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Posted (edited)
Excellent Tore, CamBam will let us talk with a much better understanding of how to solve some of your problems. BTW, when I work on panels I use imperial instead of metric so I will speak in imperial units for this.

 

Do you have AutoCAD on the same machine as CB. If not, can you make that happen. AutoCAD has a font romans.shx that I use for all panel lettering. If AutoCAD is on the same machine it will have installed this font in windows. Now in CB you can select the text, change it to Romans and set the height to .16" height and cutting depth to .003". The text should be selected with the engrave icon rather than the pocket icon. You should always create text with justification set to centre. It makes it much easier to rearrange your text when you apply other CB operations such as resizing that causes your text to move slightly out of position. If you need larger text for something like a gauge, the altimeter numbers for example, use Arial and then pocket them instead of selecting engrave.

 

Cutters, are 60 degree v-cutters, tip width .10", cutting depth for everything related to engraving type operations which includes pocketing larger text should be .003". Where do you get the V-cutters from. Chinese cutters are not very good. I buy American made cutters from

 

https://www.2linc.com/engraving_tools.htm

 

C-125x2.0-60-.010-G is what I use for all engraving.

 

They are expensive but they make such a difference in quality. I will not use anything else.

It looked like you are using engraving plastic, white base with black top. Is that correct?

How do you ensure your material is completely flat on the machine bed?

What is the feed rate set too on Mach3? This is very important as it possible that you may be skipping steps if it's set to high.

Is your spindle speed adjustable. If so it should set to max.

 

Have you ever accidentally run your mill against something hard that might have stopped it. It can be somewhat disastrous if that happens and it can cause the same type problems I see here. Even after 12 years doing this, last month, it was late, I was very tired and I set something incorrectly...SMACK...right into a clamp and snapped the cutter right off. I smashed 2 lead screw bearings. $50 later with new bearings in place I was back to normal.

 

Besides all of the questions I've been asking, can you try an experiment for me. Make a 2" circled for me and cut it from plastic. Depth only needs to be enough to actually see it. Use a v cutter. Then do a 1" circle and then a .25" circle. I want you to measure the height and the width EXACTLY and tell me if they are the same or not.

 

The last thing I would like to know is how you cut with CB and your CNC machine. These are the typical selections I make in CB

Cutting large holes...select profile...inside...cut depth interval .02"

Cutting perimeter of panel ...select profile...outside...cut depth interval .02"

Cutting small holes...select pocket...cut depth interval .02"

Select cutting tool... 0.063" diameter end mill

 

Could respond in imperial for me just to be consistent.

BTW, what exactly did you order for measuring. There are several devices that are virtually indispensable.

 

And sorry with all the questions but the more I know about how you do various operations, the easier it will be to find and solve the problems.:)

 

John

 

Thanks John,

 

First off all, I use end mills and engraving tools from CNC-plus.de in Germany, the bits are produced in Germany and are of very good quality. I too have tried eBay Chinese knockoffs and totally agree with you. I pay 4-5 € per pc, so its very expensive compared to eBay, but it's definitely worth it! That being said, I only have 20 deg cutters, I think I will have to order some 60 deg as well, and also I have some spiral cutting bits. Could these be used? Like this one: https://cnc-plus.de/en/Engraving-tools/Spiral-Engraving-Bit/

 

Second, imperial vs metrics.... don't get me started ;) I can sure operate in imperial as well, so we'll use those :) I'm pretty used to converting between. (I just don't understand why the world wouldn't settle for one type of measurements... just pick one, a Meter or feet is still the same around the world) :)

 

I have ACAD installed on all my computers, including the one in my shop with CamBam on. Will try the font you are referring to. I've previously installed the MS33558 as it's supposed to be the correct font for the A-10C panels, but I'm more than willing to change that for something that works.

 

I've had the mill go into the holding tab once, and then another time it hit the top off the Z axis. I should probably check my lead screw bearings.. It was actually one of the first times i used the CNC and might have had some impact. I didn't think about it before you mentioned it.

 

This is the device I have on order for measuring: http://www.biltema.no/no/Bil---MC/Verktoy-og-verkstedutstyr/Testinstrument-og-Elektronikk/Indikatorklokke-191443/

(sorry, it's all in Norwegian, but I think you'll get it) it does have an accuracy of 0,03 mm = 0,00118".

