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Post by mrbigj on Feb 20, 2017 18:19:30 GMT
Thank you guys, first off, for the great job on packaging and shipping the product. I received it faster than you said I would, and it was packaged very well. I received it on Friday. Unfortunately, this weekend was chalked full of plans, but I am four hours in to the build, and I've basically got the electronics left. I spent two hours Friday night, and two hours Saturday night working on it. Everything was labeled well, and the instructions are easy enough to follow. Sunday I planned on finishing it, but my kids begged me to build the 3d printer that arrived Friday as well. So, Sunday was spent building and calibrating the 3d printer with my kids. By bedtime we had a completed test print that was accurate and I can move back to working on the CNC. Another thread mentioned a "remote" option for the CNC. I am setting up my CNC and 3d printer to be operated semi "remotely". First off, we all know that unless we have a great robot, we have to be there to load the machine. I have a dedicated windows box that will be with the machine, running it. I also have a small web cam setup to monitor the cnc and 3d printer, which I can access from my smartphone. All of my design files, STL's, and gcode is stored on my server, which is accessible from any device on the network. In that regard, I can actually switch on, load gcode, and 3d print an object without ever leaving my living room via a remote connection from my laptop. I can monitor it from the web cam, and I can control it from a RPI setup with octoprint and a web interface. Octoprint <- Click there for details on Octoprint... For the CNC, it will obviously have to be loaded manually. But, I am hoping to be able to use a remote connection and the web cam to control the CNC as well. I'll post more detail once the CNC is finished, which I'm hoping will be this week. I'm really hoping my combination of low cost cnc, and low cost 3d printer, will enable me to do some interesting and perhaps profitable things. On top of that, I'm really looking forward to involving my kids, whom have all helped with the 3d printer build and the cnc build so far. It's a little like herding cats, trying to keep track of parts and what everyone is doing, but they are super excited to be able to make their own stuff. I'm excited that they are being creative and doing something besides playing video games, so it's a win-win... Again, thanks for a solid kit, great packaging, and fast shipping on a kit that is priced very competitively. I will post build progress, and pictures, tonight after work. Jason |
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n9xwp
New Member
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Post by n9xwp on Feb 20, 2017 21:45:14 GMT
Jason,
Great news on the build progress. I have a few years on ya so let me offer this. Hearing about your involvement with your kids helping with your projects is very heartwarming. You sir are an extremely wealthy man. The fun you are having with your kids right now is truly priceless. In just a VERY short time those moments will be gone. Spend as much time with them as you can doing things you all enjoy.
Should you run into trouble the other members and admin will be quick to offer help. I know this is a young company but I am unusually impressed with support you get here. Good luck and enjoy .
g
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Post by aforww on Feb 21, 2017 0:10:29 GMT
Welcome. I'll echo n9xwp about involving kids. I love to involve my three year old. He's still a bit young to do much but he loves every second of what he does. Glad you're involving them. Now, I don't know that I would do much remote monitoring of the CNC machine. You'll find through research, more often than not, people will not recommend leaving your machine to do its thing unattended. Every time I've left my machine unsupervised for a long period it ended in disaster. (Murphy's Law?) I do have a webcam monitoring mine if I find it necessary. However, I can't recommend leaving it unmonitored. Especially with kiddos. We know how those little people can vanish and get into things with a quickness. I don't have a server, but I do have all my Gcode and whatnot stored on my Dropbox. I design from the big computer. I have a 2-1 Windows 10 tablet I got cheap running the machine. For me personally, I'm glad I didn't go the remote route. Watching it work and watching malfunctions as they happen has prevented loss of projects and provided me with valuable feedback which I learn and adapt from. I'm all about geeky tech and modding. I just can't get behind the remote operation. There's a reason the big boy CNC machines all require working from the machine or real close.  lol. I'm coming real close to purchasing a 3d Printer. Which one did you get? I think I'll go the way of the Flashforge Creator Pro. Still kinda on the fence about it. I just know I'm getting tired of outsourcing printing of my designs lol. Anyway, welcome to the forum. Can't wait to see what you cook up from the combo you have going. |
