Ktekx, here is the explanation I have come up with.· It is attached as an .xls file.· I have also attached my program for cutting diagonals.· I hope this helps.· If you have any further questions, please ask.
Not to gloat... Well okay, I have to gloat a little bit...
My LPKF machine has been at work since I got it. I took pity on them since theirs had to be sent out for maintance.
Well here is the 1st thing I've milled in my basement.
The Parallax logo is 1" long and I've put a dime down to show the relative size.
Very cool. I can't wait to start make "REAL" stuff with it...
Hopefully this picture will give others inspiration...
The stepped line the middle is where I was setting the "depth of cut".
Bean.
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Cheap 4-digit LED display with driver IC·www.hc4led.com
Nice job Bean! Maybe parallax will offer 1cent / logo / product....like those silly pop-up banners!! haha
Looks slick!
how long did it take for the machine to cut that?
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Steve "Inside each and every one of us is our one, true authentic swing. Something we was born with. Something that's ours and ours alone. Something that can't be learned... something that's got to be remembered."
Very nice results! Good idea to include the dime in the photo for size reference, that really makes the precision of the work stand out. May I ask what software you're driving the machine with?
Thanks for all the info. I'm sorry to hear that the manuals have to be translated from German and that the system is not user friendly. Glad to hear that you are happy with the purchase despite those facts though. A table size of 16x20 sounds like enough room to provide good possibilities and options for most small parts too.
Thanks a lot Newzed, your info has helped my rethink my design. I've redesigned my vinyl cutter driving circuit now to be pulsed controlled by separating the motor driver from the main brains of the circuit, hopefully this will make life easier for me when I finish the software.
Bean, very nice! Such a clean finish to it, show us more of what it can do!
Another thing easy to make is encoder disks. For example with 1mm holes and 1mm spacing a 100 pulse per revolution disk would only be about 2.5" across (if I did the math right).
I may try one of those next.
[noparse][[/noparse]edit] Check it out.
The wheel is 3" in diameter.
The encoder holes are 0.038" and the center hole is a friction fit to the Parallax continuous rotation servo.
There are 100 holes around the perimeter.
This took 7 minutes (that includes the time it took me to change the bits too).
I can see ALOT of "wasted" time playing with this thing...
I think next I'll do an encoder wheel with slots instead of holes...
Bean.
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Cheap 4-digit LED display with driver IC·www.hc4led.com
First off, Hi Gang. I've been away for a while but I'm back. Will be reading the forums daily like before.
Bean! That encoder wheel rocks!
I would never get anything done if I had one of those in my basement.
Congratulations. Looking forward to more updates.
Sid. What can I say. You have come a long way.
I saw in another thread that you plan to hook a Propeller chip up to your rig.
Now that is exciting.
I see this thread is at 22899 views. Is that a record of some sort?
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- - - PLJack - - -
Perfection in design is not achieved when there is nothing left to add. It is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.
My Propeller program for the mill is just about finished.· Right now I can tell it to go Left, Right, In, Out, Up or Down, or, I can tell it to drill a single hole, or I can tell it to drill an SIP or DIP and I can select the number of holes, the spacing between holes and the width of the DIP.· If I select
" 0 " for the width, it goes back to Start after I have drilled a single row of pins.
I have an option "Autorun".· If I select this, the program reads a DATA list and performs the instructions in the DATA list, such as:
"L", 100, "I", 250, "R", 50, "O", 25...and so on.· If it reads a "P", the program pauses until I press any key - this is to let the spindle motor cool down.· If it reads a "Q" the sequence is finished and it goes back to start.
When I start the program, the X and Y coordinates are set to 0, 0, and each time either table moves in either direction, the coordinates are updated.· This works fine as long as I don't turn the Prop off if I turn the Prop off and then back on the coordinates are reset to 0, 0.· The final refinement I'm working on is to write the coordinates to memory each time they are updated.· Then if I turn the Prop off and then back on the next morning, it reads the memory for the last recorded positions
and I can start exactly where I left off the day before.
