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Upgrade Your CNC

by:Lxshow     2020-03-14
CNC machines are more accessible than ever, and there are plenty of cheap CNC machine kits in China.
The most common types are 1610, 2416, or 3018, referring to their machine size.
While they are great machines at a price, they don\'t perform very well.
However, the quality and safety can be greatly improved through several upgrades, making it a very powerful CNC machine!
In this Instructure, I will take you through the upgrades I have made to my machine, including: we will start this guide with assembled CNC kits.
There are already enough documentation to assemble the kits, so I will focus on the upgrade only.
Most upgrades will be 3D printed.
The necessary files are included in each step, as well as the wiring diagram.
In addition to the 3D printer, we also need soldering iron and some basic tools.
Let\'s start!
As a first step, we will put the electronics into the housing and route the cables to the motherboard very well.
This protects the PCB from dust and shorts when milling aluminum.
Also, we will add a drag chain to the wire.
The parts in this stepping electronic device start by printing the electronic box.
Stl and Electronics_lid.
Stl and installed on CNC.
Add the fan inside and connect it to the 12 v power supply.
Route all the stepping motor cables neatly to the box and secure them with a zipper. Cableguide.
Stl is a part that is suitable for extruded aluminum channels to better manage the cables.
Chain printing chain car hook.
Stl and place it on the Z stepping motor.
The tow chain can be fixed on this part by bolts or on the aluminum guide rail.
When wiring through the tow chain, now is a good time to add 2 pairs of extra red and black wires for the next step.
Now that the line is neat, we can start with a real upgrade.
The home switch will allow us to take the machine home and the soft limit will prevent crashes.
The components X and Y limit switches in this automatic conversion switch are mounted on the bracket, which holds the M8 rod on the bracket through the limit switch bracket. stl.
Print This Work twice and install it in the location shown in the picture.
The z-axis switch is simply screwed into the Z-axis bracket.
Connect this limit switch to the motherboard using an additional wire we passed through the tow chain in the previous step.
Weld the red and black wires to the limit switch and add the DuPont connector to the other end.
Insert them into the PCB according to the wiring diagram.
Updating the GRBLThe home switch and soft limits must now be enabled in the GRBL settings (
GRBL is the software running on the micro controller on the PCB).
The soft limit prevents the CNC from hitting its own frame by stopping the movement that will cause the crash.
To do this, connect the CNC to the PC using a USB cable.
Using Arduino IDE (
Or any other terminal)
Connect to CNC by opening a new serial monitor (
Make sure to select the correct baud rate).
Type $ view current month = month, homingType settingsType $27 = monthly adjustment to pull month = month, so that soft limited stype offType $130 = 300 sets of maximum x dimensions (for CNC3018)
Set the type of the maximum y dimension to $131 = 180 (for CNC3018)
Type $132 = 40 and set the maximum z dimension type $ Again to verify the change.
The spindle is one of the weak links of this CNC machine tool.
Upgrade it to make it easy for us to cut aluminum!
We will also add a speed controller, which is necessary for softer materials such as acrylic.
In order to adapt to the big spindle, we have to make a new spindle bracket.
Take apart the original bracket first: remove the stepping motor, screw rod, M8 Rod and spindle bracket.
Print Spindlemount.
Stl, spin laser.
Stl and Z_leadscrew_stop.
Stl and reassemble the bracket according to the picture.
Finally, reinstall the bracket on the CNC and insert the new spindle motor.
At this point, we can also add 2 lines of lasers to indicate the location of the router bit.
Install them in the bracket and connect the cables to the remaining wires we have wired through the tow chain.
Add power and speed controller, we can now install 48 v power supply on the back of CNC with some screws.
To install the speed controller, I removed the two outer fins of the radiator so that it could fit perfectly between the aluminum frames.
Print the motorcontrolerbox.
To cover the speed controller.
Connect the speed controller according to the chart.
Some versions of the Pecker PCB may not have sent a PWM motor speed control signal to the head pin.
In this case, you can weld the wire directly to the original motor control MOSFET as shown in the last chart.
By changing the motor controller, the motor may not turn when the speed setting of the candle is too high.
This is related to the generated PWM signal.
To solve this problem, reduce the speed setting in the candle.
Another option is to change the GRBL maximum speed value via the $30 command.
The other two functions are complete for one
Mature CNC Machine: emergency stop button and Z probe.
The parts in this emergency stop button can be bought cheaply online and offer very useful upgrades.
Sooner or later your router bit will crash into your material or CNC in a way you don\'t intend.
Stopping your machine is critical to the safety of you and your machine.
Weld the wire to the regular open side of the button and the other side of the DuPont joint.
Then, connect it to pin 0 of the motherboard.
The Z probeZ probe allows you to detect the height of the workpiece.
This makes it easier to set the height of the router bit and allows this to be done
Called height diagram, it is essential when grinding pcb.
Since we do not need these, we will connect the Z probe through the DC Jack.
The first cable goes from the parent DC Jack to the DuPont wire and is connected to the pin a5.
A male DC Jack can then be welded to two crocodile clips.
One connection is in place and the other is connected to (metal)
Workpiece like PCB.
CNC represents computer numerical control, but manual control is beneficial in some cases.
So we will add the knob on the x and y axis.
In this step, make the knot first, print the handle.
If you plan to use the thread plug-in, print the CNChandleInsert. stl;
Otherwise Print CNChanleNut. stl.
These two options are shown in the picture.
You can also print CNChandlehandle.
Stl and assembly.
Install them on the X and Y lead screws of the CNC machine.
As a final modification, I added the Bluetooth control to the CNC.
This allows me to control it through my phone, but this is a more advanced step, completely optional. I use the G-
Android app.
The components in the Bluetooth module should be connected to the TX and RX pins of microcontoller.
Since the module has a rated voltage of 3V3 and the micro-controller operates at 5 v, a voltage divider is added between the TX pin of the micro-controller and the RX pin of the Bluetooth module.
In addition, a switch has been added to disable the module as it interferes with USB communication.
Hook everything up according to the chart.
We have more CNC machines now.
Finally, we will give it a good case to control the dust and sound.
It will also make it look neat and professional!
The housing is designed for laser cutting;
I used the 3mm mid-fiber board on all sides and top, and the lid used acrylic.
These files are specially prepared for CNC3018 and are not suitable for smaller variants!
However, contains the fusion 360 file, so you can adjust it as needed.
The parts in this step first assemble the front and side, add the side and front to the CNC and bolt them together.
Manual control knobs and emergency switches can also be added at this time.
IEC Inlet and switch are installed for 48 v spindle power supply.
Assemble the connector and attach the top to the cover with bolts and nuts.
Add the LED light strip on the lower side of the lid and plug it into the 12 v power supply on the motherboard.
The Assembly housing has a cut of the air inlet on the back, adding a carbon filter to the air inlet.
To prevent dust from being left through the y-axis stepping motor cut-outs, please print step percover.
Stl and capture it in place.
Finally, connect all the wires to the motherboard and close the case of the electronic device.
It is now possible to fix the back in the proper position with bolts to complete the case.
Our basic CNC kit has now been upgraded to a very powerful machine capable of milling aluminum, pcb or anything in.
Also, the box provides sound and dust isolation, which makes it very useful in my office.
If you are inspired by your own creations, please vote for me in the Epilog contest!
Hope you enjoyed the project!
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