Believe it or not...that’s how the micro switches are configured before they put the lever on them. I like the idea of using the Hall effect sensors you have. I may look into getting those later on.

On another note my Phoenix CNC board is out of customs and on its way here maybe by Friday. My 65mm screws are supposed to be here tomorrow so maybe I can get the structure and xyz axis assemblies completed this weekend

 

So I contemplated installing bCNC on a Raspberry Pi 3 but I'm thinking it may be more trouble than it's worth since I'm going to need a monitor along with a keyboard and mouse. And rather than that I can buy a cheap new laptop. So will bCNC run on what I'm going to guess is Windows 10 Home Edition...or whatever is the latest MS OS they put on cheap laptops you can buy for $200 or $300. I'm guess when it's all said and done I can maybe put together a Pi for $200. I played around with Linux before I got a life so if I need to install it again that's not an issue.

Will one of those cheap laptops be fast enough? Or.....would buying a cheap laptop and installing Linux to run bCNC be a possibility?

 

What do you mean 10 X 1/8"? Are you saying you can get a quantity of 10 end mills that are 1/8" in diameter? If so...that's a really good deal.

 

Just as a side note...one project I am working on is finding better tools for machining all of the different materials we machine. For aluminum I chose Kyocera-SGS and OSG brand end mills and drills for the majority of the machining applications. My main reasons foe those brands were because of how well the performed compared to how long they lasted vs. price. Guhring, Mitsubishi, Iscar as well as others machine aluminum just as well but they cost a lot more and they really don't last longer. Some of the tools I installed back in October are still being used after all that time with no degradation to the tool. The tools we use range in side from 3/64 up to 1/4 inch diameter. Some are larger and not many are smaller but they are in the range most routers would use.

 

By offset you are talking about the length offset...correct?

And what did you mean by 10 x 1/8? A quantity of 10 end mills?

Can you tell me your source for the end mills? My company buys them through a tooling supply house that has lots of different tooling manufacturers and I see the tooling reps in here all the time from each tooling manufacturing companies. We get a good discount from MSRP but if you are telling me you are getting 10 tools for 35 bucks then that price is way better than what my company pays...but then again we use carbide end mills not high speed steel.

 

That's a good deal for the cutters. If they were carbide they would break before deflecting a lot...but HSS is actually a good tooling material for aluminum. 2 flute tools have a fairly deep flute which is why they also deflect a lot in addition to the long flute length.

 

I finally got the Phoenix CNC controller board so now, other wire and cables and other miscellaneous components I have all of the items I need to assemble this machine. I've started by assembling the the wheel/plate assemblies. Unfortunately I had a medical setback that put cutting the rails and tapping them on hold. Hopefully this weekend I can get that accomplished. One question I have. I see in your thread you say that the X-axis c-beam needs to be cut to 503mm if following your plans. I take that dimension is based on a nominal X-axis dimension of 500mm because the wheel/plate assembles mounted to the y-axis c-beams are 1.5mm away from the y axis beam. I'm asking so I can plan for the dimensions of the 20x60 rails used for assembling the base frame.

Thanks again.

 

I keep meaning to do that but I have so many other projects I'm working on (some hobby related, some essential home related and some I unable to categorize).