Neat. Although the majority of my work will be done using Linuxcnc, I’ll probably build an arduino/grbl controller so I can play around with Easel. No stepper drivers on the arduino shield though, just connections out to the Gecko G540.
Same here, I just haven’t got around to wiring this thing properly and I’ve paid the price in the form of crushed homing switches!
Looks great thanks! Yeah I started to lay out the wires and such and am going to mount the box on the side with the kill button on the top…
Good to see the ps mounted though that helps!
… Wow. Idk why I never thought to turn it 90 degrees. It bugs me endlessly. Looks like I will be switching things up shortly. Lol
Thanks.
Geoff
Why are you reversing the wiring on one of the Y axis steppers. You are using Y and A axis on the 540 are you not. you can reverse the A direction in Mach3 and slave Y and A together.
Dave
@DavidSohlstrom Can I do the same configuration switch with the arduino/grbl combination or is the motor lead switch only necessary when the two motors are wired in parallel i.e without separate drivers for each motor?
I must admit I hadn’t looked into the wiring details at all, I’ve been concentrating on the physical build and getting the bench built.
Because the GRBL only has 3 stepper drivers you have to run 2 stepper motors off of 1 driver for Y. With the 540 you have 4 stepper drivers so you can run each stepper motor on it’s own driver and then slave 2 together for the Y axis. You should not have to wire up 1 of the steppers with reversed wiring because you can set up for reversed direction in the software.
Dave
@DavidSohlstrom I appreciate using the A axis as a slave for the second Y stepper and reversing the direction in software. What I’d like to be able to do is run the arduin/grbl setup so I can give easel a try. Is there any provision in the grbl code (haven’t looked at it) for doing something similar i.e. have the direction reversed for a slave axis? Or does the code assume that only having 3 stepper drivers, there’s no need to do this?
If grbl doesn’t support this, then I might be able to use the Y step/direction from the cnc shield to drive Y and A inputs on the G540 and make an adapter plug for the stepper connection (DB9) to do the necessary phaes reversal when the shield is in use.
Hope I’ve made this a bit clearer. No issues with Linuxcnc/Mach3 just with doing something similar when using arduin/shield to drive the G540.
grbl only supports three axes.
That pretty well answers that question! I was hoping that perhaps I could slave/invert the necessary signal in software.
The other option I have is to make up a small board with an inverter connected to the Y axis direction signal.
I will not be using Easel, Arduino, GRBL or UGS on my machine. If I understand correctly GRBL is just a 3 axis stepper driver and Arduino is sending all the step and direction information to the drivers.
With all the problems that I see people having with the stock electronics I did not even buy them with my machine. Because I have been running Mach3 and G540 on other CNC machines I will be going that direction when I get my machine up and running. I have lots of mods to do so the build is going slow.
I also have several CAD programs and a couple of CAM programs so I don’t need or want to even mess with Easel. I looked at it very briefly when I was looking to buy a X-Carve and discarded it when I compare it to real CAD and CAM.
I don’t know where you are at when it comes to CAD and CAM but you may want to look into Fusion360 for both CAD and CAM. Onshape.com for CAD. CamBam for 2.5D CAM and limited 3D CAM. SprutCAM9 for full 3D CAM. Solid Edge and Draftsight for 2D CAD. Gwizard for feeds and speeds.
Hope this helps
Dave
I currently run Mach3 for a 6040 CNC router, and have run Linuxcnc on a similar model router at my local hackerspace. Running CAMBAM mostly and I’m starting to use FreeCAD a bit.
I’m not a Windows person, having used and supported Linux (and UNIX) for more years than I care to remember. Unfortunately, if I want a professional CAD/CAM, I need to go Windows. On the small PC used for CNC control I run Windows XP and given the age of the hardware, it won’t run anything later.
I’ve been looking at Fusion360 on my laptop (dual boot Windows 8 and Ubuntu) and intend to spend a bit of time learning to use it.
If I can do any CAD/CAM stuff in the office on either the laptop or desktop computer (running Windows 7 under a VM) and upload the resulting gcode to the other PC, I’ll be happy.
The whole easel thing is just to see what it’s like as it may allow me to do simple jobs quickly. If it all becomes too difficult then I’ll stick with Linuxcnc.
Geoff
Spent a bit of time playing around with LinuxCNC and it seems the system I was going to use as a controller, is not up to the job. Jitter times are 10 times the recommended value!
I might still be able to us it for testing i.e. making the motors move, but for real use, I need a new computer.
Another little snag I struck was with Fusion360 and my plan to use in on my main computer under VMware. The copy of WIndows 7 I have is only 32 bit but Fustion360 needs 64bit.
Will Win 7 qualify for the free upgrade to Win 10?
I’d prefer not to be running Windows 10, don’t like the terms and conditions.
Also I’m running VMware Workstation 11 which does not support Windows 10. Workstation 12 does but that’s a $180 upgrade I can’t justify (or afford)
I’ll keep using WIndows 8.1 on my laptop.
Yes, Windows7 is qualified for Windows10. One of my Laptop was Windows7. Works flowless, no restriction, no catch, no problems. Windows10 is the fix for previous unresolved problems.
The only real fix for Windows is Linux 
Ha ha, you’re right. 
I recently had to return my work laptop which I was using to run VCarve, leaving me with nothing but a house full of Macs. I considered several alternatives, but ended up buying a $400 Toshiba.
It’s pretty crappy and I’ll not be trying to load anything serious onto it, however it came with Windows 8 point something (which upgraded itself to Win 10 for free), it runs UGS with no problems and also runs VCarve with not much of an effort. Some of the more complex jobs may take a few seconds to render in 3D (worst I’ve seen is about 20 secs), but it’s fine for what I needed.
Given that I didn’t need to pay for windows, didn’t need to pay for Parallels, didn’t have to spend ages trying to get VM up & running or dual booting and I now have another Tb of portable storage on a device that can live in my shed, it was a pretty good choice.
The other cost effective route would to be to find someone who’s recently bought a new laptop and offer them $50 for their old one.
I’d prefer to have a small PC out in the dusty shed with the CNC and not have to risk leaving my laptop out there.
My local hackerspace gets a few ex-school small form factor systems on which we install Linux and then pass them on to other community groups. I’ll make a liveCD of LinuxCNC and run some tests on them. If one looks like it will do, I persuade them to let me swap it for the IBM Thinkcentre I have. The ex-school systems probably have XP on them if anything.