EMC2 - Setting Up the Sherline Mill and Links

Started in on the setup of EMC2 with the Sherline Mill. Same computer as with the lathe. Unpacked the sherline rotary table and put the right angle base on. I will have to spend some time later setting it up on the mill table but for now just making sure it works.

Setting Up the Lathe, EMC2 and Videos

Some videos of my goofing around setting up the lathe using EMC2 with Ubuntu 8.04, Xylotex Motor Controller on a Dell 900mhz computer.


Jog mode can be set to continuous or at steps on the lathe in EMC2, .0001" is the smallest.


Running a sample part in EMC2, It is a chess piece, but I am cutting air. I am just setting up the lathe and running some sample gcode to make sure things are working. I actually don't have a cutter handy anyway.


This is from a couple days ago, I was testing the stepper motor speed and acceleration in EMC2's stepper motor setup. I don't think I was actually running the speeds and accelerations listed because I did have to change the settings later on.



Came across some other youtube video. This is pretty neat, it looks like a gutted injet converted to a "laser" plotter. This is the link to their web page.

EMC2, CNC, Old Computers, and Stepper Motors

 
 
 

I decided that I would go ahead and install Ubuntu and EMC2 on the junker dell 900 mhz computer. I had tested the system with theUbuntu 8.04 live cd. The live cd ran pretty well and the latency test was good too (a test where you run the terminal to get the command line and run the command , it measures how well the computer will do as a stepper motor controller).

I did the install and started in on trying to run the xylotex controller and it didn't work. I figured out that I needed to run stepper configuration wizard. I figured out (I don't know linux very well or emc2 but am learning) that many of the features of emc2 are accessed by the linux command line which is accessed by the terminal application. As it turned out I didn't actually have to run it from terminal, it was also in the EMC2 run programs tab.

So far emc2 is pretty nice, not that I have much to compare it to. The stepper config had presets for the xylotex controller which was pretty nice, but if it had not been there it would not have been too bad to set up. There was a "test" button that allows you to run the axis to test the speeds and acceleration which really simplified finding the max speed to run the steppers, one thing though it defaults to a 15" sweep which would crash my sherline as it does not have 15" of travel. Just have to be careful, which is generally good advice around semi autonomous machines. I discovered that it was traveling .5" on the sherline axis when the settings on the stepper config were indicating 1". After going over the controller settings in stepper config I went to the xylotex documentation and discovered that there were jumpers (I never really understood this before) for microstepping. The xylotex board was set for 1/8 micro step and EMC2 was set for 1/2 stepping. I found a fairly decent explanation of stepper motors in a microchip applications pdf.

End of day I had the lathe minimally running on EMC2. All this was something of a boondoggle on my part. I have been putting off cutting chips. Partly the mess and partly that I have to finish shrink tubing the wiring. Another thing is that I am running turbocnc. I think it is okay but I have some problems copying g code, I have to use floppies and they are becoming a problem with the computers I have (the computers use win 98 and dos. At least with emc2 I can use a usb thumbdrive to transfer files, and there is a chance I can get wireless to work.

Another nice thing about EMC2 is that the GUI has a graphic view of what the gcode is doing. I am going to use it to help learn g code.

I might try mach 3 also, first I have to put the computer I set up back together.


Link on Stepper Motors and Drivers for CNC at otocoup.com

Helpful link on Make: CNC Buyers Guide

CNC Equipment Unearthed In Basement

 
 
 
 

I was looking back at posts to get an idea of the timeline for the project of making a cnc workshop. It has been very stop and go. It was just over 2 years ago that I was first testing the lathe with turbocnc.

Back to now: I unearthed my sherline cnc mill this past weekend, and tonight have just dug out my sherline lathe.

I started both up and they and the computers are still working ok! I am trying to get a spare computer or two running to upgrade from the laptop (latitude 266mhz?) and a pentium 2 450mhz. They work with turbocnc but I think I want to try to run mach 2 and mach 3.

I started in on the trial version of deskproto 5.0, the short description is that it converts 3D CAD models to machine driving gcode. If it works out I can make a 3d model on the computer and convert it to a form that will drive the cnc mill to make a part. It seems capable but without a cnc to run the g code on it was only going so far. I still have not run any code from deskproto it does indeed spit out g code. I am not sure it will run on turbocnc. Mainly the little extras in deskproto like speed callouts and the like might hang it up.

I did run some code on the mill. I set up a 1/8 endmill and did cut some wood to finish setting up and verifying the axis. It did turn out that the z axis was running 2x distance wise, which was easy to correct in the setup. I still have a bunch of things to go over in the turbocnc manual.

I spent time trying to set up a couple computers to dedicate to running the cnc mill and lathe. I want to try the mach 2 and mach 3 demo but am making sure things work right with turbocnc. Makes sense to me to start with something that is proven before trying out a new package.

I am going to spend some time setting up a tool box and putting stuff into an organized way that if I have to ignore the cnc I can come back in a month or year and it will be that much more advanced. I might be able to get a good run of work done with it.