Not An Engineer
patreon
It was going so well...
🕑 Added 2024-05-05 04:09:01 +0000 UTC...until I got to the last part. Typical. Was getting a little late in the evening, so I thought I'd slow down the feeds and speeds to spare my neighbours a little; I think the roughing toolpath might have pushed the stock out of alignment a little, so the finishing passes were way out in the y direction.
But it's still going pretty well. 3 + 1 axis machining is beautiful. Can't wait to share the whole adventure. And I'm definitely casting my gaze towards 3+2 axis. It's a real shame the cam software for true 5 axis machining costs a billion dollars.
Comments
Brandon Sander
Just use your lath... I mean time machine to jump to after this badass video earns you a billion dollars and come back to buy that CAM package.
Jonathan L
That will always be the case, AFAIK. An "independent" controller is actually a control board with a dedicated computer to read/send the gcode from a memory device or internal storage. An old, weak laptop or tablet would suffice. Do you have something else in mind?
NotAnEngineer
Currently the mill is running a GRBLHal motion control board - on a teensy 4.1, which just converts instructions into pulses for the motors, monitors limit switches etc I need to have a PC connected and running a gcode sender to give those instructions to the board
Jonathan L
Remind me, what is the 5th axis? Typically that is a trunnion with a rotary table for the two rotary axes.
Jonathan L
I'm not sure that I follow... A controller is a computer. Just a very limited one. Fanuc, Siemens, all of those controllers are computers housed behind a screen and custom physical interface.
NotAnEngineer
Grblhal supports 5 axis simultaneously. Have been thinking about redoing the controls for a while though. Will need more capability for an ATC. And would be nice if the mill was a standalone unit, IE no PC required.
Jonathan L
Cheapest 5-axis CAM software that I know about is Fusion 360's Manufacturing Extension. Comes out to $122/mo when you purchase annual subscription. As for control software, LinuxCNC is worth investigating. The software is robust enough that Tormach used it as the base for their Path Pilot.
NotAnEngineer
Still fighting the backlash in the cycloidal drive a little as well, but it got me thinking about another solution for a hobby-level 5 axis set up - with the software costing what it does, the only simultaneous 4 and 5 axis toolpaths I can see myself using would be thread and helical gear cutting which I should be able to program manually., and those programs have the benefit of constant tool pressure in one direction. For everything else, the best option could be to lock the rotary axis in each required position - so using a belt driven axis with a pneumatic/electromagnetic brake controlled by the axis enable output on the motion control board might be the simplest and most cost effective solution.
