Totally Screwed

[singlepic id=112 w=320] [singlepic id=111 w=320] I received a big assortment of 18-8 stainless steel hardware from eBay, with a lot of useful sizes/threads.  It was a…

New Workbench

[singlepic id=110 w=480] With the help of my dad, I built a new workbench for the machine shop on Saturday.  I attached the top and notched and…

Engraving Test

[singlepic id=107 w=340] [singlepic id=108 w=340] Did an engraving test tonight with some new engraving bits that I got from this eBay seller.  Decent results, though I…

Opto Interrupter 101

It occurred to me that not everyone may have any idea what an opto interrupter is and does. Opto interrupters are small sensors, used to detect the…

Groove Ho(l)mes

After more work than I anticipated making the Y homing sensor mounting block and making a bracket and sensor setup for the Z axis, tearing down half…

Home Is Where You Hang Your Hat

Unfortunately, back in October, I discovered that my level of conversion kit for my mill did not include the hardware for home sensors for each axis.  Everything…

Pendant Links

So I don’t lose these links, here are some fancy advanced pendants that someone has implemented for EMC2, along with the underlying software necessary. I have already…

It’s Like Christmas

Here’s the result of a lot of small ebay auctions last week… Our office manager gave me quite a look when she walked in with no fewer…

Shop Reorganization, Part I of XXIV

This weekend, I started the major effort of cleaning and reorganizing my basement on the “clean” (i.e. non-wood shop) side.  I decided to move my electronics lab…

Sloppy Z

So I’m having some major trouble with slop in my Z axis, regardless of how tightly I’ve cranked down the gib adjuster.   While what follows may not…

USB Host Mode on Motorola Droid

It’s good to note that someone’s been making some progress getting USB host mode to work on the Droid… I have a few ideas for things to…

Progress

So the CNC conversion is really not quite done, even though I’ve been using the machine to create parts.  Still lots of cleanup, fine tuning, and other…

First Metal!

I made my first part out of aluminum last evening.  I’ve been slowly designing the electronics enclosure, and I needed a means to mount and cool the…

Big Ostentatious Power Switch – Experiment #1

I’ve been starting to think about making an enclosure for my friend Mike’s UCD400 amplifier kit.  I want to use my new CNC toy, obviously, and make…

First Successful Testing

After sorting out with the manufacturer that the lead screws are in fact imperial, not metric, everything makes a lot more sense.  I had been wondering whether…