i'm all left hands when it comes to power supplies and micro boards. I'm seriously interested in building an XL c-beam kit from the store but noticed no mention of control panel or controller kit. Any suggestions of a turn key solution would be helpful. Anyone looking to sell an assembled c-beam ready to run, let me know too? I'm wanting to run nema 23's
CNC xPRO V3 Controller Stepper Driver 3 NEMA 23 Stepper Motor 24V / 14.6A Power Supply that's what I use with no problems.... its not the only way but I will let others give advice on other ways... Bob
For customers that ask we have been doing the full kit portion which we supply with our OX Machine for the C-Beam machines. Apart from the drag chain portion, you can see what you get here: http://ooznest.co.uk/image/data/products/OX/Full-Kit/Electronics-Assembly-Manual.pdf Send us an email if you would be interested.
is that an UK thing red blue and green/yellow wires for the mains? in the states it's white black and green.... Bob
This is the UK standard for mains wiring N = Blue, L = Brown and Green/Yellow = Earth, this was changed many years ago for to make it easier if colour blind, DazTheGas
The Netherlands also use blue, brown and green/yellow, so do other countries in Europe. White would be a signal wire .
Hi Steammaker, did you ever settle on a controller, I am building a OX and I'm very confused on the motion control!
Brian, how much do you know so far? working backwards you have stepper motors moving the cnc, then you have drivers (chips that handle the current of the stepper) then you have a board that takes the signal from the computer and tells the drivers which motor to move and how much and how fast. next in the line is a program on your computer that reads the g-code and talks to the board. (only two more steps!!!) next is the g-code generator which takes the drawing and turns it into code that the control board understands. last or first is a cad program that you can design the part you want to machine. ok it's pretty simple so to control your c-beam machine you need 1steppers 2drivers or a combo board (drivers and control board combined) 3control board (not needed if you buy a combo board) 4powersupply (maybe 2 of them depending on voltages) 5software ask away if you still have questions.... Bob
Thanks Bob, I am so confused I know nothing(LOL)! So my initial idea was to go with Arduino and a GRBL shield and run LinuxCNC, but found out LinuxCNC is not USB compatible. I do have both Parallel and USB on the computer. So I'm looking for a Arduino+Grbl in a parallel config, and haven't found that yet! I guess I could always go back to Windows XP and use Mach3 as the control and stick with Arduino+Grbl but was hoping for a Linux solution! Brian
Hi Brian, Nope. Didnt get the help I was looking for. I want a turn key controller solution and surprised OpenBuilds doesnt offer one. I think it's a waste of time to build a cnc then struggle trying to assemble some make shift solution. I'm actually surprised nobody sells an out of the box solution. If you find one let me know.
Steammaker found this PROBOTIX UNITY CNC CONTROLLER not sure it fits you need but not cheap either! Brian
If you want an all in one, buy the xpro, plug in your motors and computer and you are done. if you want, you can add limit switches . the xpro wiring diagram is pretty straightforward.
right off the c-beam xl page.... 596 Nema 23 Stepper Motors - High Torque (Option) 4 Driver Board - There are many different Driver/Controller Options available. Please use the Discussion Thread on OpenBuilds.com for more details. 511 or 591 Power Supply - depending on your setup you may use a 12V or 24V power supply 1 now click on electronics choose 3 of these DQ542MA Stepper Motor Driver then one of these CNC USB controller Mk3/4 (4 axis) then a power supply get the 24V The reason Openbuilds doesn't bundle them is because some people like fords others like chevy's... but that will get your machine cutting in no time... Bob
Hi Brian, That Probotix is exactly what I was looking for. True it's not cheap but that wasnt my main concern. In searching Craig's suggestion for the xPro, I just found this ZEUS CNC 500x750mm kit that comes with everything INCLUDING the electronics: Zeus CNC Router Kit not bad for $1000
I saw the Zeus about the time I bought the Plate Maker. I went with the Plate Maker, bought the Xpro separately, took the 6 amp power supply (from my train layout) and was up and cutting in no time. Now I'm in the process of up grading and up sizing the bed and changing to a Sphinx style lay out using the two 500mm C-beams on the one axis and a 1000mm on the other. And yes the power supply is on the list to get upsized as well ( it doesn't have enough power to get out of it's own way)
