Jason's UK 2.x build

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Re: Jason's UK 2.x build

Postby irfanulla » Tue Aug 16, 2011 3:30 am

great that you got that working - so how has it been - I am yet to get hands on my laser tube and so still waiting for it. hope it turns out well.

what were the things you wanted to talk about the DSP?

and do let us know what parameters on the DSP got this thing working for you.

Regards
Irfan
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Re: Jason's UK 2.x build

Postby J45on » Wed Aug 17, 2011 2:51 pm

irfanulla wrote:great that you got that working - so how has it been - I am yet to get hands on my laser tube and so still waiting for it. hope it turns out well.

what were the things you wanted to talk about the DSP?

and do let us know what parameters on the DSP got this thing working for you.

Regards
Irfan


Hi Irfanulla

I basically just followed Tim/Twehr's installation instructions in this thread viewtopic.php?f=28&t=603 These are very handy , thanks Tim
Even though your machine is bigger than a 2.x these should still help you.
Now I have stopped playing with the laser i can get on with finishing it :lol:
I still have some tweaking to do and parts to build/make yet until it is completely finished.
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2.x interface board steps ?

Postby J45on » Sun Sep 11, 2011 4:52 pm

I am not far off finished now
I made the decision to stop playing and finish the build.
So today I have removed the light object stepper drivers and fitted the 2.X interface/driver board, shortened lots of wires and generally tidied up all of the messy wiring.
I added the socket and changeover switch for the rotary axis
A spare X axis idler bracket is a perfect fit for this 4 pin cb radio socket ( this is where the rotary adaptor will plug in)

hgrtg.jpg


Here is the four pole change over switch fitted in to a spare corner bracket to keep it safe ( and marked of when I forget which way to switch it )
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If flicking the switch kills the driver I shall add a enable disable switch wired up to the JP2 jumper on the board.

Now I figured that when I swapped over the stepper drivers to Barts interface/driver that all the settings would be the same :lol:
But when I set the stepper encoders to no/3 for 1/8th step (like my old drivers were set to ) my 50mm test square is only 25mm.
To get a 50mm square I have to change my "Pulses per Unit" to 12.7 from 25.4 this suggests 2000 steps per inch :?

Image

Have I done something wrong ?
It seems to be working ok at 2000 steps per inch should I leave it that way ?
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Re: Jason's UK 2.x build

Postby BenJackson » Sun Sep 11, 2011 6:06 pm

8x does give 2000 steps per inch. 0.8 in/tooth * 20 tooth/rev / 400 step/rev / 8 microstep/step = 0.0005"/microstep

That's where I am now and the only downside is that my max X speed is limited to 470mm/s by my maximum kernel tick rate (PC control). If I went down to 4x microstepping on X I could double it.
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Re: Jason's UK 2.x build

Postby J45on » Sun Sep 11, 2011 6:23 pm

BenJackson wrote:8x does give 2000 steps per inch. 0.8 in/tooth * 20 tooth/rev / 400 step/rev / 8 microstep/step = 0.0005"/microstep

That's where I am now and the only downside is that my max X speed is limited to 470mm/s by my maximum kernel tick rate (PC control). If I went down to 4x microstepping on X I could double it.


I have the newer 200 step motors with 20 tooth pulleys I should be running 1000 steps per inch with 8 micro steps ( I was with these http://www.lightobject.com/2-Phase-45A- ... -P453.aspx)
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Re: Jason's UK 2.x build

Postby naPS » Sun Sep 11, 2011 8:31 pm

Yeah, something's funny with the dip switches and the pololu drivers. They're not lining up correctly for me either. I'm also having to adjust my setup to twice the steps per inch that I thought I would have to - which is the reason I made up that spreadsheet, to try to figure this out and be able to flip back and forth from Mach3 / DSP easily.

I can get 4,000 steps / inch out of the pololu's using 1/16th stepping, and I had to set my 4030's to 1/32nd stepping to get the same result. One of the two sets of drivers is off, or there's some trick in the way they are wired up that makes them different.
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Re: Jason's UK 2.x build

Postby J45on » Mon Sep 12, 2011 7:32 pm

naPS position number 2 gives me 8 micro steps

I also received a new air pump today , I had been using my 24L air compressor but the noise when the motor kicks in half way through a job would make me jump :lol:
Plus I was starting to get water vapour out of it despite using 2 water traps.
So I bought one of the 45lpm pond pumps http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310343898798? ... 1854wt_922
Air flow is good with a slight pulsing/vibration and not much louder than the laser psu fan ( my laser is not fully skinned yet )
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Re: Jason's UK 2.x build

Postby J45on » Sat Sep 24, 2011 8:54 pm

My tiny cnc router decided to have a sulk a little while ago and one of the axis decided to stop working ( apparently typical of these TB6560 based boards )
So I ordered a set of proper drivers and a breakout board
I also routed out a pass through slot in the back wall of the router , I am hoping to be able to route out some front panel slots and then slide it through the slot and do some more ect
Hopefully if I get it finished tomorrow I can cut the last two skins for the laser

Image

Dead 3 axis board is to the right of the pass through slot
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Re: Jason's UK 2.x build

Postby J45on » Sat Oct 01, 2011 5:16 pm

I finished the router eventually :lol:
I had trouble with two stepper motors going the same way, it turned out to be the direction pins assigned to two different things :roll:

So today I had a go at routing out the hole and sub panel to fit my Thunderlaser DSP.
I used bart's drawings but my panel seemed to be a tiny bit smaller so I had to re do the main hole.

Here is my MDF mill ( I am looking forward to Bart's future CNC router )

Image

The sub panel routed out, I also machined a .9mm recess as I wanted my DSP to sit flush

Image

All glued up if you look closely at the bottom right just below the sub panel you will see where I super glued my finger to the panel :lol:

Image

Job done , I coloured the edge of the aluminium composite and the edge of the yellow board of the DSP with a blue sharpie marker before assembly.

Image

Image

Next job is to try and route out the front panel
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Build finished ( almost )

Postby J45on » Sun Oct 02, 2011 6:24 pm

Phew what a day I have finally cut the front panel.
Not bad considering the panel is 998mm long and my router can only cut 190mm in the Y axis :lol:
After lots of playing with corel draw,cut2d and mach3 I had six files to cut.
Sorry I did not take any pictures of the process , It involved cutting the first file,load next file move panel on router and repeat sounds easy but it has taken me most of the day to figure it out :oops:

Image

Apart from a few bits ( autofocus, DSP blower control and a future maker slide upgrade ) the laser is finished :D

laser.jpg
Official Image
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