 

The plastic I use for my top layers of the panel is these: https://cnc-plus.de/en/Materials---Accessories/Rotary-and-Laser-Engraving-Plastic--200x300mm-Engraving-Plates-.html?XTCsid=c7dblv471n3ol1atlpc11ls207

 

About the feed rate I use, when I engrave with the v-cutter is 31.49 (imperial) / 800 (metric)

When milling I use between 7.87 and 11.8 (200 - 300 mm). I have my spindle set to about 2/3 of max speed, due to the fact that in full speed it actually melted the plastic once. When I cut acrylic I manually regulate the speed based on the vibration in the machine. (lots of vibration = turn up speed).

 

When I cut I usually do this:

1. select the rectangle / circle

2. select profile

3. inside / outside as required

4. cut increment 0.06"

5. final depth 0.12" My acrylic is 3mm (0.118")

6. set macining origin as required

7. generate g-code and export it

8. open the code in Mach3

9. set x and y for the origin

10. set the z axis manually, as I don't have any other way to do it. (visual measurement)

 

Also I forgot, I set the federate as required. usually 7.87" - 11.8" (200-300) for acrylic cutting.

 

When I select the cutting tool diameter, I've been setting 0.008 on my v-cutter (as it doesn't have a with and it extremely sharp, but I had to put something in or else the pocketing would go on forever) The end mills I've been using I've used the actual diameter.

 

I will try to cut these circles you have mentioned later this weekend, but I'll have to see if I can make the time. It's start of the easter holiday and the wife and kids have included me in most of the plans :music_whistling:

 

Thank you again for helping me with this, I can't say how much I appreciate it :)

 

Regards,

Tore

Edited by triise

Regards,

Tore

 

- Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek -

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Posted

Hi triise,

I have no experience with operating CNC but I have worked at generating G Code for parts. I found that the free MS33558 fonts are terrible. They look fine but the splines that make them up overlap and HSMWorks would not even let me try to engrave those letters.

 

I used the font TechnicBold instead. It is a very close substitute and is standard on windows PC. That means that it has none of the overlapping spline problems. It is not a single line font but those remove some detail on the characters. If you are setting CamBam to cut "pockets" then I do not see why it would only cut the outline. Perhaps the edges of the font do not match up as a result of a bad MS33558. I don't know about CamBam but if you use a font that is made up of parallel lines rather than single, then you should be able to set it to cut a pocket and specify to cut on the inside. Might be an "offset" function.

Posted

Hi Boltz

 

I think the problem pocketing with CamBam is when you get to a part of the font that is actually narrower than the cutting tip, CB ignores it. If it tried to pocket that spot it would end up cutting beyond the edges of the cut limit or rather the outer edge of the font. As a result, you will get areas totally missed during the pocketing operation.

 

Triise

Excellent choice on cutting tools. 60 degree cutters are much less likely to break their tips off when engraving...I know:music_whistling: and the choice of material is right on. So far so good. Now here's the scoop on engraving properly. The idea here is to cut only deep enough to just remove the top black layer. That applies to PCBs as well. Your cutting depth should not exceed .003". But then the cut lines of the font are to thin. So that's why they have multiple widths of tips. To obtaing consistency in your engraving you should start with these settings. I see you already use some of them but I'll reiterate just in case.

This is only for engraving

Tool tip width... 0.010"

Font ...Romans

Font height.. 0.15"

Feed speed approx 2/3 of max set in mach3

Spindle speed: can you tell me what you speed range is.

Depending on your machine you may have to adjust the cutting depth to .004".

These could be set up as a template so they always preset for you.

 

Here's a trick you may want to employ if you are using backlighting on you panels.

I take my panel in CB and mirror it. I then draw a rectangle around each block of text. Those rectangles then get pocketted out to a depth of between 1/2 to 2/3 the thickness of your engraving plastic. Now your green LEDs will light the text areas very nicely.

 

Feed Rate-

When you are engraving your feed rate can be faster but going to fast will cause you to loose steps because your cnc controller may be unable to process the data as quickly. Are the cables from the controller to the stepper motors shielded? That will make a significant difference in your machines output if noise is introduced into the incoming signal of the motors.

 

How do you keep you material flat on the table?

Use double sided tape...Scotch brand ”Poster Tape" I believe it's the same name where ever one lives. I have tried many, many products and believe me, this is soooo! much better than anything else I found.

