Cnc noob

Shooter
shooter123456 said:
One thing to consider is that as the steppers go up in size and torque, their speed gets limited pretty quick. I have a few 400 oz in Nema 23s that I can get to spin at 3000 RPM easily, but a 1200 oz in Nema 34 I have will start to struggle around 1200 RPM. So they will likely have plenty of torque, but it is possible that you will limit yourself on rapids.
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shooter, they are rated a max of 5k rpm but I don’t know the pitch of the screws. Hopefully it will be ok, next for me to figure out is the control board and cnc software
 
Don't know if this applies, but I recall from using (smaller) steppers years ago that momentum can sometimes be your enemy. Going to full speed from a dead stop might cause problems (stalls). The solution is to use an acceleration ramp. You might also want to monitor the voltage output of the power supply. Voltage should NOT droop during startup.
 
Switching gears to the PC, can I use a laptop with touch screen so I can have fusion 360 on it as well or would it be better just to have a dedicated pc just to run Mach4 or centroid, ect. Need to figure this part out, the mill should be here next week!
 
Livnpaintball said:
Switching gears to the PC, can I use a laptop with touch screen so I can have fusion 360 on it as well or would it be better just to have a dedicated pc just to run Mach4 or centroid, ect. Need to figure this part out, the mill should be here next week!
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I'm sure you can make whatever hardware you have work, it's just a matter of working out the bugs as I'm finding out. Someone with Mach 4 experience will be better able to answer your question but probably if you are using an Ethernet based controller board you'll be fine using the laptop.

I'm running FreeCad and LinuxCNC currently with an older dedicated PC on the controls side. Will be upgrading to a Mesa 7i96 Ethernet based controller to run the machine and am currently working out the details of making my newer (Intel i5) system work with this setup. I haven't yet decided if I'm sticking with my old Dell desktop for the control PC but I'm setting up the newer HP machine I have on my electronics bench to dual boot so I can build my new controls box without tearing apart my working setup. I prefer Linux over Windows for stability and lack of licensing costs, also the opensource community is able to make improvements without having to answer to shareholders.

One of the benefits of building your own machine is you get to evolve it as your knowledge grows. I'm pretty sure you can change out the PC hardware with minimal hassle once you figure out the settings but I would opt for a dedicated desktop PC over a laptop for controlling the machine. It doesn't have to be especially fast or modern for this task where you probably want those features for your design workstation. I just happen to have a whole bunch of computers so I can shop at home for whatever I need ;)

Cheers,

John
 
John,

I will probably go with a desktop for the control, as you alluded to, set it and forget it. I will need to get a laptop and use it for Fusion360 when I’m out on a trip. Will have to give the LinuxCNC a read.! Thanks for the input.
 
Livnpaintball said:
Switching gears to the PC, can I use a laptop with touch screen so I can have fusion 360 on it as well or would it be better just to have a dedicated pc just to run Mach4 or centroid, ect. Need to figure this part out, the mill should be here next week!
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I recently bought a small CNC mill (DynaMyte Dm2400). It came with an itty bitty Lenovo PC, about the size of a small hardback book, mounted to the outside back of the control cabinet. I'm running Centroid on Win 10. The connection between the PC and the Centroid board is by Ethernet - fast, reliable, no interrupts. Works very well. No glitches! Have a small (non touchscreen) monitor on a swing arm, USB hub, wired keyboard, wireless mouse, and a wired Xbox controller (using "Rewasd" software) for manual positioning.

I use a different computer for CAD work - dual monitors, printer, etc. Use thumb drives to move the CAM/Gcode files to the PC on the mill. I prefer this arrangement because it lets me sit down in a quiet (clean) office with lots of desk space, where I can spread out reference material etc. while doing CAD work. The office computer is a desktop tower. I also have a laptop I can use if I want to go somewhere and show somebody the work in progress.

There's no reason you can't start out with a single laptop for both CAD and CAM. Then once you learn the software and get going, you can add a second PC or whatever you need to aid your workflow.

One more thought - machine tools make chips, which LOVE to get into keyboards, etc. The keyboard on a laptop is integral to the machine and not replaceable. So be careful. The keyboard I use on my mill is a cheap one and easily replaced if it gets contaminated or damaged. I'd love to get a sealed unit, but have not yet found a satisfactory "full size" one (with a numeric keypad).
 
hman said:
The keyboard I use on my mill is a cheap one and easily replaced if it gets contaminated or damaged. I'd love to get a sealed unit, but have not yet found a satisfactory "full size" one (with a numeric keypad).
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On my machines I use only the finest keyboards and mice that $5 will buy. I kill one every year or so. If using a laptop, set it off to the side, protected, and use a USB or wireless keyboard & mouse, and an external monitor. Keep the lid closed.
 
Pm30 is here, the PROCUT kit made it (more on that later...), servos are here and I have narrowed it down to Masso3G or Acorn. I ordered a FAB Pro table that I will use as the base so the garage is getting cluttered up with STUFF.

Masso or Acorn?... hum..AA8A0FF3-4DDF-45AE-8DDA-79F17F0784A1.jpeg
 
Table is almost done and fixing to order some more parts, what do you guys think would work best, Mechanical or Proximity limit switches? I would say Prox but what do U guys prefer?
 
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