I had to design a new board to interface the Prop to the stepper controllers.· Here is a preliminary description of the board:
Size – 3.8 x 3.0, double sided, PTH, no solder mask, no SS but most parts ID’d with copper
Chips – Propeller DIP, MAX3232 DIP, 24LC256 DIP
EEPROM hardwired to pins 28 and 29
MAX3232 hardwired to pins 30 and 31
5mHz crystal
4 x 8 female headers for accessing Propeller pins
5 volt regulator supplying 5VDC to 8-pos 5V bus and to·3V···regulator
8-pos Gnd bus
DB9 female connector for programming
DB9 female connect that accepts a DB9/male to PS/2 female adapter for plugging in keyboard or mouse.
Data and clock pins hardwired to pins 24 and 25. 5V power and ground hardwired.
RCA connector for TV, resistors hardwired to pins 12,13 and 14
8-pos screw terminal connected to Prop Pins 0-7
Pushbutton with pullup to 3VDC – can be patched to any pin
Reset pushbutton
Red LED for 5V, green LED for 3V
On-Off switch
Wall transformer input jack
So......I've almost got it done.· I'm very new to the Propeller and it has been a struggle, but also a lot of fun.
Let me pose a hypothetical problem in your design, and offer a suggestion for a solution. The idea of saving the X and Y positions, before shutting the mill down, is fine. However, when you fire it back up, you are presuming neither axis has been manually moved. The same might happen in the event of a power failure.
At the cost of a couple of absolute encoders, you would know EXACTLY where the machine is positioned, then when you read the prior positions, you can compensate accordingly.
Sid.
That new controller seems pretty versatile.
Printing status messages via the RCA connector should take your machine up a level.
How do you get the X,Y information to the DATA list?
With the PropIDE?
BTW I was looking at your XLS file list above, it reads...
"Therefore I have set the max travel in a sequence to 1000 miles"
Yikes![noparse]:)[/noparse]
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- - - PLJack - - -
Perfection in design is not achieved when there is nothing left to add. It is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.
Newzed said...
PL, if you are talking about the Autorun option, the program reads a data list like this:
Sid
Sorry I did not make myself clear. (not news)
Once you have converted the xls data to a "DATA List", How do you get that list to the Propeller?
Do you load it onto a separate EPROM or do you paste it into the Spin code and re-flash with the IDE?
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- - - PLJack - - -
Perfection in design is not achieved when there is nothing left to add. It is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.
PL, I copy and paste the .xls data into a Stamp program I wrote that converts the .xls data to the proper Propeller format and displays it on the debug screen.· I then copy and paste the debug screen into Propeller.· What winds up in Propeller isn't perfect - I still have to touch it up a bit.· I'm working on the conversion program so that what gets pasted into Propeller is perfect.· Of course, I still have to add the P(ause) and Q(uit) but that is no big deal.
I thought I would post a picture of SuperMill's lastest effort.· This photo was posted on the Propeller forum, but I decided to post it here also.
Are you watching, PL?
This board has 284 etching operations and 163 holes.· Board size is
3.800 x 1.700.· It is the board for my new Propeller layout.· Etch lines were made with an .015 router.
Bean, I guess the life depends on how deep you are cutting and how fast the cutter travels.· I cut about 4 to 5 mils deep for normal etching.· When I'm routing the outside dimensions I use a .040 router and go about .063 deep, but I cut my table speed in half.· For normal etchihg, the table travels one inch in about 22 seconds.· So far, I am quite happy with the life of the routers and drills.· I'm on my second .020 router since I started using them, and I am still using my first .035 drill bit.
If you need something you can't find, call John at 847-419-1241.· He is very helpful.
Sid
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ Sid Weaver
Need a TV Module?
I don't know all the details about what you're doing but it seems to me that, for scoring,·using a tiny·end mill that is expensive may not be the best approach.· Instead, ·you could have a tool with a much larger diameter that is ground to a·point and cut a V-groove.···A V-groove would snap apart more readily than a milled channel.· I'm thinking of something like a spade drill with a 30 degree point.· That's pretty sharp but you get the same width as the depth of your cut.· Unfortunatley, I doubt this is something off-the-shelf.· But someone with a tool grinder could probably do it fairly inexpensively and if you made it from a carbide tool it would outlast a whole handful of those endmills.
