pitbldr Posted November 30, 2010 Posted November 30, 2010 I'll second y2kiah's recommendation on the G540. I have one and love it. Building it yourself has some advantages and can save some cash, but I would also recommend spending the money now on parts that will hold up - in other words, aluminum extrusion over plywood/mdf. I would think that over time, wood/mdf is gonna develop more play and throw your tolerances out of wack. Build as much as you can now out of aluminum and save yourself time and headaches later on. :) Also, depending on how big of a machine you need, you could always start off small and upgrade. That's what I did and it worked out great. I bought a Fireball V90 for just under $1300, used it for a year, then sold it for $1150. Check out ebay too if you haven't yet. You might find a complete machine a good price! Hope you get it all worked out.
Feed Posted November 30, 2010 Author Posted November 30, 2010 Indeed, I'd figured that I could get started with a plywood machine and then move the motors, electronics and lead screws over to a more 'permanent' machine at some point down the line, upgrading as money allowed. While I can afford several hundred dollars right now, I can't really afford to spend more than a couple thousand. That G540 alone is as much as I'll spend on (cheap?) lead screws. Still, I'll soak up as much info as you guys can give me. If I need to scrape up a couple grand to do this right, that's what I'll do. As far as ebay goes, I've been looking. I've been torn over what constitutes a truly good deal or not, as I weigh different options of drive mechanisms, working areas, etc. I know my #1 requirement will be accuracy, since I'll be engraving panels, but I also want a decent size (at least a full 12" by 18"+), since I'm hoping to bring in a bit of business with trinkets and custom parts. Anyway, yeah ... my 'pit is in a state of limbo since I don't want to put too much effort into masonite & photo-paper panels if I'm looking at full acrylic/engraved/backlit panels not too far in the future (and looking forward to the learning processes that comes with all that). My hand-wiring of the UHF panel's 7-segment displays was enough to convince me I needed a CNC for custom circuitboards. :]
Feed Posted November 30, 2010 Author Posted November 30, 2010 Duckling! Sorry I just saw those circuit schematics ... THAT is what I'm talking about needing the CNC for, exactly! I love you guys ... *sniff* LOL
Feed Posted November 30, 2010 Author Posted November 30, 2010 Oh wait a second .... the G540 replaces the breakout board and the four individual stepper motor drivers ... sometimes I'm slow ... that makes a lot more sense.
Feed Posted December 3, 2010 Author Posted December 3, 2010 Considering this for a landing gear handle ... knobs are about 1.5" in diameter, according to the seller. Of course, I also pulled the trigger on a CNC mill, so maybe I should be asking specs for the real thing, instead.
hassata Posted December 4, 2010 Posted December 4, 2010 Not this one I hope lol: http://www.amazon.com/Grizzly-G0618-CNC-Mill-Position/dp/B000M64RW4 [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]
Feed Posted December 4, 2010 Author Posted December 4, 2010 How did you know!?? LOL ... yes, the plan is to construct an ACTUAL airplane. Sims are for wimps. LOL
Sharkster64 Posted December 7, 2010 Posted December 7, 2010 Nice pit feed. Looks great.:thumbup: [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Call Sign: Warhammer
Feed Posted December 7, 2010 Author Posted December 7, 2010 Thanks, Sharkster! Other folks are making me jealous with their progress, and I'm anxious to get back to work on mine! :)
Feed Posted January 7, 2011 Author Posted January 7, 2011 No, I'm not gone. Get ready to laugh as I melt plastic and drill holes - the Romax HS-1 CNC rig arrived today, and looks in good order. I probably have a good few weeks of configuration, testing and tinkering before I'm cutting actual panels. Pit still looks about the same, though with the Warthog, (new Throttle replaced by TM) and Helios gauges on Monitor #4. Haven't tried with Beta 4 yet, but I couldn't get the MFDs on monitor 4 without a HORRENDOUS drop in FPS.
walker450 Posted January 7, 2011 Posted January 7, 2011 Haven't tried with Beta 4 yet, but I couldn't get the MFDs on monitor 4 without a HORRENDOUS drop in FPS. Please keep us updated on what you end up with as far as framerate. Also, how are you displaying the three main screens? TH2Go? Speedpad for Inputs | My Simpit | Joystick Damper Mod
Feed Posted January 8, 2011 Author Posted January 8, 2011 Okay, here's day #1 with the Romaxx HS-1 ... I already love this thing. @walker - Yes, TH2Go Digital. I suspect it's just time for a new video card. I'm on a 4850. I get decent framerates with the TH2Go, even with Helios running on the 2nd Out (4 monitors total) ... but removing that "fullscreen" checkbox in DCS and adding the MFD displays to monitor #4 brings the FPS unacceptably low (to around 6). I still haven't tried it with Beta4 ... been too busy getting the CNC up and working.
