|
I've now got the Z axis under CNC control. I'ts a rough up with some timing pulleys I had on hand but I have a bigger ratio set on order. The Z axis motor is running at full power to drive the axis which heats it up more than I'm happy with. Hopefully with a bigger ratio I can back the power setting on the controller down. X and Y run quite cool and with the feed rates I've been using I have not had any sign of missed steps.
I used the mill with CNC control of the X and Y axis to make the mounting bracket for the Z axis motor (very satisfying). I just had to manually drive the Z axis at the right times. The fit of the nema 23 stepper to the bracket was perfect.
I'll rebuild the X and Y mounts in the near future using the mill to make the components.
I ran the roadrunner gcode sample which comes with Mach3 last thing tonight and did 2 cuts with the tracking looking very good.
Fred no encoders at this stage. I'm treating this as a learning exercise and am trying to keep the costs down as far as practical. I think I've now spent around the $400 on the conversion which has given me a CNC controlled mill for about $1k. I will probably get the full version of Mach3, so far I'm really impressed.
I picked up a couple of limit switches today which I've not fitted yet (they will go on the rebuilt X and Y bearing brackets) and have an emergency stop button almost ready to go but need to get it hooked up.
Bob
|