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Post by markwisniowski on Feb 21, 2017 1:38:37 GMT
I design from the big computer. I have a 2-1 Windows 10 tablet I got cheap running the machine. Are these those $130 tablets pre loaded with Windows 10 on eBay? I need a garage laptop for this cnc and need something that will holdup with the dust. Is the tablet enough? |
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Post by aforww on Feb 21, 2017 1:46:49 GMT
I design from the big computer. I have a 2-1 Windows 10 tablet I got cheap running the machine. Are these those $130 tablets pre loaded with Windows 10 on eBay? I need a garage laptop for this cnc and need something that will holdup with the dust. Is the tablet enough? No this one is an Asus transformer. And I should clarify as "cheap" is debatable. I think it was 300. It's more than enough for this. Plus I use it as my shop computer for saving cut lists and other shop tasks. After almost frying my expensive laptop prototyping the electronics kit, this was a must lol. It's got a very small foot print. It being solid state/flash memory, don't have to worry much about dust. Low power consumption is a huge plus too. I can say 100% it is a great little addition and worth every penny. If nothing else for protecting my expensive computers. |
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Post by mrbigj on Feb 21, 2017 2:07:35 GMT
I will say, I am giving myself the "remote" capabilities for when the need arises. I don't plan on spending much time away from the machine. But, you and I will differ there. I have a desire to see a project get completed, and spend time with my family. In that way, parts that I have made many times, will likely be "remotely piloted" so that I can be upstairs with my wife and kids. I don't worry about my kids getting into my machine and hurting themselves, my basement workshop/office are behind lock and key. The key stays on me, and my habit has always been to leave it locked when I'm not down there. On top of that, there's no other reason for them to be in the basement, and the upstairs door leading downstairs is quite noisy. Anyhow... Came home today and 3d printed some super hero logo keychains with my kids. Ate some dinner, and headed downstairs. Here's where we're at on the cnc build. CNCFrame assembled, motors mounted, spindle mount is mounted, belts attached and moving smoothly... Some difficulty, but not nearly any on the corner brackets... Just took my time and got it handled... |
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Post by Derek the Admin on Feb 21, 2017 6:11:44 GMT
I'm looking forward to you getting up and running mrbigj. Thank you for the kind words on the packaging and delivery time. A printer plus a CNC machine is a heck of a combo if you are a creative type who likes to make things. The two tools really compliment each other. It sounds like you have a nice setup that is going to make for smooth workflow. I will also express a word of caution on unattended running. As you saw in another thread, I'm even exploring a wireless solution, but I kind of envision enabling people to walk to the other end of the shop, sit down, design the next part so you aren't 6 feet from the machine with a router screaming in your face while you do other computer work. I think you are putting some good precautions in place and I completely understand the motivation, but I just like people to understand that the nature of milling failure is different than printing failures. If you print pops off the bed you might come in to a huge wiry mess of plastic. In contrast, I've seen milling failures like aluminum clogging the flutes of an endmill to the point it stopped cutting and just started rubbing the surface. The aluminum stock probably got to 350 degrees F and would have just gotten hotter had it not been stopped... and there could be sawdust in the vicinit from the last operation in wood. If you are just watching via a webcam and not within earshot to say "woah, that sound has changed, what is happening" it could end badly. I know you are going to put precautions in place, it's just my job to make sure everyone understands the risks. That said, keep us posted on your setup and progress
n9xwp: Thanks to you too. And great advice on the kids. It's so easy to get caught up in work or excited about a hobby. That stuff will always be there but the kids are going to grow up in a hurry. I know mine are growing up fast.
