At this time, we don't offer drawings or digital files for the redLeaf or redSprout CNC computer system.

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Can I please buy a vectored drawing of the redleaf control box to cut out on my cnc?

There are several CAD/CAM programs out there for MacOS. Here is a list of a few: http://www.macuser.de/forum/f53/3d-2d-cad-395058/#post4499316
I've also read good things about punchCAD: http://www.punchcad.com/
Of course, there is always SketchUp if you are in a pinch. There are a few CAM plugins for SketchUp as well, but I've never used them, so I can't vouch for them.

CAD/CAM will get you as far as designing your parts and producing the g-code, but if you also want to run the CNC machine with your Mac, you will need a piece of software similar to Mach3 or EMC to run the g-code. I haven't been able to find anything like these programs that runs on Mac, so you may have to run Mach3 or EMC in Windows using Boot Camp or a virtual machine such as VMware or Parallels.

Personally, I would use the Mac to do all the CAD/CAM, then use a cheap PC to run the CNC machine.

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EasyDNC for OSX
www.dnc-x.com

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Hi guys I’m new to the cnc and I’m beginning to learn how to operate and cad-cam software also my cnc runs on Mach3 my questions is if I should use MacBook to do all designs if I can have all this software to run on Mac or I have to use windows software to operate it? I have separate small computer connected to the cnc table who have Mach3 on it please help. Also if you know any other software much easy for beginners please let me know thank you guys!
My email if needed is r1jastrzebski@gmail.com

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Hi , thank you for your advise!

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Hi , thank you for your advise!

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Hi , thank you for your advise!

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Hi , thank you for your advise!

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CAN I USE AN APPLE COMPUTER TO RUN THE CNC?

All you need is a CNC controller like the following options:

https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsAndMotors-electronic-component-breakout-Mach3-USB-Board

This controller is easy to connect using standard wire screw terminals and works with the mach3 control software.

https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsAndMotors-electronic-component-breakout-Mach4-mach3-USB-ethernet-Board

This controller is a little bit more difficult to connect, but is a more feature-rich controller and will work with both mach3 and mach4 CNC control software titles.

Specifically, a CNC controller connects to the computer via a USB cable and connects to the motor drivers. These controllers also connect to the limit switches, spindle/router control, air/fluid/mist control, etc.

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Can you sell me a kit to control my motor from the pc? I already have a motor, driver and power supply.

Controlling a 3-axis or 4-axis motor configuration, you will need the following items drivers/motors/controller. Our electronics combo comes with the items mentioned and with power supply/miscellaneous items.
The only other item needed will be a computer (with controller software) to communicate and view controls of your motors.
Using the Parallel breakout board will use Mach 3 software, and USB will use Planet-CNC software.

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You can use this link to see the videos on how to connect the electronics together and make them work: https://www.buildyourcnc.com/tutorials/tutorial-Electronics-USB-Interface-Wiring

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hey, where can i see the steps how can i control 3 or 4 step motor? can i use the Axis Electronics Combo? or i need to connect controller?

LinuxCNC has excellent documents; however, I would like to offer our help in case you don't understand the information on that page. So, please use this FAQ (Question #: 13233) to state your questions by submitting additional information below.

The LinuxCNC spindle control page is found here: http://linuxcnc.org/docs/html/examples/spindle.html

Additional Information:
After reading the LinuxCNC page my first questions would be can the spindle be controlled by PWM signal? Also, what pin on the parallel port would I set to Spindle Enable and FRW?

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To connect your computer to the VFD, use a USB to RS-485 interface. RS-485 is just a serial interface protocol that uses standard 0 to +5 voltage TTL signal levels for communication (as opposed to RS-232 which uses -12v and +12 for signal level changes).

Get a high quality interface to reduce any issues during the process. The VFD should have two terminals labeled RS+ and RS-. The USB to RS-485 adapter should have this labeled on it as well so the connections should be relatively straight forward.

