CNC Mill Update 06/03/07... Some Problems :(

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Finally got everything wierd and hooked up. But so this weekend I tried to get one of the motors turning. No luck.

I of course don't have all the gear needed to diagnosis all the possible sources of the problems. But I do know the power supply is yielding the right output. I do also know the controller board is getting its inputs and generating output voltages in response (but since I don't have an oscilloscope I can't tell if the wave output is okay.). But the voltages seem to be in direct response to the movements I try to apply to the motor so there is some correlation there.

So the problem is either in the way I wierd the motor or the motor itself. I tried to freely move the motor myself after my tests and it was significantly "stiffer" than my other two motors. So I am unsure if it is either a bad one of I somehow fried it. Also, looking at the specs of the controller board and the motors. I am unsure they are fully compatible with each other in terms of specifications. The other thing that is of worry, is that the motors I had only had a torque of 200 oz/in which might not be enough for the X/Y axies.

So I went back to the vendor from which I bought the motors (was on eBay but they actually have a store at www.kelinginc.net). They actually have complete kits with the controllers and motors, meaning I know they are compatible with each other. So I've decided to move forward and upgrade to 495 oz/in motors and get the whole kit. Somewhat of another unexpected expense but this time I know for sure the setup will work. And the newer motors are actually true bipolar, which should make their setup and wireing so much easier! The only big drawback is that the gear for the new motors is somewhat larger and I am unsure it will fit into the current PC case encosure I had setup. But I won't know for sure untill I get the gear.

Oh, and turns out the software I was planning on using (Mach 3) needs a screen resolution higher than 800x600. This makes the touchscreen setup I had going pretty much useless. Darn. Well at least the screen was initially purchased for another project so it is not a lost cause but this means i'll either have to find something else. I'll either have to go for a touchpad or a larger touchscreen but I want to stay away from a mouse since I want to keep the footprint of the unit as small as possible.