Gear Hobbing Attachment For Manual Milling Machine
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ม.ค. 2017
- The Home Hobby Hobber is a gear hobbing attachment I designed and built for hobbing gears on my manual milling machine. It still has a couple of bugs to iron out but I thought viewers might enjoy watching the progress (struggle). Go here for next video on this project:
• Home Hobby Hobber Part II
![คบซ้อน - วงL.กฮ. [ Official MV ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/5MtesqJ0I1c/mqdefault.jpg)
That's a pretty clean functional setup, I enjoy the fact many are using Arduino extensively, progress is always struggle. I was debating on the thumbs up, but then you assured us "no animals were killed or hurt in producing this video", and that was a clincher. You got my vote, now go out and have fun with your milling machine. Make lots of gears, make many things. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks a bunch, John! Stay funky, bro.
@@FCleff You too, you've got some good design going, on a great platform.
Just found your channel and Subscribed. Very nice work.
Thank you and welcome aboard.
Cheers,
F.C.
Great bass playin. Drums too.
Well a flexible shaft drive is a much simpler way to go and would certainly fulfil you purpose I'd think. I am glad that the spider shaft drive didn't spoil the. Machining, i just pointed it out as I feared it might. I will now watch part two!
Hi SAMRODIAN,
Thank you for your interest in this project.
Cheers,
F.C.
Nice build 👍🏻
Nice project can see teeth appearing a very useful tool built by you for you, those to us are the best kind subscribed and start looking around to learn here, I need to learn a lot. Thank You.
Hi Active Atom,
You are most welcome and thank you for the kind words and interest.
Cheers,
F.C.
Pretty slick!
Ok thanks for reply.
Amazing!
Cool music! Vic Wooten rules! Thanks for the content, too!😀
Thank you! Yup, Vic is THE man!
Patent It. You deserve all the credits. I had this idea in my dreams.
that is wonderful.
Hi Misgan,
Thank you very much.
Cheers,
F.C.
Looking at your DRO setup, have you checked out the clever and neat "touchdro" that combines all the separate displays and Bluetooth them to a single tablet? Works brilliantly and adds many features. I could send you the layout for the diy arduino shield if you want!
Thank you, Roger
I had not seen the "touchdro" app. What a good idea!! Perfect application of an Arduino and, since I 3-D printed the chassis for my hobber controller I won't have to design another one. ;-)
Very interesting!
Hi Kris,
Thank you. I'm glad you found it so.
Cheers,
F.C.
I will pay for a setup like this one run on my Bridgeport mill.. Excellent idea
Hi Erick,
Thank you for your interest and compliments. I'm currently changing this project over to a much faster, more powerful Arduino (Due), adding a few more features and writing a smart phone user interface app that connects via Bluetooth to the controller. I don't have a firm plan about how to make it available yet but it will most likely be published in one of the machine hobby magazines and will have a complete BOM for off-the-shelf components. The smart phone interface app will most likely be made available through GooglePlay. The Arduino sketch will most likely be made available via some online server, perhaps via the magazine that publishes the article. The custom PC board will most likely be made available through a prototype fab house.
Cheers,
FC
F. Cleff Excellent!!.. If you ever want to sell me your program and a way how to control X and Y axis let me know, I will pay you for it, just looking to make my works on my bridgeport easier... Thanx buddy
@@FCleff Also interested in this set up , will be happy to pay to get my hands on the full BOM and the arduino code.
Hi Joris Steurs,
Thank you for your interest in this project but it's still a work in progress, very slow progress, I'll admit.
Cheers,
F.C.
@@FCleff Thanks, no worries I have time , I can still use the dividing head on the same time.
Interesting gear hobbing project. Looks to me like you have a somewhat rare Industro-Lite mill. It also looks like you have adapted some sort of vertical milling head. I have the Industro-Lite 90deg head which works fine but I do at times miss not having a quill. Assuming I'm seeing things correctly, what head did you adapt?
Hi John Morrill,
Wow, you have a very keen eye for obscure mills!! Yes, it's an Industro-Lite mill manufactured about 60 miles from me in Oregon. I also have the stock Industro-Lite vertical milling head, horizontal overarm, horizontal braces AND vertical shaping/slotting attachment (very useful). I a got a "user's manual" with it too (extremely helpful). I, like you, missed having a quill-type vertical head so I added one and put a 3 phase motor/VFD on it. The vertical head shown in the video is a Mk-I Dore-Westbury Light Vertical Milling Machine ( www.lathes.co.uk/dore-westbury/index.html ) head that I built from a set of castings purchased MANY years ago from Model Engineering Services. It's an interesting design in that it has a an epicyclic gearing system for SLOW speeds (55 RPM low speed). When coupled with the VFD it has an amazing amount of torque at just about any speed.
Thanks for your interest in the hobber project too.
Cheers,
F.C.
Brilliant
Hi Manny,
Thank you.
FC
this is a great project .I started something like this from a project by John Stephenson in MEW magazine, but this one is in my opinion is better, have you added a provision in the dividing software to allow to use low gear?
