DIY CNC QUILTING MACHINE

[rb99]

Which control board did you go with?

RIB

[larryl]

Richard,

I went with the Rockcliff 4 axis controller. It has Estop, and add on capability. It operates on 12 to 24 volts. I set it up at 24 volts to give a faster charge time to the steppers. That way it's not so slow on the up take. I may change the motors that I am using (NEMA 17) to a NEMA 23 motor for more strength.

[larryl]

Eric, Sorry it has been so long since I last wrote. I am one of those gov't employees that has to travel a lot. I just got back from an extended trip. Anyway, no it's not a dll, it's a full blown class file that has to be interfaced into the .NET file. The thing is really cumbersome and awkward. Like I told Richard, I decided to go with a Rockcliff 4 axis board that is usable with Mach3. Gcode is so much easier.

Larry

[larryl]

Sorry guys,

I guess I had a senior moment when I did my previous post. Sent you the wrong link.

Here is the correct link: http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/showg...er/153629/sl/l

[larryl]

Build Log for my CNC Quilter project.

In March of 09, after reading a post on cnczone.com, I became interested in building a CNC Quilter.

My wife is the lucky owner of a Grace quilting table with a Husqvarna Viking Sewing/quilting machine. The table is 112 inches long and 24 inches wide. The sewing machine carriage is 24 inches long and approximately 12 inches wide, with 4 metal wheels with needle bearings mounted on each end to traverse the X axis (long) of the table. Also, there are two optical sensing wheels mounted in the same fasion, one on the Y axis of the carriage and one on the X axis. These optical sensors are tied to the stitch regulator which is further connected to the sewing machine via a option port on the end of the machine next to the power switch and cord. The stitch regulator is controlled by a simple handheld on/off switch which is activated prior to sewing. NOTE: This switch is to be later replaced with a solid state relay controlled by the controller board mist/flood control using the M8 and M9 command.

Since the majority of the build is complete with the purchase of the quilting machine, the only design work is in designing and building the mounts for the motors, traction cables and cable mounts. Locating the correct pulleys for the motors proved to be a challenge. However, I found that CONRAD electronics here in Germany had the necessary pulleys in stock for a very reasonable price.

The actual assembly of the parts for the table was very straight forward. After purchasing a 24 inch by 3 inch piece of 1/8 inch thick aluminum bar, I cut out 4 2.5 inch by 5/8 inch brackets to mount the cable. The cable brackets were mounted on a convenient screw at each end of the x axis of the table and also on the ends of the Y axis of the carriage. (See photos at link: http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/showg...er/153629/sl/l).

Using small cable clamps I mounted the cable by placing a small turnbuckle at one end of the cable on the table X axis and one on the Y axis of the carriage.

The mounts for the motors are made of the same aluminum bar, and are mounted on 3/4 inch standoffs to eliminate the possible rubbing of the pulley against the table. The cable is wrapped 3 times on the X axis pulley and one time on the Y axis pulley. The mounts for the motors are are drilled and tapped to accept metal screws to complete the mounting of the motors and the final construction of the mount. (see photos at the above link)

Electronics:

The controller is a Rockcliff 4 axis controller with a 12 volt 1 amp "brick" power supply. Here it must be noted that any power supply capable of providing the required voltage necessary to power the board and motors can be used (I experimented with a PC power supply that worked very well). I just happened to have two NEMA 17 .8 degree motors that run on 12 volts 1 amp. I tuned the board to supply just under 1 amp to each of the motors, and pulled an extra 12 volt line from the power connection to power a cooling fan. The board is mounted in a custom cut plastic hobby box with a 3.5 mm receptacle for the power plug. The wiring for the motors consists of small guage speaker wire of low resistance, which is twisted to give a non-mechanicle grounding effect to provide spurious noise filtering. Each motor wire is over 18 feet in length and has a carbon-torroid filter at each end as well. The motor wiring is connected to two RJ-11 connectors on the carriage and two on the electronics box to facilitate plugging in the cable and/or removal of the motors or controller board without disturbing the wiring. (See photos)

Software:

The software that is being used to control the whole assembly is Mach3 with a variety of other software to create gcode and dxf files. At this point, I must say that Mach3 is a very good system for this project, especially if I could find someone with the ability to design screens that would compliment this project and make it easier to operate by my wife. I am not that adept at making screens or I would do it myself. Also, I think that if I could find someone with a CNC milling machine or router/plasma cutter, I would be able to design better more attractive mounts for the motors/axis/cables. I think that if the motor mounts were made of a thicker aluminum bar, say 1/4 inch, the whole system would be stronger and could handle a larger more powerful motor set.

Finally, the parts list:

2-NEMA17 stepper motors (Lin Engineering) $7.00 for both.
1-plastic hobby box (Arcade electronics) $4.00
1-1/8 inch thick by 2.5 inch by 24 inch aluminum bar. Any major hardware store chain $10.00
Assorted metal screws (on hand)
1 spool of 35 lb polyurethane coated stainless steel fishing wire (Bass Pro-Shops) $24.00
adequate length of wiring (speaker wire on hand)
4 packs of SnakeSkin wire covering (Arcade Electronics) $12.00
1-Rockcliff 4 axis controller board. (Rockcliff Machine Inc) $148.00
1 Mach3 controller software package. (freeware download until purchased)
Necessary tools and equipment.

The total cost of this project including the mailing fees is just under $300.00. Total build time involved, including waiting for parts is just about 9 months.

Now, that beats the devil out of buying an expensive system that would require a technician to set up and probably would break down 20 or 30 times before the wife really learns how to use it.

I have enjoyed this project immensely and am available to lend advises to anyone who asks.

Thanks for the support guys, you are awesome.

Larry

[mikeacg]

Larry,

Looking at the pictures, you have done a very impressive job on this project. I look forward to seeing it completed! Thanks for sharing!

Mike

[khalid]

The project is still in progress..currently the work is on designing a simple low-cost stitch length controller..

Okay.. One more thought, let we install the two knobes on the X/Y carriages..As you all know the PWM stuff , you rotate a knobe and motor run in direction following the knob movement..

Now consider you scalled both knobes for X and Y carriages Length..For example The X knob if in the middle of small X-carriage will output the same value as if Y-knob is middle in the Y-carriage length..

We can add gears to take the knob one full rotation through out the length of carriages and scal them equally..

Now when knob moves they will give us some signals and we can then take the hyp. of triangle and then can manage to programm the arduino to control a mechanism that will press the speed control pad up or down.

Any thoughts??

49125.jpg

[khalid]

The Project went ahead..You can see the progress at
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showth...04&page=11

[khalid]

Now the Gcode Quilter can Produce the Output for Embroidery work too..

49418.jpg

For details please watch following thread...
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showth...04&page=12

[khalid]

I am currently Planning to Make a simple GUI for the embroidery application... I plan to add following functionalities

1- The User will open the DST file
2- The File will be read and displayed in Picture Box with some information (Total No of stitches, Height and width, No. of Colorsetc)
3- User will be given a choice to add some special G&M code at Top and Bottom of the Gcode (Like G21/G20, G90, G64, M30) ..Here I need your Inputs

4-On the basis of selection the Gcode will be generated in the Right textbox.

Now,
I currently thinking of to store each Design and its Gcode in a database... So that you can retrieve later on... We can sort the design with Design No. or File Name etc...

Any Suggestion at this time?

49658.jpg