CNC build using TinyG

Home › Forums › TinyG › TinyG Projects › CNC build using TinyG

Viewing 5 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • March 1, 2012 at 1:38 pm #1911
    greyhound716
    Member

    I’m only a couple of months into this hobby, but I’m in the process of building a JGRO-based CNC system using TinyG. The initial purpose of the machine is to build prototypes for musical instruments, but I suspect I’ll find a lot of entertaining things to do with it. Thinking about adding limit/homing switches, interchangable toolheads, etc. For now though, I’m just trying to get a complete toolchain (from CAD to completed work) using TinyG, since it seems like a lot of the stuff out there still uses breakout boards and parallel port pins.

    Anyway, I’m posting updates at http://randommusicdesign.blogspot.com/ if anyone is interested in any of the topics I mention above. Thanks for a nicely designed product!

    March 1, 2012 at 6:40 pm #1912
    alden
    Member

    Thanks for you interest and post, and the compliment. I read your blog. We’ll definitely add your project(s) to the list of TinyG projects on the wiki.

    As you look for a beefier power supply let me suggest that you look to provide the motors with 24 volts. You will get much better performance and cooler operation than with a 12 volt supply. You will, of course, still need to supply 5v, but any reasonably regulated 5v supply over 100 ma will do.

    March 1, 2012 at 11:50 pm #1913
    greyhound716
    Member

    Thanks for the tip! I’ll take a look at getting a bigger supply.

    March 5, 2012 at 10:43 am #1914
    jmnoeth
    Member

    I have a JGRO (modified slightly) build CNC that is being controlled with a TinyG. The modifications are just as you mentioned, I used plywood (I used oak veneer because I had quite a few pieces lying around) and had to adjust things accordingly.

    I’ve had it up and running for a couple weeks now, and it seems to work well. To date, I’ve only sent it commands to cut various shapes using hand coded G-Code files. Haven’t got the limit switched connected yet, but, it looks fairly straight forward with the TinyG. I too am using an old ATX power supply to run my machine, but, have determined that I probably need more than the 12V that the power supply is capable of producing. I also will more than likely replace the 1/4 inch lead screws with real ACME lead screws of a larger diameter.

    I’ve been using my Macbook to drive the TinyG, but, I’m looking at using a SBC (Single board computer) of some sort to drive it, probably something like the Beagle or Panda boards. I was hoping to use a Raspberry Pi, but, I missed the first batch and probably won’t be able to get one until late spring or early summer.

    March 5, 2012 at 2:36 pm #1915
    greyhound716
    Member

    jmnoeth,

    Beagle looks nice. I’m doing something similar, but going to use an existing Chumby.

    I actually was fairly successful “plotting” a picture as my second test run. Took a picture of my daughter, ramped up the contrast, and fed it to Inkscape to do edge detection, path generation, and G code export. There were a lot of “noise” paths however, and I’d need to clean that up before doing it for real. It was a good test of the board though – heat dissipation is good, though one of the copper radiators got up to 180F, the chip didn’t go into thermal shutdown.

    Let me know how your interface works. I’m playing around with using a Chumby One right now for the same purpose. I also need to get a routing toolhead constructed!
    -Matt

  • Author
    Posts
Viewing 5 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.