I will have to disassemble the Z axis a bit. I secured the router mount with two bolts from the back of the plate as well as two angle brackets. I did this because I wasn't sure how deep the router could sit in the assembly. Now I know that there is more than enough depth for the router mount. Therefore,I will remove the two bolts from the back and use two more angle brackets on the bottom of the router mount. This will allow me to adjust the leveling if needed. I also need to tighten up the inner v wheels. That alone may level the Z axis, but I'll still swap the router mount solution.


Tomorrow, I will get a video of a basic operation to show the technical issues I am having. I figured I can go ahead and preface that video though.
1) Zeroing - When you hit any of the four zero keys, the respective axis should visually show "0.000". However, nothing will change when I do. I can only assume that the program is internally zeroing since it starts in the position I tell it to, but it doesn't show it visually. Take a look at the Z coordinate. it is #.###|Bf. That has been there since day one.



2) This panel does not work. I can hit "HOLD" and it will stop the job, but I cannot continue. (To be honest, I don't know what the other functions are supposed to even do.)



If anyone is interested in my settings list, here most of it is. It's has obviously been disconnected in all of these pictures.




My limit switches have not been hooked up as of yet. I will hopefully do that tomorrow. As for the soft limits, I doubt they will ever work as long as I'm having the issues mentioned above.

 

I did get some cuts in yesterday, although no video like I said (couldn't find my phone). I unfortunately got some welding on an attempt to ramp. I was using a 1/4" AlTiN 4 flute with a .015" corner radius. I put in an order for 3 more, but I'll try to switch them out to 2 flutes instead of 4.

I'm working on a "flood tray" since I'll pretty much only be cutting aluminum on this machine.

 

I haven't been giving updates here.

The aluminum tray was the machines first ever cut a few weeks ago. The limit switch mounts were made on the machine as well. I still have to add the z switch. That little circuit board was made to tie sux switches together. I haven't soldered the connectors on yet as I'm still designing a circuit board with filtration. It will all be plug and play.

The flood chamber is under way. I purchased an 800L/h pump along with a compact stainless mesh filter. It won't sift out carbon or fiberglass dust, but it will more than handle an occasional aluminum or plastic shaving. I've already routed the water hose for it. The corners for the tray have been printed. The sad part is that Amazon sent a 7/16 (I think) x 12 x 36 instead of the 1/8 x 24 x 36 sheet I ordered. The correct sheet (hopefully) will be here on Saturday.

 

I had the pleasure (misery) of using the Shark to cut out the parts for the flood tray. Then I used the Sphinx to cut the strainer mount.

I'll hopefully assemble the tray tomorrow. My only dilemma is that the front panel has to be removable.

 

The flood tray is in! All I have to do is drill for drains and make small brackets to support the sides of the tray a bit more. It is all held together with silicone. I still need to figure out a solution for the front panel.

I also mounted the strainer properly. I'll more than likely make an extension of the inner plate to elevate the pump from the floor of the container.

 

That's a good idea. A slight change in my mind, but we'll see how it goes. Thanks

Heck no! I'd like to get an aluminum plate with threaded holes. I'd cover it with an hdpe top.

 

The pump isn't as strong as I thought it would be. It may be the restriction from the filter, but we'll see how it goes.

I built the new limit circuit. Each switch is independent from everything else. They all converge at this board. One benefit is that I can have one or two on each axis without anything being affected. This is an upgrade from the last due to added filtration, while the other was directly connected. I'm just waiting on my 6 pin connector to finish it.

That last little piece is my z axis physical limit mount. More pics on that later.

 

I've sent an inquiry to Chris about the base plate. A single 1/4" aluminum plate topped with a sheet of hdpe should do the trick. I could even top it with another aluminum plate fr tasks where I need a way to hold a piece down that does have mounting holes. I'll provide a better update on that later.

 

I made some supports for the flood tray.

I'm just waiting on my buddy to have time to build the stand. It will all be cut on a much much much bigger toy.

 

I got to leak test everything today. I forgot I left some holes exposed under the mounting rails. I'll just make tiny block off plates and apply a generous amount of silicone.

The stupid nozzle leaks from about four different joints. Is that normal? I didn't get Loc-Line due to availability, but this one wasn't too cheap either.

 

I haven't made an update in a while. Today, I tore the machine down and cleaned it up. First step was removing the flood tray. It unfortunately leaked quite a bit. I will come up with an improved solution for the new setup. I moved the two lengthwise runners further apart to better support the new table setup. I will be adding a ~340x400mm table built from 20x80 extrusion.

