[GTFreeFlyer]

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[GTFreeFlyer]

I've been away from this project for too long. Last night I decided to start back up and finally got the holes cut out for my switches. I mounted the switch panels and it's looking great so far. I can't wait to fire this machine back up.

[Mac.CNC]

Hey, glad' you're back, it's been a while.
Thanks for the speed test video a while back, that was really inspiring to me while I was designing my machine and was probably the one main reason I built my table like so heavy to prevent it from wiggling around at these speeds.
It's still wiggling though, lol.
Happy CNC'ing,
Mac

[GTFreeFlyer]

I've completed the filling/sanding and have applied one coat of primer to all of the wood. I will apply two coats of paint next. I wanted to use some cool colors, but I have leftover (expensive) paint from a recent home remodel and I'm just going to use that instead. Final finish will be a beige on the exterior, and I'll go with high-gloss white on the interior since it will be easy to wipe/clean machine oils that splatter around.

The goal is to finish all painting by the end of this weekend, and then to reconnect the electrical and have the machine running again by the end of next weekend!

[GTFreeFlyer]

Still on track...

Machine is painted and I've begun reinstalling the wires/electronics.

[GTFreeFlyer]

I've been working every day/night since the 25th last month and still don't have the wiring done. It is taking much longer than expected since I designed way too many features/options into the machine, but it's nearly complete and it's going to be awesome!

Who is still following this build? If there are a bunch of you, I'll update more often.

I also just posted another thread in this forum on how I modded my Bosch Colt so that I have an electrical path from the bit to ground so I can probe. I dreaded this based on everything I read about the Colt, but once I opened it up it only took me 20 minutes. I feel like I have just unleashed my biggest hurdle because probing was an option I really wanted but wasn't sure if I'd get it, and now the end of the build seems so much closer...

[jim_r53]

I am following as a subscriber - I guess there is no way to find the number of subscribers.

[Mac.CNC]

I'm definitely following your build still :-) Always good to watch and learn...
Your latest post on making a router conductive intrigued me a lot, since I had that problem with mine lately.
I still haven't quite solved that and am still using an alligator clip on the bit to make the connection while touching off.
That particular topic stirs up a can of worms again on my end, where I was wondering if earth ground should be connected to DC- in my thread a while ago, remember?
I ended up separating those two potentials in my machine upon many recommendations, which now bites me in the rear - I have to use a clip, there's no other way unless coming up with a circuit that is completely optoisolateted to provide input and runs of a battery or something (away from earth and DC-).
Hope you get your's up and running soon :-) Can't wait to see more pictures!!
I'll be posting a few new ones tonight...
--
Mac

[GTFreeFlyer]

You have my head spinning now. I planned to connect the spindle to earth ground and the touch plates to Mach 3's probe input. Are you telling me I need separate circuit and can not use earth's ground?

[Mac.CNC]

That totally depends on your wiring. If your DC- bus is somehow connected to the metal parts of the machine it will probably work. Depending on how you grounded your machine, that might also mean that DC- is connected to ground, which is something I put special consideration to because I didn't want that. If you look at my build thread, there's a long discussion about that very topic.
Since I did it that way, when I tried earth grounding the probe input, nothing happened because there wasn't enough current flowing. Only when putting DC- to the probe input, I would get a signal. So what I'm basically doing now is to hook up DC- temporarily to the cutting bit with an alligator clip, basically making a bridge between DC- and earth ground. The probe input is connected to the touch plate and that worked out pretty good so far.
Just try it out and see what happens.
--
Mac

[Jkountz]

Here is the front AC power panel I finished today.

I also got my lasers in the mail today. These will paint two lines that will intersect underneath the spindle for quick alignment.

Can I ask where you sourced those panel mount receptacles?

[GTFreeFlyer]

I'll try it out. When my machine was running over a year ago I didn't have any problems, but I wasn't using a probe and I didn't have all of my features connected.

I have all AC grounds, DC minuses, and metal components all tied together. My limit switches have always been grounded to the metal frame and they all worked great.

[GTFreeFlyer]

Found in the local electronics store. Just Google "AC Receptacles" and you should find some.

[jim_r53]

This is what I plan on using https://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/st...ductId=2114095

[GTFreeFlyer]

This is what I plan on using https://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/st...ductId=2114095

That looks almost exactly like mine. Yes, I used the "snap-in" ones. You can add that to your Google search term. My 3 receptacles are mounted on an aluminum plate that I machined with this machine when I had it running way back when.

Update:
I have almost completed all the wiring. I have a 3 or 4 more connections to make to the G540, and then I can pop the 48V supply back in and wire it up. After that everything will be connected except my lights (in the mail) and lasers (need to make a mount) and cooling fans. Very soon I'll be bundling the wires together and going nuts with zip-ties and loop clamps and then I'll be able to flip the main power switch

The reason this is taking so long is that I have a 7 page electrical schematic that was drawn up prior to beginning work, and I am labeling each wire with a number tag and updating the schematic as I lay each wire. I takes about 5-10 minutes average per wire connection by the time I...
Review the drawing
Double check the depicted connection and make sure it's right
Cut the wire to length
Strip the ends
Crimp or solder connectors as required
Route the wire through the rats-nest of wires already inside the machine
Make the connection
Label the wire at each end and in the middle
Update the schematic drawing with any changes made
Double and triple check everything again

Right now I have approximately 60-70 wires installed, not including DB9, VGA, and DB25 cables. I made my own VGA and Parallel cables, so add another 40 wires that were soldered, bringing the total over 100 wires!

I have only one plug going from the back of the machine to my wall receptacle. The machine will be completely self-contained including a PC built-in. There are VGA and USB receptacles and another AC receptacle on the back of the machine for the computer monitor.

Once complete, I plan to make a video tour of the machine and all the features I put in it. Either that, or we'll be spreading its ashes out somewhere...

[GTFreeFlyer]

Just thought of something... Can I use the A-Axis pins on the DB25 Parallel cable as inputs instead of outputs? I need to attach my probe somewhere and Input #4 on my G540 is taken. Mach 3 is loaded on my PC built into the machine and since I don't have it running right now I can't check it.

[GTFreeFlyer]

Movement! I'm back up and running again. I had to troubleshoot a short I had in the electronics before I had everything working. Turned out I had a terminal block jumper in the wrong location. Could have been much worse. I still haven't turned on the router or tested the other features yet. Right after I had the 3 axes moving again, I was triggering the x-axis limit switch often, but without hitting it. Do have have bad grounding to those switches? Why would the x-axis move a little, then stop, and give me a "limit switch triggered" message? It's not the soft limits, but the hard limits.

[GTFreeFlyer]

Forget my question above. After a quick search, this seems to be a very common problem with many answers on how to fix. Thanks.

[GTFreeFlyer]

So I pulled out the G540, added capacitors, and then when I put everything back together the G540 wouldn't initialize again. I've started another thread in the Gecko forum to try and resolve this. You can take a look here...

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/gecko_...ed_leds_-.html

In short, I think that one of the leads that was snipped off of a capacitor may have made its way into the G540 and shorted the MOSFET. There is a photo in that link I added above.

My machine is down until this is resolved.

[GTFreeFlyer]

While the machine is down, it was a good time to work on miscellaneous stuff such as the lighting. Check it out! I couldn't be happier. All of these LEDs came on one roll from China for $8 shipped! I even have approximately 24" leftover and plan on adding it under the gantry at some point in the future. I was worried there wouldn't be enough light from the SMD LEDs, but there is plenty!

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