I like the look so far.
Please tell me that the sides will be clear so that it shows off the inner workings of the box and also makes it look like the top and bottom are hovering parallel to each other. 
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The sides will be 1/4" MDF, but the front and back will be acrylic…maybe, still not sure…still working things out. 
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That would look cool…plan on painting it black…so some nice blue LEDs?
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Could also do engraved, edge-lit panels. 
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I’ve seen 2 color edge lit displays stacking like that…interesting ideas…
@AngusMcleod I like the idea of stacking with different colors lighting up at different times revealing different images or messages. Definitely something to try, very cool.
It made me think of other possibilities. What about doing a three color separation in Photoshop, red, green, blue. Then lithopane each color layer to a separate piece of clear acrylic. Stack them up and edge light them with the coresponding red, green, blue LED lights. The resulting image should be full color. You think that would work? I would try except i haven’t got my motion controller yet, and I don’t have the fancy software that does lithopane cutting.
Side panels cut out now…waiting on the plugs for the limit switches before I cut the front and back…still have not decided on a material yet. The sides are 1/4" MDF with ventilation holes.
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Test fitting all of the components for the front and back of the case. I am still missing the Limit/Homing switch and the Probe connectors (on that slow boat from China).
There is lots of room inside for everything (13" x 13" x 6" inside dimensions).
There are 2 power switches, one on the front and one on the back as well as the Emergency Switch; any one of the three switches will kill power to everything.
I have some blue LED strips that will be wired in as well (@AngusMcleod) Nice and bright, should send light out of the top and the two sides.
I have 2 x 120mm fans that will also be placed in to ensure there is plenty of air circulation.
I will paint then label everything with v-carve.
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It is so pro and Beautiful. You better name it EJ-Controller.
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Well, work has kept me out of town for the last week, so I’ve gotten no farther on my electronics enclosure. I did receive the probe and limit switch connectors so that is good. Decided to add two outlets on the back for the router and whatever else. I will include the relay inside the enclosure as well to control the router power (waiting on the plugs now).
Decided to cut a couple more crosses this morning, a maple one and another cherry. The maple cross is about 5 x 7 inches (sitting in cherry sawdust as the cherry one finishes).
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Finally have all of the components to start assembling the electronics enclosure for the X-Carve. Everything is in the picture except for the power supply and the LED light strips. Let’s see if it all fits…lol
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Just toss it all in the box with some duct tape, shake it around a bit and it should be just fine. LOL.
Looks like a fun project. Best of luck.
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Started wiring everything up…Power switches all work…all 3 must be on to provide power, 1 on the back, 1 on the front and the emergency stop button. Ignore the heatshrink on the closer power switch, the heat gun is in the shop so I have not heated them up yet. A lot of wires left to do…
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Looks great! What kind of connectors are your relay controlled plugs going to? They look like some sort of panel mount something rather. I would love to see a couple shots of the outsize of the box with the connectors and switches installed!
On the front I have included buttons for cycle start, feed hold and reset, a 1/4" headphone jack for the probe connector, a power switch and an emergency stop button.
On the back I have 3 x 4-connection XLR connectors for the motors, 6 x 1/4" headphone jack for the limit switches, USB port, The main power connector and the 2 x relay power plugs.
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Awesome, thanks! I’ll have to look for some receptacle plugs like that, I don’t think I’ve ever seen them before.
Got them here:
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I will have to purchase a couple of these! Thanks for the link.
Anytime!
Had a little time to work on the wiring again today…almost finished getting a wire to everything that needs it. The limit switches still need to be wired and connectors added to the motor and limit switch wires out in the shop. Made new connectors for the Arduino, a female connector for limit switches and motor control and a male connector for the buttons on the front (Cycle Start, Feed Hold and Reset) as well as the probe. I made connections for Coolant Enable (A3) as well as the unused pin on that header (A4) and brought them out to the terminal strip, just might need those in the future. A few more wires to go (then straighten everything out in the enclosure and attach the terminal strips) then out in the shop to disconnect and hook everything back up.
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