Oh no! Now I'm building a CNC?

[John Nicholas]

Excellent work John

Almost makes me want one
Almost

Thank you for the compliment.

It's a huge commitment, requires a huge investment in time to learn, build, test, then learn all the software required to run everything. I'm going to say that you need to be sure if you are willing to do all of this. Otherwise you could end up with a ton of junk lying around the house.

 

[nickhofen]

Very neat job on the wiring, the control box can be compared to professional level cnc control boxes.
Stay strong with your health issues, I know what you are after, and I know how strong must someone be to stand and fight in a situation like the one you are in to, my prayers are with you.

 

[John Nicholas]

Very neat job on the wiring, the control box can be compared to professional level cnc control boxes.
Stay strong with your health issues, I know what you are after, and I know how strong must someone be to stand and fight in a situation like the one you are in to, my prayers are with you.

Thank you Nick. I really appreciate your compliments.

 

[I_build_my_own]

Awesome machine John. Very pro execution. It has been a pleasure to watch this machine “grow”.

 

[John Nicholas]

Awesome machine John. Very pro execution. It has been a pleasure to watch this machine “grow”.

For those who are unaware, without Helmut, this build would not be where it is now. He encouraged me at every step along the way. Warning me of pitfalls and making sure everything went smoothly.

All that clean professional wiring? Helmut walked me through all the tough spots, drawing up wiring diagrams for me to follow along with. He also made the suggestion to put the resistors on the Ardunio board so everything stayed clean, plus if any of the resistors "die" it's a simple matter of moving the wires to the next resistor!

Thank you so very much Helmut. For all the cheerleading, encouragement, knowledge and support. I truly appreciate your friendship!

 

[Jim_in_PA]

He's a good dude and I've had some nice conversations with him...I'm looking forward to meeting him sometime in the recent future. 'Glad Helmut got you going on this!

 

[JayneV]

Hey John, I just noticed there have been several posts in this thread and I somehow missed them all. I’ve been relying on the Alert indicator at the top of the page to tell me when a new post has been made to threads I follow but it hasn’t been very reliable lately. I’m sure it is a setting I have messed up somewhere. Anyway, I’m eagerly following your build. As you know, I am a big fan of what you are achieving with this build.

 

[old wrench]

John!

It's been a while since I've checked out your CNC build - it really looks great, and it also looks like you are pretty much complete - that's a helluva accomplishment.

I'm looking forward to seeing some nice necks built with your machine

Good to hear that you are maintaining your health - sometimes it's a grind - I just found out that I have to do another round of chemo - but we have to do what it takes - it's bonus time!


.

 

[John Nicholas]

You know it’s been a long time since your last post when multiple people contact you to see if you are alright!

While I’ve been healthy, my body has been tired and fatigued so everything takes longer and very little time can be put in to work on this project. Believe me, no one wants this done sooner than I do..

So what’s happened since I last posted?

Remember that “fix” I attempted on the stepper motor coupler? Well it didn’t work.

This was not a good fix..

So I decided to drill the coupler, tapped it and used a grub screw,

On the stepper motors is a flat spot, which is where the grub screw goes, as you can see from this photo

I also wired up the Proximity switches and color coded them.

Of course the X Axis switch did not work right, so I did a bunch of tests and finally found the issue. It seems that I used a bit too much heat while soldering. PSA. Never do soldering work when you are tired. Lesson learned.

One other aspect I began was to drill and cut the holes in the stainless steel VFD controller box. But of course, I didn’t do any research on how to properly drill and cut.. so I destroyed a bunch of step drill bits, and still haven’t drilled all the holes to size.

And of course in my haste it appears that I heated them so much, that most likely I can’t drill the holes easily. Jayne was kind enough to explain what happened and suggested some great ideas. In the meantime, I purchased a couple of Carbon Step Drill bits and more steel jig saw blades.

As soon as I get some time and have the energy, I will attempt to finish all the holes in the box.

And just to make sure you remember how OCD I can be… here is a photo of the wiring so far in the control box… Still trying to keep everything color coded and neat.

With any luck I may be able to do some more work this weekend.

 

[JayneV]

Still loving your work John. Seeing your progress is getting me all excited about starting work on my machine. Keep the updates coming, even if it’s a small update. You know we all love to see build photos of everyone’s projects whether they be guitars or the tools used to build guitars.

 

[John Nicholas]

Still loving your work John. Seeing your progress is getting me all excited about starting work on my machine. Keep the updates coming, even if it’s a small update. You know we all love to see build photos of everyone’s projects whether they be guitars or the tools used to build guitars.

Thank you for all of your help and support both on the forum and directly. I deeply appreciate it!

I'm so sure you will get your design set and begin building when you are ready!

 

[JayneV]

Thank you for all of your help and support both on the forum and directly. I deeply appreciate it!

It’s truly my pleasure. I am more than happy to help however I can.

 

[John Nicholas]

Finally got to work a bit on the CNC.

Purchased a 4’ x 8’ 3/4” sheet of MDF for the base spoil board. It was cut to width at Home Depot and I had to route a couple of small insets so it fit onto the frame. Still quite a bit of work to do on this front…

I have to say that drilling and cutting stainless steel is not for the weak of mind. It was a huge PIA… today it took hours even after all the hours I put in previously. But it’s finally done.

Of course once the holes were all drilled, I had to place everything in the control box to see how it would look. It is all tightened up and is ready for wiring next.

Hopefully in the next few weeks I can get it all wired up, programmed and ready to test.

Also need to finally make a decision on garage wiring so I can run the machine safely. Need a dedicated 15 A line for the CNC and a 20A for the VFD control box.

More to come….

 

[Davecam48]

Great professional looking machine there John! I hope it works perfectly first time! You deserve it!

DC

 

[John Nicholas]

Great professional looking machine there John! I hope it works perfectly first time! You deserve it!

DC

Thank you Dave!

 

[JayneV]

As expected, beautiful work John. Wish we lived closer, I’d love to see this machine in person.

 

[John Nicholas]

As expected, beautiful work John. Wish we lived closer, I’d love to see this machine in person.

Thank you for all of your support and encouragement along the way.

Believe me, we'd love to visit the city our daughter is basically named after!

 

[nickhofen]

I can't wait to see the video from the first cut!
Very good job!!!