Bean, when I started writing the program for the Propeller, I looked at the pulsetrain Prop was generating.· I adjusted the cycle time to 600us, which gave me about the pulsetrain I needed.· I then adjusted, after many tries, the off time for the X·axis at 600*40 and the off time for the Y axis at 600*120.· The X axis is controlled by an old Gecko microstepper and the Y axis is controlled by an IB463.· The Y stepper rotates more than twice as fast as the X stepper but it is geared down 2:1.· It took a lot of trial and error to get the pulsetrains where I wanted them right now the X stepper uses 2578 pulses to travel 100 mils, and the Y axis takes 2030 pulses.· When the program starts up, I have the option of changing any of the operating parameters.· I didn';t want the table to travel too fast for fear of snapping off my .015 router.· For instance, if I want to reduce the table speed to about one-half, I change "waitx" from the default 40 to 100, and the "waity' default from 120 to 250.· It was a lot of programming work but it turned out quite well in the end.· Being able to change any of the parameters gives me a lot of control without the necessity for reprogramming.· I'm using the Demo board to run the mill, and the computer in the shop is Windows ME, which means it can't handle the Propeller Tool.· So....I have to disconnect the Demo board and bring it in here to reprogram it.
My spindle motor runs at 20,000 RPM.
Ask all the questions you want, Bean.· I'm quite proud of SuperMill and the way it operates.· I will even give you a copy of my mill program if you want it.· The mill is not CNC - I write an etch program and a drill program ·for each new board I lay out, and use special procedures to get them into the Propeller program as a proper DAT list.
Sid
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Comments
Sid
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Sid Weaver
Do you have a Stamp Tester yet?
http://hometown.aol.com/newzed/index.html
My LPKF machine has been at work since I got it. I took pity on them since theirs had to be sent out for maintance.
Well here is the 1st thing I've milled in my basement.
The Parallax logo is 1" long and I've put a dime down to show the relative size.
Very cool. I can't wait to start make "REAL" stuff with it...
Hopefully this picture will give others inspiration...
The stepped line the middle is where I was setting the "depth of cut".
Bean.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Cheap 4-digit LED display with driver IC·www.hc4led.com
Low power SD Data Logger www.sddatalogger.com
"I reject your reality, and substitute my own." Mythbusters
Post Edited (Bean (Hitt Consulting)) : 6/22/2006 2:27:16 AM GMT
Nice job Bean! Maybe parallax will offer 1cent / logo / product....like those silly pop-up banners!! haha
Looks slick!
how long did it take for the machine to cut that?
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·
Steve
"Inside each and every one of us is our one, true authentic swing. Something we was born with. Something that's ours and ours alone. Something that can't be learned... something that's got to be remembered."
· I didn't time it, but probably about 1 minute.
· I think I had it set for 6mm/Sec.
· BTW: Each of the steps in the stepped line is 2mm.
Bean.
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Cheap 4-digit LED display with driver IC·www.hc4led.com
Low power SD Data Logger www.sddatalogger.com
"I reject my reality, and substitute yours." NOT Mythbusters
Post Edited (Bean (Hitt Consulting)) : 6/22/2006 5:05:06 PM GMT
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Just tossing my two bits worth into the bit bucket
KK
·
Very nice results! Good idea to include the dime in the photo for size reference, that really makes the precision of the work stand out. May I ask what software you're driving the machine with?
Tim
"Circuit CAM" converts the DXF (or gerber I guess) into a format the machine understands (a form of HPGL).
"Board Master" actually runs the machine. Sending commands and such.
The software and machine are NOT easy to operate. Partly because all the manuals are translated from German.
I plan to make mechanical parts out of FR-4 board. Like robot bodies and stuff, and for experimenting.
