Hi, I got my Mini Mill up and running last night. I have used your Black Box and after following the you tube electral build all worked as demonstrated in the video. I have just gone to do my first job and I cannot get the machine to work. It refuses to home, I have restarted my computer, restarted Control, I have reset the g code, all to no avail. I keep getting 'Homing fail, could not find limit switch within the search distance.', see screenshot. I have checked the limit switches in the troubleshooting section and all trigger, all connections are sound, but, I have noticed that I can turn the jog wheels easily with the machine powered on.
Sorry folks, false alarm. User error, I forgot to switch the Black Box on. I had turned the PSU on but not the box. My OX CNC router only has a PSU switch.
It seems I spoke too soon. Started my first job going, all went well then the tool dug in for some reason, I was attempting to cut 3mm aluminium with a 3mm endmill, The machine ground to a halt, I hit emergency stop but the machine won't re home, Z homes ok, X homes but does not bounce off and Y stays still. X will jog, Z will jog but Y will not move. The job was moving in the direction of the Y axis when the tool dug in. If the Y driver has fried, is it possible to re configure to use the Y2 driver?
Yip, put slavemotor jumpers on Y. But unlikely the driver got damaged from that, so recheck wiring etc too Was collet nut really tight? Downcut [edit: sorry mean Upcut] bits can pull themselves out of a collet thats not tightened enough
I was using a standard upcut endmill. Y axis seems dead as a dodo, won't jog or home, all wiring appears ok. I have the event on a video, will upload to my drive and post a link...
All good. Unlikely, but not impossible. Upcut yes sorry, the one that "pulls downward" Either way, Y2 should do.
Is that DC spindle on its own PSU? Abrupt stop on a DC motor will dump a lot of back EMF which could fry things attached to it, maybe near it.
It is, works on 100V DC. Y working again now, turned everything off and went back half an hour later and all back to normal, Second attempt got a bit further in then the spindle mount worked loose on one side. Tightened all up and tried again, this time with a downcut endmill, the job finished but the profile cut didn't go all the way through. I am using Vectric Cut2D for generating tool paths, and g code, I tried Openbuilds on line CAM program but I couldn't get it to calculate tool paths. Is there a good tutorial in it's use? I can't find one that starts with a DXF file and finishes with g code. I am also getting a lot of vibration, thinking of mounting the whole machine on a slab of 1.5 inch cast iron I happen to have lying about to add some mass to the structure....
Awesome! Chips will enter protection mode when subjected to overcurrent position. Power cycle clears the fault. - Z axis calibrated? (openbuilds CONTROL -> Wizards and Tools -> Calibrate) - or Endmill shifted upwards in the collet? (Seen it happen too many times - its easy to undertighten a collet or the collet may be incorrectly machined) - or assumed material is 3mm for example, set CAM depth to 3mm, real world measurement may differ and actually be 3.2mm? - or incorrectly zeroed Z? Post source files (DXF/SVG), post Workspace Export (from OpenBuilds CAM - File menu) and screenshots of any errors. Basically: Open a DXF R14 Polyline formatted file, click to select entities, click Add, New Toolpath. Configure toolpath. Apply. Repeat for remaining entities (so setup toolpaths for inside cuts, then outside cuts, etc) Click Generate Gcode
Autodesk has various versions of the DXF format. The newer ones are proprietary and thus doesnt play well with other software. Do a file, save-as and select an older version from the dropdown below the file name input Also explode all splines to Polylines: From CAD to CAM, Cleaning up 2D DWG files for CNC. has some more generic advice
Couldn't upload workspace, wrong file extension. Part of the file has reversed its self for some reason and I can't correct it. I have attached the Vectric cut2d file as well. The feed rate was set at 65 inches/minute, now set to 1000 mm/min.