In the VFD parameters:
PD001: 2 to accept RS485 commands
PD002: 2 to accept frequency comands
PD163: 1 to RS485 slave address:1
PD164: 1 RS485 baud rate 9600
PD165: 3 8bit, no parity, 1 stop bit

Make sure LinuxCNC is also set accordingly:

The PIN14 and PIN16 in the stepconf wizard should be set to unused because you don't want LinuxCNC to be outputting unnecessary signals.

In the options step of the stepconf wizard:
- Check the Include Halui user interface component.
- Check the Include custom PyVCP GUI panel.
- Check Spindle speed display

You will want to edit the custom.hal text file located in the folder that was created from the stepconf wizard. Add these following lines:
loadusr -Wn vfd hy_vfd -n vfd -d /dev/ttyUSB0 -p none -r 9600
net spindle-cmd-rpm-abs => vfd.speed-command
net spindle-cw motion.spindle-forward => vfd.spindle-forward
net spindle-ccw motion.spindle-reverse => vfd.spindle-reverse
net on motion.spindle-on => vfd.spindle-on

The dev folder in linux is typically used for interfacing devices and peripherals to the computer as these devices are communicated by simple memory addresses and these files are linked directly to these addresses.

Under the custom_postgui.hal file, change this line:

from: sets spindle-at-speed true
to: net spindle-at-speed => cfd.spindle_at_speed

and add the line:

setp vfd.enable 1

When you start LinuxCNC, you will a spindle section with the reverse and forward buttons, a stop button and - and + buttons. Use these buttons to conform that the spindle is functioning properly. The spindle speed indicator in LinuxCNC will show the spindle speed and you can confirm that this is equal to the speed indicated on the VFD.


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Can LinuxCNC EMC2 control the spindle?

The best way to determine how to control your VFD using Mach4 is to read the MAch4 manual found here:
http://www.machsupport.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Mach4%20Installation%20Manual.pdf

You will find that there a a few ways to control the spindle/VFD on your CNC machine or CNC Router.
- The first and easiest is to have your VFD's power controlled by a relay. This will allow your spindle to have on/off control through Mach4 with an output pin.
- The second is to have a controller output a DAC voltage between 0-10 volts to control speed on the VFD/Spindle. There is a termial on the VFD to receive this signal line. The controller will also have an output that outputs a high or low and that can control the on/off on the VFD.
- The third, and more difficult of the three methods is to use a USB to Serial adapter (USB to USART or RS-485). The Computer plugs into the adapter using a USB cable and the adapter uses the RX/TX to connect to the VFD's terminals for communication. This will provide a great amount of control. Mach4 will need a plug-in to make this option work.

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How can I control my VFD using Mach4 cnc control software?

The best way to determine how to control your VFD using Mach4 is to read the MAch4 manual found here:
http://www.machsupport.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Mach4%20Installation%20Manual.pdf

You will find that there a a few ways to control the spindle/VFD on your CNC machine or CNC Router.
- The first and easiest is to have your VFD's power controlled by a relay. This will allow your spindle to have on/off control through Mach4 with an output pin.
- The second is to have a controller output a DAC voltage between 0-10 volts to control speed on the VFD/Spindle. There is a termial on the VFD to receive this signal line. The controller will also have an output that outputs a high or low and that can control the on/off on the VFD.
- The third, and more difficult of the three methods is to use a USB to Serial adapter (USB to USART or RS-485). The Computer plugs into the adapter using a USB cable and the adapter uses the RX/TX to connect to the VFD's terminals for communication. This will provide a great amount of control. Mach4 will need a plug-in to make this option work.

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Is there a way to use Mach4 to control my VFD?

We still use Mach3 with a parallel port. We are looking into newer boards with USB/ethernet communication.

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Are you using Mach 3 or 4? Do you ever use the etherenet outlet to control drivers?

