Modifying the Z-axis to accommodate a larger motor will be a worth while task and is possible, however we have not calibrated the z-axis therefore using the 1600 Steps-per inch in the motor tuning on our machine in our shop. We have not noticed any significant depth increments from not calibrating the z-axis but only from zeroing the z axis too close to the material. Also in your design did you specify the actual depth and the length of tool (end mill/ bit) that you are using?

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I bought a Blacktoe 2 x 8 three years ago and have always had a problem with the Zid axis. No matter how tightly I've calibrated the axis it always cuts to deep. Can I put a larger Stepper motor on Z-axis using the same motion electronics that came with the original machine.

Make sure that the port setting for that output is set to port 3. To do this in Mach3, click config -> Ports & Pins -> click the outputs tab and in the list of outputs, select the output you want to use and set the port to 3.

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I have a single axis motion for my table saw fence. Motor, limit switches and e-stop work fine. I now need to add an air solenoid relay but I cannot get the outputs to work. I have 24v supply connected and tried using the Spindle output on pin 1. But using a multimeter, there is no voltage on the Output 1 terminal.

Are you referring to the 425 oz-in motor? How many motors and drivers have you connected? If you have connected more than one, are they all sounding the same?

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it's the 650oz motor. but I think I've got the problem solved. The motor tuning was way out of whack.. I hooked up the smaller 425oz motors and they were ALSO acting funny so I knew it was not them. Software.

I'm still trying to find out what the best speeds are, so there is still some stutter and skipping. thanks for the quick response though, much appreciated.

-james

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You will also want to look at your microstepping. Consider determining your expected mechanical steps per inch and desired jog speed (ipm) and you should have fewer issues. Use the formula: (motor steps * microsteps) / (number of inches of travel in one turn). The ipm for pulley or sprockets should be in the 500-1000 ipm range and for 5 start lead screw, in the 100-200 ipm range. The acceleration can be in the range of 10-40 depending on the mechanics and inertia involved.

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If you ask a question here like: what steps per inch should I set my axes? You will get the standard settings for our machines.

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connected 625oz motor using wire diagram, but motor sounds like it's skipping, am I doing something wrong or is this part DOA? I tried every combo of wiring up, some errored the controller, but the ones that 'worked' still sound terrible. Where do I go from here? - thx! -james

If your motors are hot to the touch, this is normal. Current is being drawn by the motor coils as the motor moves and as the motor stays at a position. If the motor is not using the current in the coils to move (holding it's position), the energy will be translated as heat (rather than motion, sound or light). Even while moving, some of the energy will be lost as heat. Remember that energy cannot be created nor destroyed.

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I HAVE FOLLOWED ALL THE "CNC ELECTRONICS 1 - 9" VIDEOS AND I'M USING ALMOST EXACT SAME COMPONENTS (MOTORS RUN SOUND GOOD) BUT MOTORS ARE RUNING VERY HOT IN JUST 15MIN WITH NO LOAD DONE SOMETHING WRONG OR DO STEPPERS HOT?

If your motors are hot to the touch, this is normal. Current is being drawn by the motor coils as the motor moves and as the motor stays at a position. If the motor is not using the current in the coils to move (holding it's position), the energy will be translated as heat (rather than motion, sound or light). Even while moving, some of the energy will be lost as heat. Remember that energy cannot be created nor destroyed.

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I have followed all the "CNC Electronics 1 - 9" videos and I'm using almost the exact same components (motors run and sound good) but the motors are runing very hot in just 15min with no load - have I done something wrong or do steppers run very hot?

That was one of our older models, which we did not have any specific ground pins on our board, they were not added and we currently updated our board to include them.

For the random triggers for the limits and e-stop, we recommend having these wired separate from any other wires (communication, power, etc), and we recommend shielded cable as well! These will be very sensitive to noise and any interference that might be present.

Our newer model Parallel BoB: https://buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsAndMotors-parallel-breakout-relay

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on the parallel breakout board I have, there are two 5v inputs on the limit swith side and no ground label. https://www.dropbox.com/s/hxeojviveteqq2f/IMG_7947.jpeg?dl=0 I have used an external ground for now but I am getting random limit and e-stop triggers. please advise

This is most likely a wiring issue. I would disconnect all of the power to the drivers and reconnect one at a time to isolate the problem.

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that was not helpful. I already did that way before submitting this question. there are not that many wires here and I have already rewired this a few times. I actually think its a software or interface board issue because it does work sometimes but then trips (possibly a amperage / voltage issue) I am using the interface board that has a parallel port and usb for 5V. are there different settings that I need to setup?

