Feed Drive Calculations for a Trapezoidal Leadscrew
A feed drive is essential for the proper operation of any machine tool, not only a CNC one. In this article I present the basic calculations and some notes on trapezoidal leadscrew drives.
Building a 3-Axis Mill
Mechanical Aspects of a DIY CNC Router: Frame, Guides, Drives
A milling machine, a cutting plotter, a lathe, a drill press: all of them need a stable, rigid frame that carries every module of the machine. In this short article I describe my observations, tips and solutions related to the mechanical side of a CNC milling router.
CNC Mill Controller: Using a Gamepad with QjoyPad
Setting axes by hand often means walking around the mill with a huge keyboard. We found QjoyPad, which lets a PS3 gamepad drive LinuxCNC, and this is how we installed and configured it.
CNC Mill Electronics: Power Supply, Stepper Drivers, LPT Board
A complete controller for a CNC mill for wood, plastics and soft metals. It drives three axes, can easily be extended with a fourth, and uses Allegro A4989 stepper drivers, all managed by LinuxCNC on Debian. The modules shown are prototypes that we keep modifying.