Nathaniel Dunbar Senior Project

Today I worked on in metal shop getting everything ready to weld. This is a critical and time consuming process because I need to ensure that the frame is square and straight. This involves a lot of machine work on top of welding. I am getting it done though the X axis frame is coming along well, and I think that I should be ready to weld by around Saturday. Today I worked on finishing up the limit switch wires in the morning and started getting the computer system set up. I spent the afternoon machining my steel to length in the metal shop. I should be able to weld the top rails by tomorrow, and then I can machine them and weld them up to my other bars. Also the surface plate should be here tomorrow. The surface plate came today, and I welded the top rails, hopefully will be able to clean up the welds, and then start drilling the parts. It is gonna take some machining to make sure everything is square and flat. This is critical as to make sure that the rails are...

Day 13 Today I worked in the metal shop cutting and prepping things to weld. This was most of my morning / afternoon, all the pieces I need are cut, and I am starting to machine their faces to prep for welding. This is being done on both a horizontal and vertical mill. The goal of this is to get really flat and square parts before welding so that the frame stays square. In the evening I spent more time in cad designing mounts for the electronics on the frame, as well as my spindle mount. Day 14 Today I spent the morning doing the first power ups of my case. I had just finished my last AC cable that I needed, and then I Got everything hooked up and turned on, although the first time I went to test, the circuit shorted and the power strip turned off. I just had a small short that was caused by a piece of over stripped wire, after I fixed that I turned it on, and got all green lights. We have power, and now all I have to work on is the computer side of the system. In th...

Day 7 Today I worked on the wiring and the cable management inside the case. This meant I had to make signal and power wires for all the drives, and eventually wire up the PSU’s to power. I also took the time to install all of my fans, and the signal generator meaning all that is left is to work on the computer and the wiring. At the end of the day I started to do work on the internal power cables, They are almost done I think that I will finish them up tomorrow and then go and start to work on the base. Day 8 Today I did start work on the base of the CNC, I went down to the metal shop to start setting things up, and to move my materials over. This took a lot of time as I had to do a lot of setup work on the horizontal mill to be able to accommodate parts of the size that machining. I had to indicate and line up to two vises gapped by the entire 30 inch table. I also put the cutter I am going to be using on the machine, as well as setup the spray coolant sy...

CNC Machine Project Day 6 Today I worked on the wiring and the cable management inside the case. This meant I had to make signal and power wires for all the drives, and eventually wire up the PSU’s to power. I also took the time to install all of my fans, and the signal generator meaning all that is left is to work on the computer and the wiring. At the end of the day I started to do work on the internal power cables, They are almost done I think that I will finish them up tomorrow and then go and start to work on the base.

Weekly Reflection 1 This week I made good progress towards understanding, and assembling the electronics system. This has culminated in the creation of my electronics case for the machine. As of right now I have finished all the necessary physical mounts and mods, all that is left is to wire it up. This week I learned a lot about how stepper motors work, and how they interact with the drivers to get them to work. I also have been learning about G-code, the universal machine code language. It is useful to know when using a CNC because you can proofread the code live on the machine, as well as being able to edit and and insert parts on the fly. This can help a lot when troubleshooting a program on the CNC.

CNC Machine Project Day 5 Today I worked on finalizing the electronics case. This meant finishing the fa mounts and the case mods, as well as ordering fans to mount. I also then worked on getting the stepper drivers mounted and then I went to work mounting my signal generator. This has left me with a very clean looking case and space for wiring and other electronic attachments. I also think that this case will help the CNC look more professional because the wires will be contained and the whole system will be cooled at the same time. Looking to next week I will need to spend time on wiring but I will be starting to assemble the frame of my CNC machine.