2/6/2017 Tweakie.

CNCConstruction5

Tweakie.CNC
CNCisonlylimitedbyourimagination.

(25)Cableroutingagain.Theneaterthewiring,themorereliableitwillbe.

(26)Connectingtotheelectronics.Thecontrolboardisa'3axisStepMaster'fromUSAandthePSUisaswitchedmode24Volt6AmpOMRONunit.

(27)Anaxialfanhasbeenincorporatedintothecontrolboxrearcovertoprovideforcedaircooling.Inpracticethishasprovednottobereallynecessary,as
nothinggetshot.Steppermotorcurrenthasbeensetto2Ampsperphase,andthisworksextremelywell.

(28)Allthewiringfinished,testedandworkingOK.Thefan,whichis12voltisoperatedfromthe24voltpsuviaa7812seriesregulator.

(29)Wiringsecuredtoframewithsmall'P'clips.Tweakieisreadyto'RocknRoll'.

(30)Asacrificialworktablehasbeenfitted.

Ihaveincludedmyschematicdiagram
hereanditcanbeseenthatitisall
prettysimplestuffreally.Itlooksmore
complicatedthanitisintheabovepics
becauseeachlimitswitchhasitsown
dedicatedcableandallcables(outside
thecontrolbox)areofcoursescreened.

Ididinitiallyfitpullupresistorsforeach
limitswitch(andaxisdisableswitch)
connectionbutinpractisefoundthisto
beunnecessaryastheStepmaster
p.c.b.alreadyincorporatesthis
function.

AsofJan2008,Iunderstandthatthe
Stepmasterp.c.bisnolongeravailable
(followingproblemswiththeirlong
delaysinshipmentandpoorornon
existentbackupservice).

PersonallyIhavehadnoproblems
eitherwithsupplyorusageofthis
product(perhapsIamtheluckyone).

WhensettingupMach3orconnectingthelimitswitches,estopetctoacontrollerboarditisusefultoknowand
monitorthestateofthepinsontheLPT1port.AsmallutilitywhichdoesjustthisisParmon,writtenbyFredBulback
atGeekHideout.com.ThisutilitycanbedownloadedfromhereParmon.Itisincrediblyeasytouseandaswellas
monitoringtheindividualpinstatesitalsoenablesdirectswitchingoftheoutputpinsbyclickingonthepinyouwish
totogglestate.

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2/6/2017 Tweakie.CNCConstruction5

Itisimportanttoremember,particularlywhensettingupamachineforthefirsttime,thatthecomputersLPTparallelportisrelativelyfragile.Afewmilliamps
inthewrongdirectioncancompletelydestroytheportandifyouareunluckyitcanalsodestroythemotherboardaswell.Ifyouareusingapassivebreakout
board(nottoberecommended)whichdoesnotincorporateoptoisolatorsonallinputsandoutputsthenanyconnectionsmadehereshouldbecheckedand
doublecheckedbeforeapplyingpower.

Onceeverythingissetupsatisfactorilythen,asaprecautionarymeasure,ratherthanusingthecomputersonboardparallelport,itmaybewisetouseaPCI
pluginparallelportcardfortheLPTconnections.If,becauseofadriverfailureperhaps,youwereunluckyenoughtodestroythisportthenitisnottoomuch
ofanissue(orexpense)toreplaceitwithanewcard.

Acautionarytaleofalessontobelearnt.

Irecentlytried3oftheRoutout2.5Ampbipolarstepperdriverboardsandseparatebreakoutboard(ona
newmachine)withveryunexpectedresults.Iwasgettingextra(unwanted)stepsandthesecouldbe
heardasanoccasionaltickorstutterintheusualnoteproducedbythemotorwhenjogginganaxis
fromoneendtotheother.Allthreeaxiswereaffectedandtheproblemappearedtobeoccurringtotally
atrandom.Extrasteps(asopposedtomissingsteps)wereidentifiedbyfittingapointertooneofthe
steppershaftsanddrivingitexactly50revolutions(inmycasethiscorrespondstoanaxismovement
of200mm).Thepointershouldhavestoppedatexactlythesamepointfromwhichithadstartedbutit
hadsometimestravelledjustalittlebitextra(neverless).Theamountofovertravelwasextremely
smallbutnonethelessitwasanerrorinpositionwhichwasunacceptable.Usinganoscilloscopethe
problemwasidentifiedasnoisespikesoccurringonthegroundsideoftheLPTconnectionbetweenthe
computerandthebreakoutboard.Theonlyspikeswhichwerecausingtroublewereintheinterval
betweenthepositivegoingsteppulsesandwhentheywereofsufficientamplitudetheywerebeing
treatedasanadditional(unwanted)steporsteps.Thedirectionpulses(whichareeitheronoroff)were
unaffectedbythespikes(asfarasIcouldascertain).

