Progress today on the router...
David Hempy
We fired up the power supply, Gecko driver, and steppers. We didn't do any wiring beyond that without David's wiring diagram.
We installed Mach3 on my laptop. We were going to put it on the touchscreen computer, but it is running Linux. Are there any desktop machines at the space running Windows? We got Mach talking to the driver, and saw on-screen when the e-stop circuit was shorted with a jumper, confirming that the PC is talking to the Gecko. Oddly, when we actually hit the e-stop button (at the far end of the table), it isn't showing up. We'll need to trace that wire and confirm it's hooked up correctly.
We got the steppers to energize and hold torque, but never did get them to move under computer control. We're pretty sure the wiring is good, and suspect the config of Mach3. Could be the laptop's parallel port being a bit non-standard, (everyone warns against using a laptop for CNC control) but we should have gotten *some* action out of it, regardless. I asked James if he would take the Gecko, power supply, and a motor home to continue debugging. He's going to try it on his desktop and see how that goes.
If he gets control of the motor by mid-week, we'll pick up there when we meet again. If not, I'm thinking of declaring our next meeting as paint day. This will be a great day for anyone interested in the router to come out and get familiar with it, even if they've not yet come out to a work day. All it will require is working knowledge of a screwdriver to be useful. I'm really hoping someone with a clue about painting bare steel will come lead the actual prep and paint part of the day. (Volunteers?) I bought a half-dozen cans of navy blue spray paint to use, sitting on the back shelf.
The router mount is complete and mounted, and it kicks ass. Admire its dual-clamp machined glory next time you're at the space.
Well, that's about all the news that fits...
-dave
timk
should be built into a wall? I left that one running with an Xubuntu
live CD last week. It doesn't have a hard drive, and it doesn't seem
to have a touchscreen (at least not one that Linux recognizes). It
does, however, have wifi and an external antenna. If you reboot it,
you'll have to put in the wifi SSID and password by hand since
scanning wasn't working.
To my knowledge, we don't have any Windows licenses at Collexion. Is
there any CNC software for Linux?
-Tim
Paul Eberhart
http://www.linuxcnc.org/ )
It can be a pain to set up on random Linux systems, but if you use one
of their pre-made Ubuntu rerolls it is quite easy to get going.
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David Hempy
By "touchscreen computer", do you mean the one that looks like it
should be built into a wall?
Umm...yeah, I guess so. The industrial, all-in-one computer sitting on the table. I don't know where I got the idea it was touch screen. And then I saw the Windows license sticker on it and I guess I made another bad assumption. ;-)
To my knowledge, we don't have any Windows licenses at Collexion.
There are a pile of machines laying around with Windows license stickers on them. Can those licenses be used with a fresh install?
Is there any CNC software for Linux?
There are two main CNC controller softwares for our class of machine that I know of: Mach3 and EMC. I don't know a whole lot about Mach3, and even less about EMC.
Mach3 is vastly more popular, extremely mature and robust, and is well supported by the vendor. It is cheap ($150) and pluggable, with enhancements coming from the community and other 3rd party vendors. For the machine we're building (Joe's 4x4), nearly all the builders use Mach3. Occasionally someone will describe a configuration problem with Mach3, and the same day will get several replies from forum members answering the problem, or even posting videos of how to navigate the settings. I've only heard mention of one or two Joe's builders using EMC.
I believe EMC is FOSS and has its own faithful community. I don't know much more than that. Anyone care to fill in my knowledge gap?
I think Mach3 is the best way to go for us, but am not opposed to EMC. (or other options, if there are any.) We don't even *have* to use just one of them, if folks have different needs/preferences toward one or the other. We could use two computers, or a dual-boot machine. I completely don't care what OS we run for the controller. But my preferred software (Mach3) only runs on Windows. I know EMC runs on Linux...not sure if it's been ported elsewhere. The good news is that the controller software is completely independent of the CAD and CAM software, so we're not forcing anyone to use Windows or Linux for their design software or toolpath generator.