Yes, you can control the speed of the 2.2 kW spindle, and the other spindles we sell, through Mach3 software. It requires making some changes to the settings in Mach3 and in your inverter. It also requires an additional part, which is called a USB to Serial Converter, found on our site here:

https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/Interfaces-newbiehack-Interfaces-TTL232R-USB-UART-Serial

I have some additional instructions, that I will send upon request, by email. I will also be adding a complete tutorial and video, to the website, on how to do this soon.

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20

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can I control the speed of a 2.2 spindle through your 5 axis breakout board with relay?

The Spindle can be controlled with either analog (Like with a DAC card) or PWM.

If your spindle speed is controlled by an analog signal, (for example, by a VFD with a 0 to 10 volt signal) and you’re using a DAC card like the m5i20 to output the control signal:

First you need to figure the scale of spindle speed to control signal. For this example the spindle top speed of 5000 RPM is equal to 10 volts.

10 volts / 5000 RPM = .002 volts / 1 RPM

If you need a spindle enable signal, link your output pin to motion.spindle-on. To link these pins to a parallel port pin put something like the following in your .hal file (net spindle-enable motion.spindle-on => parport.0.pin-14-out), making sure you pick the pin that is connected to your control device.

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Can the spindle be controlled with a PWM signal or analog signal? Which pin do I assign the spindle control to in LinuxCNC?

LinuxCNC has excellent documents; however, I would like to offer our help in case you don't understand the information on that page. So, please use this FAQ (Question #: 13233) to state your questions by submitting additional information below.

The LinuxCNC spindle control page is found here: http://linuxcnc.org/docs/html/examples/spindle.html

Additional Information:
After reading the LinuxCNC page my first questions would be can the spindle be controlled by PWM signal? Also, what pin on the parallel port would I set to Spindle Enable and FRW?

Additional Information:
To connect your computer to the VFD, use a USB to RS-485 interface. RS-485 is just a serial interface protocol that uses standard 0 to +5 voltage TTL signal levels for communication (as opposed to RS-232 which uses -12v and +12 for signal level changes).

Get a high quality interface to reduce any issues during the process. The VFD should have two terminals labeled RS+ and RS-. The USB to RS-485 adapter should have this labeled on it as well so the connections should be relatively straight forward.

In the VFD parameters:
PD001: 2 to accept RS485 commands
PD002: 2 to accept frequency comands
PD163: 1 to RS485 slave address:1
PD164: 1 RS485 baud rate 9600
PD165: 3 8bit, no parity, 1 stop bit

Make sure LinuxCNC is also set accordingly:

The PIN14 and PIN16 in the stepconf wizard should be set to unused because you don't want LinuxCNC to be outputting unnecessary signals.

In the options step of the stepconf wizard:
- Check the Include Halui user interface component.
- Check the Include custom PyVCP GUI panel.
- Check Spindle speed display

You will want to edit the custom.hal text file located in the folder that was created from the stepconf wizard. Add these following lines:
loadusr -Wn vfd hy_vfd -n vfd -d /dev/ttyUSB0 -p none -r 9600
net spindle-cmd-rpm-abs => vfd.speed-command
net spindle-cw motion.spindle-forward => vfd.spindle-forward
net spindle-ccw motion.spindle-reverse => vfd.spindle-reverse
net on motion.spindle-on => vfd.spindle-on

The dev folder in linux is typically used for interfacing devices and peripherals to the computer as these devices are communicated by simple memory addresses and these files are linked directly to these addresses.

Under the custom_postgui.hal file, change this line:

from: sets spindle-at-speed true
to: net spindle-at-speed => cfd.spindle_at_speed

and add the line:

setp vfd.enable 1

When you start LinuxCNC, you will a spindle section with the reverse and forward buttons, a stop button and - and + buttons. Use these buttons to conform that the spindle is functioning properly. The spindle speed indicator in LinuxCNC will show the spindle speed and you can confirm that this is equal to the speed indicated on the VFD.


