DIY CNC Router: Difference between revisions
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Possible Arduino compatible solutions: | Possible Arduino compatible solutions: | ||
* RepRap Gen3 | * RepRap Gen3 | ||
** Will drive all | ** Will drive all three (3) motors | ||
* [http://www.adafruit.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=81 Adafruit Motor-shield] | * [http://www.adafruit.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=81 Adafruit Motor-shield] | ||
** | ** Can only control two (2) stepper motors | ||
* Sparkfun [http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=9402 EasyDriver] | |||
** Can only control one (1) stepper motor | |||
** Most cost effective ready-made solution identified so far | |||
* Home Grown | * Home Grown | ||
** | ** Potentially even more cost effective | ||
** Adds DIY feel to motor driver system | |||
** Brandable kit potential | |||
** Research and Development effort required | |||
*** http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/step/types.html (suggested motors so far are all bipolar type) | *** http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/step/types.html (suggested motors so far are all bipolar type) | ||
*** http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/DeviceDoc/21425b.pdf | *** http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/DeviceDoc/21425b.pdf | ||
*** http://www.st.com/stonline/products/literature/ds/1373/l6201.pdf | *** http://www.st.com/stonline/products/literature/ds/1373/l6201.pdf | ||
** If successful, could be used for other projects, like [[Eggbot]] | |||
A sub-project page has been created to explore EasyDriver and Home Grown approaches: [[Bipolar Step Motor Driver]] | |||
==== Controller ==== | ==== Controller ==== |
Revision as of 01:12, 7 October 2009
Overview
Make something similar to MakerBot but leaning more toward the 2D / routing / cutting aspect. Something that could concievably be distributed as a "kit" with open-source design, off-the-shelf or lasercuttable/makerbottable parts.
Project Members
Project Plan
Phase 1 - "Get something working"
Status
We have general sketches, but need to nail down some details, and prototype the CNC.
Outstanding issues
- How will the motors and drive assembly be linked to the T-Slot frame? Custom parts may have to be made.
- Something like this: http://www.garagefab.cc/user/albanetcsr/photos/size-23-stepper-mount
- It would be optimal if we can design for any custom parts to be constructed of metal plate, because it makes it more feasible that they could be fabricated on a similar CNC machine.
- How will we achieve low-friction movement between axes constructed of T-Slot? Plastic skid plates, wheels, etc?
- plastic, self lubricating skid plates.
- less likely to be clogged by cutting debris
- they are available as COTS (commercial off the shelf) parts
- alternately you can procure blocks of the plastic and machine / carve your own
- there are many low-tech alternatives that could be used. For example, I bet you could cut something out of wood with a hand saw and saturate it with motor oil -- good enough that you could then use the CNC to machine your own plastic plates out of melted down milk bottles or something..
- plastic, self lubricating skid plates.
- What electronics should we use in prototyping? Should we purchase a set of RepRap electronics, or start with something simpler?
- If there is something more simple than the RepRap controller available, we should look into it, but I am not aware of anything. The RepRap people already went through this exercise, with the exact same requirements - low cost, simplicity, etc.
- What software package will drive the prototype?
- What should be toolhead #1? Spring-loaded Sharpie marker?
- Yes. A hexagon should be our first test drawing.
