Hardware Pulse Board for CNC
I am going to make (hopefully) an improvement to my CNC operations in a week or so. I have ordered and will install a USB SmoothStepper board made by Warp9 Tech Design. Inc. into one and maybe both of my homebuilt CNC controllers. Probably the first one will be installed and tested in my original chopper controller that I am now using on the Taig CNC mill.
I have used a serial pulse generator before in that controller. Years ago I obtained the pulse card from DeskCNC called their 2nd Generation Controller Board. It is actually still installed but not connected inside the controller case. This controller worked perfectly but is proprietary to DeskCNC software. It can be seen operating in the video viewable HERE running the HB1 mill. That was more than several years ago. A hardware pulse generator makes for a very smooth running machine.
Since I am now doing very small, almost micro-machining (1/32″-“1/64” ball end mills) I am becoming more concerned about accuracy. Several articles in the CNCCookbook blog by Bob Warfield got me to thinking. Read both parts written by Bob.
Tormach CNC has a White Paper about this very subject that I recommend for your reading pleasure. Click on the link in the previous sentence. They mention the Smoothstepper for use with MACH3.
I then remembered how well I like the DeskCNC controller I gave up to use MACH3. So I investigated the currently available motion control boards. By the way, the 2nd Generation DeskCNC Board is still being produced
The Warp9TD Smoothstepper seems best suited to my needs and especially budget. It is designed expressly for use with the MACH3. There is now a LAN version board as well as the USB version.
Some other brands of these… Continue reading
Look Fast
Here is a picture seldom seen in a workshop. A totally empty workbench!
After expending too many hours revising the THMS website, I got into the mood to get out in the shop and really start detailing the place. Several hours earlier before this picture was taken, this bench looked nothing like this. I am in a “put away” “tidy up” mood.
Actually I just put a new coat of polyurethane on the top since I had it so cleared off. I do that occasionally. The surface gets rubbed and scrapped off when I am working on things on the bench. You can see some old stain marks and where the X3 took a chunk out of the leading edge in “The Great Wreck”.
The red vice has swapped ends (some time ago). the original location was on the right side but then I built the Taig CNC mill bench. Both benches are extremely stable. The dark main bench is free standing and the CNC bench (light grey) is built in.
When I get a work in progress back on this bench, it will seem more like a workshop. Empty benches (like beaches) attract all sorts of non project flotsam and jetsam* if left in this present barren state too long. (*Yeah, I am a US Navy vet. I love nautical terms.)
What a Workout!
I just spent about 100 man-hours doing a total overhaul on “The Hobbyist Machine Shop” web site. The site has been in existence with constant updates for about 10 years (a decade!). I decided it was time to set a new standard with a fresh look and feel. Actually it doesn’t look all that different from the original as I was not about to start from scratch.
Previous articles here in the BLOG cover the essentials. I have changed from a static website to a dynamic Content Management System. The background operation is very much the same as this BLOG. There is a MySQL database at the root of both systems.
There is a wonderful world of extremely good open source free software that makes projects like this affordable for users like me. “The Hobbyist Machine Shop” is now running Joomla. Follow the link for more information. It is built from modules that allow unlimited configuration. Some modules must be purchased, but nothing critical. I pay a (low subscription) fee for an enhanced text editor for example.
This BLOG uses WordPress and there is a link on the home page “Log In Box” for the program.
Web publishing has moved into a new era.
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I had to re-link every picture to its new location. So I was actively involved re-reading everything I have published for a decade. Not everything I write gets published so that is probably a good thing in this effort. What has happened is I re-lived every story and project.
Now I literally want to get back on track with things like with the Pennsy A3 project. Maybe a lot more live steam projects. I see so much I’d like to do; I just have to have a second life (maybe a… Continue reading
The Hobbyist’s Monster Soup Update
The last couple of posts indicate I am doing an update on my “The Hobbyist’s Machine Shop”. I am half done with part of it. Ha!
I have decided I am going to convert the entire old website into the new CMS style. It’s been great fun reliving all those old projects and there is still a bunch more to go in the WORKSHP and VISITORS tabs, a lot more. The web site is OVER 10 years old and I am discovering the several different styles and three editing programs I used.
PHP and CMS are still very much HTML so most of the work is just copying files from the old to the new. Sounds like alphabet soup doesn’t it? The end result is I think the new pages look very good. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) takes care of the new consistent style. (More soup anyone?) A few links are broke in the new pages until I get the Workshop pages converted. There are some internal cross links to that section. I hope I can find them again. The web site is VERY large.
You are welcome to browse the new pages but they are still a WIP (Work In Progress). I added a link in the top right column. There are a few places where I need to do a rewrite due to the changes. I did a few already, but I have been working harder on the transfer than the rewrite.
If you are the type that likes to look for those things, this is your chance. I probably know of most of them, but you may find one or two bugs I don’t know. I fixed a few expired external links but there has to be more. Drop me a bug… Continue reading
The Monster That Ate My Machine Shop
Sneak Peek
“What have I done? What have I created? It’s too late now. It lives, it is ALIVE!“
Uh, well it’s just an update to “The Hobbyist Machine Shop” website. It is just starting to take on a life of its own. I was expecting it would.
I am moving the old pure HTML website into a PHP coded, MySQL database assisted, Content Management System (CMS). I documented my intention and provided more information in a previous post.
As of this post I have the new monster breathing and it can be viewed live at http://thehobbyistmachineshop.com/cms/.
It’s not ready for prime time with only about 8 hours work on it so far. When ready, I will change the link and the new site will just open without needing the “cms” directory pinned on the end of the URL.
I already like the better file management the CMS provides. The present (old) site is a monster of its own far worse than the new one as to how all the pieces are stuck together. I was going to let the old monster live and just start using the new beast for current events. That creates a lot of look and feel differences. So I am pretty resolved in letting the new site devour the old until the old can just go away.
That’s no easy task. There are hundreds of directories and many thousands of files. I have found a way to copy and paste and transfer whole directories of files and pictures. But that means I have to re-link every picture in an article to its new location. I could leave the photos where they are and the links will work just fine. Then the photo files live outside the expected structure of the… Continue reading