Credit for this helpful information goes to:

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How can I make LinuxCNC control a spindle?

Planet-CNC is the control software. If you decide to use the USB controller, you will need to use the planet-CNC software as the control software. You will be able to use any of the CAM software applications with the planet-CNC control software.

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Would I be able to use the Mach3 CNC Control Software or any of the CNC CAM Software(BOBCAD/CAM,CAMBAM) if I choose to use the Planet-CNC USB Interface Board?

It is not necessary to connect the spindle VFD (Variable Frequency Drive also called an Inverter) to the computer or CNC motion electronics. The VFD can be controlled independently using the control panel on the VFD. The control panel has the ability to control all aspects of the spindle including Speed, Torque, limits, etc. However, you can connect the VFD to the computer so the CNC control program can control the spindle during the CNC Machine operation. You will need to connect the VFD to the computer via a serial conection (in this case, it is the RS-485 protocol).

The following are instructions on how to connect the VFD to Mach3 via this RS-485 serial connection.

The first thing you will need is the dynamic link library to pair with mach3 called the Huanyang VFD Mach3 PlugIn. You can find this file at the mach3 support forum here: http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,14182.0.html

You will also need to download the Microsoft .net 3.5 framework and install it: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=21

Follow the pdf that comes with the library file, but here is a synopsis of what you need to do (I also added a lot more information that may be useful during this process as the manual does not cover the main connections that need to be done):

You will need to program your VFD so that it knows how to communicate with mach3 and the computer (go into the programming mode of the VFD and change these parameters):
- PD001 - value 2 - Enables with communication aspect of the VFD
- PD002 - value 2 - Enables frequency control from the communcations port
- PD163 - value 1 - VFD address
- PD164 - value 1 - Baud rate of 9600 (speed of the communication)
- PD165 - value 3 - 8N1 RTU - 8 bits (that's the size of the word that gets communicated), N (No parity or no error checking) and 1 (1 stop bit)

Copy the dll file to the PlugIns folder of mach3.

Connect the RX and TX lines to your computer. There are a couple ways you can do this, but the recommended way would be to use an FTDI USB device which converts a USB to a serial com port. The device will have Rx and Tx connectors to connect to the VFD terminals with the same labels. This method is recommended since serial ports are not as common in computers these days.

Next, you will need to configure mach3 to use the plugin library. Start mach3 and click on Menu -> config ->Config Plugins. Enable the new plugin by clicking on the red cross on the left column next to the plug in. Restart mach3 after doing this.

No you need to configure mach3 to use the HuanyangVFD plugin. Go to the ports & pins configuration and select the spindle setup tab. Make sure that the Disable Spindle Relays checkbox is unchecked. We don't want mach3 to output a signal for a relay since the spindle will start up and turn off within the VFD and not from an external relay.

Next, go to the HuanyangVFD settings by clicking on Menu -> plugin control -> HuanyangVFD. Set the parameters to the same settings you put into the VFD programming. The com port will be shown as new hardward when you plug in the USB FTDI device. A little bubble will be displayed at the bottom right where it will notify you that a new device is being installed (be patient while windows assigns a com port). Alternatively, you can use the windows device manager to see which port was set for the new USB FTDI device). You may need to restart mach3 several times until you get the correct information displayed in the PD001 and PD002 fields. When the com port is correct and the other parameters, like baud and VFD address is the same as you entered in the programming, then the PD001 and PD002 will show the number 2, otherwise, a 99 will appear which means that communication was not successful.

You can now control the on/off and RPM of the spindle using the RS485 communication between mach3 and the VFD.

Additional Information:
The question was how to connect the spindle to the redfy. I did not receive a VFD.
I have the redFly system and a 2.2kW Spindle - 110V how do i connect the spindle?

Additional Information:
If you received a spindle without a VFD, please contact us asap. Our spindle will not work without a VFD.

