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Thread: Another 3dtek xyz-carve build
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4th September 2015, 02:59 PM #1GOLD MEMBER
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Another 3dtek xyz-carve build
Rather than take over djneli's thread on his xyz-carve, I've started my own.
An $8 investment down at the tip shop scored this extension table which at 900mm should be just enough to build the xyz-carve. It's in the lounge where it's warm but it will go to the shed when the messy part starts (probably).
Small disaster. I unwrapped the Makerslide that I bought about 18 months ago (not from 3dtek i should add) and found one piece is unusable due to a very bad ding. There was no damage to the box when I received it and it was well wrapped in bubble wrap which was also undamaged so it's gone undetected until now. Luckily, I have a couple of spare lengths so not a show stopper. I can cut down the damaged extrusion and savage about750mm of it.
I want to take lots of picture before I start the build, so I have to set up a couple of Raspberry Pi's with camera modules. This will involve 3d printing some mounts and making an adapter for my tripod, adding some LED lights, setting up the lap top to control the Raspberry Pi's ...
Nothing is straight forward.Geoff
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4th September 2015 02:59 PM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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8th September 2015, 10:49 AM #2
All said and done, I'm posting so I can subscribe to this thread, as I'm interested in your Raspberry Pi Camera Module setup. Would love to see the code for them, and the diagram of the wiring
Good luck.
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8th September 2015, 01:20 PM #3GOLD MEMBER
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All pretty stock stuff I'm afraid. Most of the work (software) has been done by cleverer people than me, I'm just hooking it together. Lighting is turning out to be an issue. While the camera module is quite good in low light, it does need an extra light source to get the best image. As I want to get started on the build, I may end up just taking a series of pictures with my DLSR. After all, X-Carve have an excellent video series of the build process.
I have a weather cam that is based on the Raspberry Pi (see signature). It uses a standard camera library together with some simple python code I wrote to do a bit of post processing and uploading to the website.Geoff
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9th September 2015, 11:39 PM #4GOLD MEMBER
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Wandering around in the big, new Bunnings in Hobart and spotted this little beauty, a Makita RT0700CX trimmer!
I'll need to make a mount for it but that should be easy enough given the number of plans I've found for that.
First to finish the build...Geoff
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9th September 2015, 11:55 PM #5GOLD MEMBER
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Progress so far.
First a bit of organisation. All the plastic bags of nuts, screws, washers and miscellaneous bits and pieces have been sorted into a cheap plastic tool box.
For each stage of the build, I count out what's needed into the white component tray that way I can quickly pick up if I've left something out.
Not many tools required, just a set of Allen keys and one or two spanners. Most bolts are 5mm.
X axis is finished, y-axis plates are done and the gantry is together. To go further, I'll need to get a 1200x1200 piece of MDF to enlarge the table top. This will end up being the spoil board later.
No work tonight as Wednesday is HobartHackerspace night (and my one night a week where I break a little from my diet )Geoff
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15th September 2015, 12:28 PM #6GOLD MEMBER
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Spare shed!
Hit a bit of a bump in the construction, seems I've been sent the wrong stepper motors.
Ben from 3dtek was the one who picked this up from some photos I sent him, new motors on the way.
In the meantime, I've decided to clean out a small shed that up until now I hadn't used for anything other than storing some windsor chairs belonging to a friend.
A pressure wash today and a few coats of the finest paint money can buy ($11.50 for 4 litres) and it'll look like new.
How good is it to have a SPARE shed?Geoff
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16th September 2015, 12:30 PM #7Senior Member
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As if that webcam view wasn't enough, now you're just rubbing it in with your sheds and *spare* sheds.
I gotta make do with an 3m x 4m corner of my garage ..... but I no complain.Michael
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16th September 2015, 01:53 PM #8GOLD MEMBER
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Perhaps I should have phrased it as 'more efficiently utilising previously wasted shed space"'
The space in question has no windows and always seemed a bit damp. A repair to the roof a while back seems to have fixed the latter problem.
