MadModder
Gallery, Projects and General => Project Logs => Topic started by: raynerd on November 19, 2009, 06:44:24 PM
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I purchased a Vertex Rotary table (rotab/RT) a few months ago and it has seen some good use but I will hopefully use it even more for dividing in cutting my clock wheels. I have purchased the dividing set as an add-on to the rotary table which comes with three plates for easy dividing. I have studied how to use the dividing plates and after a trial with them, there is no way I can keep concentration for long enough to use them on a 60 - 120 tooth wheel and then there are counts which can`t be done with the plates.
I know, I know .... I should be able to use them and people have used them for years and years in the past but I fancy dabbling again in CNC. When I say again, I mean after my horrific failure at converting my X3 mill to a CNC X axis! A failure maybe, but at least I know now the basics of CNC, the software and the basic setup. So here goes....
I`m aiming for something with functions like the divisionmaster-
http://www.jeffree.co.uk/divisionmaster/divisionmaster.jpg (http://www.jeffree.co.uk/divisionmaster/divisionmaster.jpg)
these are £380 for the CNC kit only (i.e not including the table), I`m hoping to build similar with some help on the electronics but more on that in later. For now, I just need to remove the handle and make a bracket to fit the motor spindle to the rotab spindle.
Here goes:
Vertex 4" Rotab with handle removed:
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/rotarycnc.JPG)
I`m going to need to couple the shafts together and for that I`m buying a 12mm (shaft axis diamter of rotab) to a 1/4" (shaft dia of motor) oldham coupling. This will also compensate small amounts of miss alignment. So basically we just need to bridge the gap and make a support for the motor. I`m using a tube of ally that was in the scrap bin:
<img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 300px" src="http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/rotarycnc1a.JPG[/img]
It was bored out to leave a little lip on the inside of the bottom end:
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/rotarycnc5.JPG)
A disk was cut and bored with three holes drilled matching the rotary table threaded holes:
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/rotarycnc4.JPG)
The disk drops down the tube and against the lip, when bolted against the rotab is locks the tube onto the table:
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/rotarycnc6.JPG)
When mounted:
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/rotarycnc2.JPG)
Now the motor needs to be mounted on its 4 holes in the position below but I`ll have to space it out another 25mm to fit the oldham couplings that will be inside.
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/rotarycnc3.JPG)
So that is the idea but I need another spacer (ideally a longer tube would have done!) but I also need more width for the motor mounting points. I`m going to use this and once bored out it should work a treat!
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/rotarycnc7.JPG)
I drilled and tapped the larger circular motor bracket disk to accept the M5 bolts that would ultimately hold on the motor. I then bored a hole in the centre:
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/wp-content/upLoads/rotarycnc10.jpg)
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/wp-content/upLoads/rotarycnc11.jpg)
The Oldham couplings are 12mm one side to lock onto the Rotab shaft and 1/4" on the other side for the motor shaft. Then the spacer/link in the centre.
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/wp-content/upLoads/rotarycnc12.jpg)
All the parts ready to fit together:
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/wp-content/upLoads/rotarycnc13.jpg)
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/wp-content/upLoads/rotarycnc14.jpg)
And then the motor mount complete:
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/wp-content/upLoads/rotarycnc15.jpg)
I have hooked it up to Mach3 after I had done this and and it is working.
I finally picked up the electronics tonight and will post more details about the source shortly. The electronics to make the indexing divice came to short of £30. I already had a Nema23 stepper motor and Routout Driver 2.5A which were also used. The Driver is shown below:
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/rotarycnc20.JPG)
This is the indexer:
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/rotarycnc21.JPG)
Apparently the electronics is quite straight forward since the "brains" in programmed in the chip. If I`m being honest, it means nothing to me and looks hugely complicated...
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/rotarycnc22.JPG)
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/rotarycnc23.JPG)
However, its functionallity does mean a lot to me and it is TRUELY EXCELLENT!!
