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Geoff,
Thanks, quite right.
I played around a bit last night and discovered you need a closed path to enable the distinction between inside [I] and outside [O] to be made.

But, our copy of...

We are using Cambam on the Men's Shed Router, generally with success.

Today we ran a job that failed because of a CAD drawing error in that the internal radius of a curve for a pocket was too...

Another challenging day on the router at the Men's Shed.
The attached photo shows an attempt at cutting out multiple coasters.

Lessons about levels learned:
- level over the area is about 0.2...

Ian is quite correct, we have a very poor situation and we can do very little about it.

We painted around the legs when we last did a platen surface, and we always try to position the machine in...

As commented on in the 'Men's Shed Router', our machine suffers from poor level due to being repetitively moved, less than ideal construction and poor storage/usage locations.

So, I started...

The Men's Shed Router previously described is operating reliably and we are slowly getting suggestion/requests for odd jobs.

I tried to make a simple tabbed box as a demo of what we could do and...

I posted a thread on the ShapeOko Forum that would be of interest to anyone not sure about setting WCS on an Arduino running Grbl and using Universal Gcode Sender to communicate.

The Shapeoko...

Just an update.
The machine is proving reliable, but frustrating with the variable surface flatness that we experience.

The non-metal parts of the machine are pine and MDF with simple screwed...

We got an extra day when we got a visit from a user with a machine virtually identical to ours.

Many lessons learned:
- we have the spindle mounting plate upside down, just affects clearances,
...

Did some more testing with same result.

Searched for other reports and found that the UGS code writers have identified "Return to Zero Runaway" as Bug #308.
...

foobillious,
I have tried the macros and I think there is quite a bit of potential in their use.

I loaded my Duinotech UNO, a Jaycar clone, with Grbl 0.9j and UGS 1.0.9 on my laptop at home....

foobillious,
Thanks for the links, at least I now know our observations are not crazy.
You also did better than I did on the searching, I looked at the Inventables site but did not pick up your...

Bob,
I will have to explore further the effect of a non-parallel bit on chatter.

Our machine is shaking down nicely with operation now quite predictable and our understanding of the UGS controls...

Ken,
Thanks for the link, the stock of cutters with the machine already includes a set just like this.

Today we didn't do much, but clarified a lot.

Firstly we identified why the X axis seemed...

Some progress, we didn't get a job done today, but we did get the platen flat.

The first job attempted was a simple box with tabs and slots.
The sides came out with sloped top edges, and the...

A couple of our members intend doing some shopping for suitable cutters.
The only cutters we have at the moment are straight single flute.
With 12k RPM and 400W available, what sort of cutters...

McDuff,
Thanks for your comments, we will follow up the link for feeds and speeds.

We have eventually achieved our first real job, see attached photo of an insect about 180 mm long made from 3 mm...

I have confirmed that dxf2gcode only codes a start move, short straight plus a short curve based on the nominated Start Radius, when the machine is nominated to do the cutter compensation with...

Tracked it down, SourceForge has a Wiki on dxf2gcode.

Start Radius us only used when G40 is coded, the CNC machine then does cutter compensation on the fly.
My assumption is that dxf2gcode codes...

inr700x,
Thanks for the comments and best wishes for your retirement - you will find the shed to be a wonderful environment.

ian,
Your descriptions of start radius match what I understood to be...

Rusel joined us for another interesting few hours.

No apparent equipment malfunction.
Quite a few trial runs of hand and computer generated code clarifying various issues.
It is obvious that...

Thanks for the hint about a possible UGS command string to clear the Arduino cache/buffer/RAM, if it is there we will find it.
We already tried the button 'Soft Reset'. but my memory is that it did...

Russell,
The flower is inspirational, and I am sure that one day we could get there.

For now, we have progressed a little, once the electrician had restored power, and we recovered from a Fire...

We will certainly give a higher speed a test, I think our machine has a max speed parameter set at 5000 mm/min.

UGS has got a Macro facility.
There are 5 lines of commands that can be selected...

Also, my previous post listed as 6:28 pm when I opened the Forum as a visitor, then it showed 5:28 pm when I Signed-In.
I will monitor the time listed for this post.

