Tag Archives: CNC

CNC – another satisfied customer

This is a 6″ wide, 3 foot long chunk of the side of some old barn that someone tore down and left the pile “free wood”. The planks are a foot wide by 10′ long or so, I have to … Continue reading

Posted in Knowledge, Making, Technology, Woodworking | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

CNC – a much needed repair

I decided that I absolutely wasn’t going to cut anything else on the big CNC before fixing the Z nut. The hack I made to get it installed in the first place has never worked properly, but it was really … Continue reading

Posted in Knowledge, Making, Technology, Woodworking | Tagged , | Leave a comment

CNC – Put the horse to work

I’ve been trying to get a CAD solution that doesn’t require me to be sitting at the computer in the shop, which for me means it has to run on Mac. I tried out LibreCAD, and I’m starting to get … Continue reading

Posted in Knowledge, Making, Technology, Woodworking | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

CNC – Hello, G-Code.

The scripting language that CNC machines use is called G Code. There are lots of commands, said Google. But the first few are about moving the machine. G0 – rapid move (linear) G1 – controlled speed move (pass Feedrate in … Continue reading

Posted in Computers, Knowledge, Making, Science, Technology, Woodworking | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

CNC Build – And that’s how we do that.

Today, I decided that I was ready to start making some sawdust again. I had gathered and sorted all my endmills last night, and I found the one that had tried to kill me all those years ago. By the … Continue reading

Posted in Knowledge, Making, Technology, Woodworking | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

CNC Build – Back in the game!

I decided that I was going to figure out the sensor cable today, once and for all, one way or the other. And, spoiler alert, I did. I cut the zip ties and looked at the way the port is … Continue reading

Posted in Computers, Electronics, Knowledge, Making, Technology, Woodworking | Tagged , | Leave a comment

CNC Build – Stupid cables

Connecting the new sensor cable is tough — it’s a “real” RS232 cable, so the female end has two protruding female studs, so that two cables can be bolted together. This totally doesn’t work with the way I attached the … Continue reading

Posted in Computers, Electronics, Knowledge, Making, Technology, Woodworking | Tagged | Leave a comment

CNC Build – Courage is the first virtue

Well, as per normal in the way my life and hobbies go, it took two months to get back to the CNC once I’d determined that the cables fit properly. I decided that I was going to push forward today, … Continue reading

Posted in Computers, Electronics, Making, Technology, Woodworking | Tagged | Leave a comment

CNC Build – Once more into the breach, … again.

The last time I used the big CNC machine, it tried to kill me. So I shut it down, and there things sat for … 4 years? The problem, I believe, is that the motor cables (I was using CAT5 … Continue reading

Posted in Making, Woodworking | Tagged | Leave a comment

CNC – Head crash!

There are some days when things just don’t turn out right. I needed to solve the motor startup problem, so I sanded off the white paint (I’d used some really old WiteOut — yuck) and re-painted the shaft, this time … Continue reading

Posted in Making, Woodworking | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment