I'm looking at a TB6560 TB6560 3A Driver Board x2  (single axis board) found on eBay.
I do understand that I only need to use the A+ and A- (or B+ and B-).

The question is that it has 6 inputs and I'm not sure how to connect it.
Any guidance for starting would be appreciated as I don't want to fry anything!

Features:
Current grade-by-adjustable to meet your demand for a variety of applications.
Semi-automatic flow adjustable.
6N137 high-speed optical coupling, guarantee high speed without losing step.
Plate printed setup instructions operation without manual also.
Tthick teeth radiator, good heat dissipation.
TB6560 3A CNC Router controller stepper motor driver board.
Size: 75*50*35mm (L*W*T)
Rated maximum output: ± 3A, peak 3.5A.
Working voltage DC 10V-35V. Recommended to use a switching power supply DC24V power supply.
For two-phase within 42,57 stepping 3A / four-phase / of line four / six-wire stepper motor, and is not suitable for stepper motor over 3A.
Automatic half current function.
6N137 high-speed optical coupling, guarantee high speed without losing step.
Subdivision: whole step, half-step, step 1/8, 1/16 step, a maximum of 16 Subdivisions.

I'm looking at a TB6560 TB6560 3A Driver Board x2  (single axis board) found on eBay.
I do understand that I only need to use the A+ and A- (or B+ and B-).

The question is that it has 6 inputs and I'm not sure how to connect it.
Any guidance for starting would be appreciated as I don't want to fry anything!

The driver board information says that 5Volt signals are expected - firstly check that your computer's LPT parallel port is outputting 5 Volt signals rather than 3.3 Volt signals (a task for a multimeter).

For the inputs...
All that is needed is an LPT output pin (configured in Mach3 as an Active High axis step pin) connected to the driver board CLK +
and a Gnd (any of the LPT pins 18-25) connected to both the driver board CLK - and EN -
A suitable psu is connected to GND / +24

For the output...
The electromagnet connects to A+ / A- (or B+ / B-)


Tweakie.

Thanks! That definitely gets me started.

I'm also adding a photo for the Active High configuration (the previous was for Active Low) just for future reference.

And a couple more photos as well. Maybe you could look at those too and provide some thoughts on how to set the dip switches, etc. to get things moving.  I can play around with them, no problem, but it looks like there would be an exponential number of combinations possible where either it would pulse, would pulse poorly or not at all.


I'll order the board and post the results back here once things are sorted out.

Hopefully, I won't have too many more questions.


Cheers,
Vogavt


There's also a caveat on their website.

Note:

1. Should be repeated to check the wiring before power. Pick the wrong line may burn the chip!
2. The current setting should not exceed the rated motor current.

I would set the running current dip switches at their lowest current setting to start with. If the magnet stays cool during operation then increase the current setting until such time as the magnet runs warm to the touch (but not exceeding 60 deg.C).

As for the other dip switch settings I think S2 should be OFF but you will just have to experiment with the others to find the best combination (I would start with S2 OFF and all others ON).

Tweakie.

Thanks, Tweakie!!

I'm now looking at another solenoid but have some questions about its specifications: Strong solenoid

Product Name   Solenoid Electromagnet
Rated Voltage   DC 24V
Rated Current   0.3A
Force& Stroke   20mm, 3.5LB / 1.6Kg
Type               Pull Push
Type Body Size 46 x 23 x 18mm/1.8" x 0.9" x 0.7"(L*W*H)
Plunger Bar Mount Thread   M3
Cable Length   10cm/4"
Material           Metal, Electronic Parts
Color               Silver Tone, Black
Weight           95g

Description:
Pull push type, linear motion, open frame, plunger spring return, DC solenoid electromagnet.
Widely used in automatic control equipment: office equipment, financial equipment, communications equipment, automatic door locks of a variety of electronic, electrical and electronic parts, all kinds of game machines, auto parts.
 
What concerns me is the response time. IIRC, someone stated they were having issues with the mass for a larger solenoid, i.e., it was slow.
This one packs a punch but I suspect it's only for the first part of the stroke (from looking at other graphs for other solenoids).

Now the question.
Since I'm only going to be pulsing the solenoid, is it safe to say that I will never reach a full stroke and therefore only need to worry about the full amount of travel due to only pulsing?

Earlier, it was stated that someone was looking at higher voltages in order to get a higher impact? Since the impact (newtons', pounds, or KG's) is localized into the tip, I would think that it shouldn't be too much.

I've been looking for an electromagnet like the ones that were shown in the first few posts of this thread, but since no specs were given about them, I'm struggling. I simply don't have the funds to buy a plethora of solenoids just to find out what works and what doesn't.

Shouldn't I be looking at a Push type for the actual force and pulling/return by a spring?


Any help or direction would be appreciated.

Hi Vogavt,

I think the choice of and the actual setting-up of the magnet is still a matter for much experimentation but if this helps…

I use a stroke length of approximately 1 mm and strike the work when the magnet is energised. Obviously, the shorter the stroke length the faster the operation but the less the impact force. As you have mentioned, the small tool tip size allows us to get away with this but it’s still all a matter of compromise. If you are using a stepper driver to power the magnet then you will be striking the work on the release stroke so the return spring pressure will also figure in the equation.
For my set-up I have tried to keep the mass of the moving parts low, the pulse length short and the operating voltage high but I am still learning with all this.

Just as an example this image was produced using the M10P1 / M11P1 commands to operate my magnet from Gcode produced using Dot-G. The post-processor used is exactly the same as for laser work it is just the feed-rate that has been changed.

Tweakie.

Tweakie,
I've been doing a lot of reading on the M10/M11 usage with DotG.
Just to clarify, if using DotG, then the Gcode it produces (with the modified post processor for Mach3), I don't need to use the impact engraver plugin at all. Just load the gcode and run in Mach3. Correct?

Seem logical but thought I might need to point that out for clarification.

Vogavt

Just to clarify, if using DotG, then the Gcode it produces (with the modified post processor for Mach3), I don't need to use the impact engraver plugin at all. Just load the gcode and run in Mach3. Correct?

That is correct.

However, there are subtle differences between the end results produced by each method. Dot-G relies on dot-dithering (a one bit process) to produce the 'illusion of shade' whereas the plugin uses an 8 bit process to produce 'shade' without the necessity for a dot-dithering algorithm.

Tweakie.

Appreciate the info.

I'm still sorting out the impact engraver and its combined hardware, but in the meantime (since this thread jumped track onto the laser type) I've had a little free time to look into the laser usage with the plugin.

I was wondering since I'd purchased the driver board listed earlier if I could simply connect a laser like this one from jtechphotonics up to the board and simply use a toggle switch to control either the laser or the impact engraver.

Or do I need to get a full kit from them but still need to drive it with my board (or not)?

I was wondering since I'd purchased the driver board listed earlier if I could simply connect a laser like this one from jtechphotonics up to the board and simply use a toggle switch to control either the laser or the impact engraver.

You could use either a magnet or a laser with the plugin but the device drive requirements would be different for each. For example, the diode laser would require it's own, dedicated, current controlled power supply.

Tweakie.