Still curious,
John.

Just went back to check - now "5:15 pm".

Still curious.
John.

I posted today at 5:15 pm in "CNC Machines".

The post in the Thread is listed as 5:15 pm.

The Contents Table lists it as 5:52. which is later than this new post (at about 5:26 pm).

My laptop...

We ran today with several things accomplished.

One member arrived with a program to engrave his name and we went through it correcting a couple of minor errors, and we spent some time discussing...

Guys, thanks for all the comments, especially from Ian.

Ian, I understand you are suggesting we change from a 1 mm cut with 5 mm overlay to a 0.1 mm cut with 15 mm overlay.
This is certainly...

I understand the comments on using proper development tools, but I am trying to convince the shed members that a simple approach can achieve results, with the hope that a spark will be generated that...

Ian,
We do plan to surface the platen, just not use the bloated CamBam code.
I have done some research, there is no obvious looping construct in the Gcode for Grbl V0.9j, so a linear approach to...

Generally progress, just nothing much to show.

The guys decided to put a full size 25 mm platen on the router, so that meant time out selecting panels, cutting to size, routing out edges for...

The Z-axis height problem fixed by moving the head on the gantry and introducing a 25 mm sacrificial platen.
The tightness in the Y-axis movement was relieved and the two motors equalized for...

I think the use of D11 is determined by its connection to a specific pin on the Arduino, and this pin is the only one that can be programmed as a PWM output.
We have decided to do the D11/D12 swap,...

I think I have discovered why the Z limits don't work.

The Arduino CNC operating software loaded in the router is Grbl V0.9j.
Most of the documentation we have refers to V0.8, but with occasional...

Two steps forward, and one (or two) step(s) back.
Attached is a photo of the router today, the clutter is in keeping with the current confusion.

We spent a long time chasing wiring, but ended up...

Thanks for the comments Mark.

Yesterday was another interesting few hours.
Reported that last week a simple outline was drawn using a marker pen, so we are progressing.

Our platen is now in...

The power supply was $37 and delivered to my door 2 days after ordering, from Chester Hill.
The appropriate parameter was set =1 and now the limit switches work.
All stepper motors reduced to about...

Well, still no photo.
When we tried the limit switches, no stopping it.
Then:
- a lot of examining and checking of wiring,
- the wiring diagram shows NC switches in parallel,
- checking of...

The router did its first air cuts yesterday, much handshaking and photo taking, we instantly had a crowd gathered around the machine.

The job was the letter "L" in a back square using G-Code...

Guys, thanks for all the suggestions, I will follow up on all of them.

Today's effort added an extra cooling fan and unearthed a dependence on which USB socket on the laptop we used.
One socket...

I have recently gotten involved with a small router (say 600 x 600) being built at the local men's shed.
Currently, we can step the motors using the step buttons on the control panel.
Next is...

Good reliable QCTP.
Parts available from Modern Tools in Bayswater, Victoria.
Check the operating tongues, mine had some fractures from repeated operation of the clamping cam.
Dimensions vary...

Craig,
The 5" gauge is the distance between the rails.
As the prototype is 1 m gauge ( 39.37 inches ) a scale of 1:8 will be used.

I already have a similar unit running, 2 x 300 W 24 V motors...

T.E.A Transmissions in Queensland have threaded rod and nuts designed for accurate linear positioning.
Their stock 16 and 20 mm sizes are 4 mm pitch with a 0.1 mm per 300 mm accumulating error in...

Wow, from all the views this is a subject of some interest.
Attached is the photo that started the thread.
The descriptive document briefly mention before is currently being reviewed in draft form...

Well its August, so lunch in Penrith on Tuesday 11th.
John

Yes Ian, I think my expectations cannot be met with the input data of the problem I set.

Note that that the problem was restricted to a perspective sketch with verticals in the sketch, so only two...

Some bad news to report.
I did some exploring of the effect of moving the Observation Point along the locus of the large circle circumference.

The attached extract shows the correct normal sight...

I did a new projection carefully and accurately and proved that the rays referred to in the previous post do meet at the vanishing points, the possible operator error is in there somewhere.
...