First Time CNC Build

[Anthony Sail]

Before I get started I want to thank the support from Xylotex with all the help and follow thru. Im glad I spent the extra money on the Xylotex set up. It has been a HUGE help and great resource. Lets get started.

Well, its been a long process, a lot of research and the time has come to hook up the motors. I remember the forums being more full of info but for what ever reason information is gone. I am going to post all my steps for a few reasons, 1. to build this thread back to what it once was, (hopefully with the help from others too) 2. to make sure i'm doing everything correctly. On a side note to share, I really have very little wood working skills and this project has been VERY doable. Im glad I was able to do this, and most importantly finish it. I watch a lot of YouTube and Im amazed with a lot of peoples work. 

My CNC

I went with the exact set up that Dave built but added a shim here and a shim there to make sure everything is perfectly lined up. I ordered the 4ax 40v 425 DB. Along with that I also did the 1/2 - 10 5 start lead screws. 

My X travel will be the left to right (28 in Lead Screw) and Y will be front to back (48 in Lead screw) (I may be a little off on my measurements but Im at work right now and cant double check). My Z will obviously be my up and down. As of right now I have my X and Z axis completely hooked up except the motor lead wires being connected. I still need to mount the Y bracket and motors. I moved a lot slower last night due to making sure all my lead screws are the correct angle and length. I also was a bit nervous after reading all the warnings that were in the Xylotex packaging (I don't need to blow a motor or MB). 

Also sense this is an exact match of the Dave Gattons Sidewinder with zero modifications Im going to go with his setup of Mach 3. I think this will be a great place to start. (Making sure they are the same that are in the literature from my packaging. Tonight's goals will be the following; 

In this order

1. Connect X (Red) and Z (Green) to the control box

2 Connect Parallel Port

3. Confirm the port address on the pc (It should be noted that I will be running Windows XP)

4. Turn on the control box (making sure everything is grounded and safe to do so)

5. Open and run Mach 3

6. Set up my speeds and steps (I will refer to the last paragraph of the paper that was included, and also use the video Dave provides in his build. (Here is the Video Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mMxzKyfU4E  set up starts at 2:46)

Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated.  

[Anthony Sail]

Well, Everything worked out great. all motors are working and functioning as they are supposed to. A couple things I noticed from Daves videos, 

1. When he shows his motor tuneing, he displays a 3200 steps per inch, but this should be 6400 with 5 start. This confused me because he says he uses 5 start of everything yet he was set up for 2 start. 

2. Make sure you slave the correct motor to the correct axis. This will change per person. 

As for everything else. it works great. I always said I would be busy for weeks cutting all the projects I have planned, but life took over. Good news is I think im going to have some free time and able to get some real cuts going.. 

[Jeff Pollard]

Hi,

  I give an example of how to set the steps per inch on the sheet taped to the top of the drive box.
  Dave uses two turn per inch screws which is different from two start.
  The problem is TPI could mean Threads-per-inch, or it could mean Turns-per-inch.
  If you don't know which one is being referred to, it can get confusing.

Jeff

[Jerry Coalson]

I have built one of the larger Dave Gatton's machines. I am setup in Mach 3 at 6400. I built an ink pen holder to test my machine. When I ran some g-code to draw concentric circles, my 2 inch circle was closer to 2 feet. Any ideas on what I have set-up wrong.

Thanks,

[Jeff Pollard]

Hi,

  The motor has 200 steps per revolution.  The drive box is set for 16 microsteps per full step.  This gives 3200 (micro)steps per revolution.  The lead screw should be two turns per inch.  This yields 6400 (micro)steps per inch.  Which is what you said you have.  So a guess might be that you are actuall running in mm and not inches????  check you settings for inches vs mm

Jeff

[Becca Miller]

Thanks for this thread Anthony.  I have ordered my motors and they should be in next week.  I have my machine assembled up to the point of needing to add the lead screws and motors.  In reading these comments, I am confused about the steps per inch.  I have followed Dave's plans precisely (I hope) to this point.  So you are saying he has the steps per inch wrong?  When I set it up, I should use 6400 and not 3200?

Becca

[Becca Miller]

I just saw Dave's video explaining the difference in the setup.  So with the new motors, they need to be 6400.  Got it.

Thanks!

Becca

[Jeff Pollard]

Hi,

  A part of the confusion is that in one of Dave's videos, he is using a much older drive box (at least a couple years old) that is set up with 1/8th microstep.  The new drive boxes (since a couple years ago) are 1/16th microstep.  This is what he uses on his newest machine.  The actual steps per inch will depend on the screws you use, and the number of microsteps from the drive box.  16 microsteps for the new drive boxes.  5 start 10 thread per inch screws is two turns per inch.  2 X 200 X 16 = 6400 microsteps per inch.

Jeff

[Anthony Sail]

Im sorry for not responding sooner, I thought I would have received a notice that I have a reply.. 

Let me try to answer every ones questions, 

Jerry Coalson, Im assuming your using 5 start, I noticed when I was in mm and not inches, my drawings were WAY TO LARGE. I agree with Jeff on this one. (but he is the expert. 

