Scratch Build Project: Blue Horizon - "MOTY" Nominee

[riekmaharg2]

Originally Posted by LooseNeutral

Looking good! Shame about the drive. I got to give you some rep for persistence. Now, if you could give a little detail on the "million and 1 alteration" to the OS. Is this something the CUT/Other software requires? Again, great project and log you've got here! Cheers

Thanks LooseNeutral, you have to disable all the visual effects so the xp looks like win98, then you have to disable all the power management, disk indexing, then disable the sounds for some reason, e.t.c. You also have to disable half the services and set certain ones to manual and auto.

Its basically to make sure that windows has no distractions so all its focus is on controlling the CNC, as even a small delay in the output would mean the computer looses its place with the CNC by however many seconds the delay is. I imagine different CNC's also have different requirements.

[DeltaFX]

Originally Posted by riekmaharg2

Thanks LooseNeutral, you have to disable all the visual effects so the xp looks like win98, then you have to disable all the power management, disk indexing, then disable the sounds for some reason, e.t.c. You also have to disable half the services and set certain ones to manual and auto.

Its basically to make sure that windows has no distractions so all its focus is on controlling the CNC, as even a small delay in the output would mean the computer looses its place with the CNC by however many seconds the delay is. I imagine different CNC's also have different requirements.

Linux RT, no ?

[riekmaharg2]

Originally Posted by DeltaFX

Linux RT, no ?

Nope the program I use (Mach3) is just for windows. Xp is amazingly fast though once its trimmed down , makes you relise how much stuff it runs in the background.


I also got the CNC comp running with the CNC again, it just needs a bit of testing now.

[Cheapskate]

Yeah, latency is a pain. One of the things I hate about vista and 7 is that I can't turn off all the nanny crap like I can in XP. My least powerful system is also the best to run the cnc. It seems wrong...

12.7mm shank=1/2" I found a 1" bit for that already. You just need to search for end mill bits instead of router bits. (The pic is not right in the link, btw.)

[RonanH]

Lots of 1/2" router bits

These are TCT bits. I've used them myself with a router and a table to machine Aluminium with far less control over speed and feed than you'll have with your CNC rig. You could even use compressed air to cool the bit, with slow feed rates the tct bits don't get too hot at all... they slice through alu like butter.

[LooseNeutral]

Thanks for that nice bit of info fellas!

[riekmaharg2]

Thanks guys , I'm a newbie when it comes to CNC tool bits. I'll look into that if I need to make anymore metal peices that require the CNC. I might as well carry on with the sand casting on the current peices as I already have 1 and half of the moulds finished.

[RonanH]

Originally Posted by riekmaharg2

Thanks guys , I'm a newbie when it comes to CNC tool bits. I'll look into that if I need to make anymore metal peices that require the CNC. I might as well carry on with the sand casting on the current peices as I already have 1 and half of the moulds finished.

I much prefer to see this sand casting process and results than some cnc'd alu piece

Just provided the link to show what's available for a router, pretty much any shape you could think of, and if you know a friendly toolmaker the sky's the limit

[sixfootsideburns]

Originally Posted by RonanH

and if you know a friendly toolmaker the sky's the limit

and your hard earn cash can go bye bye real quick

[riekmaharg2]

Originally Posted by RonanH

I much prefer to see this sand casting process and results than some cnc'd alu piece

Just provided the link to show what's available for a router, pretty much any shape you could think of, and if you know a friendly toolmaker the sky's the limit

Originally Posted by sixfootsideburns

and your hard earn cash can go bye bye real quick

Yeah lol . I'm currently trying to find the specs for the machine, like how many steps in a revolution and how many rev's to a mm. I may have to work it all out again if I cant find them. An the manual for setting it all up is around 500 - 600 A4 pages long!

[Djayness]

Originally Posted by riekmaharg2

Yeah lol . I'm currently trying to find the specs for the machine, like how many steps in a revolution and how many rev's to a mm. I may have to work it all out again if I cant find them. An the manual for setting it all up is around 500 - 600 A4 pages long!

There are calculators out there for recommended mm per minute for each tool, I found some excel files on cnczone long time ago but I know they are out there

I find that at 10,000rpm I can move most of my tools through wood at 4000mm/min but then again its a mute point to compare as I dont know how strong your stepper motors are or your RPM (not to mention the chip removal rate of your bit etc).

[riekmaharg2]

Originally Posted by Djayness

There are calculators out there for recommended mm per minute for each tool, I found some excel files on cnczone long time ago but I know they are out there

I find that at 10,000rpm I can move most of my tools through wood at 4000mm/min but then again its a mute point to compare as I dont know how strong your stepper motors are or your RPM (not to mention the chip removal rate of your bit etc).

Thanks but those settings come after the ones I'm doing now. The settings I'm currently figuring out are for how the computer controls the CNC. e.g how many pulses the comp sends to the controller board to move the stepper motor x amount of degrees, and how many of those pulses it requires to move the screw thread (which is attached to the stepper motors) which in turn will move the bit 1 mm. I've managed to find the equations, all I need now is to gather the specs of the stepper motors, and the screw threads which the steppers turn in order to move the bit.

[riekmaharg2]

I've finnally got the CNC running again, and fully tested, and with a lot of trial and error I managed to get the start point to line up with the wood mould The next update will be on thursday and hopefully I'll get the mould finished or close to finished.

[LooseNeutral]

Your last was a running bump and run, you tease

[Nutman]

Originally Posted by riekmaharg2

I've finnally got the CNC running again, and fully tested, and with a lot of trial and error I managed to get the start point to line up with the wood mould The next update will be on thursday and hopefully I'll get the mould finished or close to finished.

We all knew you'd make it.

[riekmaharg2]

Originally Posted by LooseNeutral

Your last was a running bump and run, you tease

Originally Posted by Nutman

We all knew you'd make it.

I had to rescue my car from the snow today, so I didnt get quite as much work done as I wanted but heres the top of the front of the case after its finishing path:





And just for fun heres a pic taken at a train station near where I live :




Next update will be on saturday.

[LooseNeutral]

LOL! Doesn't look like it's missed a meal. Guess it can read too! Ha ... Look forward to your next.

[AnG3L]

You surpassed your self man, the designs are flawless and the execution... just perfect!!!

[Nutman]

That cat was really able to help itself, yeah - haha, funny pic!

Oh, and nice progress on the mod, too.

[Dragonphreak]

I can't wait to see where you take this.