User:CAlexander
From Zen_Toolworks_Wiki
Greetings & Salutations
Hello CNC dude (or Dude-ette)!
As the title (and several references on this page) shows, I am Clint Alexander -- Internet Technologist and CNC extraordinaire! Actually, I'm lying, I have no idea about CNC, but thanks to working together with the great Xin, I am quickly learning the ups-n-downs of such a practice and diversifying myself in all that I can diversify myself in.
I'll be helping Xin with all of the Internet developments. This includes the Websites, Wiki system, documentation management, etc. We (Xin and I) are very much alike in that we put a high priority in providing a start to finish support infrastructure for the CNC community and interests.
One of my big interests is the New Guy/Gal who has absolutely no clue about anything related to CNC. In a matter of a few hours, I want them to complete assembly, setup all hardware and software, and produce one piece of finished work; a complete example of how to approach their new CNC machine. The steps should be fairly short in description and provide a "fill-in-the-blank" so they may use each of these steps for all other projects they wish to do.
So, while I'm working on putting all of this together, Xin is building bridges to online resources to provide and contribute CNC resources, services, support, teachings, and all levels of CNC help to the Internet CNC'ers at large. We are not looking to redefine the CNC community or change where the current "hang out" spots are. We are providing another avenue to those locations and a forum base for those who work with products from Zen Toolworks.
As for me, I'm always available. But, I mostly respond to email since I'm usually neck deep in some form of code and do not spend time blogging or forum browsing. You may always get a hold of me at my Zen Toolworks email: clint AT zentoolworks DOT com.
By The Way -- you will have to excuse the way I reference email addresses on web pages. I fear those pesky automated web bots who pickup your email address easily because of the format of an email address string, and put it on a spam list that disseminates the outer edges of the Internet. So using the ol' text replacement strategy, bots can not differentiate email addresses from normal notation that uses the same words.
General Contact Info
Home Website: http://www.cdalexander.net/
Contact Email: clint AT zentoolworks DOT com or clint AT cdalexander DOT net
Stuff For Me
The following (which I am still editing) is a general place of reference for myself. It may or may not make sense. But that's okay -- it's for me anyway :)
Single Axis Driver Description
The 10 pin IDC headers match 1:1 ratio.
JP7 is a general purpose input (limit and home switches), these correspond with pins 10, 11, 12, 13 on the parport
JP21 is a header to breakout +5vdc and ground (for switches, etc..)
The barrel jack on the breakout board is for a +5vdc supply (USB to 5vdc cable).
The relay is for spindle control.. However, it is under control of pin 17 on the parport.
From the time that the PC is turned on until EMC is loaded the parport pins exist in an indeterminate state.. That is, if your spindle is connected to the relay it can turn on unexpectedly. So I'd recommend leaving it disconnected. It could be used, if you connect a switch in series with the relay (so that you can manually turn on power to the relay), but again, we chose to leave this unused because of safety issues.
The power connector on the driver boards can accept a range of voltages from 12vdc to 36vdc.. This is what the power brick is meant for.
The terminals on the driver boards are redundant with the 10 pin header, and don't need to be used. But for the sake of thoroughness:
| CK | step input |
| CW | direction |
| EN | enable |
| COM | +5vdc (for some reason, "common" is referred to as positive instead of ground - odd). |
J4 on the driver boards is for a 12vdc fan, if you're looking at the board so that the motor plug-terminals are at the bottom, and J4 is at the top, the left pin is +12vdc.
The dip switches on the driver boards are: 1&2 decay mode, 3&4 micro-stepping, 5&6 current limiting. Set these so that they are 1-off, 2-off, 3-on, 4-on, 5-off, 6-off. This makes it so that the board has no decay or limit, and 8x micro-stepping.
Regarding the 10-pin headers on the breakout:
A is X1
B is X2
C is Y
D is Z
E is unused (possibly rotary axis A)
STEPS PER UNIT
THE EQUATIONS:
Equation for Full Steps per Unit (FSPR): StepsPerRev x ThreadsPerInch (TPI)
Equation for Micro-Steps per Unit(MSPU): StepsPerRev x Micro-steps x TPI
Equation for Steps per Revolution (SPR): circumference / motor_angle
Equation for RevPerInch (RPI): 1 inch / pitch_in_inchs
Equation for RevPerMill (RPMI): 1 millimeter / pitch_in_millimeters
Equation for Steps per Unit (SPU): screw_length / motor_pitch * full_steps * microsteps
THE MATH:
Original lead screw:
Screw Length in mm: 637.54
Screw Length in inch: 25.4
Nema 24 Motor Angle = 1.8
Steps per Rev = 360 / 1.8 = 200
Screw Pitch in mm: 1.25
Screw Pitch in inch: 0.049212
Mach3 Millimeters: ( (645.16 / 1.25) * 200) * 8
Mach3 Inches: (25.4 / 0.049212) * 200) * 8
F8 Lead screw:
Screw Length in mm: 508
Screw Length in inch: 20
Nema 24 Motor Angle = 1.8
Steps per Rev = 360 / 1.8 = 200
Screw Pitch in mm: 8
Screw Pitch in inch: 0.314960
Mach3 Millimeters: ((508 / 8) * 200) * 8 = 101600
Mach3 Inches: ((20 / 0.314960) * 200) * 8 = 101600
Wiki Markup References
Wiki Editors - This Wiki system is being designed to make best use of "Categories" and "Namespaces". If you do not know how to construct new Categories, Sub-Categories, and Articles to cross-link between project pages, please refer to the "MediaWiki Handbook" on thier official Meta site: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Help:Contents. Alternatively, you can contact Clint Alexander (clint at zentoolworks dot com) for assistance.
Doxygen MediaWiki Documentation:
http://svn.wikimedia.org/doc/
To add new navigational items on the left (blocks and links), click here and edit the page. The layout should be self-explanatory; but if you have any problems, please contact Clint Alexander (clint at zentoolworks dot com) for assistance.
