New PM30 for CNC, or what have I done!

[tkalxx]

Hi all,

Awesome job Tkalxx, I'm going to up my wiring game! BNC and then cat 5 wiring were my gateway into IT, so maybe I can remember some of those skills. Have you finished up. Any newer pics? Advice?

My 28x28x12 Craftsman wall cabinet came in, and I assembled most of it yesterday. I was thinking about whether to put the included shelf on the bottom slot, but I'm going leave it out for now and dedicate the cabinet to CNC control. I found a nice piece of plywood in the shed for a backplate. Once I have a handle on the backplate size, I'll draw it up as far as I can.
View attachment 344967

Attached are some up to date images of my build - still have to find a better solution in terms of an enclosure.
Seeing as you are in the IT field, you probably know a lot more than I do, however, my one advice is to organize your cabinet such that there is minimal interaction between AC power and any low voltage DC lines. In my cabinet all AC and high voltage DC is routed on the right side and low voltage DC/TTL signals are on the left side. I chose to use shielded cable for all signal wires as I've had noise issues in the past.
Keep the build pictures coming!
-Adam

 

[Rogbo]

my one advice is to organize your cabinet such that there is minimal interaction between AC power and any low voltage DC lines. In my cabinet all AC and high voltage DC is routed on the right side and low voltage DC/TTL signals are on the left side. I chose to use shielded cable for all signal wires

Thanks for both inputs. To bad about your enclosure, did you run out of space? So far I'm happy with the size and construction of my enclosure. While not a real industrial cabinet, it's large enough at 28x28 (I hope) sturdy, deep, will look like it fits in my shop, and a hundred bucks delivered.

I'd been thinking about shielding everything where possible, wires, fittings, etc. I will for sure now. I don't think it's much more money, just finding the right stuff.

Oddly I'm kind of at the cross roads on my build. I'm in California at my Ex's house for a few more weeks for medical treatments. I'm not sure if I should start my electronics build out, or leave it all in boxes and study CAD? I guess I'll see how I feel after tomorrow's Dr sessions...

On that note, does anyone have favorite CAD / CAM software? My home in Oregon is at the end of the gravel road and internet is hot spots that are only lukewarm so Fusion 360 probably isn't the best choice.

To be continued...

 

[Rogbo]

Here was an HM post I wrote a while back.

Really nice write up Mike! I've read it end to end a few times, probably read it a few times more before I get the electronics finished. Before college and IT, I worked ten years as a field mechanic on heavy equipment, cleaning up rats nests of wiring was a great skill. My mentor would have, well who knows be we took wire soldering seriously and crimped connections were for rookies. Your thread took an interesting turn on the old vs new wiring standards and why crimps are better in certain applications.

Roger

 

[tkalxx]

Thanks for both inputs. To bad about your enclosure, did you run out of space? So far I'm happy with the size and construction of my enclosure. While not a real industrial cabinet, it's large enough at 28x28 (I hope) sturdy, deep, will look like it fits in my shop, and a hundred bucks delivered.

When I said enclosure I more so meant the cardboard boxes taped together around my mill to contain chips hahaha. My control cabinet worked out to just the right size to fit everything I need.

Your cabinet looks much bigger and I think will work great! Are you going closed loop steppers? Plans to change the spindle motor in the future which would require somewhere to mount a VFD?

 

[Rogbo]

I ordered nema 34 steppers from steppers online a few days ago. I got the sizing from below the Arizona Video PM30-MV CNC kits. There is testing on YouTube between this brand and Acorn, and wiring schematics in the Acorn schematic zip for this driver.

For reference, I had no knowledge of steppers before this, even now not that much, but the information I gathered above made me comfortable with this decision and purchase. YMMV.

$443.31 PayPal delivered.