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Hi, how is this setup in mach4?

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how do I connect my spindle to mach3 so mach3 can control it

Here is how to connect your router to the parallel breakout board through the on-board relay. You will need a spare extension cord. You will need to remove a portion of the outer jacket of the extension cord to expose the white, black and green wires (white = neutral, black = live and green = ground), understanding that the neutral and live create the completed circuit.

See this image of a similar connection. The terminal has the same connections.
https://www.buildyourcnc.com/images/vacuum-pressure-controller-relay-terminals-700.JPG

Image of the relay terminal:
https://www.buildyourcnc.com/images/breakoutboardrelayNONC.PNG

The live/black wire would be cut and one end of the cut would be secured into the P terminal and the other cut end would be secured into the S terminal. The live and ground wire would be uncut and travel from the plug to the router.


Additional Information:
You can also connect other high powered devices to the breakout board using any of the output terminals. You will need to supply extra relays like the one shown here:
https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsAndMotors-breakout-Relays-relay-board-250V-12A-5V

Or you can find SSRs (Solid State Relays) that will accept 5v to drive the relay coil. Make sure the SSR will protect the 5V line from Back EMF as there is a coil in the relay. The one we sell contains a fly-back diode to protect the 5v terminal.

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I have your breakout board with relay parallel port , how can I wire up a regular router to that board so I can control the router

Yes, you can send your electronics to us for repair, or retrofit to work with either Mach3, Mach4 or LinuxCNC. You can send us an email at customerService@buildyourcnc.com to set up your appointment.

Some of the types of CNC electronics we will consider.

- We will work on electronics from other manufacturers as long as you are ok with the Mach3, Mach4 or LinuxCNC control software for your CNC machine or CNC router.

- We will repair or retrofit used CNC electronics.

- Some customers find that electronics are overwhelming to put together so we will finish these electronics wiring and assembly for you.

The cost for these includes labor cost for the time it takes to finish the CNC electronics repair or retrofit and for any parts that need to be replaced or added.

Here is an example of CNC electronics that we worked on for a customer:

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I would like to use Mach3 instead of the software for my CNC router. Can you fix the electronics for me?

We currently can only control the On/Off of the spindle via Mach 3 and through our Parallel Interface Board. We have the listed instructions on our Parallel Interface Board webpage, will be a easy job that will included 2 wires (18-24g wire will be fine) from your inverter(VFD) to the location of your Parallel Interface Board.

Parallel Interface Board webpage: https://buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsAndMotors-parallel-breakout-relay

In regards to our USB Interface Board, we are currently working on a prototype board that will allow the same On/Off capability with Planet-CNC. Prototype Board currently not available as of yet.

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I can't seem to find information on spindle control via the breakout board. Can someone point me in the right direction?

No, ground from the pokeys57cnc controller should not be required. Your VFD should have two terminals that will turn on and off the spindle (forward, or stop). These two terminals simply need to be connected to each other to invoke that operation. In the VFD manual, you will see a schematic with a normally open switch symbol between these two terminals. The onboard relay on the pokeys57CNC would be a great feature of the board to connect to the two terminals of the VFD.

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I have a Glack CNC motor and VFD and confused if a ground from the Pokeys57 needs to be ran to the VFD to turn on and off the motor and to also control the speed. I can provide a picture

If you are using the Mach3 USB controller:

Make sure to watch this video:

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[76] Im having a problem getting Mach 3 to control the spindle on and off

The electronics and wiring videos are located under the tutorials section (click Tutorials on the top menu. The Title is "CNC Electronics and Wiring". The actual link to these videos is: https://www.buildyourcnc.com/CNCElectronicsandWiring.aspx

Additional Information:
You will also find the electronic wiring videos for the USB controller at: https://www.buildyourcnc.com/tutorials/tutorial-Electronics-USB-Interface-Wiring

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where can I find the videos to connect the cnc electronics?