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I'm using the big 651oz in stepper motor for X and Y and the smaller 325 for the z and X and Y keep tripping when I try to tune the motors on Mach3 but Z seems to work. I have to turn power on and off to reset....is this a wiring issue?

The laser tube is a consumable item in all CO2 lasers, unless the laser tube can be recharged. My laser tubes will most likely work as long as the mouts are the same size. Let me know the mount diameter and the length of space for the tube in the Epilog Laser Cutter and Engraver and I will let you know.

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My Epilog Summit (3.3) only works from Windows Millenium and 98. Notconsistently from WXP, but sporadic raster and vector combined does happen. I can't get it to work right w XP through Harvard Draw, Corel,Image Folio, Stika, DrawMagic or anything else I have. But Millenium isOK except for the advanced mapping to colors function is very difficult.When it does rarely accept a graphic from my XP system from CorelDrawEssentials or 8.0, it will allow complete control for photo etching -speed, power and shade mapping. It is the same driver for both mysystems but the control panel page looks different in the 2 computers. The laser takes 45 seconds to initialize after power on. You can use a USB to Parallel adapter cable for your laptop or modern computer connection. The laser needs the old style printer connection. Test your laser by holding all 3 power/focus/speed buttons until homed. Close the lid. "Online" for lase, any other button for laser off. Should be an audible beep every few seconds while your laser is functioning. This is not a motion test -only laser firing.

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I have a 25 watt Epilog Summit Model 2000/25 laser engraver. I believe my tube is going bad due to limited vector cutting and no raster. Do you think there is a way to retrofit with your products to make it work well. Mirrors are new and mechanical is good. Thanks.

No, you do not need another motion controller if you have the parallel breakout board and you are using the "Legacy Parallel Port Plug-In" with Mach4. The motion controller is the parallel port.

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I purchased hardware for my plasma table which included 3 nema 34 stepper motors and drivers, power supply,Blue brew BOB, and Mach 4 Control software with parallel port plug-in. In configuring the Mach 4 software it asks for a motion controler. Do I need another device such as a smoothstepper motion controler?

Are you able to install a newer version of Mach3? If you are worried that your configuration will be lost, you can save the configuration by copying all of the XML files from the Mach folder. The XML files contain all of the settings that you applied in Mach3. Just in case the XML files are not compatible with the new version, make sure not to erase the current Mach3 that you have on the machine.

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[575] Hi, I have an old version of MACH3 V1.84 - Can someone tell me where to place the USB motion drive as there is no plugin folder in this version.

The 8 wire motors need to be wired in bipolar parallel configuration. The wiring is as follows: Red and Blue to A+, Yellow and Black to A-, White and Brown to B+ and Orange and Green to B-. To find the wiring for the 4 wire motors, the wiring is Red to A+, Orange to A-, Blue to B+ and Green to B-.

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I have constructed the cnc router machine as shown in woodsmith magazine. I have purchased the 3 Nema stepper motors. The one larger motor has 4 wires, as do the other two. However, on the schematic, the Z, and Y axis motors indicate 8 wires each. Did I go wrong, or are there different Nema 23 motors?

Book build (scratch build), feedrates and recommendation.

Using standard allthread will provide around 20-30 ipm using 36 volts. Although it allows for a working CNC machine, the RPM of the spindle/router will need to spin at the lowest setting to provide the beat efficiency and life for the end mill at 1/4" cut diameter and higher. The speeds may be fine for smaller end mills.

If you would like faster speeds, you should change the lead screws on the CNC machine to the 1/2" 5 start 10 TPI which translates to 2 turns per inch which means, the stepping motor will not need to turn as fast to produce faster motion. That is to say, the stepping motor will only need to turn two revolutions for the machine to travel one inch and with the allthread, the stepping motor will need to turn 13 times to reach one inch.

Link to the lead screw and other mechanical parts needed:
https://www.buildyourcnc.com/CNCMachineMechanicalParts.aspx

To change the lead screws you will need (for each axis):

1. The lead screw for that axis.
2. Two 1/2" collars to keep the lead screw axially stable.
3. One Antibacklash nut.

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Since I am using normal all-thread lead screw 13 TPI 1/2" for the book build cnc, what can be the maximum feed rate of machine and how can I change the mechanical setup in mach 3? I am using 1/4" steel carbile endmill with 2 flutes and router is 2 HP with variable speed

If you select the Settings Page and select or tick Auto Limit Override - this will allow you to back off the switch.

Additional Information:
limit and home switch

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Using Mach3 and the USB Controller, In initializing the 'Ref All Home' the machine goes thru the procedure of zeroing out 'Z' than move to zero out 'y', but when it move to 'x' it just stops when it hits the switch instead of zeroing out?

