Re: Re: Re: COMPLETE 3 axis CNC electronics package (plug-n-cut, ready to go)

Message: 19
Date: Tue, 2 May 2006 10:44:04 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Mickelson <fik123@...>
Subject: Re: Re: COMPLETE 3 axis CNC electronics package (plug-n-cut, ready
to go)

> Unipolar vs Bipolar.

Thanks for your answer. I wonder Do I (or anyone else)
really need to care or know. IF it they were called
tripolar minimacromicrosteppering it is all gibberish
to me.

The important info is how big a cut they will make, at
what speed and practical info like that

Maybe someone can direct me to a short course on the
net about the differences? I can satisfy my curiosity
then.
Does it matter that much? I could spend a lot of time
learning about things that won't help me make parts
and what I really want to do is make parts not make
machines.

[I can't blame you for that! But different machines are needed for different
sorts of projects, and if you want to do them all, and have more time than
money, then building machines makes a seductive sort of sense...]

That is one of the things I notice on these lists, the
endless debate, who can come up with the question no
one else thoguht up.
Personally I need to find an easy way to convert
artisitic ideas into 3D objects via a 3D milling
machine, without making a carreer out of learning
electronics, programming, fighting spam etc. My
attempts so far have only yielded a shop full of
machine parts, computer parts, books on both and
thousands of sunk dollars in experiemtns on stuff I
don't understand and "packages that are not supported
or the tech support is so rude and condescending makes
me want be a garbage man or taxi driver.
Way off topic.

[This group is also supposed to include the CAD side of things, although we
often seem to concentrate on getting our CNC machines to work. So talking
about the systems that transfer ideas into virtual and then physical forms
isn't off-topic, as far as I understand it. Ideally, of course, there would
be a direct connection to your brain-waves, and you'd use pure thought-power
to construct 3d models. There has actually been some promising work done
towards this goal, but it's not yet the most practical approach. For
artistic ideas, the closest I've been able to come are the hardware/software
systems made by Sensable Technologies. These amazing devices give you the
sensation of actually touching a 3d model with a stylus as you modify the
surface in real time. It's done with belt-drives in the Omni or Phantom
articlulated-arm input device and servo motors in its base that are set to
freeze up the stylus' motion as it reaches the surface of the virtual model.
Mesh models are expressed as a collection of "voxels", which have a certain
thickness as well as length and width. So when you manipulate a surface,
you're feeling a solid wall, which can be carved, pushed, or pulled to make
changes. It's the most intuitive system out there, since it taps into the
same process used when one sculpts in clay with actual tools; this gives you
the same sort of contact and response from the material. They come with a
year's worth of tech support too...]

What is the advnatage of Unipolor over Bipolar, given
everyhthing else is the same? Torque, size, Amps,.....?????

[Supposedly, bipolar stepper systems give you more speed, at a certain
expense in torque, since you only use half the motor's windings (I hope I
got that right). It takes a somewhat more complex system, but it's
generally supposed to be worth it.]

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com