Makita RT0701C - G-code control of spindle speed project

I just removed the original potentiometer. You could add a switch to switch between the two though.
The leads with alligator clips are coming from the routers control box. The 9V power supply is coming to the back side of the breadboard.

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I would just remove the old potentiometer.

Thanks, again for the circuit.

Don’t know when I may get a chance to try it out.

Larry

Cool, I’ll post my experiences once I have built my CNC.

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@ViljamiPirttimaa

Just thought I would post my progress. I converted your schematic to my schematic program and did a board layout just for fun. Haven’t done anything with it yet. I’m not sure I can solder a SOIC.

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Looks good. I was scared of the SOIC soldering as well but actually it was very easy. At least with solder paste and a hot air station but I think it should be doable with a regular soldering iron as well. There is some good videos on Youtube to help.

I have been waiting for some parts so I haven’t completed my mill yet. Hopefully I’ll get it going soon.

I have soldered (low volume) SOIC components and it was aqtually quite easy to do even with a generic heat gun (Black&Decker) :slight_smile:

What you do need is solder paste.

Preheat your kitchen oven to 120degC (250degF), place your PCB with solder and SOIC inside for 5min to heat it up. If you do have a metal plate with some thickness to it you can place the PCB on that so it will maintain heat better once removed from the oven.
Once taken out, go over the PCB with the heat gun, start 6-8" awayat high heat/low air flow and gradually go closer untill the solder paste turn silver. Once it does that maintain heat for another 5-10sec to make sure all pads reach proper temperature.
Allow to cool and you should be done :slight_smile:

You can skip the oven altogether but the gradual increase/decrease of temperature is easier on the PCB. However this is more relevant for multilayer boards vs single/double sided PCB’s.

Following this topic. Please report back with any findings.

@ViljamiPirttimaa, @RobertMitchell

I finally got everything together and this design works for me. Thanks again for sharing your findings.

I ended up just using a soldering iron to solder in the SOIC package.

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Looks great! I finally built mine as well and it is working. My electronics enclosure is not any bigger than it needs to be so I had to put a few other things on the same board :slight_smile:

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@ViljamiPirttimaa Is that an xpro controller under the fan?

Yes. I designed that 3D printed fan mount to ride on top of the 10 pin and 6 pin connectors on the xPRO. It takes 5V from the 6 pin header. Onshape

New digital RPM control integrated with my CNC controller.

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@ViljamiPirttimaa, @LarryM

Thank you for your input to creating spindle speed controller. Finally I am going to modify my Makita as well.
I would like to to ask you, would you be so kind and share with me Arduino sketch, so that I have some starting point?

I would appreciate if you could share it with me.

Thank you.

My code is also controlling a GameDuino2 display so it is a bit messy and there is a lot of extra code (330 lines). I tried to pick only the parts that are used to control the the RPM and turn the Makita router on/off with a relay. I haven’t tested the code but at least it compiles.

I use global variables to store the desired RPM so I could set the speed with the display. I also read a PWM signal from GRBL’s spindle speed output so I can set the RPM with either gcode or the display.

Thank you so much, this will be perfect starting point.

Hey Larry,

I love this idea of converting a router into a g-code controllable spindle. I was able to follow along with your and Viljami Pirttimaa’s design but I’m curious what you used for the +9v double insulated power supply? How did you connect that up and keep it isolated from the rest of your circuit?

Thanks!

@DavidRiedell

Larry passed away earlier this year.
I hope someone else may assist you with your question.

Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that. Best wishes to his friends and family.

Sorry for the late reply, I’m not really active here. I used just a regular 9V wall adapter which had only two pins i.e. no earth pin (most 9V adapters are this way anyway). I ended up doing a bit of a hacky job to fit the power adapter to a small electrical box: I just soldered wires to the mains plug of the adapter and insulated them with heat shrink. If you have more room however, just plug the wall adapter to a power strip.

Hi…i was going through a wiki page and found that a logic-level device like the Arduino that the CM controller is based upon cannot switch large AC loads by itself. As per my analysis in order to do this a device known as a Relay must be used. As you know a relay is a sort of switch that allows a small DC voltage to turn on and off a much larger load on a different power source.
We have observed that the pin that is used in the stepper shield configuration can be used for PWM, this shield can support in the future spindle rotation speed control.

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