Josh Glenn’s Blog

And You Thought Our CNC Routers Were Cool


This is a robotic cnc router that can walk on a floor and cut things out. Do you know what this means? You can cut inlays in hardwood floors, AFTER the floor is laid; You could carve wonderful 3-D designs in floors. What other applications are there for this type of machine? Please post your comments below and tell me what you think a machine like this could be used for.

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Interested in building a CNC router, or maintaining, retrofitting, or upgrading your existing CNC router? This category of my blog is dedicated to just that: tutorials to help the DIY CNC user. If you are building a DIY CNC Router, DIY CNC Plasma cutter, or DIY CNC Laser cutter / engraver, there may be some very useful information here. Remember to subscribe to this category so I can keep you in the loop.

This is a video of a CAMaster’s cobra CNC router cutting cabinets arts out of melamine at a customer’s location in Florida.   CNC routers can save a cabinetmaker and a lot of time cutting from a cut list manually using a table saw. Many small shops nowadays are using CNC routers in their cabinetmaking processes because the price of this technology has come within the range of what it the average Joe can afford.

CAMaster CNC will be exhibiting in booth #6974 at the international woodworking fair this year. Stop by our booth to register to win a copy of Vectric’s V-Carve Pro CAD/CAM software. CAMaster is a leading manufacturer of CNC Routers and production solutions for the woodworking industry.

CAMaster offers unparalled value in automated manufacturing solutions. CAMaster manufactures CNC routers, lasers, and plasma cutters to exacting standards and offers these to our customers at competitive prices. The solutions we provide come complete with our complementary Virtual Technician Live Help system and the industry’s only two year product warranty.

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If you would like to know more about what will be happening in and around the CAMaster booth at IWF 2008, listen to the Audio Announcement of CAMasters Plans for IWF 2008. This goes into some detail about the seminars CAMaster will be having during the show. (This audio is about 2 minutes long)

CAMaster CNC Routers – IWF 2008

For the show dates and times, listen to camaster-cnc-routers-iwf-2008-show-dates

For more Audio Announcement of CAMasters Plans for IWF 2008, listen in more detail. (This audio is about 2 minutes long)

CAMaster is anticipating an excellent turnout at the 2008 international woodworking fair. The Expo takes place August 20-24, 2008, at the Georgia world Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Interactive CNC Experience
Rather than boring you with the same old stuff, we wanted to make this year a little more interesting. We’ll leave it to the other guys to waste all their time trying to convince you why their machines are so much better than everyone else’s.

We realize that the relationship between machine owners and solution providers like CAMaster is only one key to success. Through CAMaster’s Owner Support Network, a very major effort is being put forth to ensure that CAMaster owners have the tools they need to be there to help each other. This ensures the safety and security of ownership, as there should be no support bottleneck, no matter how many machines CAMaster has sold.

Make More Money In Less Time, With Less Effort
Our focus is on showing you how to make more money, in less time, with fewer employees.

We want you to see, through the examples of real-world cabinet shops, woodworkers, and others, how you can gain tremendous benefits from using CAMaster CNC router and software solutions in your shop.

There will be owners present at the booth this year to testify that bringing CNC into their shop has simplified their lives, making more time for what is really important to them.

Has Your Router Company Let You Down?
If you already have a CNC router or two in your shop: we want you to know that we are willing to help you anyway we can. Whether you bought your machine from us or from another company, CAMaster has a growing base of experienced users that can help you maintain, upgrade or troubleshoot your own CNC router through our online forums, telephone and Internet webinars and conferences, and a first-class subscription-based service contracts.

Educational Seminars
At this year’s show we will have captivating seminars on the following topics:

• “ECONOMIC RECESSION: How To Survive Hard Times and Come Out On Top!” 20 minute interactive seminar.

• “Virtual Technician: Interactive Online Support” – What is it? And How Can It Benefit You? CAMaster’s support options provide the richest user experience in the CNC router industry. Specifically, we’ll be featuring our Virtual Technician System. This system allows CAMaster to save our customers thousands of dollars when a trouble issue arises. Instead of having to fly in a technician from the other side of the country to troubleshoot a problem, one of our technicians can simply log into your PC with your permission, and get you the help you need when you need it.

• “Integrating CNC Into Your Small Cabinet Shop” Presented by Jim McGrew, McGrew Woodworks, Columbia, South Carolina.