These are the functions:
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/rotarycnc24.JPG)
I will discuss the rest in time as and when I have played with it more and taken pictures but basically you can step by 0.01 of a degree, 0.1, 1.0 and 10 deg with quick single button steps. You can jog in any steps. You can divide 360 in to 0-999 divisions. Continually rotate the table in either direction and even programme in command steps! It is brilliant! Backlash compensation is also included!
To divide which I need for my clock building, you select it from the start menu and enter the number of divisions:
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/rotarycnc25.JPG)
You then press the direction button to move directly to the next division!! No fuss, just a button!!
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/rotarycnc26.JPG)
I just need to encase the hole lot and make some labels for the buttons (which I now know off by heart after using it for the past couple of hours without any markings)!
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/rotarycnc29.JPG)
Hope you enjoyed. I`m going to post a picture of this when I get the housing but it could be a couple of days before it arrives. I was going to make my own housing but for the sake of £8 it is worth buying a premade one that fits the display and keypad nicely.
Chris
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Blimey Chris ......... :smart: ............. you've been busy :thumbup:
Top class feller, and keep posting, looking forward to the finished project ............. and seeing it used in anger :dremel:
CC
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Cheers CC - yep, I started this Monday and it is actually a collection of posts over the last few days I made over on my htpp://clockbuilding.blogspot.com and got it up and running tonight. To be honest, it is finished it just needs enclosing in a case. A butty box would do but I think I`ll wait for the real thing to arrive!
Chris
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:clap: :clap: :clap:
That sure is looking good .... :med:
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Wow! That is way cool. You can go into parts production with that. :bow:
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Great work Chris :thumbup:
That is a tidy bit of kit :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
Can't wait to see it in action.
Have fun
Stew
PS I bet you could profile cams with that no problem at all
:proj:
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Well that is just great :clap: :clap: :clap: Well done that man :thumbup: :thumbup:
I'm glad to see the details on the stepper motor mounting, I plan on doing a cnc conversion on on my mill and also on my RT next year, so thanks for showing us those details.
Cant wait to see you use it in anger :thumbup:
Tim
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Chris,
I know a guy at our club that made one of these for another member and he swears by it. Where did you get the electronics and did you have to solder all the circuitry yourself or was it sort of modular and just plug bits into other bits?
It definitely looks to be the way forward, guess the only thing is you need to hang it off the edge of the table for the motor to clear or pack it up.
How much of a saving do you think you made in total over division master then?
Very well done :thumbup: :bow:
Nick
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SpudEvans - in actual fact the mounting was quite easy once I got into it. I based it on the design that L.C Caine use on their divisionmaster. I used the retaining ring and lip as I wasn`t confident in securing the solid block ring into the end of the tube, this way the circle locks up and holds the tube to the rotary table. It also has the added advantage that you can spin motor mount tube to a position that suits. It would have been much easier to use a longer tube and then neater by using a thinner motor mount bracket, mine had to be thicker to get the extra clearence I needed.
Oldham couplings are a delight and this is where I went wrong with my X2 x-axis conversion. I`m inclined to say that I actually did it correctly and it would work if I`d have used Oldham coplings. It didn`t because the motor shaft was not 100% in line with the X-axis lead screw but Oldham couplings would compensate for this small amount. I think i`ll try it again shortly with couplings and I`ve a feeling it`ll work! I was only a mm or so off alignment but it was causing the lead screw to twist without them.
NickG - regarding hanging it off the table, the original handle on these is so large that they need mounting hanging off the table anyway so this is just the same but obviously takes a little more room.
Regarding cost - owning a Vertex Rotary table already, DivisionMaster costs:
Assembled unit £200
PSU £ 35
Nema23 motor £ 45
4" Table mount £ 40
Shipping £ 7
VAT @ 15% £ 49.05
Total £376.05
I already had the motor so I just needed the electronics which cost me about £27 and the Oldham couplings £14 = £376- £41 = Saved: £335
That being said, the DivisionMaster has a built in driver for the stepper motor but this indexer does not. Again I was lucky as I already had a 2.5A routoutCNC driver not in use but that would be an extra £25 on top. Still a lot cheaper. I had someone help me put it together so again I was lucky and for saying that, you can buy the DivisionMaster as a kit I think for about £150 ish? So you can save there.
