Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => General Mach Discussion => Topic started by: elafroxeris on June 13, 2023, 05:51:25 AM
-
Hello guys! I've been following the forum for some time and it's time for my first post and first DIY CNC..
So, i bought a cnc from a friend, it is completely made by him but there is no motion control card. He removed it to use on another small router.
Also the cnc has a laser attached beside the spindle, a small one( i think it is a neje 5-10w).
The motors are these
https://mecheltron.com/en/product/es-m23480
The spindle is a chinese 4kw one with vfd.
Now i want to use mach3 or 4 (havent decided yet) and i want to be able to use the laser with PWM to control the watts through the gcode.
What card would you recommend?
-
Assuming you go for Mach4 (Mach3 is now obsolescent) then the only card fully supporting PWM laser (vector and raster) operation is the Warp9TD ESS smoothstepper.
Tweakie.
-
Thanks for replying!
Yes i am leaning towards mach4.
From what i am reading on this card, it requires also a breakout board, right?
Do i just choose any one from the recommended on their site?
Sorry for the many questions but although i operate CNCs for about 8 years, this is my first time DIYing one..
Also my drives are these
https://mecheltron.com/en/product/hbs86
I dont know if that is important.
-
Hi,
A breakout board is not essential but it can provide low cost protection to the ESS in the event of driver failure or shorted connections etc. In general it is a wise precaution to use a breakout board as recommended by Warp9TD.
The ESS will operate your drives OK.
Tweakie.
-
I am starting to get it..
The BoB is to connect the drives and the smoothstepper to control them..
I found an old BoB that i think is enough for the drives and limit switches..
And i also think that i can use the 0-10 pwm signal for the ttl of the laser?
Am i right in all of this or no?
-
Am i right in all of this or no?
So far so good ;)
Tweakie.
-
Thank you so much!
I will start the conversion and hope it works!
-
I am back with more questions..
I started the conversion and i am in the proccess of connecring the laser because i thought that is the easiest to do :(
I cant get it to work.. not even on/off. I tried connecting to the relay pins for spindle on/off an the 0-10v pins and i got nothing..
I also tried pin 17 and GND and the laser just gets constant power and i have no control..
Which pins do i need to connect?
Also the settings in mach are done according to the manual of the BoB..
-
Hi,
how about posting the manual of the breakout board.
Most PWM outputs of breakout boards 'take' 10VDC from the VFD (device to be controlled) and processes it to a varying 0-10VDC voltage using PWM.
If you are expecting your breakout board to produce 0-10VDC.....but without......the raw input voltage to process than I think you'll be disappointed.
Craig
-
Operation of a laser is not quite as simple as just connecting the wires.
Can you please post details of your laser.
Tweakie.
-
Ok, the laser is this.
https://neje.shop/products/e30130
I was trying different connections and i tried connecting to pins 17 and 1. And it somehow worked..
I am attaching the manual of the BoB.
I dont know if i did something stupid or not. But for now it works. Although i would like to know HOW it works...
Also, because no local sellers have the smoothstepper, this board is all i've got so mach3 it is for now...
-
To get PWM you connect to pin 1 and GND then set pulley speed 1 from 0 to 100 then calling S50 M3 will give you 50% power.
Its a while since I did this so maybe one of the others can put more light on this.
-
Just to confirm that you need a 5V supply to that BoB to make it work if you don't have a USB connection to it (which is only for power) and also a 12V supply if you want the 0 - 10V to work.