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Post by mrbigj on Feb 21, 2017 15:25:54 GMT
Thank you both for the words of caution. I will heed them, and bend them when/where I think I can safely do so. Put in some more work on that machine last night, and for the first time, I deviated from the instructions. It wasn't a huge deviation, but I used some tall motherboard standoff's to secure my Arduino to the side of the machine. This was, the Arduino and Driver Shield are an inch up off the wood. I also modified the fan mounting a little to adjust for this. Limit switches are all mounted and wiring started. Had to stop when I realized that I couldn't find my multimeter so I could adjust the stepper drivers per the instructions. But, I do believe I'll have a machine that can move under it's own power tonight. Based on accomplishing that, I should have the spindle mounted tonight as well, and may be able to make some intial cuts later this week. Since I do not have an enclosure built for it, my machining time will be limited during the week, and it is scheduled to snow and be in the single digits for the next week or so, so it's not warm enough to move it out to the garage just yet. I'll try to post another picture or two this evening. Last night while I was working on mounting the electronics, the kids were downstairs with me 3d printing the logo of their favorite super hero's into keychains. A great time was had by all. I still have some minor problems with the 3d printer, but I will get it sorted out. Someone asked what 3d printer I had somewhere along the line. It's nothing fancy or expensive, but I'm getting decent results. It's a clone of the Prusa i3, you can find them all over eBay. I paid less than $200 for it with limit switches, and a heated bed, and a roll of PLA filament. Of course it's no Makerbot or DaVinci, but I really couldn't justify the expense of those just yet. Funny thing is that once these i3's are dialed in, they print in similar quality, the machines themselves just look barebones. I'm hoping to use it to make parts to build a larger 3d printer from scratch, prototype parts, and make mounts for stuff for my motorcycle. One of my true loves is long distance motorcycle riding, so I'm looking forward to making some custom mounts for my GPS, cell phone, etc. I have some other ideas in the works as well. On that front, I'll also use it to cheaply and quickly prototype parts I'd like to make out of metal, and then CNC the final designs for those. For instance, a forward control set for my bike is right at $1000. I find this to be pretty outrageous, considering they are about 5 or 6 pieces of metal and a couple bearings. So I've been working on designing my own. There are obvious cost savings to be had, plus I can make them in precisely the configuration and length that will work best for me. As a side note to what n9xwp said about the kids, we are a pretty tight knit family and do most everything together. Four nights a week, the kids and I all attend Taekwondo Classes. We design and 3d print together. We still eat dinner at a table. They also ride with me when time and weather permit. They come out and work on the bike with me. We've even built some furniture together. Last year, I took my 14 year old son on a two week trip around Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. We had a phenomenal time camping and riding. We rode around Lake Couer D'Alene, down through the Columbia River Gorge and on to Bend. Then we headed up over Three Sisters (I think that's what it's called) and out to the coast. Up the coast and back over to Mt. Rainier. Met the rest of the family in Mt. Ranier and camped for a week. Then back to Montana from there. We rode about 2100 miles total. This was us last year in Umatilla, OR...  Ethan and Dad by Jason Lindsay, on Flickr This year I'm taking my 12 year old son on a week long ride out to Seattle and the Coast over Memorial Day Weekend. All the way down the coast of Washington and Oregon, across Southern Oregon and out to Hell's Canyon, then back up into Montana. Camping the whole way, of course. I'm hoping the grandparents are going to have the kids for a long weekend so my wife and I can ride Glacier National Park as well. By the time the snow melts off here in Montana, riding season is usually March or April until late October and sometimes into November. I usually pile up 10,000 to 15,000 miles a year in that short time frame. Well, I've rambled enough, LOL. I'll try to get some pictures posted this evening of my build and hopefully a video of it running. We'll see. |
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Post by andrew on Feb 21, 2017 16:43:15 GMT
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Post by markwisniowski on Feb 21, 2017 17:26:14 GMT
Awesome thanks! I just picked up a Dell Latitude E6420 i5-2520M 2.5GHz i5 128GB SSD 4GB Laptop Windows 10 from ebay for $120, new dedicated shop laptop for the win! |
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Post by mrbigj on Feb 22, 2017 6:06:02 GMT
SHE LIVES! Got the electronics mounted, pots adjusted, and everything hooked up. This is a short video of me just simply testing the X, Y, and Z axis.
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lol.