To sum up my opinion, if someone wants to roll up their sleeves and get EMC going, that's fine and dandy by me, and I'll happily use it once it is running the machine properly. (Really! Very happy!) Now's the time to do it if anyone is going to. Otherwise, I'll pursue the Mach3 option. Either way, I'd really appreciate help from anyone able to find/build/salvage a machine and get an OS up and running. It's been a *long* time since I installed any OS, and I would be delighted for someone more current than me to volunteer for that job.
(Also still asking for someone to head up painting the steel parts. Bueller?)
On a hopefully-not-too-whiney personal note, I need to shift gears sometime soon and spend a little less time volunteering on this project and a little more time with my wonderful family. While I really enjoy spending Saturdays at the space working with friends, the volunteer pool has thinned a bit over time. If anyone in the larger Collection collective is at all curious about the router or wants to have some fun hanging out for a few hours, keep an eye on the mailing list <collex...@googlegroups.com> and come out some Saturday that we're going to be working. We'll put you to work with a screwdriver, welder, paint, soldering iron, or keyboard...whatever you're good at -- or want to get good at!
I can't wait to actually cut some pieces on the router when we get it going. Even more than that, I'm *really* eager to see all the amazing things the rest of Collexion will come up with. With this creative group, the sky's the limit! Wood, MDF, acrylic, aluminum, plastic, plaster, jello, watermelons, fiberglass - it's all fair game! ;-)
Onward,
-dave
David Hempy
My mechatronic experiments have always been driven by EMC2 (
http://www.linuxcnc.org/ )
It can be a pain to set up on random Linux systems, but if you use one
of their pre-made Ubuntu rerolls it is quite easy to get going.
-dave
Derek Eggers
Derek Eggers, Ed.D.
michael culp
could never get the configuration exactly right. Might try it again
since I'm using a different controller now.
Mach 3 is great but complex. You have to play a bit to tweake the
settings if you are not given any. I'm not sure which geckos you're
using but finding the mach 3 config for them online should be pretty
easy.
In other news Mach 4 is just about to be released so I would not
purchase a license just yet before finding out how much the upgrade
would be. Th guys writing the software are easy to reach by email and
respond to just about every message I have ever sent.
-Michael
**************************************************************************************************
Michael Culp, Technology Coordinator
University of Kentucky - College of Design 117 Pence Hall, Lexington, KY 40506
PH 859-257-9413 FX 859.323.1990 EML michae...@uky.edu
"Life's like a movie, write your own ending, keep believing, keep
pretending." - Jim Henson
**************************************************************************************************
michael culp
highly recommend a separate speed control for the router. Different
materials work better at different speeds. I think I paid $60
something for the controller and the router just plugs into it. I'll
have to look up the brand, but it works well. I'm using a ryobi
laminate router.
-Michael
**************************************************************************************************
Michael Culp, Technology Coordinator
University of Kentucky - College of Design 117 Pence Hall, Lexington, KY 40506
PH 859-257-9413 FX 859.323.1990 EML michae...@uky.edu
"Life's like a movie, write your own ending, keep believing, keep
pretending." - Jim Henson
**************************************************************************************************
Dave Hempy
Thanks for the offer, but we do need a parallel port. Laptops are also discouraged, due to a variety of hardware and power optimization features that laptops tend to have. It seems people have the best luck with very plain desktop computers. It doesn’t need to be particularly high-power or modern.
I think I’m going to order a new power supply for an older Dell desktop I have and donate it to the project. Hopefully the power supply is its only problem! ;-)
-dave
Dave Hempy
Thanks for the feedback, Michael.
We're using a four-axis Gecko G540:
http://www.geckodrive.com/geckodrive-step-motor-drives/g540.html We have the (highly recommended) XML config for Mach3 that Gecko provides, and are tinkering with it. We're a bit suspect of the laptop we first tried, as this combination of hardware, software,
and config should be pretty turn-key. The kit we bought even included the motor wires pre-configured.
