BOB

I can get Mach to go out of e-stop mode by clicking the onscreen button, (even with the e-stop circuit disconnected, i.e. open) but as soon as I press the drives start button on the control panel to energise the contactor and power supply, it triggers an external e-stop request and switches off the BOB.

On the diagnostics page, some of the leds to indicate the state of the pins are lit even with the cable to the BOB disconnected. Different LED's are lit for the different PP's, see pics below, does anybody else see the same on their diagnostics page?

Attachment 2657
led's with port 1 active

Attachment 2658
led's with both ports active

Attachment 2659
led's with port 2 active

I am sure these led's should not be on until there is a connection to the BOB, one light does go out when the e-stop circuit is connected but it makes no difference to the operation.

My kitchen table project was done with a different "old" computer and that seemed to work fine, that machine was a bit dicey so therefore the upgrade to this unit, I may have to revert back to that unit to see if that makes a difference.

Are there any BIOS settings on that computer for the mode that the parallel ports are in? I had to make sure I set mine to EPP mode, and forgetting to do it had me troubleshooting for awhile.

Thanks Brad, tried that but no difference.

Alan..
Since it worked the 1st time and then stopped behaving, perhaps vibration or movement caused a bad connection somewhere.

there have been several posts over the past couple of years discussing weird things happening when:
1. the wires talk to each other due to shielding problems and
2. wiring comes loose enough to cause intermittent disconnects.

I like both causes because I work cheap whereas parts are more expensive...:)

whatever the cause, good luck... hope you're up and running again soon...

1. Alan, have you made sure that no part of your BOB is grounded to the control cabinet? (Your other PC may have grounded differently). BOB ground is an extension of the PC's ground (comes via parallel cable).

2. Have you tried increasing Mach's "Debounce" setting to around 10 000?

Alan,

I just fired up my machine and leds 1-6 and 8 on the top row are lit. The rest are unlit.

She's alive again :), swapped out to old computer and almost everything is working as it should. The led indicating the pause input is still toggeling even with the switch wires disconnected (only toggles once the drives are on, before that its steady).

I have no explanation as to why it worked for me on Friday morning, but that Dell parallel port (or internal bus) is most certainly at fault...:confused: I will need to find a "good" old computer to run the machine, the new ones architecture seems too refined/optimsed for current usage.

Congratulations Alan, you have done a fine job at building your MM, wish you many hours of joy.

The ongoing saga continues...

Tried another machine today (my son wants his computer back :)) and everything is working including the errant "Start" button on pin 13, however I now have another problem showing its head. Sometimes when I switch between screens, the charge pump has a little falter, not long enough to switch off the watchdog most times, but sometimes it does. Also if a program is loaded and I switch between Mach 3 and the desktop, the program starts to run - not a safe situation. I suspect it could be caused by insufficient memory (only has 120Mb RAM), I will get more and see what the result is. This is becoming very frustrating...:mad:

Sorry to hear that you are having a rough time with these issues.

As per a Gerald post above, this "smells" like a ground issue to me. I notice from the Bob Campbell web site that your BOB may have a switch on it to either isolate or not isolate the PC ground from the gecko ground. I think I'd check on that very carefully. Given the weird behavior, though, I'd meter out the PC ground to the control box / gecko ground before changing that switch setting - make sure there's no DC or AC voltage there. My suspicion is that it's set to not isolate, and you're introducing a bias, noise, or both - and disabling one of the nicer features of your board. Also, if it got bumped, it could explain the change in your machine's behavior.