 

What is the thickness of the engraving plastic?

 

You had asked about the spiral bits. I believe chamfering edges is what they are designed for and scoring hard materials but nothing that you might do on the average panel.

 

Cutting acrylic

I use .0625" or .125" diameter end mill. 2 fluted end mills work best for acrylic although you can also purchase end mills specifically designed to cut acrylic. At the very least use 2 fluted end mills.cut depth increment should not exceed .02". Problems will occur if you exceed that. Reduce your spindle speed to1/2. If the material starts melting one of two things are happening. Either the end mill is no longer sharp or you need to adjust cutting depth to less and increase feed rate. The idea is to reduce the time that the end mill is in contact with the acrylic.

 

I'll leave it there for now. Let's see if that makes a difference. Let me know when you have something to measure with. Btw I didn't see what you ordered. No link.

 

Happy Easter.

John

Regards

John W

aka WarHog.

 

My Cockpit Build Pictures...



John Wall

 

My Arduino Sketches ... https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-Dc0Wd9C5l3uY-cPj1iQD3iAEHY6EuHg?usp=sharing

 

 

WIN 10 Pro, i8-8700k @ 5.0ghz, ASUS Maximus x Code, 16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum Ram,



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Posted

:That's perfect Tore.:thumbup:

Regards

John W

aka WarHog.

 

My Cockpit Build Pictures...



John Wall

 

My Arduino Sketches ... https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-Dc0Wd9C5l3uY-cPj1iQD3iAEHY6EuHg?usp=sharing

 

 

WIN 10 Pro, i8-8700k @ 5.0ghz, ASUS Maximus x Code, 16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum Ram,



AIO Water Cooler, M.2 512GB NVMe,

500gb SSD, EVGA GTX 1080 ti (11gb), Sony 65” 4K Display

VPC MongoosT-50, TM Warthog Throttle, TRK IR 5.0, Slaw Viper Pedals

Posted

Those are the VID29 Steppers as indicated in the eBay listing. And yes you would use those for most everything that doesn't require continuous motion and zero setting. They have a sweep of 315 degrees which covers many of the gauges we use. These are what I bought.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-Pcs-Instrument-Cluster-Diagnostic-Tool-Auto-Gauge-Stepper-Motor-DC-5-10V/321499764351?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131003132420%26meid%3D3f0a4ca9a7684f0b8c1779c137cdd3e5%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D311319515399&rt=nc

Much better price. You should shop around as some of these venders have terrible prices.

 

These are the VID60

http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/6548499324.html?orderId=66332974733697

 

Thats $28.00US for 5 stepper motors. Thats not bad at all.

 

You should spend some time doing a search for information on the VID series of steppers. Use different search parameters. You will find sites that have all sorts of good info. Also Switec steppers are the exact same knock off. Actually I think the VID is the Chinese knock off.

 

The VID29 series have several different models. Some with the pins on the front and some on the back. ie VID29-05, VID29-03 etc. There is data on the models and their configurations on my GITHUB site here (compliments to bnepethomas for his efforts and making that information available to us)

 

https://github.com/JFWall/bne-arduino-flight-simulator-interfaces/tree/master/Fuel%20Panel

 

 

How sensitive are the steppers for the balance of the pointer? I can see from the data sheets that they have minimal torque. Is it nessecary to have the pointer balanced around the mounting hole? Or cloud I cust make a 1.5mm white acrylic cut?

 

Havent got the steppers yet, but currently drawing the engines panel i ACAD.

 

Regards,

Tore

Regards,

Tore

 

- Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek -

Posted
About those boards. There's plenty of tools that provide traces and trace optimization/custom layout. Are there tools that provide similar functionality for PCB milling with the 'remove minimal amount of material to get the result' method in mind?

 

Hi I'm not sure if I understand what you mean. If you think about the PCB's I've been making, they are totally manual work. Polylines and rectangles. I use CamBam for the purpose of this.

Attached is the g-code files for the PCB so you can see. I don't have the DXF here right now, but can provide it if you're interested.

Caution light panel PCB.zip

  • Like 1

Regards,

Tore

 

- Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek -

Posted
How sensitive are the steppers for the balance of the pointer? I can see from the data sheets that they have minimal torque. Is it nessecary to have the pointer balanced around the mounting hole? Or cloud I cust make a 1.5mm white acrylic cut?

