An idea just pooped in my head and didn't clean up after itself. Unlike some of the Arduino based options that can be built on, none of the "prosumer" controllers offer any kind of lighting output. There is no way to add a status light. What if you tapped various "signals" from different parts of the machine to create your own on/off signals, then send that to an Arduino to control lights.

When the machine is on, green will be powered. This would be the base state. (high trigger)
Blue would be the modifier that triggers during operation. This could be tied into the air assist. (high trigger)
Red would be the modifier that overrides both ON and OPERATIONAL states. This would occur when the limit is broken. (low trigger)

Possibly the easiest output to configure would be addressable LEDs due to current required. You would only need a digital output instead of having to use a separate transistor array.


Another change would be the door override. If there is a switch in parallel with the door limit, you can effectively force the loop to remain closed.

 

Big update!


You vs the guy she tells you not to worry about.


I opted for the lightweight variant for the gantry beam and boy does it make a difference.

 

A few hours later... 48 M8 holes are now tapped.

The next step is drilling access holes. I made jigs for this, but they need bushings to act as guides. I ordered some and had them sent to a buddy who has a load of other things. It's cheaper for him to just lump it all together and mail it to me. I'm still waiting on one package. Sadly, a company by the name of Pitney Bowes exists. You can settle an entire warranty claim between the US and China before they can deliver a package that's already in the destination city. With that said, I'll see if our local Ace has any bushing. The Home Depot here absolutely sucks.

 

I wish I had a drill press. There are a total of 28 holes through 30mm and 12 holes through 60mm. I was lucky enough to find the bushings. I said I'd free hand it if I couldn't find them, but after using the figs, I'm glad I didn't even try. I designed three different jigs for different positions. They all clamp on with printed t nuts. I even gave them removable end stops for a perfect 15mm offset without having to measure.

I still have quite a bit more, but should be done with this by today. This sure isn't a corner bracket kinda build.

 

After drilling all of the access holes, I gave everything a nice good soapy bath to remove the grease from manufacturing and my post processing. Handling a 1370mm long piece of metal in a bathtub was interesting.

Nothing is tight. I still have to square everything, but that will happen after getting the entire thing loosely assembled.

It's shaping up to be a tank. The 12mm rails surprisingly aren't dwarfed by the 30 series extrusion.

 

I'm not sure why the last couple of pics were cut off... Eh, here's more.

 

The canopy and bed turned out to be much stronger than I thought they would be. There won't be any need for reinforcement after everything is snugged tight.

The weak points are the printed plates holding the gantry. The plan was to replace every printed plate with aluminum plates once everything is confirmed.

I want to build a 4x8 flat work area out of a 2" EPS foam sheet sandwiched between two thin ply sheets. (Think of a torsion box.) I'm just waiting for the foam to be restocked. Then I can level and square the entire thing.

I ultimately still have to wait on the one package that is in limbo. I ordered some unrelated stuff from Aliexpress yesterday. Being on an island, there is only USPS. Let's see if it makes it to me before Pitney Bowes delivers.

 

I made the wiring for all of the limits. Of course it needs to finished on the controller side, but that's easy. There are connectors everywhere. Each limit has a connector. The complete X limit harness (both switches) has a connector for signal and earth, where it will then connect to the Y cable chain. The Y limit harness doesn't need that extra connector like the X axis since it is mounted directly to the frame. The Z and Door switches are just single wires.

I did encounter my first problem. The gas struts have been hitting the gym too much. Rated at 200N, they are too strong. Three pounds on the front of the canopy barely keeps it closed. It still needs a bit more with only one strut installed, but it gets pretty light. 150N might be the sweet spot.

The poor mounts look like they are barely handling the load. With a major goal being space optimization, there isn't a lot of room to work with. I could replace them with plates in the inside of the frame. The canopy edge gap is 5mm, so the thickest plate I would use would be 1/8" (3.175mm). Even then, the screws would have to be countersunk to clear.

EDIT:
I did forget about the weight of the acrylic. I'll do some maths to see if that would put the 200N struts in their operating range.

EDIT 2:
The acrylic will add 5.26# at the front edge which should be more than enough considering the 2.76# power supply was enough to just hold it down. Add the aluminum handle and hardware to that as well.

The printed strut mounts also creeped a bit to the point where the Y stepper rubs as it passes. This seems to be an issue if the canopy is open for too long. I could also use an L bracket instead of a plate to mount the struts.

 

PLA+
3 perimeters
3 bottom and top layers
0.4mm nozzle
0.2mm layer height
20% gyroid infill

The side that mounts the strut is 10mm thick.
The portion that mounts to the frame is 10mm thick as well, but the four screws are recessed slightly, so 8mm under the screws.
Each strut is pushing with 45# (20kg) of force. If they remained perfectly straight, the clearance to the stepper is only 3mm.

Although stronger, I believe ABS would flex more in this application. PLA is stiffer, until it breaks. I don't think ABS has creep issues though. For reference, a 114mm Nema 34 weighs 8.2# (3.7kg), and a 151mm weighs 11.5# (5.2kg)

With all that said, one side split overnight.

 

The Pursuit of Cleanliness
...coming soon to a build near you...

 

I've been working on a few little things here and there, but it's really being held up by...

 

They finally handed it off to USPS yesterday, and it was delivered. My buddy is going to repack and send everything my way.

 

The "arc reactor" is all wired up. I love wiring work, but there is nothing scarier than nothing happening when you first turn the power on. It looks like I wired the positive and negative backward on the 2A "trigger" PSU. This was preventing the SSR from activating. Easy flip, released the e-stop, and all of the fans came on.

Speaking of the trigger PSU, I stripped the unit from the factory wall plug in box, and placed the unit in my own printed box with screw terminals. The output runs through the e-stop, which is essentially the on/off switch for the machine.

I have much more overhead on the 12V 4.2A PSU than I thought. I'm contemplating running the lights off of that instead of the trigger PSU. If I do, I won't be able to turn the lights on unless the machine is 100% energized.

The lights I got are surprisingly nice. They are COB based LED strips with a very nice diffusion. I was going to put a strip at the top angled down, but the gantry blocks the light when it moves forward. I could also mount the strips on the sides. I have 2m worth. The top only needs a meter. The sides would use half a meter per side.

I made the switch portion of the front panel since I don't have the controller yet. This lets me at least complete the front panel wiring.

More pics later...

 

I got the spot laser all wired and cleaned up only to discover that the converters I was sent are 3.3V instead of 5V. Maybe it was a fluke and the one out of the bunch of five got mixed in? Nope, all five have 3.3V marked on the IC's. It's realistically an insignificant detail, but still a bummer. After a day or so of doing other stuff, I flipped the switch and the laser came on. I put my DMM to it and found out that the converter is letting the full ~12V through. That raises a question. Shouldn't my 5V diode be dead now?

I put the lights under the canopy hinge. The operator shouldn't be in there while it's running, so who cares if the gantry blocks a little light during operation.

The belt setup for the bed bed is in place. I know it's not 100% in place, but it's pretty stiff. Once everything is squared I can check to make sure the rods are truly parallel as that contributes to nearly all of the resistance.