We need *all the shiny*

dse

@boomzilla said in We need *all the shiny*:

Not on my chrome.
Hang on, let me check my privilege...yep, still in sudoers.

Why do you run Chrome with your root privilege?

dse

See, I wanted a 3d printer, too. But I couldn't figure out what the fuck I'd use it for.

So I decided to be a grown-assed adult and bought a CNC mill instead. Because instead of simply making plastic shit, I can make plastic shit, wax shit, metal shit, wood shit, polyurethane shit, etc. etc. etc just by changing tools and whacking a block of the target material into it. And I can use metal and wood.

$400 for an obsolete model, including a PC, selection of wood-grade tools and a $100 box of machinable wax). Another $200 to rebuild it to modern standards (new stepper motors, throw away the control box and ISA card, plug a new controller in. Oddly enough, the controller is designed for 3d printers and that's the only reason it's so cheap, but BOTH TECHNOLOGIES USE THE SAME STANDARD DRIVER LANGUAGE). Later on I'm also going to fit it with a laser for burning/etching.

Subtractive is better than additive unless you go look at laser sintering. And then they're just for two completely different things.

Care to give more info please? I WANTZ ONE!!
I mean, is controller that standard?! or you had to reverse-engineer with a signal analyzer?

cvi

@Weng said in We need *all the shiny*:

THAT THING COSTS HOW MUCH AND THE PRINT HEAD IS POSITIONED BY COGGED RUBBER BELTS!? JESUS FUCK PEOPLE, SCREW DRIVE IS NOT FUCKING HARD.

Yeah, and that still falls into the "affordable" category. I want(ed) a 3d printer as well. But the ones that are affordable (in some sense, they are still too fucking expensive) are toys. Not enough resolution to really do anything useful, plus the results look shit (that after you manage to avoid the worst input colors). On the other hand, a proper 3d printer is very much outside of the affordable-for-fun range. Plus, from what I understand, SLS is a pain to use...

Weng

@dse So, there's really two approaches. The standard "language" CAM tools and 3d printing tools output is called gcode. It includes commands for moving axes, turning the tool on and off, etc.

There's a defacto industrial standard that has the machines connected to a controller box which is in turn connected via parallel port to a computer. The PC translates the gcode into flipping the bits on the parallel port, and the controller box amps those signals to drive motors and shit.

Every machine is wired differently, but for industrial gear it tends to be well documented. My machine was intended for the educational market and therefore has a proprietary ISA board.

Thanks to the 3d printer folks, we now have controller boards that accept gcode directly and directly drive motor circuits, allowing the PC to fire and forget. This is the approach I'm using.

Medinoc

@Deadfast I've used JavaScript for static content once back in the day. It was some kind of fancy data grid (several based on the same data set, in fact); and using JavaScript to declare the data set and convert it into table HTML made for a smaller file (and easier maintenance).

These days I'd probably do the same thing server-side instead.

Yamikuronue

@Weng TIR a CNC Mill is like a computerized embroidery machine but with sawblades instead of a needle.

Weng

@Yamikuronue Do they also speak gcode? :)

Yamikuronue

@Weng The commercial ones don't, but homebrew machines often do, for simplicity. There's software to take in a DST embroidery file and export a gcode file to be used on those hacked machines.

hungrier

@Weng said in We need *all the shiny*:

Later on I'm also going to fit it with a laser for burning/etching.

There shouldn't be anything preventing you from just sticking a 3D printer head on it if you wanted that as well, right?

@Weng said in We need *all the shiny*:

THAT THING COSTS HOW MUCH AND THE PRINT HEAD IS POSITIONED BY COGGED RUBBER BELTS!? JESUS FUCK PEOPLE, SCREW DRIVE IS NOT FUCKING HARD.

Is screw drive better? I've seen some CNC setups on Youtube and I think they all use belts for positioning.