My custom machine is powered by the blackbox X32. I did some major upgrades and re-did all of the wiring. I did an update to the firmware and setup an initial "custom" machine. Made all of the connections today and started the system for the first time. I first checked the proximity sensors with a piece of metal to ensure they detected the xyz limits. I then tried to jog the xyz axis motors and while it sounded that they were working nothing happened. Initially, I wanted to see if everything was moving in the correct direction. However, since nothing was moving I thought that perhaps I should look for guidance on the procedure to setup a "custom" machine starting with the firmware settings. Can anyone assist me in this endeavour - step-by-step to test each parameter in-turn? The table of my machine is 5x10 ft and will cut a sheet of standard 4x8 materiel. I prefer a metric setup.
" sounded like they were working"? you mean vibration and noise, but no controlled movement? make sure to verify your motor coil pairs. copy paste your grbl settings for us to look over. Cheers Gary
I checked the motor coil pairs and the pairs on the y axis were wired incorrectly (I thought I checked it before but clearly I didn't) and so I corrected that issue. The X and Z motors were ok. I restarted the machine to test the motors and initially I had the X axis working but it stopped so I need to check the wiring once again. The Z-axis works smoothly. The y-axis motors don't seem to be synchronized and while I can get them to move the results skew the gantry and so I need to look at the wiring again. I have attached my grbl settings as they were saved during the initialization process. The proximity sensors all work (the light comes on when a piece of metal is moved near the sensor) but do not send an error message to the machine when moving the working axis towards the sensors (probably a grbl setup issue). My sensors are positioned on the machine as follows: Z-axis top of the carriage in the + direction; X-axis on the left at x=0; and Y-axis on the bottom right at y=0 and X= max right travel. In hindsight I could move the Y-axis sensor to the bottom-left (your opinion?). I will work on the wiring issues and once I have a working grbl file I can start to refine the parameters like soft limits. However, I am not confident that the machine will home properly at this time because of the sensors. As an aside, I do have limit switches if they become necessary. BTW - the machine has a water cooled spindle.
Just in case you didnt know, the motors need to turn in opposite directions so the wiring wont be the same on each motor. They need to be reversed like so....
For the Y issue, swap one of the wire pairs around to reverse that motor, so if it's like green-red, yellow-black, making it green-red, Black-yellow will reverse it. for the home direction #23 is the setting you need to change you can home to any corner you want technically but up and bottom left is common, for zero, then x and y are positive moves from there. Some people argue it should be the opposite but it really doesn't matter. you change the $23 to match the invert table Cheers Gary
I swaped the wires around and both Y-axis motors are moving in the same direction. However, when I powered on the system the current warning lights came on for the Y2 and X motors. Also, when I put the selector into continuous jog the gantry would only move forward a few inches and then stop. Any suggestions?
Is it moving smoothly a few inches or noisy and jerky? if the later you have a wiring issue still, sounds like it from the current light being on also. for the coil pairs verify checking resistance that you have the coils paired, don't rely on the colors. 3 of four wires making good contact will cause jerky erratic motion as well. Gary
Thanks Garry, I have fixed all the wiring problems and now have a smooth running machine in all three directions. As noted before, I have installed proximity switches. They all seem to work when tested with a piece of metal. However, if a limit switch was tripped I would have expected it to throw an error and set off the alarm - they don't. How do I go about fixing that issue? Also I need to calculate the number of mm/step - is there a procedure for that and what changes do I have to make in grbl? Rick
@ricklach Is your $21 setting enabled? That is the setting for enabling "hard limits." Grbl v1.1 Configuration Are you using OpenBuilds Control? If so, in the Trouble Shooting tab, you can manually test them to see if the controller sees them.
My Y-axis is rack and pinion driven. I need to establish the steps/mm. Can someone point me to a tutorial or explain the process.
Thanks Shawn, Next issue is my homing. I have a long Z- Axis and while homing the z-axis stops after a certain distance and I have to redo the homing cycle again. What grbl value do I need to tweak to allow the Z axis to travel the full distance to the z-limit switch?
Set up the Homing Cycle Make sure max travel distance are correct for $130, $131, $132. Read up on grbl settings: grbl/settings.md at master · gnea/grbl grblhal additional settings: grblHAL/settings.md at master · terjeio/grblHAL
Forgot to mention that you should go through calibration first. Then worry about max travel and homing.
I had the homing cycle working yesterday after I calibrated the steps/mm on all axis. Today, I can't seem to get homing working properly. The process I was using: home the machine, set the max travel, then enable soft limits. The max travel on my machine is as follows: x-axis=4 ft; y-axis=8 ft; and z-axis=13in. When I try to home the machine it moves to the top of the z-axis, bumps against the sensor, and then just stalls until I abort the process. My current limits for $130-$132 are 100, 1000, 1000 respectively (what are the dimensions: mm, in, ?) and that is what was working yesterday. Can you help me solve this issue?
Sounds like your z limit switch isnt working anymore. You can test is by going into the troubleshooting tab. Manually trigger the z limit switch with a piece of metal and see if Control shows it as triggered.
z_limit switch fixed - some close tolerances with my other parts which was interfering with the z-axis movement.
My current limits for $130-$132 are 100, 1000, 1000 respectively (what are the dimensions: mm, in, ?) . For example: G91 G0 Xnnn – where nnn is the distance you want to move - what is nnn, inches or mm, or relative. Lets say my x travel from the home position is 1000mm, do I set $131=1000. I guess the question is: where does grbl define the dimension for nnn. Do these settings ($130-$132) establish the "soft limits."
As one user to another: They're in mm (it says mm in the description on my computer, not sure if yours is the same Depends on what is set previously in GCODE: G20 = Inches G21 = mm G90 = absolute G91 = relative Once issued, each of these stays in force until the controller is told otherwise. The status report that pops up in the terminal window lists the options currently in force. G20 G91 G0 X2 will move to the right of the current position by two inches G21 G90 G0 X2 will move to a position 2mm from the start of the X axis Yes. HTH Andy
As Andy said, yes.... But they are also used in calculating how far the machine will look for homing switches.
Just to pick up on this, in case it isn't a typo: These should be X-Y-Z: Are you sure it shouldn't be 1000, 1000, 100?
