Rural published a new build:

Read more about this build...

 

No problem. Go ahead and use it. We're all in this together.

 

Good catch on ChiliPeppr, Michael. This reminds me of Octoprint, but it looks more inclusive. Amazing. Thanks for pointing it out.

On Autodesk 123D Design and DesignSpark Mechanical... Well... There is a difference between "free" and "Free" in this context. I'll digress before I get into a lecture on open source and Creative Commons licensing, but to be blunt, the OX design wouldn't exist if it weren't for the permissive licensing of its predecessors.

Suffice it to say that what I'm aiming for is a project that has nothing but open source software and Creative Commons designs. (That's an aim, not a goal.)

 

I whole-heartedly agree, but the same can be said for conventionally-licensed projects. The number of conventionally-licensed projects that die in obscurity is undoubtedly massive, but we never hear about those deaths because they are never publicized. With open source software, they tend to see use very early in the development cycle, so the death of a project will be public.

Good open source projects, like Chilipepper, generally attract developers, especially if an effort is made to popularize them. Exceptions exist. I mean, look how OpenSSL was practically ignored until HeartBleed happened, but open source projects generally wear their health way out on their sleeve (in forums, with code submission stats on GitHub, etc.), so one can check the vitals. This is exactly what I did for PyCAM and Skeinforge.

Usually, when a popular open source project dies, it's because something better has come along. With Skeinforge, it seems like Slic3r and Cura stole the interest of any developers who might have taken over the project. I'm not sure that a good project dying because something better comes along is a bad thing. I've also seen open source projects that were awesome, but trying to push into an open source averse community (ie. the FOG project was aimed at medium-sized educational institutions) stumble. FOG eventually bounced back, but it was looking grim for a couple of years.

 

No problem Michael. Ya, the most demanding thing the Raspberry Pi will be doing is handling the camera. The JSON Serial Port Server shouldn't take much oomph to run.

We agree on the importance of the software-side of the build.

 

Good catch Michael. That controller box is beautiful. Using the Alamode solves a bunch of problems too... Like the RPi's lack of a real-time clock, which I end up doing with all of my RPis.

With ChiliPeppr, his project would provide a very user-friendly interface.

 

So I've been waiting on parts to arrive...and playing with software as well. My deal with myself is that I have to solve all the problems with what I've obtained before buying the next item, and I get a two-item window. Got the power-supply, GRBL on an Arduino clone, a GRBLShield, and a couple of NEMA 17 steppers working fine. So now I'm looking at buying the proper motors. Which leads me to my questions:

1. In the original OX build, the NEMA 17 motors are approximately 75 oz-in and the NEMA 23s are approximately 175 oz-in. Is this sufficient or over-kill?
2. The Chinese retailers on EBay are tempting. Anybody had good luck with them? Free shipping would be nice, but a 3 week wait is going to hurt.

 

For the steppers, I ended up going with EBay. Almost hit the go button on an order from SteppersOnline, but the shipping killed it. In a couple of weeks, we'll see if it ends up being a mistake or not.

 

Just an update: I've been hitting EBay a lot lately, both for the OS OX project and some upgrades to my 3D printer...and some electronics projects for my boys. The Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean sellers can be really economical on electronics parts and tools (basically stuff that's used in building consumer electronics). Other than the HY-DIV268N-5A drivers (which only work at about 30% of what they should), everything has been as it should be. One has to be careful on the free shipping. Sometimes, especially when you just need a small number of items, it's a great deal. Other times, when one needs a bunch of stuff, it can be better to pay for shipping separately.

I've also been hitting the electronics recycling bin at our dump. Scored half-a-dozen mice yesterday and pulled the micro-switches I wanted last night. Hoping to figure out how GRBL needs them wired to act as limit/home switches tonight. This looks really easy, but one never knows until they try. I'm on the look-out for power supplies, which would best taken out of the (many) desktop computers sitting in the pile. Unfortunately, our dump doesn't like seeing computers leave the pile for privacy concerns. So I either have to be a ninja or a sweet-talker.

Once the steppers arrive, it's on to the spindle. I'm leaning towards a 600-watt spindle as in my parts list. Since GRBL now supports PWM control of the spindle, I'd like to get that up and running.

Then I'll be moving on to the physical bits.

I should add that I'm working on a printed case for the Arduino and gShield. It will incorporate active cooling in a way that cools the bottom of the gShield, which, according to Synthetos, is where most of the heat is shed. I'm hoping to score some appropriately-sized fans from the electronics recycling pile for that project. My 3D printer is limping along at the moment, so the case project is on the back-burner until the printer is back in full working order.

 

Serge, it depends on who is working at the dump. If it's the right guy, all is well and I can snoop through the pile and take what I want. No need for tools. If it's the other guy no explanation will work. Tonight, I was able to grab two towers without anyone noticing, drive a block away and strip what I needed from them right in our mini-van, and return what was left. So I've got a couple of power supplies to experiment with on a couple of projects unrelated to the OS OX.