Re: getting started

Hi Dave,

I'll send you my design for a simple and cheap router. it is
designed for learning, is very easy to make and should cost less than
$100 to put the mechanical stuff together. Having access to a small
lathe makes it easy to make the few special parts.

It is not metal capable and for training purposes, does not need to
be. you could cut wax, foam, balsa wood, or PC boards.

and yes, all thread is what is used, so no expensive leadscrews, so
you won't feel bad when you abandon this for a begger project. and
almost all the parts are catalogue stuff. only 3 parts need real
machining, but I'm close to gettting past that !


as far as your stepper drivers, if they are step and direction, you
should be able to run them from one parallel port so that opens most
any software to you.

maybe someone on the list will offer a rating of what is easy(est) to
learn for a beginner?



Dave






--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., "david_margrave" <david_margrave@y...>
wrote:

> Hello. This is my first posting to this group. I'm fascinated by

CNC

> controls and I'm interested in getting started with an inexpensive,
> unabmitious project with a high probability of success. I have a
> mill, lathe, etc. but converting those to CNC will be a project for
> another day.
>
> I want to start out CHEAP and SIMPLE! Like a plywood table with
> V-threaded rods and regular old nuts for drives, driving a pen
> plotting head in X-Y-Z. There is a local electronics store where a
> few months back I bought a do-it-yourself $20 stepper motor driver

kit

> and a $5 stepper motor of unknown torque specs.
>
> How hard is the electronics? Can I just get a couple more of the
> stepper driver kits, a couple more $5 steppers, wire up some relays

to

> the parallel port, and have the cheap plotting table up and

running?

> I want to start out with just plotting stuff until I get the hang of
> the software involved, the design and machine programming aspects of
> it, generating and interpreting G-code, etc. I can worry about
> hogging out chips later, much later!
>
> Software-wise I'll be working 100% on linux.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Dave