Bicton Men's Shed - 3DTEK Heavy Mill

[breezy]

I've been on here for a while asking questions, thought I should introduce myself and the Bicton Men's Shed.

I have retired from a Electronics and Software background (telecommunications exchanges). As a result have a interest in things controlled by computers.

I convinced the Bicton Men's Shed (community mens group) to invest in a CNC router and as a result we purchased the Heavy Mill kit from 3DTEK. I have been assembling it for the last 12 months, only have a couple of hours one day a week to do this. Just about finished, only need to do final calibration, check squareness and tram spindle.

I knew nothing about CNC coding a year ago and have been trying to understand it since. Once the the machine is fully commissioned and operational I will be teaching the other members of the shed how use it. Talk about the blind leading the blind!! Also have been learning about Fusion 360 to CAD and CAM.

I have also created a separate login (@bictonmensshed) at the shed for use by the shed members. So you will see posts from both logins concerning our router.

Regards,

Arie.

For the Bicton Men's Shed.

 

[Ross]

Very nice intro Arie!

"Man was not made to sit idle"

From Ross.

 

[clover]

What spindle did you buy for your Heavy Mill Arie?

Patrick

 

[breezy]

The Heavy Mill comes with a choice of three spindles and we chose this one.

• 2.2 KW 3 Phase water cooled spindle with ER20 collet system (With VFD 20A )
  

Available here. https://3dtek.xyz/collections/all/products/cnc-spindles

Regards,

Arie.

For the Bicton Men's Shed.

 

[clover]

Thanks Arie - Nice

 

[breezy]

Thought I'd share a few photos of the 3DTEK Heavy Mill.

Control Box Spindle coolant pump and flow switch

Control panel

General view of Heavy Mill

Laptop and MASSO monitor. Behind the monitor is a WIFI router hard wired into the laptop to provide WIFI connection to the MASSO only. Internet connection to the laptop is via a wireless dongle in another room. Also behind the monitor is a USB hub for the keyboard and mouse. When we get the dust shoe that is on order, the flexible hose on the floor will be connected to the shed's dust extraction system which runs overhead. The mill is jammed in the corner because to the left of the computer cabinet is a doorway and the right is a wood lathe.

Regards,

Arie.

For the Bicton Men's Shed.

 

[aussiemike]

Hey Arie,

For some reason I can't see any of your pics. I'm building the same setup and would very much like to see them. I'm having a bit of trouble getting things to work. The G540 shows the error LED suggesting it's not getting correct signals from the Masso via the 3DTek.xyz Masso to Gecko Parallel board.

Cheers,

Mike Allerton

 

[breezy]

Quote from aussiemike on January 8, 2019, 10:46 pm

For some reason I can't see any of your pics.

I can't help about the pics, maybe @masso-support can help there.

I'm having a bit of trouble getting things to work. The G540 shows the error LED suggesting it's not getting correct signals from the Masso via the 3DTek.xyz Masso to Gecko Parallel board.

I had trouble there as well but it was my fault, I had one connector on the ribbon cable the wrong way around.

Also check that the 3Dtek board is plugged in properly, I found I had to remove the MASSO cover to get it to seat OK.

Regards,

Arie.

 

[masso-support]

I'm having a bit of trouble getting things to work. The G540 shows the error LED suggesting it's not getting correct signals from the Masso via the 3DTek.xyz Masso to Gecko Parallel board.

Hi Mike,

With regards the G540 drive, are you saying that you have the fault LED lit up on it?

When you power up the G540 you only need 2 conditions to bring it out of fault. You don't need to have motors connected nor do you need the Masso connected.

• Ensure you have the Estop switch connected to the G540 between terimnals 10 & 12 or if you are not using an Estop put a link between terminal 10 & 12. ie Ground Terminal 10
  
• Turn off the Charge pump switch. Masso doesn't use it and the G540 won't come out of Fault if you don't turn it off.
  

Doing this will bring the G540 out of fault mode and all you should have is a green power light on. Now you can start connecting it to the Masso and your motors.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Peter

 

[masso-support]

With regards the photos I don't know why they don't show up but I can see below that there is a maximum of 5 uploads allowed per post and there appears to be 7.

Also there is a maximum file size of 4 megabytes as well as limited file formats. Maybe one of the conditions has been breached and it stops everything showing.

Cheers

Peter

 

[bictonmensshed]

Quote from MASSO Support on January 9, 2019, 7:59 am

With regards the photos I don't know why they don't show up but I can see below that there is a maximum of 5 uploads allowed per post and there appears to be 7.

Also there is a maximum file size of 4 megabytes as well as limited file formats. Maybe one of the conditions has been breached and it stops everything showing.

Cheers

Peter

Peter,

All photos are .jpg and the largest is 848.1 KB and yes I have uploaded 7 but the upload process didn't stop me nor did it complain about the file size.

I just logged in under the BMS login and could see the photos, so I am assuming that you could also see the photos!

So I don't know why Mike can't see them.

Regards,

Arie.

 

[clover]

I also cannot see the images. For what it's worth I too had problems a couple of months ago of viewing photos on this forum. #masso-support could see them and presumably others but not me on three different browsers.

I have noticed that there is a problem also if one initiates a post and adds an image, if one then wishes to replace that image with say an updated version (as I have done on a couple of occasions), the file has to be renamed otherwise the original image will appear. It appears there is some hick-up in the forum software.

 

[breezy]

As people have stated that they can't see the photos of the Bicton Men's Shed 3DTek Heavy Mill, I will re-post over several posts.

Also here is a link to the mill surfacing the bed.

 

[breezy]

More photos.

 

[breezy]

And the final three.

 

[ezzupturbo]

Hay guys would you like a auto tool height gauge? As I no longer will need it.

I'm just down Rockingham. Could potentially drop it off for yous and have a squiz at what yous have there.

Regards Chris

 

[breezy]

@ezzupturbo

Chris,

You are welcome to visit anytime and see what we have.

The shed is open Monday all day and in the mornings Wednesday and Friday. I only attend on Mondays.

We are located at 1 Carrington Street, Palmyra.

As for the Auto Tool Height gauge I don't think we'll have use for it, I installed a small aluminum plate to the bed of the router for ATZ.

Regards,

Arie de Vries

For the Bicton Men's Shed.