Parts List
Part | Source | Status | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Frame | COTS (Lubic) | We have cjdavis' Lubic kit. Frame construction can begin. Hopefully we have enough pieces. | T-Slot. Various lengths. Lubic is ~16mm square extruded t-slot aluminum. |
Motors | COTS (Mendelson's) | Dave bought a set of 3 NEMA23 motors at Mendelson's. They are untested. | Target motor: NEMA23 stepper dimensions |
RepRap Gen3 Electronics | COTS (MakerBot.com) | Needs to be purchased. | $175 http://store.makerbot.com/generation-3-electronics-mostly-assembled.html http://www.reprap.org/bin/view/Main/PartsSupplies |
Threaded rods | COTS (hardware store) | Needs to be purchased. | mcmaster: 98861A080 / 330mm Metric Thread Size: M8 (How many? What lengths?) |
Skate Bearings | COTS (skate shop or http://www.thebigbearingstore.com/ ) | Needs to be purchased. | At least 6, maybe 12. ( http://www.thingiverse.com/part:416 http://www.thingiverse.com/part:415 http://www.thingiverse.com/part:459 ) |
Nuts, bolts, washers | COTS (hardware store) | Needs to be purchased. | Sizes: fitted to the threaded rods (M8), fitted to Lubic frame, fitted to NEMA23, fitted to electronics. |
Belts, Gears | COTS (??) | Needs to be purchased. | Lengths? Teeth? |
Plastic skid plates | COTS (??) | Needs to be purchased. | Number? Sizes? |
Sharpie Toolhead | Custom built. | Not yet designed. | Spring loaded Sharpie Marker. Detachable from frame. |
ATX Power Supply | COTS | Several on hand already at Hive13. | |
Motor Mount Plate | Custom built | Not yet designed. | |
Bearing Mount Plate / "Pillow Block" | Custom built. | Not yet designed. | Something like this: http://www.thebigbearingstore.com/pillowblockbearing.html |
Captive Nut Mount Plate | Custom built. | Not yet designed. | Something like this: http://www.garagefab.cc/user/albanetcsr/photos/captive-nut-angle |
Electronics Mounting Plates | Custom built. | Not yet designed. | |
Endstop flags | Custom built. | Not yet designed. |
Phase 2 - Redesign for simplicity, replicability
- Reduce number of unique parts.
- Reduce number of custom made parts.
- Integrate open-source electronics, software packages (RepRap).
- Refine toolhead interchangeability.
- Document and publish design, instructions online.
Phase 3 - ...
- Produce a product that can be purchased either as a kit you can put together over a weekend, or as a fully pre-assembled machine. A shameless copycatting of the Makerbot Cupcake idea is what we are after here.
Design of a CNC
Frame
- I think it would be smart to try to design a frame that can be created using the CNC itself, so that it is self-replicating. DaveMenninger 15:32, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
- Just like the RepRap, I think this should be a primary design goal, but I'll consider the first one a success if it can carve balsa wood :) --Cjdavis 21:27, 7 September 2009 (UTC)
- What size cutting area are we looking to have? TP
- I think I would shoot for 8.5x11 as a minimum. Hopefully more like 10x14 or 11x17 would be doable. The bigger, the better, IMO. DaveMenninger 18:35, 6 September 2009 (UTC)
- We should base the design on t-slot aluminum extrusions.
- There are a number of suppliers of them, many of which are compatible with each other.
- If we handle the design correctly, simple steel box tubing could easily be used in place of the extrusions, which is available pretty cheaply anywhere in the world.
- There are even linear motion parts for use with them that could remove a lot of design effort to start with - see ( http://8020.net/Application-106.htm ) from this page ( http://8020.net/Solution-8.asp ). However, I think this is probably too specialized a part to use in a long term design. We should at least have an alternative for people using box tubing for example.
Parts that need to connect to the frame somehow
- motors
- skate bearings
- captive nuts
- belts
- electronics
- motherboard
- driver boards
- endstop sensors
- atx power supply??
Electronics
Motors
- We need at least 3 stepper motors.
- X-Axis
- Y-Axis
- Z-Axis
- Target motor: NEMA 23 stepper.
- Standardized dimensions: http://www.rhonmac-cnc.co.uk/Nema_23_drawing.gif
- NEMA 17 motors from Sparkfun?
Drivers
Possible Arduino compatible solutions:
- RepRap Gen3
- Will drive all three (3) motors
- Adafruit Motor-shield
- Can only control two (2) stepper motors
- Sparkfun EasyDriver
- Can only control one (1) stepper motor
- Most cost effective ready-made solution identified so far
- Home Grown
- Potentially even more cost effective
- Adds DIY feel to motor driver system
- Brandable kit potential
- Research and Development effort required
- http://www.cs.uiowa.edu/~jones/step/types.html (suggested motors so far are all bipolar type)
- http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/DeviceDoc/21425b.pdf
- http://www.st.com/stonline/products/literature/ds/1373/l6201.pdf
- If successful, could be used for other projects, like Eggbot
A sub-project page has been created to explore EasyDriver and Home Grown approaches: Bipolar Step Motor Driver
Controller
Something Arduino-based seems like it would be a good idea
Software
Toolheads
Should be swapable as quickly as possible. The Makerbot is pretty cool in that you can just disconnect a single cable and pull the entire extruder platform out (is that possible, or do you have to unscrew the extruder head first?) Wait, is that true? Can we just mount a tool holder where the extruder goes in the Makerbot?