The other aspect I focused on was homing and probing. I identified my max travel as 338x338mm which will go into later configuration. The wiring for the + and - on X and Y are complete. I just have to make new rail mounts, which ironically can't be made on the machine until I set it back up... I designed covers to clean it all up as well.

I also grounded every axis and grounded the shielded wire that was used for the limits.

What I'm really waiting on is the 9 pin aviation connector that's on the slow boat from China. I feel like I ordered it years ago...

X +/-
Y +/-
Z +/-
5v power
switch ground
chassis ground
3 unclaimed pins (maybe a 12v for one of them)


Here is my dilemma. I need a 5v source to power the limits (for filtration). I have a 5v regulator built into my control box. The controller itself does not have a 5v output. I should be able to take a single wire from the 5v supply and connect that to my limit switches. The limits ground through the controller. I don't believe I would need to connect the limit ground to the 5v supply ground.

And the other dilemma...probing. I'd like to setup a fixed point for probing. My buddy does this on his big machine. He simply tells the program the thickness of his spoiler and it knows where table top zero is. I like table top zero waaaaay more than top of material. Is there any way I would be able to have a function such as this in GRBL where probe has a home location?

The second part of that situation: would I have to manually input G38.2 Z-## F# every single time I change a tool? Is there any way to simply click a preset function?

 

I didn't realize that GRBL Panel had macros. Now that only leaves the 5v for the limit filter.

 

New product idea:

I opted to go this route instead of buying a bunch of brackets for obvious reasons. It consists of a lot less parts (including fasteners). It is a lot easier to keep everything squared. It's cheaper. It's easier to install.

 

I haven't made an update in forever, but the machine is still running strong. I did have a little whoopsie, but nothing a few replacement wheels couldn't fix. To be fair though, the wheels that did break were already cracked to hell and back.

I've been playing with Fusion 360 in an attempt to get away from SketchUp's poor lead in motion. It doesn't matter too much in wood and most plastics, but it does some nasty things in aluminum. Considering that I currently have three jigs on the table, setting up a WCS would be of great help. To do this, I need my zeros.

Because I'm crossing over to a WCS, I decided to actually complete the limit install. (Look at post #39.) The reason why I didn't finish it before was because the "auxiliary" connector took much longer to reach than it should have. The auxilary connector is a 16mm aviation connector like the ones being used for the steppers. The difference is that this one is a 9 pin. I know my way around a solder station, but even this was a task. It takes a total of 18 wires. The receptacles for the pins themselves are so small that they have flashing left on them from when they were made. A quick ream cleared that away. On the control panel side, each wire got it's own 2mm bullet connector.

As posted above:
X +/-
Y +/-
Z +/-
5v power
switch ground
chassis ground
3 unclaimed pins (maybe a 12v for one of them)

To mount the the switches, I'm using my own custom plates. Check post #33. I'm remaking all six plates. I also don't like drilling out the limit switches for 3mm bolts. They feature 2.5mm holes. I pretty sure I had an m2.5 tap on order, but I guess it never arrived. I just re-ordered one from here in the US. Each mount plate will be threaded for the smaller 2.5mm bolts. The other thing I realized when I tore down my gantry was that I can't actually remove the limits without desoldering the wire. 2mm pitch JST connectors will be here on Sunday.

 

I started a thread in the controller section. Controller Disconnecting with Flood Activation

I'm having some issues with the coolant feature. More details in the link.

 

The limits have been on for a little while, but I only recently completed the setup. I now know what my life was missing.

I also used the limits to build a probe. It probes the tool height at the home position. I also had a pleasant surprise when I noticed that my precautionary frame grounds where accessible enough through the anodizing to not need to wire my probe to anything. I only had to screw it into the rail. The touch plate itself is made from 1/16" aluminum and will bend out of the way for the occasion (common occurrence) that I forget to attach the positive probe lead to the end mill. I wish there was a way to not need the positive probe lead without having to build a double layer touch plate. I wouldn't want to attach it to the motor brushes. Maybe attaching it to a real spindle body may work.

I also have found the machine's current limit.

 

At this point, I'm just talking to myself, but someone may find this useful.

Toolpaths are an amazing thing. I went from that limit with a standard toolpath to not even breaking a sweat with an "HSM" (adaptive in F360) type path.

EDIT:
I should say, "sounding as it should" instead of not breaking a sweat.

 

I feel like this machine just can't take the abusive I want to dish out. The wheels just aren't doing it for me. A full 10mm depth contour with a 0.5mm stepover has to be done twice due to the skipping on the first pass. I can't tighten the wheels down any further without causing harm.

The idea of running a railed version has been on my min for too long. The first is based on 750mm. The second is based on 1000mm. Both have much different and stronger gantry designs.

 

Anodized and Engraved