Becca, The 3200 / 6400 really messed with my head because of what Dave said, He has Xylotex equipment, and 5 start, so why is he at 3200. You should notice that is you have 5 start and the same motors if you have 3200 your cuts will be half the size. A 4 inch box will be 2 and so on. As Jeff said earlier Dave is using older motors and It makes sense that he would be at 3200 and not 6400. Yes Jeff you did a great job explaining the steps, and I just kept going with what Dave posted but this was completely user error. Post some pictures, I would like to see it.

Im sorry for the delay Ill check back regularly. I just purchased my limit switches, BOB, E-Stop and wiring, along with reading a lot of info on this forum. It makes a lot of sense on paper, but I think Im going to make a small video really helping and explaining the process AFTER I know mine is all set up and works flawless. I will also make sure I run this by Jeff so im not misleading others but instead helping others. 

[Anthony Sail]

My first project... 

Still on going.... 

[Jeff Pollard]

Hi,

  It is the *drive* that makes the microsteps.  The motors are all standard 200 steps per rev.  The drive can divide that by 8 (old) or 16(new) to give 1600 or 3200 steps per rev.  Then the 3200 steps per rev x 2 revs per inch gives 6400 steps per inch.

Jeff

[Anthony Sail]

Your a stud Jeff

[SDG Pipe Organs]

Hello all, this is my first time writing to this or any discussion group. I have built the Sidewinder. I have made the correction to 6400 as the new motors require. I have configured Mach3 as described above, however, Dave's YouTube clearly shows Dir and Step Low active, this is inconsistent with the instructions from Xylotec. My instructions indicate a High Dir and Step.  3 of the 4 motors are working correctly. I have the system configured such that Z axis controls the elevation (page UP goes UP and page DOWN goes DOWN) My X axis (right and left arrows) move left and right as you are facing the machine with the router directly in front of you.  My Y axis (up and down keys) moves the gantry closer and farther from me from the same perspective as mentioned before. X and Z axis work fine. Y axis works when using only the Yellow cord from the controller (with the other side disconnected and drive nut disengaged). It runs this way just fine. My Step and Dir pin assignments are correct. 

I have disconnected all motors except the A axis, which is slaved to the Y axis. I have the drive nut disengaged from the Y axis motor as well as the Y axis motor disengaged.. When I jog the Y axis, the gantry moves, then the motor makes some strange sounds for a while then is quiet.  Any suggestions? I did power down and check that nothing is binding, and it is not...I can rotate the shaft easily with my hand.

Thanks,

Bill

[Jeff Pollard]

Hi,

  The correct setting for the STEP pulse is "active high" as the Xylotex document states.  While the opposite settings may work, there could be the chance of missing a step when changing directions.  The DIR line should be set according to how you have you machine configured (what you consider to be forwards or backwards).  Either high or low for this settings is fine as far as the drive is concerned.  Make it so your PG UP and PG DN act correctly as does your G-code programming.  The drive doesn't care about this setting.  The end of the screw you have attached the motor to will determine what is forward or backward.

  The drive powers the motor with PWM.  This will make the motor have a sound like water running through a pipe loudly.  After a few seconds of no stepping it will be put in to power saving mode and reduce the current (thus getting quieter).  Read the sheet that came with the drive box for more information on this.

   I don't understand what the question/problem with your machine is.  Is something not working properly?

Jeff

[SDG Pipe Organs]

Are you referring to :

 [6] Although the drive has signal line filtering and buffering, some spindle motors can make excessive electrical "noise" (EMI - Electromagnetic Interference). This should be reduced at the source (the spindle).

or

[9]  The drive has idle current reduction.  After a few seconds of no stepping,, an axis will go in to a lower current mode, but will be set to full mode on the next incoming step.  This helps keep the motors cooler when not running.  The motors will make a buzzing or humming noise.  That is part of the power system active.  They get quieter when going in to low power mode.

You asked if something is not working properly...I was very concerned as only one motor made any sound whatsoever after moving...they did their job then silence...this one motor was making a noise that alarmed me and I thought something might be wrong.

I do a lot of work with solid state equipment where there may be 75 or more of the same component. Once I wire them up I expect them all to perform identically, when one stands out, it is a red flag that something is wrong.  I will test again tomorrow when I go to the shop.

[Jeff Pollard]

Hi,

  I was referring to the second paragraph.

  They should all sound similar.  But, depending on where in the 16 microsteps the specific motor stopped moving, different sounds can be made.  A location that requires more current will make a different sound than one that requires less current.

Jeff

[SDG Pipe Organs]

OK. So all motors are disconnected except for the noisy slave motor A axis. I moved the control wire to the Y axis (to which A is a slave) and the weird noise travels with it.  I did notice that the noise can vary depending on where I stop the motor....are you telling me that this is ok, that it is normal?

[SDG Pipe Organs]

Jeff,

Ignore all the extra posts. I tried to delete them and got an error. I got it all figured out. Thanks for your patience.

[Jeff Pollard]

Hi,

  Could you explain your solution so others that may have similar situations in the future can learn?

thanks,

jeff