 

Havent got the steppers yet, but currently drawing the engines panel i ACAD.

 

Regards,

Tore

 

There fine Tore. I have a couple of engine instruments working with no problem. Its even able to push a single gear ratio of 2:2.5 as some instruments need just a little bit more than the 315 degrees these steppers offer up. I tried three gears and there isn't enough torque but 2 work fine as long as its not 10:1 or something that extreme.

 

The pointers should be very thin plastic like mine.

 

IMG_0413.jpg

 

See my photo site for more examples.

 

http://s221.photobucket.com/user/MRAR15/library/A10%20Cockpit%20Panels?sort=3&page=2

 

BTW, you had asked about pocketing with that fine tip cutter and it was taking for ever...You should use a wider tip and set the tip diameter in CamBam. It will make a big difference in how long it takes. That said, if I pocket .2" high Arial fonts with a .005" tip it still takes a while. That's a lot of code. Even Mach 3 might bach at dealing with that much code.

Regards

John W

aka WarHog.

 

My Cockpit Build Pictures...



John Wall

 

My Arduino Sketches ... https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-Dc0Wd9C5l3uY-cPj1iQD3iAEHY6EuHg?usp=sharing

 

 

WIN 10 Pro, i8-8700k @ 5.0ghz, ASUS Maximus x Code, 16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum Ram,



AIO Water Cooler, M.2 512GB NVMe,

500gb SSD, EVGA GTX 1080 ti (11gb), Sony 65” 4K Display

VPC MongoosT-50, TM Warthog Throttle, TRK IR 5.0, Slaw Viper Pedals

Posted (edited)
Hi I'm not sure if I understand what you mean. If you think about the PCB's I've been making, they are totally manual work. Polylines and rectangles. I use CamBam for the purpose of this.

Attached is the g-code files for the PCB so you can see. I don't have the DXF here right now, but can provide it if you're interested.

So the traces were not (semi-)automatically generated and you laid them out (drawn the geometry) manually?

 

Please do share the dxf. I'd just take a peek.

Edited by Bucic
Posted
So the traces were not (semi-)automatically generated and you laid them out (drawn the geometry) manually?

 

Yes, WarHog does all his PCBs in AutoCAD. I am always fascinated when looking at the results because to someone who is used to look at PCBs that come out of software like Eagle, they look a bit strange (and sometimes just beautiful) because the geometry is not what you'd expect.

 

If you are using dedicated PCB layout software and want to reduce the amount of copper that gets removed, add a ground plane. The same is done on boards that get produced with an etching process, both to reduce sensitivity to EMI and to reduce the amount of copper that ends up in the etching solution, meaning that solution can be used to make a greater number of boards before it needs to be replaced.

Posted
Ian;2363993']Yes' date=' WarHog does all his PCBs in AutoCAD. I am always fascinated when looking at the results because to someone who is used to look at PCBs that come out of software like Eagle, they look a bit strange (and sometimes just beautiful) because the geometry is not what you'd expect.

 

If you are using dedicated PCB layout software and want to reduce the amount of copper that gets removed, add a ground plane. The same is done on boards that get produced with an etching process, both to reduce sensitivity to EMI and to reduce the amount of copper that ends up in the etching solution, meaning that solution can be used to make a greater number of boards before it needs to be replaced.

Thanks.

BTW, bigger surface traces reduce EMI susceptibility? :huh:

Posted
So the traces were not (semi-)automatically generated and you laid them out (drawn the geometry) manually?

 

Please do share the dxf. I'd just take a peek.

 

Were you reffering to mine or Warhogs PCB's?

Anyway, here is the .dxf to the PCB i made manually. There is no automatically generated things.

2015-03-26 caution light_panel PCB and acrylic.zip

Regards,

Tore

 

- Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek -

Posted
There fine Tore. I have a couple of engine instruments working with no problem. Its even able to push a single gear ratio of 2:2.5 as some instruments need just a little bit more than the 315 degrees these steppers offer up. I tried three gears and there isn't enough torque but 2 work fine as long as its not 10:1 or something that extreme.

 

Thanks, then I'll just have to wait for the steppers... :music_whistling:

I must admitt that I drew a layout using servos last night and was very tempted to try it out.

Whats the main reason that steppers are better than servos for the engine gauges? speed and response?