I didn't know about Mach4 coming out. We'll keep an eye out for it...
[scurry, scurry, scurry] Looks like it won't be out for a while, so I'm not going to worry about it now:
http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,20891.0.html
> Re: Mach 4
> « Reply #3 on: February 19, 2012, 07:08:25 AM »
> It's impossible to set a timeframe, as it's being rewritten from the ground up.
> My guess would be at least 6 months, maybe a year??
Oh, and if using a commercial router instead of a spindle motor I highly recommend a separate speed control for the router. Different materials work better at different speeds. I think I paid $60 something for the controller and the router just plugs into it. I'll have to look up the brand, but it works well. I'm using a ryobi laminate router.
-Michael
Yeah, we’re using a regular Hitachi router. We’ll keep the controller in mind for the future, after the big gremlins are slayed. We can set the speed manually on the router, which will probably be adequate for us.
Say – Care to invite us over to see a demo of your setup? Maybe in conjunction with a Friday Colluncheon? Mmmm…tasty sawdust…
-dave
-----Original Message-----
From: coll...@googlegroups.com [mailto:coll...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of michael culp
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2012 8:52 AM
To: coll...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Progress today on the router...
I've used both programs with my cnc. EMC works but was slow and I could never get the configuration exactly right. Might try it again since I'm using a different controller now.
michael culp
only in my garage.
We're working on a much larger project with a lot more space but are
funding hungry at the moment. We want to bring you guys in on it when
we get closer to the reality.
My partner Jason Allen is the local Carvewright wizard and has an
awesome mobile shop in his trailer. We'll have it pretty regularly at
the Georgetown Flea Market on weekends that are dry cutting signs and
other fun stuff. He also sells Carvewrights and Laguna Tools.
Keep an eye on https://www.facebook.com/DragonWorksStudio and
http://cutscarvesandcolors.ning.com/
**************************************************************************************************
Michael Culp, Technology Coordinator
University of Kentucky - College of Design 117 Pence Hall, Lexington, KY 40506
PH 859-257-9413 FX 859.323.1990 EML michae...@uky.edu
"Life's like a movie, write your own ending, keep believing, keep
pretending." - Jim Henson
**************************************************************************************************
Chris Harn
Dave Hempy
That sounds *perfect*, Chris. Thanks for the offer! I can’t make it down on weeknights very often, but if you could set it on the router table or put a note on it, we’ll run with it next time we’re down there. Or maybe James will pick it up to take home and get it configured prior to our next work day.
-dave
jho...@jdubb.net
harncw
60 gig hard drive
480 mb ram (512 minus the on board video memory, i think)
Sorry to say I didn't have a cd rom drive to spare.
I just formated the harddrive
I installed and activated XP service pack 3.
The network is configured for DHCP.
I installed microsoft security essentials.
all the passwords are empty\blank
My partner is going to take it home to his shop and give it a "blow
job", as in clean it out with compressed air, and then it should be
ready.
Dave Hempy
That’s cool. Is that machine intended for the router? I think the sticker was for Win2K, but maybe someone can check and report back Wed night. Anyone have an ISO for that?
I don’t care which machine we use…might be good to have both to try in case one doesn’t pan out for whatever reason.
-dave
From: coll...@googlegroups.com [mailto:coll...@googlegroups.com]
On Behalf Of jho...@jdubb.net
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2012 10:51 AM
To: coll...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Progress today on the router...
It does have a drive in it, and I have the info about this touch screen PC, because I worked with the person who donated it. I also have the touch screen drivers, and need to follow up with the person for the windows install. If it has a sticker on it, we just need an iso for the OS
jho...@jdubb.net
Its JohnInLex in #bglug on irc. I also think he is in the #Collexion channel as well. If any of you get on irc before I do, go ahead and ask him.