91
Gallery / Re: Final Lidar Post (I promise) and the Build Video
« Last post by sdezego on October 17, 2018, 02:33:06 PM »Very impressive all around!
Recent Posts
92
New from Old / Re: The Sequel - Oh Blimey I bought a CNC Lathe (Beaver TC 20)
« Last post by awemawson on October 17, 2018, 01:30:11 PM »A tiny bit more progress, (or probably more confusion), I've been pointed to an '.INI' file buried deep in the file structure of STEP5, that holds settings for all the COM ports from 1 to 6.
Sure enough it had EVEN for the parity bit for COM2: that I am using. I edited it to 'NONE', ran the program, and it STILL sets it up as EVEN parity
. . . my head hurts !
Sure enough it had EVEN for the parity bit for COM2: that I am using. I edited it to 'NONE', ran the program, and it STILL sets it up as EVEN parity
. . . my head hurts !
93
Project Logs / Re: Sheet Metal Brake and 3d Printer.
« Last post by S. Heslop on October 17, 2018, 12:49:33 PM »Oh couple other questions. What's the plate that hangs off the bottom of the X carriage for? It's not installed in that photo as I don't have screws long enough. But aside from possibly stiffening the wheels a bit I'm not sure if it serves a purpose. Maybe for a depth probe?
Also what is that laser cut... shape in the Z plates on your machine. I figure it's a logo of some sort but I can't tell what it is.
Also what is that laser cut... shape in the Z plates on your machine. I figure it's a logo of some sort but I can't tell what it is.
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Project Logs / Re: Sheet Metal Brake and 3d Printer.
« Last post by S. Heslop on October 17, 2018, 12:43:27 PM »I'm not sure I understand.
This is how i've got it. With the top of the belt, where it attaches to the carriage, flat. So that the belts don't change angle as it moves.
Clothes peg springs are a smart idea though.
This is how i've got it. With the top of the belt, where it attaches to the carriage, flat. So that the belts don't change angle as it moves.
Clothes peg springs are a smart idea though.
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Project Logs / Re: Sheet Metal Brake and 3d Printer.
« Last post by WeldingRod on October 17, 2018, 12:23:04 PM »Looking awesome!
The Y belt pulley and idler are different dimensions; that's why it tilts. You want the bottom side of the belt straight and the top side angled. That way there isn't a tiny little angular error in your motion and you move back and forth. I used belt tensioner springs on mine, BTW. I think you can use the spring for a clothespin to do that.
The Y belt pulley and idler are different dimensions; that's why it tilts. You want the bottom side of the belt straight and the top side angled. That way there isn't a tiny little angular error in your motion and you move back and forth. I used belt tensioner springs on mine, BTW. I think you can use the spring for a clothespin to do that.
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Project Logs / Re: Sheet Metal Brake and 3d Printer.
« Last post by S. Heslop on October 17, 2018, 10:37:23 AM »Its thrilling to see another brainchild growing up!
I agree, it's hard to wait on paint! I didn't paint any plates till version... I don't know... 6ish?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk
I was really in two minds about paint. I kinda like the look of bare metal, but i've had enough stuff rust now to consider paint.
This took me longer than it should've.
Got 2 of the 3 belts installed as well as the Y rod. Had to tilt the idler pulley plate up a bit to make the belt more level. Not sure what went wrong there but i'll need to think about it, but only if it causes problems.
Not my best machining work. I kept making mistakes. At one point a hot chip bounced right up my nostril. Quite unpleasant!
They're little jacks with a locking screw. Leather washers made from some welding gloves I bought that are so shoddily made internally that I cant get my hand inside. I figure a soft washer of some sort would be important to let the table tilt around the holes a bit.
The plate is from an old oven top. I figured the rolled edge might help support that long span better. I don't think it's entirely flat but i'm considering how to rest the glass on top. Blobs of silicone perhaps. But yeah it turns out the grid pattern on the plate is a quite precise 5mm spacing, which made laying out the holes a doddle! All sheet stock should come with a grid printed on it. Just wish I took better care of the plate - did alot of welding and cutting on top of it.
Drove to the coast yesterday to get some filament. That's a lie, I went to get chips and because I sort of vaguely remembered I had a reason to go to the coast. Was hoping i'd remember on the way but I just couldn't till I got back. Aside from that I think I just need make a bracket fo the extruder then figure the wiring out and it should be operational. Who am I kidding something's bound to go terribly wrong!
97
The Water Cooler / Re: Building a Bridge
« Last post by vtsteam on October 17, 2018, 08:36:21 AM »Thanks Bob. 
Tom, could be. Coincidentally we had our first frost this morning. I didn't notice it on the bridge though, when I walked my daughter to the road for school bus pickup.
The bridge does get sun during the day in winter. When snow gets here, the wear strips will definitely dry first after shoveling. I'm planning to set up a sand barrel nearby.
Another advantage of having a bridge and driveway is bringing in sand. After every icing I used to hand carry it in and spread it along all 600 feet to the house. Even then, we routinely wore ice grippers in the walk to the cars, and back, carrying groceries and heating fuel.
Tom, could be. Coincidentally we had our first frost this morning. I didn't notice it on the bridge though, when I walked my daughter to the road for school bus pickup.