2 for X and Y - YE Series 1 Axis Closed Loop Stepper CNC Kit 4.8 Nm(679.87oz.in) Nema 34 Motor & Driver
1 for Z - YE Series 1 Axis Closed Loop Stepper CNC Kit 9.0 Nm(1274.76oz.in) Nema 34 Motor & Driver
3 - 350W 60V switching power supplies

 

[Rogbo]

When I said enclosure I more so meant the cardboard boxes taped together

Ha! My bad, now I see. I was looking the last picture of your picture of your control cabinet thinking what a great job. What connectors did you run through your cabinet for stepper (?) power and signal? Which mill is that? Do you control spindle speed via software?

Roger

 

[macardoso]

Ha! My bad, now I see. I was looking the last picture of your picture of your control cabinet thinking what a great job. What connectors did you run through your cabinet for stepper (?) power and signal? Which mill is that? Do you control spindle speed via software?

Roger

For panel connectors, many people go with "Aviation Connectors" on eBay or Amazon. I personally recommend M12 or DIN mini connectors available from AutomationDirect and others. They are used all over industry, cheap, watertight, and very rugged. M12 is good for up to 4A and the DIN MINI are good up to 12A I think.

https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/shopping/catalog/wiring_solutions/micro_(m12)_receptacles/7231-13541-9710100

https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/shopping/catalog/wiring_solutions/mini_(7-z-8_in._-_16_un2)_receptacles_-a-_accessories/zp-s1-4fr-0p3m

They have very nice field wireable connectors which you can attach to your motor cable with screw terminals

https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/shopping/catalog/wiring_solutions/field_wireable_connectors_-a-_t-couplers/7000-12741-0000000

https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/shopping/catalog/wiring_solutions/field_wireable_connectors_-a-_t-couplers/zp-s1-4mpm-fw

or you can buy pre molded cables.

https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/shopping/catalog/wiring_solutions/sensors_-z-_switches/micro_(m12)_normal_duty_q-z-d_cables/4-pole_micro_(m12)_cables/cdp12-0b-030-aa

https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/shopping/catalog/wiring_solutions/sensors_-z-_switches/mini_connector_(7-z-8_in._-_16_un2)_cables/4-pole_mini_(7-z-8_in._-_16_un2)_cables/zp-s1c-4mpx-2m

 

[Rogbo]

The help of this forum and its members, has been invaluable in the ongoing design and construction of my little PM30-MV CNC machine as well as some other equipment purchases. So I thought it only fair to do the donation thing. $25 bucks is a piddly sum for the priceless knowledge. Also for the countless hours of entertainment I get reading other's posts. I'm glad I remembered to make this purchase.

Picked up a 14 inch Lenovo T490 with an i5, 16 GB RAM, and 500 GB SSD drive on black Friday sale. I didn't want a new computer but the newest one I had laying around was from 2010. Since I medically retired in 2013 I've used an android tablet for all my minimal technical needs. No sense building a CNC machine if I can't run CAD.

I'm going to start evaluating CAD packages as soon as the laptop gets here. Fusion is a lot of people's favorite, but out at the end of my gravel road internet is almost non existant.

To be continued...

 

[tkalxx]

What connectors did you run through your cabinet for stepper (?) power and signal?

Mike hit the nail on the head. I'm using the aviation style connectors that I purchased on amazon. Opted to go with slightly larger M16 size though because they're easier to solder 18awg wire that I had on hand for the motor leads (I believe the particular ones I purchased are rated for 8A). If I were to do it again, I'd purchase the M12/M16 connectors from automation direct that Mike linked above. Although more expensive, they're much higher quality and there's just something about the fit and finish of high quality connectors that can't be beat.

Which mill is that? Do you control spindle speed via software?

It's a PM25. I'm not controlling the spindle through software at the moment. I do have plans to upgrade the whole headstock with a 2.2kW BLDC motor, new spindle bearings and a pneumatic power draw bar but I just haven't gotten around to doing so yet. With that said, the VFD and supporting electronics for the spindle motor are planned to be housed in a separate smaller control cabinet mounted to the back of my mill stand in an attempt to isolate any noise issues that can arise when using a VFD.

 

[Boswell]

$25 bucks is a piddly sum for the priceless knowledge. Also for the countless hours of entertainment I get reading other's posts.

Could not have said it better !