pitbldr Posted January 8, 2011 Posted January 8, 2011 Great job! CNC's are cool aren't they?!!? :thumbup: I liked mine so much I decided to order a laser version! :D:D
Duckling Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 :thumbup:Hey Feed. that pan sure looks good. Seems allmost zero tolerance to fit the switches judging from the pic. Great start - - - -
Feed Posted January 9, 2011 Author Posted January 9, 2011 Yes, the CNC is absolutely great - and you're right Duckling, there's basically no slop at all. I measured the switch mounting myself before designing the plates. The front face has wider shallow pockets on the backside that conceal the nuts holding each switch to the backplate. I'm very happy with how it turned out. My next steps will be to paint it and then engrave ... we'll see how that goes. :)
wriley Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 Looking great Feed! I can't wait to get to this point with my CNC. :) i7-950, 8GB DDR3, EVGA X58, GTX 460 SE 1GB, Win XP 64Bit, CH gear (stick, throttle, rudder pedals), TM Cougar MFDs William Riley http://workbench.freetcp.com
Feed Posted January 24, 2011 Author Posted January 24, 2011 Ok, it's slow going but here's attempt #2 for engraving ... 1
Succellus Posted January 26, 2011 Posted January 26, 2011 Nice pit inddeed, a dream... what is the setting of the "panel" monitor ? Do you use monitors or TVs as main screens ? HaF 922, Asus rampage extreme 3 gene, I7 950 with Noctua D14, MSI gtx 460 hawk, G skill 1600 8gb, 1.5 giga samsung HD. Track IR 5, Hall sensed Cougar, Hall sensed TM RCS TM Warthog(2283), TM MFD, Saitek pro combat rudder, Cougar MFD.
Succellus Posted January 26, 2011 Posted January 26, 2011 Ok, it's slow going but here's attempt #2 for engraving ... HUH... You want better than that ? HaF 922, Asus rampage extreme 3 gene, I7 950 with Noctua D14, MSI gtx 460 hawk, G skill 1600 8gb, 1.5 giga samsung HD. Track IR 5, Hall sensed Cougar, Hall sensed TM RCS TM Warthog(2283), TM MFD, Saitek pro combat rudder, Cougar MFD.
Feed Posted January 26, 2011 Author Posted January 26, 2011 Thanks, guys! Succellus, all the monitors are 1680x1050; the 3 main are connected via a TH2Go, while the lower one is on the secondary port off the same card. Really, I'm not getting acceptable framerates with all of them running. DCS beta 3 (fullscreen mode on the TH2Go) + Helios on the bottom (NOT exporting the DCS MFDs) has been the best I've achieved. If I put the TH2Go into single-screen mode, then I can run DCS + Helios, including exported DCS MFDs, which is really nice. Beyond that I need to upgrade my hardware. I DO want better than that - I forgot to turn off lean-in and lead-out (I'm still learning!) on the CNC, so 'closed loop' letters like D and O have little 'tails' on them (they kinda look like chipped paint in the picture - you can see them). The alignment of the text is also a bit off, where the bottom labels are closer to the switch than the top labels - a side effect of removing them from the CNC for painting before engraving the text (and not being careful enough to get the positioning right). Other than that, though - yes, I was very pleased - and I probably won't re-do this panel - it's certainly good enough for my generic 'pit. :)
pitbldr Posted January 26, 2011 Posted January 26, 2011 The alignment of the text is also a bit off, where the bottom labels are closer to the switch than the top labels - a side effect of removing them from the CNC for painting before engraving the text (and not being careful enough to get the positioning right). What bit (type) are you using? Also, little tip I learned. Use the mounting holes on your panels to help align it for the text. Here's how... Step 1 (once panel is painted and ready to engrave) - run a drill profile on a piece of wood and drill the mounting holes just deep enough to mark them in the wood. About .125 is enough. Step 2 - use wood screws to attach the panel to the wood fixture. Step 3- run your engraving profile. This works really well since it doesn't matter where on your bed zero for X and Y is. Once you run the drill profile, it is perfectly aligned for the next step. :) Hope all that makes sense, but if not, let me know and I'll try to clarify.
Feed Posted January 26, 2011 Author Posted January 26, 2011 Makes PERFECT sense - thank you! I actually did this by aligning off a pre-drilled mounting hole, but obviously I missed something along the way somewhere. I did the engraving with a 90-degree v-bit. I thought I was being real smart choosing a right angle, but having thought about it more, I probably should have chosen something a little steeper. Since I'm just getting started, I haven't collected a very wide selection of bits, yet.
pitbldr Posted January 27, 2011 Posted January 27, 2011 No problem - glad it made sense. :) I think a 90 degree is the right choice. I just know from my own attempts that it's not an exact science since you're trying to engrave something in the hundreth's of an inch range. If your bed is off just a hair, it'll show up on the panel. Looks like you're really getting the hang of the CNC though! :)
Feed Posted January 27, 2011 Author Posted January 27, 2011 Yes indeed - Attempt #1 was done with a DOC of 1mm, and I eyeballed zero Z about a half mm above the work - the result was far too deep. I'm enjoying it ... I've got plenty of CAD experience, so most of my learning has been little tips from folks about how to do things right (thank you again!), and figuring out the right balance of doc, spindle speed, and feed rate for the material I'm working with. Really, really cool stuff.
Recommended Posts