Gadroc's Laser 2.x Build

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Re: Gadroc's Laser 2.x Build

Postby Gadroc » Mon Nov 19, 2012 6:16 pm

Almost finished. I've got the beast assembled and optic aligned (well mostly). I'll be doing my first cuts today which will be the front and rear panels for the electronics.
IMG_0832.jpg
In it's new home


On the front panel
1) E-Switch for power.
2) Power Switch for Air Assist (lighted on position)
3) Amp Meter for power checks

On the rear panel I have
1) Dual outlet - Top controlled by air assist switch up front, bottom always on for water
2) Ethernet Jack
3) USB for memory stick
4) USB for computer connection
3) Power In

I also put my fume extraction on a wall switch so I don't have to crawl behind the table to turn it on anymore.

I did have a mishap while move parts between my old K40 and the new buildlog machine. The old tube is just a little to big for tube brackets. The tube fits fine but between the electrode that was already soldered and the existing short tubing it was a very tight fit. Which lead to a broken water intake :(. Luckily I was able to find a 90 degree elbow that fit in the hole almost perfectly. I put two coats of epoxy on it and attached a new short hose segment. Of course I installed that after the tube brackets where already on. I imagine when I have to replace this tube I'll have to break it to get the brackets off.
IMG_0831.jpg
Dr. Epoxy to the rescue


So far I'm pretty happy. Doing try testing before the laser tube was moved over I could only run the machine at 625mm/s before it obviously was behaving poorly. At 650 or over engraving speed I would have gross overrun where the carriage didn't stop and go the other way. What kind of speeds are other folks getting with your 2.x? The only modifications I've done are a inverted z-motor adapter and 40mm extra x area.

My Electronics:
1) Nema 17 - 400 Step Motors from the maker slide store
2) LightObjects 608 DSP Controller
3) 2M415 1.5A Drivers

I have the stepper drivers set to 1.5A and quarter steps which gives me 1000 steps per inch.

DSP Settings
X Pulse Unit - 25.4
X Pulse Edge - Rising
X Datum - Positive
X Key Direction - Positive
X Range - 575
X Start Speed - 10
X Max Acceleration - 10000
X Max Speed - 625

Y Pulse Unit - 25.4
Y Pulse Edge - Rising
Y Datum - Positive
Y Key Direction - Negative
Y Range - 270
Y Start Speed - 10
Y Max Acceleration - 3000
Y Max Speed - 500

Space Speed - 200
Start Speed - 10
Speed Factor - 2
Space Jerk - 40000
Cut Jerk - 25000
Min Acceleration - 100
Cut Acceleration - 1500
Space Acceleration - 2000
Engrave Acceleration - 10000

I haven't tested the limits of Y so those settings are just guess. The X settings are from dry testing where things break down. Now that I have the system up and running with laser I'll have to do more test to see if 625 is viable or missing steps.

Things I have left to do:
1) Install Z Drive belt (If they ever come back in stock)
2) Install Z stepper driver (Have a few easy driver stepper boards, I'll probably just hook one of those up when the belt gets here.)
3) Cut new window. My holes where a bit off between it and the top skin and I only could grab 1/16th acrylic when I was out.
Last edited by Gadroc on Wed Dec 05, 2012 4:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
Gadroc
 
Posts: 77
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Re: Gadroc's Laser 2.x Build

Postby Gadroc » Tue Nov 20, 2012 10:49 pm

Ok. Got the front and back panels cut out and installed.
IMG_0838.jpg
Front Plate
IMG_0837.jpg
Rear Plate


While I had it open I took some shots of the electronics compartment. I did put an inline resistor between the DSP PWM out and power supply IN input. This lets me tune the system to 100% = 17ma. 90% of the electronics where salvaged out of my upgrade K-40 machine. At some point I'll come back in and do a better power distribution rail, but it's ok for now.
IMG_0834.jpg
Electronics Top View
IMG_0836.jpg
Electronics Side View


I also fixed the rear mirror mount to be square, reset the mirrors and realigning was much easier, although it's still not perfect. I also discovered my right side Y makerslide was not level and to raise up the front by just a touch. I also noticed my right side Y belt is not as taunt as my left side as a matter of fact it's a little loose and easy to push on to make the gantry rack. I'll have to fix that.

I had one wire hooked up wrong which fired the tube the first time I turned it on, think I may have overdrive the tube as it's burning an oval onto the first paper when aligning. Also seems like I'm having to use more power to cut acrylic I'm having to use 13ma to cut through 1/16th acrylic at 10mm/s which seems high from what I was doing before. Then again I hadn't really used the laser a lot for the list six months. Guess I'll order a new tube
Gadroc
 
Posts: 77
Joined: Thu Nov 10, 2011 8:18 pm

Re: Gadroc's Laser 2.x Build

Postby Gadroc » Wed Nov 21, 2012 3:34 am

Ok back to normal cutting power it seems. Cleaned my optics and verified everything else. Turns out my table was warped a little bit as well as my focus stick was off for the new carriage. I recut one and I was a little over an 1/8th of an inch off on focus depth.
Gadroc
 
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Re: Gadroc's Laser 2.x Build

Postby Gadroc » Mon Nov 26, 2012 7:08 pm

Ok. I have moved my setup back to 1/8 steps from 1/4 to smooth out the motors a bit. This puts me at 2000 steps per inch. I also worked through some engrave issues. I had to put in some reverse engrave offset (At 300mm/s I need -0.3 offset).