I believe, that this indexer actually has much more functionality than the DivisionMaster and has quite a few alternative uses.
Well worth making one and it seems to work an absolute treat!
Chris
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http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?p=366777#poststop
This is the indexer!
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Cheers Chris,
Looks good, sure it'll make things so much easier for what you are about to start on.
Nick
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Still not quite finished but a couple of pics to update:
The keypad is a standard 4 x 4 matrix which comes with standard number inserts. It took ages getting the alignment right in MS Word and I`m sure there were far far better ways but I eventually got somewhere close and that I am happy with:
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/divider11.JPG)
And then the box - Maplins Electronics Housing, was a pain to cut, wanted to split. You can see the two connectors at the bottom, left is a 2.1mm power jack to connect to my old spare laptop charger (which powers both the driver and the indexer) and on the right is a 4 pin DIN connector which I`m using to couple the stepper motor to the box. Since the indexer has 5 profiles for different devices I wanted to be able to change the motor quickly and easily.
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/divider12.JPG)
This is posed, :lol: but I wanted to see what it will look like mounted on the wall next to the mill and well it will look something like this. I have printed a mount or bezel that fits around the display, covers the screws and neatens the edge.
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/divider13.JPG)
I`m really pleased I`ve gone down this route and it has worked really well! My next post, I should have it working and mounted on the wall. Perhaps a video as well.
Chris
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Chris I thought you had a mill :scratch:
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Sorry, I think my wording reads badly. It is posed next to my mill - it is next to my mill, the mill is off the camera shot. It is posed because it isn`t mounted on the wall and also the keybad isn`t stuck down yet. Does that make sense?
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Aww, the joke don't work if you delete posts Chris ....... :doh:
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lmao Thanks Darren - :wack: :wack: :wack: :wack:
It was a bugger to cut, when I held the case it scratched it, when I held the case loosely it chewed and spat it. The gap for the display can be excused, there was a problem with the indexer and I had to swap it and the new display was a few mm smaller so it caused the gap. The gap for the keypad was hacked out but is covered by the keypad. ..... now I`m making excuses....
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Aww, the joke don't work if you delete posts Chris ....... :doh:
lol - sorry, hows this...
"I do....
?"
Chris
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oh I get you now....penny dropped.
Bugger off!! :lol:
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:thumbup:
Nice going btw
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Cheers matey - it really is an excellent little piece of kit.
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Chris
Looks like a real nice addition to your shop. :ddb: :ddb:
Darren & Chris
Is this a private joke or what am I missing here? (I may regret asking this.) :doh:
Cheers :beer:
Don
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Don...and friends ....
Chris showed us a couple of enclosure cut-outs ....
I said, "I thought you had a mill"
Chris, "I do ?"
My reply was, "Then why does it look like a rat's chewed it?"
But Chris deleted "I do?" ..... So I deleted "Then why does it look like a rat's chewed it?" as it no longer made sense and might have even seemed offensive.
So Don, you happy you asked now? :)
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Darren
Makes sense now that I know the whole story. I was looking at it and wondering if it was me or what????. Now that will be one less thing on my mind as I don't like unsolved mysteries if I can find the answer. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Yup, I'm happy I asked. :) :) :)
Cheers :beer:
Don
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Well, it's definitely confirmed you've got OCD lining the numbers up! You see, I would have put the numbers that are on their own bang in the middle of the cut out - can you either move them or remove the photos please! :lol:
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Nick, the numbers are a PITA. They have to be printed as two full strips and then need aligning. It comes with precut strips but my replacements do a better job. They are not 100% but without staring at it they are good enough and do the job.
Chris
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Finally, last one on here now until I get some videos of it in action but I have finally mounted it to the wall. It is on removable brackets so can come off quickly if needed.
