Paul Stoller published a new build:

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Thanks Mark, I am grateful to have found a forum that is as active as this one for a place to learn. I had been looking various desktop CNC type machines for several years, and finally decided that my best route was to build one myself. I figured I would learn more and spend less, but it was finding the openbuilds site that finally convinced me to pull the trigger and start. Not only where the prices affordable once I saw how active the community I knew I had found the right place.

 

I was taking a closer look at everything again today and when I turn the flex coupling to move the build plate back and forth I think I can see a small wobble in the lead screw. It may have gotten slightly bent during assembly. Will a slight wobble cause problems, or should I place an order for two lead screws when I order my parts for the X axis.

 

Thank you for the suggestion, I will give that a try this evening to see if it makes any difference.

 

I went ahead and readjusted the preload and it didn't seem to make much difference. On the other hand it does seem to be fairly slight. I went ahead and shot a video of it although it's so slight it's still hard to make out.



Perhaps I'm just being a bit paranoid, I just want to make sure it won't be a problem with the performance of the machine later on.

 

Good to hear, I may have to try the loctite and thread tape a try as well.

 

Thanks Julius, I appreciate the offer, since I plan on using the high torque NEMA 23's from the parts store I plan on getting the DQ542MA drivers, the pololu drivers just don't have quite enough power to adequately drive the HT NEMA23s. I'll be hooking up the external drivers to the protoneer hat.

 

I had read a bit on the TB6600's and they were almost what I had decided to go with, but then I started reading about DSP based drivers (such as the DQ542MA's), and how they tend to give smoother and quieter operation than traditional drivers. I know the DQ542s are a bit more expensive, but I'm looking at reducing noise as much as possible as I'll be using my machine in an apartment. I'm actually building a sound dampening enclosure for the CNC as well.

 

Evan, Thank you for the info. I figured the router/cutting action would be the loudest component, but I figure every little bit helps. The enclosure design I'm working on will be made up of multiple layers with some sound absorbing material sandwitched between the plywood (along with an air gap). The front door will be made of a "box" with two layers of 1/4 inch plexi. The other option I'm considering adding, but not sure if it will be worth the expense is some mass loaded vinyl to help with the noise reduction. I'm hopeful to get the noise down to the point that I don't have the neighors after me and I can run the machine for hours without driving myself crazy.

 

Yeah they can be quite loud, I'm toying with the idea of taking the innards of an old vacuum cleaner and using that to integrate the vacuum into my enclosure. (the catch chamber would be external). If I end up adding an air compressor that will end up getting it's own enclosure.

 

That's a good thought, thank you, I had been thinking about using acoustic ceiling tiles as they have a decent noise reduction co-efficient of .55 (meaning they block about 55% of the sound energy that passes through them and are fairly inexpensive. But I'm certainly open to exploring other inexpensive materials. I'll have to test that out.

 

That's awesome, I appreciate the tip. From looking at some of the other sound proofing products that are out there it's possible the old towels could hit something at ~.85 noise reduction coefficient which would be a nice significant bump even from the acoustic tiles.

 

Julius,

I took your advice to look up an example on youtube, it does seem to be a decent method. I thought I would share a link in case anyone else is curious about it.

Thank you again.

 

Here is a wiring diagram for the Pi hat I'm using.

 

I've just gotten my electronics put together and I have run into a bit of a snag. When I have a stepper hooked up it does not appear to be moving when jogging the axis, the stepper makes a bit of a knocking sound but no apparent movement. My connections appear to be correct, so I'm not sure where to go next in the troubleshooting. Here is a picture of the axis I have setup to test.

 

I'll try reconfiguring it as the diagram above has it, I had forgotten I added that diagram in my build earlier and I had looked at how Kyo had his wired as I know he as using this same setup. Perhaps I didn't quite get it right when looking at the wiring in his video.

 

That appears to have fixed it, thanks for the reminder, I really should have caught that when I went to post my question and saw the diagram.

 

Hmmm, after I went back and created new cables with wiring matching the diagram I was unable to get movement on any axis. I've tested the cable and all of the conductors are as expected. I'm going to have to take a break and think about this.