Possible toolheads:
- Ink pen
- Rotary cutter (Dremel or router motor)
- RepRap extruder
- Laser cutter
- Vinyl / paper cutter
- Paint air gun
Parts
- Maybe we can use the RepRap electronics or at least the stepper motor driver boards ( http://www.reprap.org/bin/view/Main/Generation3Electronics ) DaveMenninger 15:24, 3 September 2009 (UTC)
- Agreed. Unless there is another open source, currently supported and sold controller - that we already have a bit of familiarity with - using the motherboard and stepper controllers from the RepRap / Makerbot would make the most sense to me. The firmware will need customization, but I think there will be zero physical electronics redesign required. I'd suggest the full Makerbot Gen3 electronics kit ( http://store.makerbot.com/electronics/assembled-electronics/generation-3-electronics-mostly-assembled.html ) since we need everything but the extruder controller, but that could be used to build a second extruder for Dave's Makerbot. --Cjdavis 19:26, 7 September 2009 (UTC)
- Step Motors:
- The controller interface for the RepRap stepper driver board ( http://www.reprap.org/bin/view/Main/Stepper_Motor_Driver_2_3 ) has the signals Min, Max, Dir, Enable, and Step - with Min/Max just routed straight through to the opto boards. So it sounds like we could probably wire [the funky] motors straight to the motherboard, OR get the RepRap stepper drivers with more standard steppers - with little to no redesign needed. --Cjdavis 19:26, 7 September 2009 (UTC)
- These motors might be appropriate for this project, esp given the target cutting area: http://www.automationdirect.com/adc/Shopping/Catalog/Motion_Control/Stepper_Systems/Motors_-z-_Cables/STP-MTR-17048 ($19 each, minus shipping). Depending on the tool, the Z-axis motor might need to be a little beefier than this. Nice bonus - they come cabled with reasonable connectors. Being basic 4-wire steppers, they should work with any driver system chosen. TP
- I would suggest a trip up to Mendelsons, they literally have 2 Aisles of just assorted stepper motors. They are very assorted, and finding 3 matching ones could be a challenge, but it would save us shipping and we might find a good deal. Paul
- Frame: I have an Aerocool Lubic 4480 computer case kit, which was basically a set of slightly smaller t-slot aluminum extrusions. I think they are 5/8" square if I remember correctly, and there are 12 of the longest pieces, which are ~18" long. There should be plenty of pieces for a full design. We can at least mockup the design with them, but they should be just fine for a fully functional CNC. The design should be directly transferable to use with any standard t-slot extrusion available.
Brainstorming Links
Best Links
- http://letsmakerobots.com/node/9006
- http://www.garagefab.cc/contraptor
- http://wiki.makerbot.com/cupcake-parts-list
Misc
- http://lumenlab.com/store/robloks/robotics/build-your-micro.html
- http://www.chrismeighan.com/projects/three-axis-cnc-robot
- http://www.chrismeighan.com/projects/g-code-for-reprap
- http://www.instructables.com/id/CNC/
- http://www.linuxcnc.org/
- http://buildyourcnc.com/default.aspx
- http://www.instructables.com/id/Easy-to-Build-Desk-Top-3-Axis-CNC-Milling-Machine/
- http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2006/05/how_to_make_a_3_axis_cnc.html
- http://www.cartertools.com/3Dpath.html
- http://jwstolk.xs4all.nl/millp.htm
- http://www.100kgarages.com/
- http://joetcochran.googlepages.com/sketchduino
- http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/08/arduino_etch_a_sketch_printer.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890
- http://www.lightobject.com/CNC-CO2-Laser-C11.aspx
- http://www.instructables.com/id/Laser-cutter-start-slicing-stuff-for-under-50-dol/
- http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Three-Axis-CNC-Machine-Cheaply-and-/
- http://www.hobbycnc.com/
- http://vimeo.com/2415583
- http://www.makerbeam.com/
- http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/WebHome
- http://www.rrrf.org/
- http://www.fabathome.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
- http://www.3dreplicators.com/
- http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/08/valkyrie_100_diy_cnc_machine_aka.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890
- http://buildyourcnc.com/