The piccy shows it mounted next to my mill. Sorry about the background, the ladders in the background are the old redundant ladders down to the coal bunker, now workshop.
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/cncrotabfinal.JPG)
Sure, I could tart it up a bit but it does its job 100% and it works great. It also had enough torque to actually mill on the rotation. If any of you can put the electronics together or find someone who can for you, then it is certainly a worthy project and pretty easy!
Chris
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Nice 1 Chris, looks great.
Now where is that clock :poke: :lol:
Nick
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Don`t talk about the damn clock. In all honesty I`m trying to cheer myself posting something that has gone right! I`ve just buggered up the wheel trying to cross it out about 20 minutes ago :( It needed re-making anyway but for some reason I still feel bad that I`ve totally ruined it :doh:
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Don`t talk about the damn clock. In all honesty I`m trying to cheer myself posting something that has gone right! I`ve just buggered up the wheel trying to cross it out about 20 minutes ago :( It needed re-making anyway but for some reason I still feel bad that I`ve totally ruined it :doh:
Don't let that little mishap get you down:- we've all got scrap boxes, look on it as a great learning experience. :D :D :D :D :nrocks: :nrocks: :nrocks:
Have fun
Stew
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Cheers Stew, my scrap box is building up but like you say, once you have made a mistake it is unlikely that I will make the same one again! It is certainly a good way of learning however most infuriating :bang:
Chris
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Don't worry Chris, my whole engine might be in the scrap box soon :lol:
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Don't worry about making scrap and having to recycle it.
I have never met anyone yet who can honestly say they haven't made a mistake of some sort or another.
In my posts, you only see the good bits. I too have a recycle box with bits and pieces that have gone wrong.
All you can do, is kick yourself up the a**e and vow to never make the same mistake again, which invariably you will do again some time in the future.
Admitting to your mistakes is the best thing you can do, otherwise people will be watching for you to walk across the local park lake.
Bogs
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Chris I spent all day yesterday making some scrap, that's why you see nothing from me ..... :)
Live and learn .... at least I now know what not to do .... maybe next time I'll get it right :coffee:
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Finially managed to take a short video of it in action. Sorry, my hand gets in the way a little when reaching across the camera to press the go button but you can certainly see how it works. Much easier than using the division plates but the biggest advantage is the ability of cutting divisions 1-999 without the need for division plates as well as the other functions the indexer provides:
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Nice one Chris :headbang: :headbang: :headbang:
Looks a good wheel :thumbup:
Cheers
Stew
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Impressive stuff Chris, well done!
Is the motor enough to hold it there in place without locking the table each time?
Brilliant.
NIck
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I have the Divisionmaster version and I'd be dead in the water without it, Can't see much difference between the two units, probably only small but once you have used one you will never go back.
I use mine on a big Hoffman dividing head with remote power and driver, a 6" vertex, a small BS0 dividing head and as a trial I converted one of those tiny 4" tilting rotabs from Chronos with a type 17 motor to see it it worked, it did but it's very low powered.
John S.
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NickG - seems to hold fine without since I`m cutting accross the wheel. I did keep locking it up at the start but when I was playing with the first couple of failed wheels it didn`t seem to make any difference.
John - Yea, they seem to work very similar. I did make contact with Tony Jeffree a couple of times for a little info, I also like what he did with the sherline or was it taig cnc conversion. It was quite easy to setup and if you can get someone to build the circuit the cost is great. I`m currently doing a few circuits now if you`ve seen my other thread so hopefully in a few months I`ll be able to make another for another machine. May even make a few spare if time allows.....
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craynerd
sorry I know this is an old thread but I have only just found it after following the link in your Stuart 10V Build Log
Anyway I really want to convert my RT and I think I can do all of this bar programming the pic but I will worry about that when the time comes
The problem is that I noticed the latest version on mycncuk is version 2.0 and is twice the file size as the one linked to in this thread but I cant seem to get an account on mycncuk
:scratch:
Would it be possible to host the zip file here as well ?
