July 2008
Monthly Archive
Finding the right collet
Posted by troycoon on 15 Jul 2008 | Tagged as: CNC Projects
Since we have been working on our new CNC machine we have run into a slight problem with our new Rotozip spindle system. It seems that the smallest collet that you can get for a Rotozip is 1/8th of an inch, so we have a problem. the Dremel bits we use for cutting PCB’S ( printed circuit boards ) has a shaft diameter of 3/32. We tried to adjust a Dremel collet and we tried to chuck a modified 3/32 replaceable countersink bit, both of which produced an unacceptable wobble in our bit. Wobbling is not good when you are cutting traces that are less than 3/4mm wide.
Well we searched the web and contacted the people from ProCustom Hobbies, once I told them what I was doing they were very helpful in helping me find what I needed even though they did not stock the item. They even told me where I could get it, you just don’t get that kind of service often these days. My hat is off to these gentlemen and I encourage anyone needing hobby supplies to check out their site or give them a call.
Back to the solution, there are two Dremel chucks (made by Gyros Precision Tools, Inc.) designed to chuck smaller than 1/8th of an inch. Finally something that we can use to cut tiny paths.
Asus Eee 901 & 1000 Linux Delays
Posted by michael.stahlman on 14 Jul 2008 | Tagged as: Computers, Eee PC
Released on July 8th? Think again.
So, it seems that no party wants to take responsibility for the delays of the Eee PCs. I would like to have the new Eee 901 in hand, but I am not desperate. What I dislike most about this situation is that no information is being provided to those of us who made pre-orders. Seriously, this is 2008: Worldwide communication should not be complicated.
I have made a few calls to find the status even though no one wants to help. I started with Amazon, hoping that they might have stock and working on getting the products shipped. I don’t think I could have gotten a more dry, pre-fabricated answer. No matter how I phrased the questions, all I could get out of the rep was basically, “When you receive an email, it will have information on shipping and arrival.” Wow, I didn’t realize Amazon forwarded me to the “Captain Obvious” department…
Next, I gave a call to Asus after seeing many stories floating around the internet about production delays, customs delays, or deals with Microsoft. After being transferred everywhere, I finally was able to talk to the notebook sales department. It seems the Eee 901 and 1000 series are delayed due to production issues. The rep told me they are estimating another week of delay and hoping for an availability date of July 23rd.
If you decide to call, be sure to mention you are interested in the Linux version, because they will automatically assume that you want the Windows version…
Even though I don’t like the wait, it is better knowing not to expect it before July 23rd. If only I could request one even with the software bugs, because it won’t have Xandros long for me. Bring on the Ubuntu Netbook Remix!
Blogging Backlog
Posted by troycoon on 11 Jul 2008 | Tagged as: Website
It is strange how fast you can build a blog backlog. There are so many times that I think to myself “I really need to blog about that ” or ” that would make a great blog post” but when it comes time to do some blogging I just stare blankly at the screen and say ” what was I going to blog about” .
I hope that you the readers, if I have any that is, will bear with me as I clean out the clutter of my thoughts and get up to speed on my blogging. I have so many projects and thoughts to post, sometimes finding the quite time to blog is the hardest part. I goal is to be able to provide 1 new post a day, that should be enough that within a couple of months I will be totally caught up.
Happy Fourth of July!
Posted by michael.stahlman on 06 Jul 2008 | Tagged as: Events
I hope everyone had a happy Fourth of July. We had several festivities to celebrate Independence Day. Fireworks, hacki-sack, volleyball, Xbox, food, and conversations are good ingredients for a Fourth of July celebration. We have some pictures and video of just some of the entertainment. We will be posting to the photo gallery and YouTube.
Check out the gallery here.
Just a preview:
Modular CNC Interface Panel
Posted by michael.stahlman on 05 Jul 2008 | Tagged as: CNC Controllers, Router Tables
The new CNC machine has been functioning for a while and now we are really close to having all of the details completed. We have made a frame beneath the primary table of the CNC to hold two drawers on each end for controllers and storage. We have constructed one drawer and have the controllers in place, but there is some more cable management to be done there. Otherwise, we have been in the process of making the modular interface panel.
The connectors we need for the panel are the power in, power out for spindle and vacuum, main switch, three motor connectors, parallel port, six limit switch connectors, and one emergency stop connector. For now, we have chosen to not use relays as we do not have the break-out-board accommodating that, but we will sometime in the future.
For the main power in, we chose a standard male plug where an extension cord can be used with a standard female plug wired to the back of the the male plug. A surge protector is plugged into that connector. For the two power out plugs, I used standard computer power cables, by cutting the female end and wiring to the plugs followed by plugging those into the surge protector. The main switch is wired to the primary power plug.
We chose four-pin XLR connectors for the motors, which we purchased from Mouser. These connectors work great for this application, because they make good connections and are not very expensive. As you can see, we haven’t mounted connectors for the parallel, limit switches, or emergency stop. We do, however, have our emergency stop button ready…
