Thread: New Machine - Work in Progress

Good i like your this work but u mentioned that it is for fun and cn't get the exact idea about that ,...........................

Originally Posted by allmywebsite1

Good i like your this work but u mentioned that it is for fun and cn't get the exact idea about that ,...........................

Rodm enjoys building tools and very good ones at that, he does it as a non for profit hobby, I think he missed his true calling

It has taken about a month of research and trial and error on a few components but I am confident I have a handle on some of this mumbo jumbo electronics for the console.

The keyboard I modified in an earlier post got trashed. I now have a Hagstrom Keyboard encoder and the advantage is I can send multiple keystrokes from a switch. It has the capacity to hook up 72 switches which is more than I will ever use.

I folded up some galvanised iron for the case and the front has two slopes - one for the switches and monitor and the lower one for the keyboard and touch pad. I got a 12 inch touchscreen for the monitor.

The case will house a 3.2ghz dual core computer with 2 gig of ram. Plenty for CAM and design software.

I have cut up the mounting of a computer and installed them in the case. There are three fans plus the power supply fan in the case so there should be plenty of air flow.

I have put a couple of photos of the case and the protoype switch panel so you get an idea of how it fits together. The protoype panel will be scrapped and a new panel made to fit the case.

I got the computer working and loaded a fresh versions of XP and Mach3.

I did the facia for the console and a quick mock up of it assembled. Note it is held together with tape and there are wires between the facias and box.

I cut the main facia on my gantry router and did all the switch engraving at the same time - you get to love these CNC machines.
There are forty switches in the panel and I could easily have added many more functions but that is enough soldering for me. The switches have LED's and I can power them through the computer power supply.

I have also been playing around modifying my Mach3 screen to make it easier for the touchscreen. I now have the option of using the touchsceen, keyboard and touchpad, MPG or switches to control the machine. I chose the touchpad over a mouse as it works better static verses chasing the mouse each time it rolls off the sloped panel.

Have attached progress shots and sorry about the quality of the photos.

Rod

I must admit to being a little disappointed.

All those imaginative machine names you have come up with and the best you can do is "CNC Machine Console" ????

Seriously........ a real work of art Rod.

Amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it......

Greg

Thanks Greg,
Yeah I know the name is bland. I chucked it on there five minutes before I cut the facia to balance it out a bit.
excuses, excuses.

I reckon it's a fine job well done Rod

Really awesome job Rod...well done !!

Thanks Crocky and Jason,

Makes a nice change from making machines and something that has been on the back burner for quite a while.

I had to run a timber strip around the case to have something to screw the facia to and a simple job like that took me five hours including mounting the keyboard and touchpad.

Anyway the case is finished and only 140 soldered connections for those switches to go.

I'll put up the photo of it finished as the outside of the case won't change from here. Ooops sorry have e stop switch to add and speakers.

Hey Rod
The new machine looks great mate and very portable so I can feel a shed day comming up

Hi Gary,
Yeah it is about time we had another gathering and chin wag for us Perthites. I'll see what I can do in the next month or so.

More on the console.
Well a couple of days on and off and all the buttons are soldered. 240 soldered joints in all and the majority of them just to get the built in LED's buttons to work.
A couple of photos showing the facia soldered. I ran out of mounting room so I added a little panel to the back of the facia and shifted a couple of things around in the box to make it all fit.
The box now has the key emulator and a breakout board for the MPG. Should be easy to finish off now. Oh yeah I put a timber trim around the box so I could screw the facia down, added speakers and a USB port to the facia. It is getting busy inside the box but I still have a little room in there if I want to expand later.
Hopefully the next photo will be it all finished and up and running.

It's all back together and to my surprise everything worked.
The key emulator is a very easy way to do this project if you are like me and not inclined towards the electronic side. The MPG is a fun thing to have as well.
I can see myself wasting time just pressing buttons and playing with controls until the novelty wears off.
If I get keen later on I will paint the case but for now it is finished.
Last photo shows the speakers on the side and the USB port in the keyboard panel.

Originally Posted by rodm

It's all back together and to my surprise everything worked.
The key emulator is a very easy way to do this project if you are like me and not inclined towards the electronic side. The MPG is a fun thing to have as well.
I can see myself wasting time just pressing buttons and playing with controls until the novelty wears off.
If I get keen later on I will paint the case but for now it is finished.
Last photo shows the speakers on the side and the USB port in the keyboard panel.

Rod
I have been following along this thread in the background. From what I have seen you have done a superb job. I like the extra effort that you have put into the console. It helps to make your machine stand out from the rest and is something that you can be proud of.



Cheers

Don

Good work rod looks professional heaps more to go I would prefer mine Triton Orange I think Bob whats one the same colour, Greg wants his in Machine Blue Rodney said that he will just steal yours and Steve said he will make his mind up on the colour when he gets back .

Once again good work mate so whats next on the list as you are on Holidays .

Sean