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@j45on
Post #111 on CNCZone (http://www.cnczone.com/forums/671791-post111.html (http://www.cnczone.com/forums/671791-post111.html)) contains pretty much everything you need.
With the exception of a later version of the firmware on post #128 (http://www.cnczone.com/forums/681292-post128.html (http://www.cnczone.com/forums/681292-post128.html)).
I could do with 'refreshing' CNCZone and putting all the latest stuff in a post. Annoyingly it won't let you edit earlier posts otherwise I'd simply update the initial post with the latest stuff.
Plenty on there to read though! If you get stuck, start a thread on here and I can answer your questions.
Steve.
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Many thanks Kwackers :bow:
I'm off to ebay for bits now :thumbup:
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Many thanks Kwackers :bow:
I'm off to ebay for bits now :thumbup:
Me too. Very impressive! :bow:
:wave:
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Hi Kwackers,
Will this PIC be ok to use on the division project PIC18F452-I/P and finally which version of the firmware should I use? (I have a Soba 6" rotary table).
Cheers
Rob :thumbup:
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@slowcoach
That's the correct PIC (make sure it's a 452 and not a 4520, I spent several weeks emailing back and forth trying to fix a strange issue for a guy in the States only to eventually discover he'd used the wrong PIC!)
You can use either version of the firmware in the links above, all I changed from one to the other is the manner in which the worm ratio of the table is entered.
E.g. In the firmware in the first link you type the worm ratio (the firmware assumes a 400 step per revolution stepper), in the second link you enter the worm ratio multiplied by the number of steps per rev of the motor.
So with a 90:1 worm you would enter 90 in the first and 90*400 (36000) in the second. The reason for this is because some people were using strange home made worm and motor combinations that wouldn't work with the earlier version of the firmware, this is unlikely to be an issue for you.
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@cidrontmg
That's the correct PIC (make sure it's a 452 and not a 4520, I spent several weeks emailing back and forth trying to fix a strange issue for a guy in the States only to eventually discover he'd used the wrong PIC!)
You can use either version of the firmware in the links above, all I changed from one to the other is the manner in which the worm ratio of the table is entered.
E.g. In the firmware in the first link you type the worm ratio (the firmware assumes a 400 step per revolution stepper), in the second link you enter the worm ratio multiplied by the number of steps per rev of the motor.
So with a 90:1 worm you would enter 90 in the first and 90*400 (36000) in the second. The reason for this is because some people were using strange home made worm and motor combinations that wouldn't work with the earlier version of the firmware, this is unlikely to be an issue for you.
Thanks Kwackers,
Always worth checking with the designer, I have seen a few 4520 on the web and did wonder if they would work or not. Appreciate your info on the firmware differences. Looking forward to building this project. Thanks again for sharing this very useful piece of kit :thumbup::bow: :bow::thumbup: Now where did I put that soldering iron :dremel:
Rob
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...pulling this one up from the dead!!
I`ve just finished making two more of these, both will be posted on here shortly but I have a question. I`m fitting one of these to my friends 6" Myford rotary table which looks damn like the vertex rotabs I`ve seen and apparently he has taken the handwheel off and the shaft is 12mm. Now the stepper motor, depending on which we purchase has either a 6mm or 1/4" shaft. Where can I get an oldham coupling with one half 12mm and the other 6mm?
Arc Euro sell a 33mm dia hub with a 12mm bore but the 33mm hub only goes down to 10mm bore.
I know some of you guys have converted 6" rotabs and I think John Stevenson's does loads of these...what couplings do you guys use?
Chris
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Any of the 25mm ones can be bored out to 12mm.
John S.
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craynerd, Where are you getting the printed circuit board for this? I purchased all the discrete parts x3, got the pic programmer, programmed the pic, but failed misserably on building the circuit on project board.
I have tried several times to use the laser printer toner transfer method to make a circuit board, but so far have failed to get a transfer good enough to etch.