The bridge does get sun during the day in winter. When snow gets here, the wear strips will definitely dry first after shoveling. I'm planning to set up a sand barrel nearby.
Another advantage of having a bridge and driveway is bringing in sand. After every icing I used to hand carry it in and spread it along all 600 feet to the house. Even then, we routinely wore ice grippers in the walk to the cars, and back, carrying groceries and heating fuel.
98
New from Old / Re: The Sequel - Oh Blimey I bought a CNC Lathe (Beaver TC 20)
« Last post by awemawson on October 17, 2018, 07:31:09 AM »A bit of progress, but I've been delayed by moving a manure heap and reseeding more ground, to say nothing of still fighting the fly plague
OK Moray kindly pointed me at a cheap 'logic analyser' that would let me capture signals between the STEP5 program on the Toughbook, and the Siemens 820T controller. But these signals are at RS232 levels and the analyser is expecting TTL levels.
No big issue - either make or buy a converter based on the MAX3232 chip that does precisely this conversion. So, the USB analyser, a MAX3232 board, and some 9 pin IDC plugs and sockets ordered, all of which came to hand yesterday.
The MAX3232 board needs a 5 volt supply, so I modified a USB cable to give me this, and made up a short Male, Male, Female adaptor cable for the 9 pin Toughbook serial port to allow connection to the converter card as well as onwards to the 820T controller.
First I set it all up just transmitting from the PC using the "COPY CON COM2:" command in a DOS box, and sure enough up it came on the analyser.
Then I tried connecting the serial port onwards to the controller, but no way would it go 'on line' Much chasing about then it dawned on me, the little MAX3232 pcb has one "RS232 to TTL" and one "TTL to RS232" port connected (the MAX3232 has two of each) - what I wanted, as I was just monitoring the interface, was a pair of "RS232 to TTL" converters. What was happening was that the RS232 output of the PCB was in parallel with the RS232 output of the 820T controller and clobbering it
Oh well, best laid plans of men and mice . . . . etc !
Frustratingly the PCB was laid out such that there was no realistic way of using the other port on the MAX3232, but I have found another version, a "Sparkfun BOB-11189" that doesn't embody a 9 pin Sub D, but does bring out all the inputs and outputs to accessible places - one on order from Farnell.
But what I HAVE manged to confirm, is that the STEP5 PLC monitoring software is definitely altering the COM2: port settings to 'Even Parity' each time it is run, and thus generating the 'framing errors' as the controller expects 1 start bit, 8 bit data, no parity bit, 2 stop bits ie and 11 bit word, but it is getting a 12 bit word with even parity !!!! No idea how or where, and still seeking enlightenment
. . .so that's the current 'state of play'
OK Moray kindly pointed me at a cheap 'logic analyser' that would let me capture signals between the STEP5 program on the Toughbook, and the Siemens 820T controller. But these signals are at RS232 levels and the analyser is expecting TTL levels.
No big issue - either make or buy a converter based on the MAX3232 chip that does precisely this conversion. So, the USB analyser, a MAX3232 board, and some 9 pin IDC plugs and sockets ordered, all of which came to hand yesterday.
The MAX3232 board needs a 5 volt supply, so I modified a USB cable to give me this, and made up a short Male, Male, Female adaptor cable for the 9 pin Toughbook serial port to allow connection to the converter card as well as onwards to the 820T controller.
First I set it all up just transmitting from the PC using the "COPY CON COM2:" command in a DOS box, and sure enough up it came on the analyser.
Then I tried connecting the serial port onwards to the controller, but no way would it go 'on line' Much chasing about then it dawned on me, the little MAX3232 pcb has one "RS232 to TTL" and one "TTL to RS232" port connected (the MAX3232 has two of each) - what I wanted, as I was just monitoring the interface, was a pair of "RS232 to TTL" converters. What was happening was that the RS232 output of the PCB was in parallel with the RS232 output of the 820T controller and clobbering it
Oh well, best laid plans of men and mice . . . . etc !
Frustratingly the PCB was laid out such that there was no realistic way of using the other port on the MAX3232, but I have found another version, a "Sparkfun BOB-11189" that doesn't embody a 9 pin Sub D, but does bring out all the inputs and outputs to accessible places - one on order from Farnell.
But what I HAVE manged to confirm, is that the STEP5 PLC monitoring software is definitely altering the COM2: port settings to 'Even Parity' each time it is run, and thus generating the 'framing errors' as the controller expects 1 start bit, 8 bit data, no parity bit, 2 stop bits ie and 11 bit word, but it is getting a 12 bit word with even parity !!!! No idea how or where, and still seeking enlightenment
. . .so that's the current 'state of play'
99
How do I?? / Re: Relay timing - MAHO MH400E - gearbox control
« Last post by hanermo on October 17, 2018, 04:28:05 AM »Nicely done !
100
How do I?? / Re: Relay timing - MAHO MH400E - gearbox control
« Last post by RotarySMP on October 16, 2018, 05:19:27 PM »Thanks for the inputs. It was not the 1.5kW main spindle motor I was talking about sequencing, but just the little 24V 0.8A gearbox shifter motors.
We decided to implement 200ms delay between energising relays. It seems to work really well:
Mark
We decided to implement 200ms delay between energising relays. It seems to work really well:
Mark