Build thread: Blurry Customs update thread

[jhnmdahl]

I have an old Blurry Customs CNC router that seemed to tick all the right boxes when I bought it years ago, but I never got it running well and it ended up parked in a dusty corner of the basement. It's a 2'x3' router-based machine, with NEMA23 steppers, a Geckodrive G540, and a Dell all-in-one running Mach 3. It seems to be pretty solidly built, and well worth bringing "up to date" for a few projects that would be much easier with a good, working CNC router. I've ordered an Acorn board, and a few other parts such as Beeelink computer, a touchscreen, and some new cables.

Upon firing it up, I noticed that two of the DB9 cables seemed ok, but the third one driving the 3' axis got hot in about 30 seconds. It's a 28 gauge, which is way too thin for the constant current driving a stepper, so all three are getting replaced with L-Com 20 ga. 10 foot cables. I'll post links for major parts for reference:

https://www.l-com.com/d-sub-heavy-duty- ... ale-100-ft

I also ordered a Beelink EQi12 computer, powered by an i3-1220P (single core Passmark is about 3500) from Amazon for about $259:

https://a.co/d/9MuUBHl

and a touchscreen from Asus - a VT169HE 15.6" 1920x1080 screen for about $169. It's capacitive, but it's about exactly the right size for me and I don't anticipate doing much other than wood on my machine so I'm not overly concerned about false touches. Some experimentation so far suggests it should be fine in my environment:

https://www.asus.com/us/displays-deskto ... h/vt169he/

The machine has no home or limit switches, and my intent is to add home switches and use software limits. Future upgrade plans may also include clearpath motors on X and Y axes, although I don't see a way to include a brake on the Z axis yet (maybe mount the motor inverted but on shims to accommodate the pulley?) so it may remain a stepper.

[jhnmdahl]

My new computer is here, and has CNC12 installed and configured. No more Windows XP and Mach 3! The touchscreen is here as well, but I've ordered 6" HDMI and USB-C cables to connect the touchscreen to replace the 3' cables the devices came with as pictured below. I also ordered a VESA mount bracket to hold the computer from Amazon:

https://a.co/d/7MwLl7f

but of course it didn't quite fit out of the box due in large part to a ridge where the sides bend away from the back of the bracket. I straightened out the bumps by hammering on them a bit, carved out some metal on the sides to enable better access to all the ports on the Beelink EQi12, and re-painted it black after a bit of sanding. I'm pretty pleased with the end result - the size, performance, and cost are all great:

I've also ordered a Keychron B6 Pro wireless keyboard that comes with a silicone cover and works cabled as well for about $40. They also make a version with no numeric keypad that's a bit smaller called the B1 Pro, but I liked the idea of full-size cursor keys and a number pad:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D53P4PBY?re ... title&th=1

[cnckeith]

be sure to run the Centroid PC Tuner on the CNC PC.

[jhnmdahl]

be sure to run the Centroid PC Tuner on the CNC PC.

Yep, it’s done. And I did all the firewall, Windows updates, power management, etc. settings as recommended in the Centroid guide. I’ll run the stress test again when my control box is done, but with a single-core Passmark of 3500 I’m not expecting any problems.

[jhnmdahl]

Old problems and mission creep.

I ordered some 6" cables for the USB and video connections between the display and the monitor shown above from Amazon to keep the package tidy, and ordered a Keychron B6 wireless keyboard that comes with a nice silicone rubber cover, so the new computer's about set. I ordered a new metal control box, power supplies, etc., for the new Acorn controller, and found Clough42's videos on his Acorn controller build and watched a few of them several times.

In parallel, I set up the Blurry Customs machine again with its Mach 3 controller and built a table for it, bought a dust shoe off Etsy (https://www.etsy.com/listing/1446096068 ... -shoe-fits), made a spoilboard, and cut some wood:

I noticed that the router needed shimming to be perpendicular to the table, and there was some significant vibration when moving the Y axis. The Lovejoys had a hard plastic coupler (likely further hardened due to age) that I replaced with hard rubber on the X and Y axes, and I found the bottom beam below the gantry interfacing with the Y axis ballscrew had its ends cut out of square by just under two degrees. I ended up squaring the ends and using flat shim stock to get it to run smooth, and all was well.

Until the Dell SX280 shut down a week later. Turns out this computer had a handful of known bad electrolytic capacitors, so a $30 order to Digi-Key for a bunch of 10k hour-rated Panasonic replacements and it's back running. In the meantime, I became increasingly envious of Clough 42's Avid 2x3 router relative to mine, and second-guessed whether I really wanted to be building a new controller for my old router or go to the expense of putting something like Clearpath NEMA 23 servo motors on it.

Long story short, a new Avid 2x3 Benchtop Pro hardware kit (no electronics) should be here right around Christmas time, and my old system will hopefully find a new home next year. The Acorn controller will start life as an Avid control box. I've also acquired some Clearpath SDSK-3421S servo motors and the appropriate power supplies and cables for the new Avid machine, as well as the C86ACCP connector board for the Acorn-Clearpath connections. A 3D printed mounting bracket was ordered via Craftcloud (no 3d printer in the shop yet...), and I'm eyeing the new 4hp ATC spindle from Avid that's due to come out early next year. Which is made by the same guy who made my old CNC router when he was first starting out back in 2009.