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Several Regions have held meetups already, but others are being planned or are evaluating the interest. The Calgary Area Meetup is set for Saturday July 12th at 10am. The signup thread is here! Arbutus has also explored interest in a Fraser Valley meetup but it seems members either missed his thread or had other plans. Let him know if you are interested in a meetup later in the year by posting here! Slowpoke is trying to pull together an Ottawa area meetup later this summer. No date has been selected yet, so let him know if you are interested here! We are not aware of any other meetups being planned this year. If you are interested in doing something in your area, let everyone know and make it happen! Meetups are a great way to make new machining friends and get hands on help in your area. Don’t be shy, sign up and come, or plan your own meetup!
Weiss VM32 CNC Conversion
- Thread starter David
- Start date
In my discussions with Peter he's always either already had a bit file that fits. In my case with the PMDX-126 there were two different bit files. If you use the Gecko G540 there's a bit file for it. The 7i92_C11G series address another group of BoBs.
And then there's the more extensive 7i76 series of boards and bit files.
Attached is the VHDL file for creating the .bit file written to the device via mesaflash.
Gosh it's been years since I've done anything with this stuff.
Peter at MESA has always been super helpful.
gerritv
Gerrit
I appreciate that Peter is very helpful, I see that on the linuxcnc forums. But somehow being able to build one myself is one of those strange needs, an itch that pops up now and then. Not that I need a custom one right now but......
With PathPilot in particular, I think your goal should be pin compatible. Even with a custom bitfile if necessary. Otherwise you are in for a world of work everytime they do an update. You would need to compare your hal and ini files with their new ones. Not that they change often but 3.0 is coming eventually. I opted to make a jumble cable to match the 1100-3 bit file which leaves me with only 4 or 5 lines to update each time.
Keep in mind that Tormach actively supports PathPilot, they issued 40+ updates so far on 2.0 since Dec 2017.
With PathPilot in particular, I think your goal should be pin compatible. Even with a custom bitfile if necessary. Otherwise you are in for a world of work everytime they do an update. You would need to compare your hal and ini files with their new ones. Not that they change often but 3.0 is coming eventually. I opted to make a jumble cable to match the 1100-3 bit file which leaves me with only 4 or 5 lines to update each time.
Keep in mind that Tormach actively supports PathPilot, they issued 40+ updates so far on 2.0 since Dec 2017.
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3D Printed?
So you don't go through the anguish I did I'll let you know up front that you will have to paint them with a metalized paint.
The encoder disk in this photo is actually also 3D printed.
The trouble is the PLA is transparent to IR from the optical sensors. I found that out the hard way.
Yes. Will need an index slot too.
On my Emco lathe, it just has an extra deep slot. Don't know if lcnc is picky about placement but I suspect not as the placement of the sensor would also need to be spaced exactly as well if the signals needed to be at the same time, and I just slapped my sensors in. I either have a great deal of luck or it doesn't care.
Or not. Never mind, brain is turning off for the night.
Or not. Never mind, brain is turning off for the night.
slow-poke
Ultra Member
I'm kinda partial to the Omron and even the knockoff Omkon encoders. High resolution and seem to last.
Sometimes actual Omrons show up on ebay for cheap, I scored some for $20. They are expensive from DK....
Sometimes actual Omrons show up on ebay for cheap, I scored some for $20. They are expensive from DK....
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I'm hoping to avoid a rotary encoder simply because of the extra faffing with mounts, pulleys and belts but it may be a moot because I need to fabricobble a sensor for the ring. Maybe rotary is the way to go as my electronics skills are well, non-existent.
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slow-poke
Ultra Member
Fairly easy to 3D print a mounting bracket and pulleys to match any tiny timing belt you have laying around. 3D printers have small belts that are appropriate. Food for thought.
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I likely have GT3 belts and pulleys. Wonder if I could 3D print a pulley that would slip over the top of the spindle....
slow-poke
Ultra Member
That's what I did. Timing pulley 3D models are plentiful via Google search.