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How did they get into this thread
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I had X/Y Home limit switches at first, but after a couple of upgrades to my gantry, I didn't reinstall them because I couldn't decide on how best to attach them and got frustrated with the process. Frankly, I haven't felt an urgent need to have them at all. My rapid speed is never above 150ipm, even with manual jog, so I have avoided any issues. The "Z" touch off switch is a given necessity however.Simko wrote: What are people using for wiring for the limits? I have a 1000' spool of CAT-6 laying around, but I am not sure how it will last in the e-chain for the z-axis limit.
Capstone wrote:ask yourself "Why do I need these?" and really consider it because it's a going to make for a lot more work. If you're like me and Jester, you'll always just pick a spot of blank metal, zero the DRO and run it.
Thor wrote: If you have a gantry with dual motor drive you'll want home switches, and they need to be adjustable so you can square the gantry up properly.
I just pull the gantry up to the welded hard stops which are square before turning on.Thor wrote: If you have a gantry with dual motor drive you'll want home switches, and they need to be adjustable so you can square the gantry up properly.
Best damn idea I have seen so far for the PC...Simko wrote:I took a little break from the table and put together a stand-up workstation using a tool cart from Harbor Freight. The lid on the tool cart as it comes from HF leans forward at about a 20 degree angle. I replaced the shocks on the lid with some locking hinges and drilled them so that the top would be perfectly vertical.
The computer fits on the bottom shelf well, but the CandCNC box is just down there temporarily.
I also need to do something about my custom-box-that-came-with-the-monitor-keyboard-stand.![]()
I was very tempted to plug in all the motors and give it a quick test run, but I want to wait until I have some time to go through everything properly.
All I need to do is paint the table, build a water table and buy a plasma cutter and I will be cutting metal..![]()
Capstone wrote:Steve,
The only drawback is the dust, and that's not a small thing. Just a side note, once things are up and running for a while, don't ever try to blow out the dust on your PC while it's running.It definitely fried my primary PC and forced me to use my back-up. Fortunately I thought ahead and bought two identical refurbs and use DropBox for all my files, so I was back up and running in about a day.
That is a pretty sweet set-up.Capstone wrote:Steve,
I had the 3x3 80/20 leftover from a previous gantry build along with some MDF and plenty of scrap. Built this little cart. for my PC/Monitor. It's great from a storage/mobility/workflow standpoint, especially since I updated the sides to include a custom tool hanging solution. The only drawback is the dust, and that's not a small thing. Just a side note, once things are up and running for a while, don't ever try to blow out the dust on your PC while it's running.It definitely fried my primary PC and forced me to use my back-up. Fortunately I thought ahead and bought two identical refurbs and use DropBox for all my files, so I was back up and running in about a day.
Those are nice too. I like how little space they take up.acourtjester wrote:Different folks different strokes![]()
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I like the all in one controller here are ones for 2 tables I built.
No need to apologize for hi-jacking... I like seeing everyone's ideas. I would much rather read posts on here about how someone built their cabinet, as opposed to posts about someone asking for the group to trace a picture of their cat. I kinda wish there was an even more active DIY/CNC build/cool garage ideas forum on this site. I sometimes go to CNCZone for a fix, but their Plasma/Waterjet cutting forum doesn't get too much traffic.exapprentice wrote:Just thought I would add my slant for a work station into the mix
following on from Tom's "different strokes different folks" comments and how we all seem to solve the same challenges but in totally different ways.
This is what I came up with after looking around to find what bits and pieces I had available
The bottom cabinet is an old glass fronted two door cabinet and contains the Dell and all the CandCNC, drivers & electronics for the machine,
I ran door seals around all the openings to help minimise the crap getting in
The screen is a old 50" flat screen TV, mounted behind glass, needless to say I don't need to put my specs on when stood on the other side of the machine (old age thing) the upper cabinet was made from 1/4" plywood () yes wood, the screen shot is what I see when I use the screen option on the PN200
The bottom cabinet is fitted with two cabinet fans which draw air in at the bottom through a filter just to keep things cool.
I put the drop down shelf below the screen for the keyboard and mouse and also a place to keep those essential things you sometimes need (but can never find)great thing is when its closed it keeps all the crap out
A BIG sorry to Steve (simko) for hi-jacking the thread, just couldn't help myself
On the first failed PC, it was definitely a piece of dust that mucked up the hard-drive, which meant all that swapping got me no closer to a running machine than just firing up the new one and reloading the software. Had it been a CPU or MoBo, then sure but in this case it was just more time wasting.acourtjester wrote:Different folks different strokes![]()
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I like the all in one controller here are ones for 2 tables I built.
Capstone with 2 identical PCs like that you can swap the hard drive or motherboard between the 2 for a quick fix as long as the you clone the hard drive before hand. Casper is a great program for doing that. This will not work unless the PC are identical, I bought 2 of the same DEll PC you used little plans ahead thing.![]()