 

Regards,

Tore

Regards,

Tore

 

- Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek -

Posted (edited)
Were you reffering to mine or Warhogs PCB's?

Anyway, here is the .dxf to the PCB i made manually. There is no automatically generated things.

To be honest I thought I'm talking with one guy :) I'm in a hurry and at work, sorry.

Thanks for the PCB file.

Edited by Bucic
Posted (edited)
Thanks, then I'll just have to wait for the steppers... :music_whistling:

I must admitt that I drew a layout using servos last night and was very tempted to try it out.

Whats the main reason that steppers are better than servos for the engine gauges? speed and response?

 

Regards,

Tore

 

These VID29 steppers move with a fluid motion. Smooth as silk. In actual use they are unsurpassed by any other means. Servos on the other hand use only one wire (one pin on the Arduino board) so they are more efficient when it comes to wiring. But they do not have the same quality of movement and are sometimes a little jerky which looks bad on a gauge. That said, I still use them but only with gauges that have a very slow range of movement like the flaps gauge or the fuel gauge.

 

From a cost standpoint they are similar to servos so the only point in their favor is that they only require on wire for the signal instead of 4. That may be an issue for some but from my perspective the extra cost is worth the performance you get.

 

Speaking of beautiful, here is a picture of a PCB I cut that really demonstrates what my mill is capable of in terms of cutting accuracy. It is truly unbelievable that it could cut with this degree of precision. I actually had to use a microscope to solder the ribbon cable from the .91" oled display to this board as the traces were so fine.

 

Thats a 5050 LED in the foreground for scale. And the small circles, soon to be holes for header pins, are 0.03" diameter.

 

IMG_0465.jpg

 

 

 

 

@Triise - Tore, I just had a look at your dxf file. Really nice job I must say. Your approach to the PCB is so similar to how I laid mine out. That will work very well for you. And you included pin connectors into the board...well done.

 

But now I see why you said it was taking so long to cut. Those letters (sorry, font...) your using will take a long time to pocket. Substituting for romans.shx in AutoCAD will give you must faster cutting and the end result will be ...

 

PartCautionPanel.jpg

 

IMG_0133.jpg

 

 

When you need to use a larger font I would suggest using Arial and then pocket it. This is an example of Arial in a large size. It didn't take long to cut this even though it was a pocket operation. I used a .010" tip V bit for it. (Sorry for the crappy pic. They are usually sharper than this.)

 

IMG_0104.jpg

Edited by Warhog
  • Like 1

Regards

John W

aka WarHog.

 

My Cockpit Build Pictures...



John Wall

 

My Arduino Sketches ... https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-Dc0Wd9C5l3uY-cPj1iQD3iAEHY6EuHg?usp=sharing

 

 

WIN 10 Pro, i8-8700k @ 5.0ghz, ASUS Maximus x Code, 16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum Ram,



AIO Water Cooler, M.2 512GB NVMe,

500gb SSD, EVGA GTX 1080 ti (11gb), Sony 65” 4K Display

VPC MongoosT-50, TM Warthog Throttle, TRK IR 5.0, Slaw Viper Pedals

Posted
To be honest I thought I'm talking with one guy :) I'm in a hurry and at work, sorry.

Thanks for the PCB file.

 

No problem, If you were reffering to the pictures (as you had quoted) it was my PCB. Feel free to use it as you want.

 

Regards,

Tore

Regards,

Tore

 

- Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek -

Posted (edited)

Speaking of beautiful, here is a picture of a PCB I cut that really demonstrates what my mill is capable of in terms of cutting accuracy. It is truly unbelievable that it could cut with this degree of precision. I actually had to use a microscope to solder the ribbon cable from the .91" oled display to this board as the traces were so fine.

 

Thats a 5050 LED in the foreground for scale. And the small circles, soon to be holes for header pins, are 0.03" diameter.

 

IMG_0465.jpg

 

 

 

 

@Triise - Tore, I just had a look at your dxf file. Really nice job I must say. Your approach to the PCB is so similar to how I laid mine out. That will work very well for you. And you included pin connectors into the board...well done.

 

But now I see why you said it was taking so long to cut. Those letters (sorry, font...) your using will take a long time to pocket. Substituting for romans.shx in AutoCAD will give you must faster cutting and the end result will be ...

 

John, thats awesome precision on your mill! May I ask what brand it is? Or did you build it yourself? Now I can understand what you ment by my machine not beeing accurate at all.

