Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: Newbie

« on: March 16, 2011, 07:12:20 PM »

The X axis run about 1100 oz in - about 8A bi-polar, the Y is about half that and the Z is the same as the Y.
I'll take a look at the Geko line.  And THANKS!

2

General Mach Discussion / Newbie

« on: March 16, 2011, 06:45:46 PM »

Like many I suspect, I have been thinking about building a CNC machine.
I started in the dead of the winter here in the Northeast.
I started by building a manual version, X-Y-Z wood mill, with hand cranks.
Worked out the bugs and I can etch-a-sketch on a sheet of plywood.
Repeatability is +/- 0.005 in each axis.
Next I calculated the torque I needed in each axis, then verified it using a gauge, the static break-away values anyway. The dynamic torques should be predictable given the frictional loads and mass.
I know the gearing so I know the torque and speed well enough to select the motors.
Simple so far, in retrospect anyway.
Now I need a bit of direction.
Somewhere between Mach3 and the motors we need a bit of stuff.
First a computer. I will get whatever computer makes sense. They are cheap and powerful by any measure. One problem though; most new ones don't have serial or parallel ports. They all have Ethernet and USB.
Next, I seem to see a plethora of motor drivers and some motion controllers. Not everyone plays nice with each other.
If anyone would be willing to suggest a path and products I would be grateful.

Mike

P.S. I am reasonably adept at computer stuff and software development in most systems and languages. I'm modestly capable mechanically.