Anyone have suggestions or setups on were to place the electronics? using Arduino with CNC shield
Stick it in a box with RJ45 sockets so it is easy to take apart and transport. I can fit all the electronics and cables in a small box, tie up center axis with a shoestring and stick in in my car. No problem bringing it is a Maker Faire. That is an old Radio Shack box I had laying around. I like that it is not bolted down so that I can reposition it.
Stick it in a box with RJ45 sockets so it is easy to take apart and transport. I can fit all the electronics and cables in a plastic bin, tie up center axis with a shoestring and stick in in my car. No problem bringing it to a Maker Faire. That is an old Radio Shack box that I had laying around. I like that it is not bolted down so that I can reposition it.
Sorry for the strange double post. Just ignore the first one 
Some photos of how I set mine up. Still fine turning things, but it all works well.
First test will be with a plotter pen. To fully understand how the feeds work.
Cheers
Greg.
Nice, do you use network cable all the way to the stepper motors or only to the conduit entrance? I assume the latter but it is a bit difficult to tell. Think I want to setup something similar If I can find the necessary parts where I live.
Looks like you have a proper workshop for your machine. Very nice setup, wish I had the same space.
@dbostream,
Yes the network cable works great all the way. I did double up the conductors inside the cables but don’t think there is enough IR drop to make it necessary. For my 2’ x 3’ setup I really don’t need a drag chain. The cable does not seem to get in the way at all. I do have the router AC and vacuum hose hanging from a hook in the ceiling. Here is an old remix post of the setup http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:858155 . I did not post the files for the RJ45 panel mounts, let me know if you want them.
Very nice set up guys. I just expanded mine to 3’x4’ and I installed a drag chain on the longer axis. I used the minion ramps case and I am really happy with it. I think I will eventually use the cat6 cable and copy shamelessly what SteveC did.
Curt
Very nice clean setup, Steve! I definitely will be doing the RJ45 thing at some point.
I have a question about your hold-down/waste board: did you drill all the holes for the inserts manually? I thought about doing those kind of inserts with the machine, but of course you need inserts outside of the machine’s cutting area.
Yes it milled it’s own insert holes. It was so much more fun than drilling them by hand. I had to reposition the spoil board about three times to get at the edges out of range. It was not too bad. I got the threaded inserts from Amazon Prime for $7/100. They are EZ-LOK 801420-13 1/4-20 length 13mm http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002KSZ13G/ref=biss_dp_t_asn.
I cut off the elbow of a 3/13 hex wrench so that I could use my drill to drive in all the inserts. I used wing nuts and washers with printed hold downs instead of printed knobs and nuts. I also found that I can use short bolts and washers to hold down one side of skinny/flat stock to give more clearance for my crude vacuum attachment.
I only milled though the edge of one of the yellow printed hold downs once before modifying my Fusion 360 postprocessor file to raise up enough to clear them at the start.
What do you think? I have been trying to get this right ever since I made the cnc and covered the ramps with foam dust on the first cut.
Any chance you have aink to where you got all your rj45 connectors. This is on my list, as well as rewiring and cleaning my build up so it’s pretty and funtional. Not all mad scientisty looking.
The connectors I used are from Home Depot and are listed in my design here:http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:858155. There are a lot of similar ones out there.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Steve
Very Nice! I’m only just finishing up my unit.
Can you tell me the size of the cut area? I would like to know if you would share the design for the drag chain holder you have mounted on the side of the motor mount.
My psu and ramps box.
Ill go rj45 connectors aswell, if i can find those female connectors somewhere locally
Hi Richard,
I’ll work out how to get it up at thingiverse and I’ll link it in here.
My cut area is approx 600 x 550mm and a 200mm Z.
I have used 25.0mm stainless steel conduit, and after many hours of use, have zero bearing track marks on the surface.
Cheers
Greg.
I believe Home Depot has them. They are made by Ideal. If you buy a package of 10, they come with a small punch tool.
Good luck