Amazing. How much do you suppose you have into the project? The quality appears to be better than what I have seen in some of the "entry-level" machines I have seen.

 

An absolutely excellent project @sausagePaws , my congratulations on your build.

Tweakie.

 

Awesome build! It's cool to see an "outside the norm" OpenBuilds project.

 

Would like more information on the Electronics.

 

Any chance of publishing detailed instructions on how to build one?

 

Can you contact me? We'd love to build this at Printrbot!
-brook
[email protected]

 

Great job and excellent quality. I think I will start similar build as my next project. However, I think to base on common CNC/3D printer board, such as RAMPS, that will understand G-code, and will try to integrate with Embroidermodder project to be able to use any available design file found on the internet. I have an old Soviet German Textima Veritas sewing machine in very good condition. But it should be used with 2:3 duty cycle, so I think, I should include duty cycle configuration into the software, to not to overheat the machine and drive.

 

Do you have source code for the Android part available? It would be handy.

My daughter was talking about saving up for an embroidery machine, and I think this could be built nicely controlled by a Brainlink and an Android.

Instead of spring steel for needle position detection, I think one could use a photodiode and an LED.

 

Hi @sausagePaws ,

Well I have just got to give this a try after you put the idea in my head (which has now been fermenting for a couple of months or so).

Work by Khalid Khattak has also been a great inspiration so this is the start of my journey.


Tweakie.

 

LOL Did Tweakie the CNC Zen Master find a toy he hasn't played with yet

Come to think of it Mom has a sewing machine in the garage

 

Yup, you got in one Brian this will either work or it won't but I think that there is a lot of learning for me to do before I get it right.

Tweakie.

 

I didn't really mean it like that. It was meant more as an Oh boy a new toy I haven't messed with. And you are most definitely the Zen Master of all things CNC so I like your chances of success

 

Thanks for the kind words Brian.

I think I have now got to grips with the Tajima file format (which appears to be one of the insdury standards) so everything is looking good so far. Now to read the manual to find out how to thread the sewing machine and the first test run may be imminent.

Tweakie.

 

I will have to start another thread on this topic because machine embroidery it is a lot more involved than I had first envisaged.
Here I have used a standard Tajima test pattern and have ignored the thread colour changes just to test that the machine set-up works OK (I trust no one notices that the washroom roller towel has become a bit shorter ).

Now comes the software learning part in order to produce my own designs.

Tweakie.

 

You could say it's so funny that it has you in stitches or that you are getting thread-up with reading about it ??

Tweakie.

 

Still a long way to go on this.
Once I have resolved the timing issues and I am able to break the "5 stitches per second" barrier then I'll post the video

Tweakie.

 

Tweakie.

 

Hi SausagePaws,


Thanks for the heads-up on Janome. I have not had time to investigate the various ‘industry standard’ formats yet – something for the future.


At present, I have two different machine / software control systems and I am currently comparing the merits of each against the other.

1) Stepper motor and toothed belt machine drive where the software is in total command of the machine’s needle position and work movement.

2) DC motor, continuous, machine drive - using a slotted disc and opto-switch where the machine is in command of the work movement. I don’t know if this is typical of all machines but I have 40% of the machine’s rotary motion where the needle is well clear of the work so the opto-switch tells the software when to move the work.


Tweakie.

 

Just brilliant ... but i still dont know how you detect the position of the needle with spring steel ???? kind of a switch ?

 

Fortunately, the machine completes one stitch for every revolution of it's main shaft - by using an opto-switch it is possible to sense the rotational position of the main shaft and thus the needle position.

Hope this explains it.

Tweakie.

 

Thanks Tweakie .... understand how you identify the position with the opto now ... over looked the fact that you were using a stepper motor to control the sewing machine ...

 

It's not necessary to use a stepper motor to drive the machine, although it does work - it's just knowing when the needle is clear of the work (and the opto-switch does that) so that the X-Y movement of the work can take place. The problems I have encountered relate mainly to stopping the machine rotation when the required X-Y movement is greater than can be done within the available time-frame of one complete revolution. Basically it limits overall speed (stitches per second).
Professional machines have cracked this problem and I am sure it is only a matter of time before I discover their secret.

Tweakie.

 

... i had a completely different low tech approach .... using the rotary shaft / hand turning knob at the end ... add some thing to the knob at an angle or even a cam ..kinda like this '' / '' ( as it spins , it will wobble) ... hook up an electromagnet as a break ... as the machine is shut off /power is diverted to the electromagnet .... will always stop needle ' high' if the brake is used on the protruding bit ... as machine is started again .. magnet is shut off and pulls back with the help of a spring .... !!! just an idea ..... hope you understood the concept ??

 

Interesting concept, I certainly like the idea of an electromagnetic brake on the main shaft - thank you for the suggestion.

Tweakie.