Chuck
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Hi Chuck, I`ve been using photo etching. I made a UV exposure box a while back: http://www.raynerd.co.uk/?p=493
and it has taken a long time but I`m getting better at etching recently and have had much more success with this method. I had a bit of a disaster when my power supply went awol and started feeding the wrong voltage to my UV LED box which is strange because the results ended up being that the photoresist wasn`t broken down properly (I expected with a higher voltage the UVs would be more intense but perhaps the LEDs were being over driven?).
I`ve never used the toner transfer method so can`t help you there but what I would advise it to go back to Kwackers original post on CNC zone and around post number 346, page 29 there is a post by "Lucas" in which he provides an alternative copper screen and silk screen with much bigger tracks. Even with my "improved skills" at etching, I`ve been using Lucas` pcb design as it is just much easier to produce and is more forgiving in terms of errors in the etching. Infact, even when I was having the issues with my LEDs, I still got a working board from it, despite the etching process being a shambolic effort!!
He adds an extra cap across two LCD lines which I`m not sure about as I`ve never done this myself and they aren`t on Kwackers pcb. There is also an extra cap across the area that is regulating the voltage. But the board works 100% and the pcb is good.
I`m now back at work but if you are still struggling in the next few weeks, let me know and I`ll see if I can get one etched and sent over to you.
All the best.
Chris
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John, sorry, I read this earlier today and sent the info to my friend to order them and forgot to reply. Many thanks for the information!
Chris
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Just as an aside, flourescent lamp tubes work to expose the board as well - at least with the brands I've used. They just need to be very close and provide fairly light perpendicular to the board. Exposure time will vary with your setup.
-Sparky
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Another aside: I print a mirror image of the pattern on plain paper, improve any grey areas with a felt tip pen, and put it printed side down on the photosensitive PCB in a light box with a 12" UV fluorescent tube.
Andy
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Andy, just to clarify, you just print on paper?
Chris
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.... on plain paper ....
I'll second the quizical look from Chris.... if it works, I'll have to try that too. Do you still end up with nice crisp traces, or maybe you haven't tried really fine lines with this method?
-Sparky
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Though I have used transparencies intended for overhead projectors, plain paper works fine for me if exposed to UV for a bit longer. If you can find flimsies (as were used for carbon copies) and your printer will handle them, so much the better.
Because the printed side is in contact with the PCB, light doesn't bleed round the edges of the black areas to any appreciable extent. As I said, a bit of improvement with black ink helps, especially if your printer (like my old b/w laser one) produces a rather streaky black. Another trick is to make two prints, shifting the image a bit before doing the second one so any streaks come in different places, and use one on top of the other after taking care to ensure the patterns register. But having two layers extends the exposure time considerably.
Andy
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Hi Andy, that interesting. I`m not going to say I`m going to try it because I have 3 boxes of 50x sheets of printer transparency which I`m using but sounds a great method if you can`t get hold of transparency sheets which seem quite expensive these days!! Great method!!
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Craynerd, is that Luk's post with copper.pdf and silk.pdf?
Chuck in E. TN
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Hi Chuck, Sorry for the late reply!!!
Yes, Lucas:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/893705-post346.html
It is much easier to etch and much more forgiving. That being said, I have now improved my method of etching and can do Steve`s original pcb which requires much less time to etch! Here is Lucas pcb being etching:
After developing:
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/dividerpcb1.jpg)
After etching:
(http://www.raynerd.co.uk/images/dividerpcb2.jpg)
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Looks like you're getting the hang of that etching, Chris!
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Cheers Sparky, yes I`m getting there for sure! I just wanted to show people the other pcb as much as my etching skills lol, or lack of them!!
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I don't deliberately design my pcbs to be quick to etch, being tight I like to remove as little copper as possible... :lol:
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No Kwackers, your more than right! I`m not sucking up here but your board is perfect, less etching and a quicker time!! I must admit though, for someone etching for the first time or using the print transfer, this other is a good one!