 

I'm looking into building my own machine from German parts now. And I'm also trying to find out whats best of "screw-driven" (sorry don't know the english word) and belt-driven axis. With the belt I suppose there is no backlash, but more chance for slack after some time. Do you have any suggestions? The parts will be from cnc-plus.de (same as I buy my end-mills). And I will also buy a Kress spindle (1.5 kW) The only thing about it is that the lowest speed setting is 10K rpm, and that might be a bit high for acrylic cutting i think...

 

Regards,

Tore

Edited by triise
typo

Regards,

Tore

 

- Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek -

Posted

Ok, new update on the caution light panel.

2015-03-31%2022.07.51.jpg?dl=0tmt8sBOGkZSszj2All leads soldered

2015-03-31%2022.23.11.jpg?dl=0

Glue gun FTW :) (don't want any short-circuits)

 

Note to self: drill separate holes for the connecting leads, so you don't have to solder them directly to the PCB.

62849702_2015-03-3122_07_56.thumb.jpg.d2951b36433c1118001dfa804358b407.jpg

951668039_2015-03-3122_23_11.thumb.jpg.3595f033d9b0121b55428b62aac675a3.jpg

Regards,

Tore

 

- Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek -

Posted

Testing the caution lights panel. Only the first 2 rows operational as I wanted to check if my setup worked.

Luckily I by chance tested if I needed a resistor on the 12V supply to all the LEDs, and i certainly did! To bad if I haden't thought about it. Then the whole board would have fried. One 560 Ohm resistor did the trick. The light bleed is not as bad as it looks in the video, but there is some.

Here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3trBp1nmDmo

Regards,

Tore

 

- Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek -

Posted
John, thats awesome precision on your mill! May I ask what brand it is? Or did you build it yourself? Now I can understand what you ment by my machine not beeing accurate at all.

 

I'm looking into building my own machine from German parts now. And I'm also trying to find out whats best of "screw-driven" (sorry don't know the english word) and belt-driven axis. With the belt I suppose there is no backlash, but more chance for slack after some time. Do you have any suggestions? The parts will be from cnc-plus.de (same as I buy my end-mills). And I will also buy a Kress spindle (1.5 kW) The only thing about it is that the lowest speed setting is 10K rpm, and that might be a bit high for acrylic cutting i think...

 

Regards,

Tore

 

Tore I would not suggest you build your own machine until you have a few years of machining under your belt. I know others will disagree with me on this point. But those who do disagree will have no where near the machine time and experience I have so consider the source when evaluating comments. I would also put my machine up against any of the home builds. I guarantee they will not be as accurate or consistently accurate as my mill.

 

This is what I have used for everything related to my cockpit build. Its made by TAIG and sold under the TAIG banner in the US. Its also sold under the name Peatol In Great Britain. Its exactly the same machine.

 

 

IMG_0404.jpg

Please do not look at those PCB's. It was late and I set the cutting depth to way more than is necessary. With PCB's you only need to remove the thin layer of copper cladding from the surface of the board. There is no need to cut deep channels as it appears I am doing at the time this shot was taken. In fact the cutting depth I should have used is .003" and no deeper. Remember that Tore:P :smilewink:

 

IMG_0154.jpg

 

And yes the bed is small. In fact the cutting area is 4.5" x 7". With some creative thinking you can cut a larger panel than the table size with no problem. Panels like the CDU need to be cut in 2 separate operations. Its not hard but it is slightly inconvenient. But considering what you get with this machine and the huge amount of support world wide, it just becomes a good choice especially for beginners. And the price is competitive. It not cheap but it wasn't exorbitant either. Besides with any cnc operation its the tooling you need after you buy the machine that breaks the bank.:music_whistling: :lol: ........its not that bad.:music_whistling: really:P

 

Anyways, the big plus with Taig mills is the accuracy you get. That makes up for everything. Most retailers of no name stuff never post the run-out or the the accuracy. I believe TAIG states backlash can be tuned down to .0003" (I think?) It pretty fcking low. And seeing is believing.

 

IMG_0151.jpg

 

 

Check it out. I have never been disappointed with it and I have had it running for almost 10 years now.

Regards

John W

aka WarHog.

 

My Cockpit Build Pictures...



