Topics

1

General Discussion / The CNC workshop 2016

« on: March 02, 2016, 12:19:45 PM »

Plans are  underway for the next CNC workshop, to again be at the TechShop in Allen Park Michigan, June 6-11. Everything about the  facility seemed to work well last year, and we now have our website under control. It is time to start planning the sessions. The website is up and some basic  see TheCNCworkshop.com

Last year when I dropped in on several session it seemed like things were just getting warmed up and the time was up. This year I want to try a slightly different format. On Wednesday and Thursday we will have a few, but very intense sessions. I hope to have up to 3 sessions each day, of a full day duration. We will encourage attendees to bring laptops so they can follow along with the instruction.

I need at least 5 or 6 full day sessions. I could do a couple half day session if that works for some speakers. I hope to have some of the following topics:

LinuxCNC
Mach4
PathPilot
Fusion 360 (CAD by Autodesk)
OnShape
CamBam
Vectric

I am open to any other related topics anyone is willing to present.

On Friday we will have more, shorter sessions, probably the schedule we followed last year. I hope to get several user experience talks.

The vendor program will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Saturday will also feature a swap meet, and will be open to the general public. I do not plan any seminars on Saturday.

We will be having build classes on Monday and Tuesday, a Lathe, a 3D printer and a router. Details are still being worked on the build classes, but I hope they can have all day sessions on learning to use the machines on Wednesday.

I cannot offer pay for the sessions, but speakers for all day sessions will be given complimentary admission to the entire event.

Let me  know if you are interested in leading any of these sessions.

thanks

ron ginger

2

General Discussion / Cabin Fever 2016

« on: December 03, 2015, 08:11:06 AM »

It is only about 6 weeks now until Cabin Fever 2016. Remember it has returned to its original date in January. It has also moved to the Lebanon Valley Expo center. I talked to Gary the other day and he says there is plenty of room there, almost the same as at York. He will have all the usual areas, model boats, trains and lots of tables for steam and gas engines.

He has several vendors this year with CNC equipment and he is hoping we can get some exhibitors in to show their home CNC projects. I know its kind of hard to bring along a whole mill conversion, but maybe some parts, photos, etc can be brought. Ive been working on a small lathe that may be far enough along to bring.

I am still working on the details, but it looks like Brian Barker will be holding an all day class  on Installing and Using Mach4 on Friday. Details still being worked, I will post more when they are complete.

3

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Intermitent startup

« on: July 27, 2015, 11:55:59 AM »

I just wired my SmartBOB to my router. Frequently on startup Mach4 does not seem to complete startup- its tool path window is grey not the expected blue. Sometimes If I enable it I can jog the motors, but the DROs do not change. It wont run code like this. Sometime even jog will not work.

I have tried multiple restarts of mach, both with and without power cycle of the SmartBOB. It only works about 1 in 10 tries.

This is with the latest mach4 and smartBob plugin today, July 27.

4

General Discussion / CNC Workshop 2015

« on: January 01, 2015, 09:41:50 PM »

The CNC workshop will return in June of 2015. This is the continuation of the event started more than 10 years ago by Roland Friestad, then later run by DIGITAL MACHINIST magazine.

This year the workshop will be held at the TechShop in Allen Park Michigan, between Detroit and Ann Arbor. the location is very convenient to the Detroit area, the Detroit airport, and just across the road from the Henry Ford Museum. The workshop will run between June 15 and 20, with the main session opening Wednesday morning, June 17.

This year the format will be similar to the past years- we will have 3 days of continuous seminars about CNC aimed at the home shop user. We have classrooms ranging from a tiered auditorium for over 150 people to small conference rooms. We will have an area for commercial vendors to show their products, and an area for individuals to exhibit their projects.

We are now seeking people that want to present a seminar session, or exhibit their project. Speakers and exhibitors will receive a discount on the registration fee.

TechShop has setup a web form to collect input at http://tinyurl.com/techshopcncworkshop. Please use the form to get your name on the list for further information and to let us know what you are willing to present, or what you would like to hear about.

An added feature this year will be 2 days reserved for special, in-depth training session. TechShop will be offering selected training on using various machines, and we may have vendor specific training. These sessions will be on Monday and Tuesday before the main Workshop sessions begin. There may be an additional charge for these sessions. Please let us know on the information form of your interest in any in-depth training.

A build class, based on the micro mill from LittleMachineShop.com and led by Weston Bye will be included. This session is limited to 12 people, so if you are interested in building your own CNC mill please let us know quickly.

Registration will open about February 1. Please use the information form to get your name on the list and to tell us what you would like to see and hear at the workshop.

I hope we can make this years workshop even better than those of the previous years. Please let us know of your interest so we can plan the best workshop ever.

5

SmartBOB controllers and dedicated accessories / Spindle relay

« on: December 22, 2014, 01:52:53 PM »

I want touse the spindle relay to start my VFD. The VFD is connected  to a PDMX-122 board. When used  with a smoothstepper and mach3 the relay turns on the spindle ok.

how do I get M4 and the 422 to turn on the relay