You don't need to designate a PIN. In the pulse engine, you may want to try inverting the step low active. You also want to make sure that the pokeys57CNC ID is correct. If you had a previous pokeys57CNC, Mach 4 may be using a previous ID. You can try removing the plugin and start again so Mach 4 can recognize it and reinstall it.

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Downloaded Mach4 and pokeys57cnc software, hooked everything up according to videos and motor isn't turning, do you have to designate a pin number in Mach 4, for the step and dir. using motor 1 block as video described (3,5, and 9). Thanks for your help.

Most motherboard do contain parallel ports, but the port connector may not be at the back (in the section where external connectors will be connected). Instead, the motherboard may contain an LPT ribbon connector on the actual face of the motherboard (usually along one of the edges). You will need a ribbon connector to a DB25 female connector.

If your motherboard does not contain an LPT header on the motherboard, you can purchase a parallel printer adapter that plugs into one of the PCI slots. The price of the adapter is very inexpensive and sometimes is actually less costly than the actual ribbon connector.

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As I am building my 20" x 24" laser engraver cutter, I notice that there is no parallel port on the onboard computer and I have the parallel breakout board any answers?

The Mach3 USB interface board will require a 24V power supply to enable the use of the input, output terminals, and the spindle VFD 0-10V and output for speed control.

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Hi Patrick right now I have a parallel port cnc machine that I built in 2013 using the hardware and components I purchased from your website. I want to update my system by changing my current parallel port interface board to a Mach3 USB interface board from your website. Is the Mach3 USB interface board all I need to do this or is there other components I need to get. please advise.

Fusion 360 is a program that allows you to design in a parametric 3 dimensional environment and also provides a great CAM toolset. Fusion 360 will produce the gcode with the CAM capabilities. The gcode is used to move the machine in various ways in order to mill the material; however, software is needed to interpret this gcode and cause the machine to move according to the gcode instructions. This is called control software. So Fusion is CAD/CAM, and you still need "control". Mach3 is one example of control software for milling and is highly recommended.

Install Mach3 onto the computer that will connect to the redFly(CNC electronics), then configure the Mach3 parameters for the machine (motor tuning, plug-ins, inputs/output, etc.). Home the machine, load the gcode into Mach3 and the machine will move according to the gcode.

A word of caution, since you are new to CNC machines, make sure you familiar yourself with the machine and the movements of the machine specific to how the gcode is arranged with respect to the coordinates of the machine. Try with very simple gcode until you get a very good understanding of how the machine will move.

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Hello, My friend has purchased the Redfly and I am helping him a little with it. We are both very new to CNC. I am using fusion 360 at the moment. This can tool path and create gcode. I was wondering if Mach 3 or similar is still needed. Is there a tutorial you could point me to that explains how to get the Gcode from the PC, via Serial to the Redfly?

Most likely, the driver is not receiving the high or low signal for the direction terminals. The way direction works for an axis is the controller will output a high signal (5V) for one direction and low signal (0V) for the opposite direction. If the signal is always at one signal, say 5V, whether it is commanded in one direction or the other, then the axis will only move in that direction.

To solve this problem, make sure that the wiring is secure at both ends (from the controller to the driver). Also, make sure the Dir+ and DIR- are both wired correctly (i.e. the Dir- is connected to the signal gnd on the controller and the ZD is connected to Dir+ on the driver.

You can use a multimeter to determine the voltage at the ZD terminal by:
- setting the multimeter to DC voltage (the V with a straight line, or dashed line above the V)
- place the black lead on the gnd terminal
- place the red lead on the ZD terminal
- press the page up button and check the voltage
- press the page down button and check the voltage.

You should see the voltage change from 0V to 5V or vice versa.

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Hi I have just set up my machine using a mach 3 USB board I can only get the Z to go in one direction Y and X are Ok I have check wiring and looked at video over and over what have I missed??

In the mach 3 software there is a setting that can be check to allow either a high or low to trigger you motor. In Mach 3 Config/Ports&Pins/MotorOutputs/StepLowA will enable the motor with a low Voltage.

Adjust the motor outputs to there corresponding step pin/direction pin(if setup is following our diagram):
Step Dirt
x 2 3
y 4 5
z 6 7

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I'm connecting my PCI-e parallel expansion card to my 5 axis parallel port breakout board. However, the 3.3 volts coming out is not triggering servo step. I can measure hi/lo coming out of the parallel port when using Mach 3. Is the low voltage likely the issue or should I look elsewhere?