John Wall

 

My Arduino Sketches ... https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-Dc0Wd9C5l3uY-cPj1iQD3iAEHY6EuHg?usp=sharing

 

 

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Posted

John,

how do you setup your electrical connections? Du you use resistors between the darlington and each led? or do you have one resistor to rule them all ;)

I tried with 1 resistor between the 12V power supply and the first four rows of my caution panel (the first darlington). It worked but my resistor got so hot that it melted the wire next to it, in other words: to hot.

I used a standard 1/4 W resistor, metal film.

Should I put several resistors in paralell? or maybee get a higher wattage resistor? Any tips?

 

Regards,

Tore

Regards,

Tore

 

- Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek -

Posted

Tore.

I think you need to be more detailed when you ask a question about a circuit as I'm not understanding what connections you are referring to. Also you asked about how darlingtons are connected. I do not use darlingtons so I don't know. I think someone else made reference to them but I didn't as they would not be my choice for anything other than maybe running stepper motors with a high current draw. For high current applications related to leds, I use Mosfets. You might want to do some reading on using MOSFETs with Arduino's as they will come in handy for driving LEDs that use more than 20mA

 

Now back to you questions. First, please understand I have very limited knowledge in electronics. I'm still at the learning stage so I'm not one to rely on for solid answers. Cnc is my forte. Electronics is my hobby and I am a novice. That being said I can at least provide some basic direction for you.

 

I'm not sure how you are wiring everything. Can you draw me a picture of your complete circuit? Are you using a matrix or just connecting 48 LEDs to 48 pins on the arduino board or are you using a MAX7219 to drive everything?

 

Yes one reistor in front of all those LEDs will fry.

 

The simple method would be one led - one Arduino pin. That means using a Mega and one resistor per led. But I don't think the Mega can support 20mA x 48 LEDs = 960mA, almost one amp. So what you need is something to act as a switch that turns the switch on when the pin on the Arduino board goes high (5v) and then turns the Led off when the pin low goes to zero volts. The typical choice of switch for this application would be a transistor for each led.

 

I prefer using a Max7219 to drive everything from just 4 pins and a Pro Mini. The sketch is a little more involved and the circuit design is specific to using a matrix. All 48 LEDs use just one single resistor located at the iset and VCC pins of the Max7219 to limit current.

 

I would get the data sheet for the MAX7219 and read it carefully and get a basic understanding of its used and how to connect it and how the circuit would work. There are several articles on the Internet related to this specific topic which will provide additional background. I believe there is also a sketch at the end of the DCS-BIOS Users Guide that will get you started.

 

If you wish to go the route of one led-one pin then you need to research using transistors as a switch for the Arduino. Basically when the Arduino applies current to the transistor, the transistor allows current to flow from an external power source through a current limiting resistor to the led, thus turning on the led. I don't know much about using transistors but I do know that there are numerous articles that explain how to use them as a switch with arduino boards.

Regards

John W

aka WarHog.

 

My Cockpit Build Pictures...



John Wall

 

My Arduino Sketches ... https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-Dc0Wd9C5l3uY-cPj1iQD3iAEHY6EuHg?usp=sharing

 

 

WIN 10 Pro, i8-8700k @ 5.0ghz, ASUS Maximus x Code, 16GB Corsair Dominator Platinum Ram,



AIO Water Cooler, M.2 512GB NVMe,

500gb SSD, EVGA GTX 1080 ti (11gb), Sony 65” 4K Display

VPC MongoosT-50, TM Warthog Throttle, TRK IR 5.0, Slaw Viper Pedals

Posted

A darlington or 'darlington pair' is a pair of transistors acting as one, so you can use a minimal current into the first to switch a higher load through the second, basically the same function as a logic level mosfet. They are packaged together in groups of 7 or 8 in one chip, hence darlington array, in the uln2003 and uln2803. You will need a resistor for each led or number of leds on each circuit, same as you would use for driving directly from each arduino pin. There are loads of circuit diagrams, just search for 'ulnxxxx circuit on google'.

I was wrong about the arduino's current handling capability, the page you linked to trise has been updated and atmel have confirmed that the arduino can handle 200ma per gnd pin. Anyway, it is always advisable to buffer any input and output so using the darlington arrays as you have is the best way, it provides a level protection for the arduino pins.

Posted

What leds are you using, what voltage and current are needed. I just noticed you are supplying 12v, that will be a lot of wasted power, as heat, if the led only needs 2 to 3 volts.

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