Best $3600 I ever spent. I think we paid $15K for the one at work and it's table is only 10x14. The table on mine is 16x20 (about).
Bean.
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Cheap 4-digit LED display with driver IC·www.hc4led.com
Low power SD Data Logger www.sddatalogger.com
"I reject my reality, and substitute yours." NOT Mythbusters
·
Tim
Bean, very nice! Such a clean finish to it, show us more of what it can do!
I may try one of those next.
[noparse][[/noparse]edit] Check it out.
The wheel is 3" in diameter.
The encoder holes are 0.038" and the center hole is a friction fit to the Parallax continuous rotation servo.
There are 100 holes around the perimeter.
This took 7 minutes (that includes the time it took me to change the bits too).
I can see ALOT of "wasted" time playing with this thing...
I think next I'll do an encoder wheel with slots instead of holes...
Bean.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Cheap 4-digit LED display with driver IC·www.hc4led.com
Low power SD Data Logger www.sddatalogger.com
"I reject my reality, and substitute yours." NOT Mythbusters
Post Edited (Bean (Hitt Consulting)) : 6/23/2006 12:39:32 AM GMT
Bean! That encoder wheel rocks!
I would never get anything done if I had one of those in my basement.
Congratulations. Looking forward to more updates.
Sid. What can I say. You have come a long way.
I saw in another thread that you plan to hook a Propeller chip up to your rig.
Now that is exciting.
I see this thread is at 22899 views. Is that a record of some sort?
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- - - PLJack - - -
Perfection in design is not achieved when there is nothing left to add.
It is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.
My Propeller program for the mill is just about finished.· Right now I can tell it to go Left, Right, In, Out, Up or Down, or, I can tell it to drill a single hole, or I can tell it to drill an SIP or DIP and I can select the number of holes, the spacing between holes and the width of the DIP.· If I select
" 0 " for the width, it goes back to Start after I have drilled a single row of pins.
I have an option "Autorun".· If I select this, the program reads a DATA list and performs the instructions in the DATA list, such as:
"L", 100, "I", 250, "R", 50, "O", 25...and so on.· If it reads a "P", the program pauses until I press any key - this is to let the spindle motor cool down.· If it reads a "Q" the sequence is finished and it goes back to start.
When I start the program, the X and Y coordinates are set to 0, 0, and each time either table moves in either direction, the coordinates are updated.· This works fine as long as I don't turn the Prop off if I turn the Prop off and then back on the coordinates are reset to 0, 0.· The final refinement I'm working on is to write the coordinates to memory each time they are updated.· Then if I turn the Prop off and then back on the next morning, it reads the memory for the last recorded positions
and I can start exactly where I left off the day before.
I had to design a new board to interface the Prop to the stepper controllers.· Here is a preliminary description of the board:
Size – 3.8 x 3.0, double sided, PTH, no solder mask, no SS but most parts ID’d with copper
Chips – Propeller DIP, MAX3232 DIP, 24LC256 DIP
EEPROM hardwired to pins 28 and 29
MAX3232 hardwired to pins 30 and 31
5mHz crystal
4 x 8 female headers for accessing Propeller pins
5 volt regulator supplying 5VDC to 8-pos 5V bus and to·3V···regulator
8-pos Gnd bus
DB9 female connector for programming
DB9 female connect that accepts a DB9/male to PS/2 female adapter for plugging in keyboard or mouse.
Data and clock pins hardwired to pins 24 and 25. 5V power and ground hardwired.
RCA connector for TV, resistors hardwired to pins 12,13 and 14
8-pos screw terminal connected to Prop Pins 0-7
Pushbutton with pullup to 3VDC – can be patched to any pin
Reset pushbutton
Red LED for 5V, green LED for 3V
On-Off switch
Wall transformer input jack
So......I've almost got it done.· I'm very new to the Propeller and it has been a struggle, but also a lot of fun.
Sid
Let me pose a hypothetical problem in your design, and offer a suggestion for a solution. The idea of saving the X and Y positions, before shutting the mill down, is fine. However, when you fire it back up, you are presuming neither axis has been manually moved. The same might happen in the event of a power failure.