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Hi all.
I've been following Kwackers build on CNCzone from the beginning with great interest, and after seeing Craynerd's build on here I took the plunge to build one.I've never etched a PCB before but using the OHP film method I produced a very good board at the first attempt ( just lucky?? I etched a second PCB to just see, & this one was as good) The rotary table had allready been fitted with a stepper motor for use with MACH 3 on my CNC emco mill. But this controller is so use full as a stand alone divider.
Thanks to Steve & Chris for sharing this great device.
note: keypad is not fixed down yet
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John, Which driver board is that please ?
John S.
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John s.
It was off ebay from Hong Kong (no surprise there !!)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250990148810
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Thanks, next question where is the case from please ?
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John s.
The one I used was from out of my loft !!
Its from RS external Dims are 170mm x 118mm x 55mm, diecast aluminuim with lid.
Every thing just fits in. I cut an aperture in the back for the stepper driver to be fitted from the rear with the heat sink outside the box. When the keypad is fixed in its correct position the bottom edge is approx 6mm from the edge of the box.
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John s.
The one I used was from out of my loft !!
I have a workshop like that. :lol:
Thanks.
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John s.
It was off ebay from Hong Kong (no surprise there !!)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250990148810
How do you find that driver?
Looks ideal for this sort of use.
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Echoing the above: nice find!
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Kwackers.
I only completed the controller on Thursday so have not really used it. But the driver appears to rotate the table with no loss of steps & high torque. As I think you said early on speed is not really important for this application. I'm not sure if it would lock/hold the table whilst milling. Did I read some where that shorting the two limit lines locks the table?
PS How do I insert a quote in the reply?
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Kwackers.
I only completed the controller on Thursday so have not really used it. But the driver appears to rotate the table with no loss of steps & high torque. As I think you said early on speed is not really important for this application. I'm not sure if it would lock/hold the table whilst milling. Did I read some where that shorting the two limit lines locks the table?
PS How do I insert a quote in the reply?
you can insert quotes automatically by clicking on "quote" on the top right (in my view anyway) of each post. Alternatively there's a quote icon in the editing toolbar (again in my version).
It looks to be rated at 3.5A which will drive most common steppers quite happily. Generally the table will lock by virtue of the worm drive even without the motor powered. The only movement should be in the backlash (which is why you probably want to use a physical lock).
Connecting the two limit switches together and toggling them doesn't lock the table but it does lock the controller to stop inadvertent key presses.
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I've ordered one anyway - worth a punt at that price I think...
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If this the same TB6560 that is in the common 3 and 4 axis controllers, despite their rating they are apparently not suitable for even half that, likewise the voltage is rated 35v with 40max, apparently the chips blow easily if taken above 26v!! If you google TB6560 you will find the links to what I`m talking about.
I`ve got one of the TB6560 3 axis drivers in front of me now so I`ve been reading a lot about them over the last few evenings...before I plug this one in and :zap: Perhaps these single drivers will behave differently. Apparently, the issue on a high voltage is during power OFF...but of course you only get the "pop" of the blown driver when you just turn it back on.
Let me know how this driver goes, I`m keen to know as I`m making a few of these up and expect people would like them with a driver or at least recommendations for one.
Chris
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Chris you are right, i would not recommend them above 24v (typical supply voltage). Above that is asking for trouble, had first hand experience with that.
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For this particular application the 24v limit shouldn't be a problem. I run mine using 19v laptop PSU's, there's no real need to go above that.
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Like kwackers mine is 19v laptop PSU which below the 24v the driver is rated at,
I left mine running on continuous over night & it's still o/k. But may be it's starting & stopping the controller which could cause problems.
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I doubt starting and stopping would have any impact - these things are switching on and off very quickly anyway, that's basically how they work.
You'd actually stress it more by leaving it powered but stopped than by continually moving.
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Coming a bit late to the PCB etching party: I've read tracing paper is a happy medium between the opacity of paper, and the expense of transparencies.