There's a small doorway cut low on one wall and I think the room used to be a kennel at some point.
Several coats of white paint have made a great difference, I'll see if I can score some old carpet for the floor.
Next task is to make a couple of benches, might try my hand at a torsion box top.
EDIT: Courier has just delivered my new stepper motors which I'll fit tonight. I hope to have i the machine moving by the weekend but not cutting. I still need to machine a router mount for the Makita.Geoff
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22nd September 2015, 08:31 PM #9GOLD MEMBER
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Mechanical construction is pretty much finished except for the spoil board (already cut) and the spindle mount.
Initially, I'll use the mount off the 800W water cooled spindle from the 6040 as it will also fit the Makita RT0700 router. A bit of modification will also be required to the supplied spindle mount plate to fit this mount. If I can find some suitable aluminium (16mm?), I'll try my hand at cutting a couple of separate mounts for the Makita.
I need to put the Gecko G540 into a box with a power supply before I can do a movement test.
[Sorry about the quality of the photos]Geoff
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8th October 2015, 10:09 PM #10
Snowy have you had it running yet? What do you think? Im an industrial electrician with a back ground in controls. Ive been looking at getting the xyzcarve but have not seen much in the way of reviews.
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8th October 2015, 10:33 PM #11GOLD MEMBER
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I've been busy tidying up the shed, planting veggies and other bits of spring cleaning.
I still have to make a mount for the Makita or rather a plate for the mount to bolt to but at leats the controller is finished and I have a replacement PC to run Linuxcnc on so a motor test should happen 'soon'
If you want to see just what people are doing with the X-Carve, then take a look at the Inventables forums. More than one user there milling aluminium successfully. There are quite a few reviews on youtube too.Geoff
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19th October 2015, 12:20 AM #12GOLD MEMBER
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It's alive!
A bit of progress on the XYZ-Carve this evening, Finished wiring up the CNC controller (Gecko G540), wired up the home switches and did a sanity check of the motor wiring.
Connected up the computer (LinuxCNC) and ran it in test mode.
It works! At least the motors move OK, still have to sort out the LinuxCNC config to get the home switches recognised.
The stops for the home switches need to be added. This will means disassembling most of it or at least removing the Makerslides which amounts to the same thing. Once the home switches work, I can dial up the speed, it's set slow at the moment so it didn't get away from me and crash.
I still have to machine the Z axis plate to hold the spindle mount before I can try to cut something.
Happy so far!
Geoff
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19th October 2015, 12:14 PM #13GOLD MEMBER
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I just powered up the system to try setting some faster speeds and one of the Y-Axis motors wouldn't move.
I've swapped the Y and A cables and the fault moves so it's driver related..
I'll have to open up the case and swap the actual driver card in the Gecko G540 to make sure it's not a signal/parallel port issue.
I hope it's not the driver, it will be expensive to replace.Geoff
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27th October 2015, 11:01 AM #14GOLD MEMBER
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Turns out I don't have a problem, the issue was with the stepconf test routine. Running it under Linuxcnc and using the jog mode, both Y motors work OK.
I've finished off the stand for the router and it's now in the shed along with a new stand for the 6040 router. Not sure that the castors are needed as the room really isn't big enough to move it around much. At least they make the bench the same height as the 6040 bench.
As I've had enough of woodworking for now, I'll get stuck into machining the Z axis plate.Geoff
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4th November 2015, 11:02 AM #15GOLD MEMBER
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Yesterday I made the spoil board. 144 holes drilled and countersunk and inserts screwed in. I was going to cut this on the CNC once it's running but as the spoil board also provides support and rigidity for the machine, I thought I'd make the first one manually. I'm sure I'll need others.
Also finished the mount for the Makita router I'll be using as a spindle.
Time to move it from the loungeroom to the shed - just in time for a cold snap - down to 1° last night.Geoff
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