At the cost of a couple of absolute encoders, you would know EXACTLY where the machine is positioned, then when you read the prior positions, you can compensate accordingly.
Just a passing thought.
Regards,
Bruce Bates
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<!--StartFragment -->
That new controller seems pretty versatile.
Printing status messages via the RCA connector should take your machine up a level.
How do you get the X,Y information to the DATA list?
With the PropIDE?
BTW I was looking at your XLS file list above, it reads...
"Therefore I have set the max travel in a sequence to 1000 miles"
Yikes![noparse]:)[/noparse]
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- - - PLJack - - -
Perfection in design is not achieved when there is nothing left to add.
It is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.
DAT
····
trav· word· "L",100,"I",200,"P",0,"L", 300
···· · word· "I", 400,· "R", 0,· "O",0,"L",600,"I",400,"Q"
which is written into the program before I run it.
Re the .xls file - I really need to correct that !!
Sid
Sorry I did not make myself clear. (not news)
Once you have converted the xls data to a "DATA List", How do you get that list to the Propeller?
Do you load it onto a separate EPROM or do you paste it into the Spin code and re-flash with the IDE?
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- - - PLJack - - -
Perfection in design is not achieved when there is nothing left to add.
It is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.
Sid
I'll PM you my email. I'm sure we can come up with something.
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- - - PLJack - - -
Perfection in design is not achieved when there is nothing left to add.
It is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.
Are you watching, PL?
This board has 284 etching operations and 163 holes.· Board size is
3.800 x 1.700.· It is the board for my new Propeller layout.· Etch lines were made with an .015 router.
Sid
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Sid Weaver
Do you have a Stamp Tester yet?
http://hometown.aol.com/newzed/index.html
Of course. [noparse]:)[/noparse] Posted in other thread.
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- - - PLJack - - -
Perfection in design is not achieved when there is nothing left to add.
It is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.
· Can you provide the part # for those ? I've looked on their website, but I don't see them.
Bean.
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Cheap used 4-digit LED display with driver IC·www.hc4led.com
Low power SD Data Logger www.sddatalogger.com
SX-Video Display Modules www.sxvm.com
There are only two guaranteed ways to become weathy.
Spend less than you make.
Make more than you spend.
·
http://www.store.yahoo.com/drillcity/760200rtr.html
Let me know is you need more info.
Sid
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Sid Weaver
Need a TV Module?
Newzed@aol.com
·
Thanks.
Wow they are expensive aren't they... $5 each...
About how long do they last (in inches) ?
Bean.
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Cheap used 4-digit LED display with driver IC·www.hc4led.com
Low power SD Data Logger www.sddatalogger.com
SX-Video Display Modules www.sxvm.com
There are only two guaranteed ways to become weathy.
Spend less than you make.
Make more than you spend.
·
If you need something you can't find, call John at 847-419-1241.· He is very helpful.
Sid
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Sid Weaver
Need a TV Module?
Newzed@aol.com
·
The default speed for the LPKF is about 5 times faster than you say you're using (1 inch in 22 seconds).
Is that the maximum speed you can use ? Or does that speed extend the life of the bits ? I guess I'm asking how you arrived at that speed.
P.S. What RPM do you use for the 0.020" router ?
Sorry for all the questions...
Bean.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Cheap used 4-digit LED display with driver IC·www.hc4led.com
Low power SD Data Logger www.sddatalogger.com
SX-Video Display Modules www.sxvm.com
There are only two guaranteed ways to become weathy.
Spend less than you make.
Make more than you spend.
·
Chris I.
My spindle motor runs at 20,000 RPM.
Ask all the questions you want, Bean.· I'm quite proud of SuperMill and the way it operates.· I will even give you a copy of my mill program if you want it.· The mill is not CNC - I write an etch program and a drill program ·for each new board I lay out, and use special procedures to get them into the Propeller program as a proper DAT list.
Sid
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Sid Weaver
Need a TV Module?
Newzed@aol.com
·