ObviouslythepassivebreakoutboardsuppliedbyRoutoutwouldbejustfineiftherewerenosignalproblemsbutinmycaseitwascertainlynotsuitable.
Curiously,thisbreakoutboarddirectlyconnectsthecomputerGNDtothemachineGNDwhich,inmyopinion,itshouldnotdoasthiswillcreateagroundloop
viathedomesticsupplynodirectconnectionshouldbemadebetweenthesegrounds.AlthoughthecomputerGNDandmachineGNDaresupposedtobeat
thesamepotentialtheyrarelyare.AtthemachinethereshouldbeonlyoneGNDpointandallgroundsshouldberuntothispointdonotdaisychainthe
variousgroundsanddonotproducegroundloops.

Problemssuchasthisareeasilyavoidedbyusinganactivebreakoutboardwithoptoisolators(whichallowperfectsignaltransfersbetweensourcesof
differentpotential)betweenallI/OlinesandtheLPTportandaSchmitttriggercircuitinserieswitheachstepinputtoconditionthepulseshapeandremove
anyfalsetriggering.Connectinganewbreakoutboard,incorporatingthesefeatures,completelycuredtheproblemandthenewmachinewasworkingperfectly.

Asmentionedelsewhere,passivebreakoutboardsarenottoberecommended,unlessthestepperdrivercircuitshavefulloptoisolationonallinputandoutput
linestotheparallelportconnections(suchastheGeckodrive).Ifthedrivercircuitsdonotincorporatethisisolationthentheriskofdamagetothecomputer
anditsconsequentialexpensetorepairisjusttoogreatarisktobeworthtakingcomparedtotheextracostofanactivebreakoutboard.Itsabitlikeentering
aconstructionsitewithoutwearingahardhat,nobodyisgoingtodropabrickonyourheadbutisitworthtakingtherisk?.

Itisperhapsinterestingtonotehere,thatprofilecuttingacompleteshape,asanexample,hasanequalnumberof+XstepsasithasXstepsandthe+Y
stepsalsoequaltheYsteps(thisistruebecausethetoolpathstartsandfinishesatthesameplace).Assumingthatextrastepsoccuratrandomtheywillbe
moreorlessequallydistributedaroundtheprofile(lawofaverages)andanextrastepwhilsttravellinginthe+directionautomaticallybecomesaloststep
whentravellinginthedirection(andvisaversa)thereforeextrastepscananddocanceleachotherout.Itisforthisreasonthatsettingadialtestindicator
andmovingatableorgantrythereandbackagaincanshownopositionalerrorsonit'sreturnanditisthereforenotagoodtesttodemonstratetheaccuracyor
otherwiseofamachine.

Tryjogginganaxis,anyaxis,fromoneendtotheotherwhilstcarefullylisteningtothesoundofit'ssteppermotor.Doesitoccasionallystutterorproducea
tick,interruptingit'susualflowofsound?.Ifitdoesthenitcouldjustbeabitofgritintheballscrewnutorinthelinearbearingperhapsbutcoulditbean
extra,unwantedstep?.

ToavoidaccidentallycuttingintothealuminiumtableIuseasacrificialblock(madeofchipboard)
whichhasbeenfittedontopofthetable.TothisIhaveglueda2mmsheetofplasticandthen
machinedthetopsurfaceflatandtruewithafacingrouterbit.
Makesbitofamessatthetimebutitisessentialtohaveasurfacethatisperfectlyflatandtrue
otherwiseengravingdepthsetcwillvaryfromoneendoftheworktotheother.

! Thedustfrommachiningmanymaterialsincluding,butnotlimitedto,fibreglass,obechiandMDFistoxic.
Anadequatedustextractionsystemorasuitablefacemaskisessentialwhenmachiningthesematerials. !
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