• “New Revenue Streams for Woodworkers” …

• “Three Shifts for the Price of One” This seminar will show you how you can make loads more profit without increasing the size of your workforce.

A few CAMaster CNC Router owners have recently asked for an article on how to go about calculating the step resolution, as they are modifying their older machines with different drivers, gears, etc. There are two methods: (1) The Absolute Method; and (2.) the Relative Method.

Comparison of the Two Calculation Methods
The absolute method is by far the most accurate of the two methods. It is also the most technically challenging and time consuming. Once you have a full understanding of the concepts and principles involved, it’s not so bad. But it can be taxing for someone who doesn’t want to fool with highly technical scientific stuff. If you’re reading this, though, chances are you like that type of thing.

The relative method is by far the easiest for the average Joe. But, it is subject to the accuracy with which a person is able to measure the size of an object cut on the machine or the distance the machine has moved. Despite that, it is generally a good way to go about things unless you are milling aerospace components that require extreme precision.

How to Calculate CNC Step Resolution Using the Absolute Method

1. Calculate the ratio of your driven pulley to your driving pulley. For example, Figure 1 on the right shows an example with a 15 tooth motor pulley and a 72 tooth driven pulley. So, if we divide 72 by 15, what do we get? We come up with 4.8. That means our ratio is 4.8 to 1, written as 4.8:1 .
2. Calculate the Linear Distance Traveled per Revolution of your Output Shaft. The method used for this depends on the type of system you are using. If it is a rack-and-pinion system, you do this by calculating the  Pitch Circumference of your output spur gear. Otherwise, if your system is a ball-screw or lead-screw driven system, you must use the screw lead.
3. Calculate the Number of Motor Turns Per Inch (TPI).
4. Calculate the Number of Inches Per Motor Revolution (IPR). Divide the Number of Motor Turns Per Inch by the left side of the gear ratio (4.8:1)
5. Calculate the Number of Steps Per Motor Revolution. This value is dependent on the drive and the motor you are using.
6. Multiply the Number of Inches Per Motor Revolution by the Number of Steps per motor revolution.Congratulations, this number is your Resolution value for that axis.

An Example: Calculating Step Resolution for a Rack and Pinion System with a Gear Reduction

Let’s use an example to figure this:

Let’s say we have a cnc router with a 4.8 to 1 gear reduction and a spur gear (rack-and-pinion drive). That means 4.8 turns of the motor will turn the output shaft one revolution.

This system has a 1.2″ pitch diameter. If we multiply 1.2 * pi, we get 3.7699. This is how many inches the machine moves for each revolution of the output shaft.

Next, we divide that number (3.7699) by the number of motor turns (4.8) to get the number of motor turns per inch. Like so: 3.7699 divided by 4.8 eguals .78539 . This number is the actual linear distance the machine moves for every revolution of the motor. If we are running a 10 microstep pulse, our step size will be .78539 / 2000 = .000392695″ . Finally, divide 0.78539 by .00039 to get your resolution. In this case, the resolution of this machine axis’ configuration is: 2013.821 steps per inch.

How to Calculate CNC Step Resolution Using the Relative Method

1. Find your current axis resolution. For this example lets say it is 2354.6 steps per inch.
2. Command your machine to move a specific distance. For this example, let’s tell the machine to move 50 inches.
3. Measure the actual distance the machine moved, and write this number down. For this example, let’s say the machine moved 53.25″.
4. Use CAMaster’s VisualCNC Toolkit (free download)  to calculate the new resolution.
   Visit the CAMaster WIki for Installation Tips, Features, and Instructional Videos on the CAMaster VisualCNC Toolkit.
5. Divide the commanded distance traveled (from step 2) by the actual distance traveled (from step 3), then multiply that number by the current resolution to get the new resolution. In our example we divide 50 by 53.25 and get .93897 (plus about 50 numbers after that). Then we multiply .93897 by 2354.6 to get our new resolution, which is 2210.8920 .

Ever wish you had a little walking, six-legged robot with a router attached to his mouth? You would lead him around, and watch blissfully as he cut 3-D carvings in your floor?

What’s that, Skeptic? … Hey! Never say never. Just press Play and watch the show, would ya?

Can your router do this? Neither can mine. Not yet, anyway.

http://www.hexapodrobot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=12