My Z belt should be here today, hopefully I can stay awake from this cold long enough to get it installed.

Here are my revised settings.

DSP Settings
X Pulse Unit - 12.61
X Pulse Edge - Rising
X Datum - Positive
X Key Direction - Positive
X Range - 565
X Start Speed - 10
X Max Acceleration - 10000
X Max Speed - 625

Y Pulse Unit - 12.6225
Y Pulse Edge - Rising
Y Datum - Positive
Y Key Direction - Negative
Y Range - 270
Y Start Speed - 10
Y Max Acceleration - 3000
Y Max Speed - 500

Space Speed - 200
Start Speed - 10
Speed Factor - 2
Space Jerk - 40000
Cut Jerk - 25000
Min Acceleration - 100
Cut Acceleration - 1500
Space Acceleration - 2000
Engrave Acceleration - 10000
Gadroc
 
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Re: Gadroc's Laser 2.x Build

Postby lazorus » Tue Nov 27, 2012 4:55 am

Youre clipping right along! Nice work. I have the same stepper drivers as you, and was worried that i didnt choose a high enough amperage driver. It seems yours is working well.

Thanks for the DSP settings as well!

One question, with the DSP controller mounted right on top of your power supplies, do things get hot? I was going to mount mine the same way you have yours, but didnt want it getting too hot.

Thanks
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Re: Gadroc's Laser 2.x Build

Postby Gadroc » Tue Dec 04, 2012 9:05 pm

lazorus wrote:Youre clipping right along! Nice work. I have the same stepper drivers as you, and was worried that i didnt choose a high enough amperage driver. It seems yours is working well.

Thanks for the DSP settings as well!

One question, with the DSP controller mounted right on top of your power supplies, do things get hot? I was going to mount mine the same way you have yours, but didnt want it getting too hot.

Thanks


I have mine mounted on a shelf attached to the extrusion. It's not sitting directly on top of the power supply. I can only get about 600mm/s from the drivers/steppers before I start missing steps. I expected to be able to do more (maybe unrealistic). Not sure what the issue is but in reality I'm never going that fast, so I've left it alone. I did not add a flat to the X stepper shaft as I lack the equipment to do it.

I just added the driver for the Z axis. Man are there a lot of steps per inch on that Axis. I have a 400 step stepper, which goes through a 2.4x gear reduction to a 20 steps per inch rod. At full stepping this is 19200 steps per inch which translates to a pulse unit of 1.322917 for the DSP. The driver/stepper just buzzes at that setting so I ended up multiplying it by 10 and adjusting my travel and speeds accordingly.

Z Pulse Unit - 13.229167
Z Pulse Edge - Rising
Z Datum - Positive
Z Key Direction - Positive
Z Range - 840
Z Start Speed - 15
Z Max Acceleration - 500
Z Max Speed - 20
Z axis home OnPower - OFF
Z axis for autofocus - OFF
Z axis for TwoHead - OFF

Function Config
Hardware Limit - ON

Make sure you turn off Z home on power. Z moves really slow and doesn't return to it's original setting when done, so you will constantly be jogging the Z all the way up and down. Second is make sure you turn on Hardware Limit and use a limit switch on both directions for the Z table! Since Z is not homed the software limits may be inaccurate so a positive Z axis limit switch is imperative to prevent head crashes on Z adjusting. Keep in mind that this limit switch does not take into account your material sitting on the table!

I've chosen to not do autofocus since it's so easy to jog the table up and down and I already have a focus stick. I may add a proximity sensor later, but that will require adding a mounting bracket to the X carriage which I don't want to deal with right now.
Gadroc
 
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Re: Gadroc's Laser 2.x Build

Postby Gadroc » Wed Dec 05, 2012 4:38 am

Gadroc wrote:I also noticed my right side Y belt is not as taunt as my left side as a matter of fact it's a little loose and easy to push on to make the gantry rack.


I did get this sorted out. At first I couldn't figure it out, because as soon as I tightened the belt I would rack the gantry out of square. Turned out I just didn't have the eccentric nut tight enough on that right hand side. I snugged it up and then was able to get the right tension on the right hand belts. This went hand in hand with me not having all the v wheels tight enough. Originally I left them a little loose as they stopped rolling well. I pulled them all off and added a precession shim washer between the two bearings (didn't do this at first because my kits from inventables didn't come with them, luckily I had ordered a dozen or so just in case). This allowed me to get them all tight and with out play.
Gadroc
 
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