CNC - STEAM Clown's Project

This is the documentation of my Hack of a CNC machine I was given, that had a n old controller that I could not connect to and could not get the software to work... So I bought a new Stepper motor controller and stepper Drivers... Here is my story...

Day One: Oct 15 2020

Well... Actually, I started and Stopped working on this, so it may be a bit out of order... but this is the basic time line. I this is the date I actually really started getting serious on getting this CNC running.

Things I need to Figure Out...

What are my Motors and what are the wire pairs?

My Motors have 8 wires... so I need to figure out what wires are pairs, and how they connect... Unfortunately, they are un-labeled and all the connections are shrink wrapped... So, to figure this out I may need to cut the shrink wrap... which I don't want to do...
My Plan: Do some research and see if my friend actually followed a standard, because their are some links that might point me to the right place.
- Shows how to (maybe) connect an 8 wire stepper to a 4 wire driver
What Worked: TBD

Is there a standard when using the 5 pin XLR connector connecting to a stepper motor?

My Motors have 5 pin XLR connectors with... I actually don't know how many wires... 4 for sure, but maybe all 5... the controller box has all 5... so I need to figure out what wires are pairs, and how they connect...
My Plan: Do a test setup for a a Nema 17. Get that working, and then see what works with my Nema 23? motors... also continue doing some research and see if my friend actually followed a standard, because their are some links that might point me to the right place.
- Part 3: Stepper drivers and control hardware
- Sherline - Stepper Motors - see the instructions for pin out
What Worked: Not sure there is a standard...
- Many XLR connectors with stepper motors are 4 pin and they just connect the 2 winding...
- The 5 pin ones I fond tend to have the pin 3 be a ground or common to the winding or center taps... but that is also not standard...
- (10/16/2020) Best Idea: Find what you think might be a data sheet, and then just measure the resistance and find common windings, and then determine the +/- side by experimentation.

Links:

Drivers:

The First thing I needed to do was figure out what I should use to drive the Stepper motors... There was lots of stuff about the TB6600 Driver... they are cheep, but most folks found that they were not consistent and accurate... maybe they lost a step or just could not deliver the current to drive a bigger

Stepper Motor Stuff... Like How to Identify and what the pins do....

Nima Stepper Driver Stuff.

Stepper motor driver - which one is not to get - avoiding TB6600 at all cost - Basically says... Don't use the TB6600 for any real load... it just can't drive a Nema 23 or bigger CNC that is cutting anything.
CNC Motor Drivers; TB6600 vs. DM556T - Basically says... Don't use the TB6600 for any real load... it just can't drive a Nema 23 or bigger CNC that is cutting anything.
Stepper motors and them drivers - A4988 & TB6600 - Basically says...
M556 Open Loop Stepper Motor Driver Review for CNC Machines. - Basically says...

Arduino Based Control:

Nema23 Stepper Motor and TB6600 Arduino (Quick tutorial for beginners) - Basically says...

Later: Oct 16 2020

Well... Here is my Progress...

I'm hooking up a Nema 17 (4 wire) https://www.yoycart.com/Product/562154684157/ to the 6600 controller. controller is set to 800 micro step and 2 Amp.
This https://www.yoycart.com/Product/562154684157/ tutorial worked fine and I got the Nima 17 to spin using a 12 volt supply on the controller and the following code:

const int stepDirPlus = 2;const int stepPullPlus = 3;void setup() { // put your setup code here, to run once: pinMode(stepDirPlus, OUTPUT); pinMode(stepPullPlus, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(stepDirPlus, HIGH); // LOW = CCW HIGH = CW }
void loop() { // put your main code here, to run repeatedly: digitalWrite(stepPullPlus, LOW); digitalWrite(stepPullPlus, HIGH); delayMicroseconds(600); // Controls the Speed}

Oct 18 2020 - Just Doing Research...

It's Sunday, so I'm just doing some research on CNC controllers, G-Code senders, CNC Software and DYI Controller builds

Build a CNC Controller with Arduino, TB6600 and GRBL - I am planning to NOT use the TB6600 drivers, and use a more robust Drivers... but might setup a simple demo of this tutorial.
- Arduino GRBL desing and lib. - GRBL please visit github at this url.
- Universal Gcode Sender from this url
- Calculator for setting up the GRBL Stepper motor parameters
- What I Learned: I do like his Emergency Stop button, and will put this into my system. I also like the router switch on/or that is in series with his Power switch... so you can turn to the CNC and also control if your router will be powered or not. I'll have to think about this... probably I'll do a relay to an AC power. Maybe have 2-3 AC Aux switches that control 2-3 different AC plugs.
More Links and Videos
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM9bWo8Rl84

April 9 2022

All Right!! It's been more than a year. I have students working on it, and we have the motors spinning with Arduino and Raspberry Pi.

Looks like the going wisdom is to use an Arduino to drive the stepper controllers and then use a Raspberry Pi to run tools like Universal G-Code Sender (UGS).

What I am having a harder time finding is the Arduino Sketch that the UGS talks too.

Here are some links to take a look at:

April 11, 2022

found this site, and am having Peter research this:

How to Setup GRBL & Control CNC Machine with Arduino

Later: Date...

Well... Here is my Progress