Hi mariano diaz ,
May I call you Mariano? Thank you for your kind words and interest in this project. Also, thank you for the heads-up on Mr. Stephenson's MEW article.
I have not put any more effort/time into the basic dividing mode for this project. However, I'm changing the resolution from 3200 to 3600 for other reasons and this would allow .1 degree dividing with high accuracy. I'm not absolutely certain but I think this is about the resolution limit for "reliable" hobbing with the present design.
That said, adding the software to accommodate "low gear" (really low for .001 degree dividing) ratios would be, in my humble opinion, almost trivial. It's not much more than changing the value of one variable. Indeed, the change outlined above requires only this one variable change and a drop down menu already supports user selection of different resolutions.
I imagine the controller could be used with different mechanisms (hobbing spindle, rotary table, high precision dividing head, etc) to get optimal performance in either of the two modes (hobbing, dividing). Clear as mud?
Cheers,
F.C.
F. Cleff thank you for the prompt answer , Mr Stephenson system used rotary switches for dividing, bit expensive to buy now, Yes I would be interested in building your system, as also can be used in the lathe, again thank you for a great design .
Hello F. Cleff, I have watched all your videos and read most of the comments. You did a very good job. I am going to make my own setup based on the vertical mill I have. Can you help me clarify a few things?
1. You stated that you run the mill spindle at 3200 ppr for the gears with 30 teeth and more and you have 2:1 ratio between encoder and mill spindle. That requires 1600 ppr pre-quadrature resolution of the encoder. But AMT102 encoder you are using does not have such resolution. It has 1024 and 2048 ppr and lower numbers. What am I missing?
2. You also stated that you are using a 400 steps per revolution step motor for the work spindle with the 4:1 ratio. This produces 1600 steps per revolution of the work spindle, but not 3200. Can you explain that?
3. Can you tell which stepper are you using? The most common ones are 200 spr, not 400 spr.
I am not nit picking on your project, just trying to understand the basic design concept so I can design my own system.
Hi Mikhail,
Thank you for your interest in this project. Regarding your question #1, rotary encoders used in full quadrature mode produce pulses on two channels, A & B. Additionally, each channel can be detected on the voltage rise and voltage fall. So, in full quadrature mode, the resolution is 4X the simple resolution. Example: Set the resolution to 400 with the dip switches and you will get a resolution of 1600 ppr.
Regarding question #2, the work spindle motor is set to "half step" mode so 400x2x4=3,200. Regarding question #3, I got that motor from Sparkfun, part number ROB-1046.
Of note, I have changed the resolution, gear ratios, motors and drivers on the most recent version. I have done this in order to improve reliability, speed and precision. That said, the fundamental operation and design have not been altered. Please see my latest video Home Hobby Hobber Part IX for more information.
Cheers,
F.C.
Would you be able to tram your cutter at an angle to be able to manufacture a helical gear? Or would that require you to modify the arduino and stepper motor as well?
Hi TheAdamBrodie
Thank you for your interest and questions. I've cut helical gears with no changes to the ARDUINO code. It's a little hard to explain in words but I made a video. Please see: th-cam.com/video/f4oXAk8oMW0/w-d-xo.html . I hope it will explain how it all works but if you have more questions please ask.
Cheers,
F.C.
Hi F.Cleff. Good evening, nice video. I don't understand how the turns between Reducer and Creator are synchronized ... do they couple with each other in some way? I tried to put a hob on the cutter to tooth a wheel, but they ate their teeth. I have a manual cutter, can it be adapted to create gears with a hob?
Hi Hellboy,
Yes, they are coupled electronically via a rotary encoder, microprocessor and stepper motor. I'm sorry but I don't know what a "manual cutter" is.
@@FCleff Ok, e potresti indicarmi con quale rapporto sono accoppiati ? Non riesco a capire se il numero di denti influisce sul rapporto. Ho solo capito che l'avanzamento è arbitrario.
Excellent- has any progress been made with this? I'd love to make or buy one of these. Definitely something that if you got it working deserves a multipart article in Model Engineers Workshop (or Digital Machinist)
Hi Andrew C,
Thank you for the words of encouragement. Most of the progress to date is documented on TH-cam (search "Home Hobby Hobber"). I'm afraid this project has fallen victim to "feature creep", "refinement" and not being able to say "that's good enough". I'm now working through the details of a closed loop stepper work spindle drive to solve an extremely rare but catastrophic failure.
Cheers,
F.C.
@@FCleff Just so you aren't discouraged by this rare failure (given the thousands of hob rotations and hundreds of work spindle rotations), I still encounter issues like this on professionally made CNC hobbers made by huge name companies.
There is a simplicity of the entirely gear-driven hobbers that is tough to beat with CNC. In that case, everything works until something breaks or is set up wrong. Keep it up.
Hi @@dumbo800 ,
Thank you very much for your words of encouragement. I REALLY appreciate it because this is a true "learning by doing" project and there is a LOT for me to learn. I considered building an "all mechanical" hobber for the reasons you mentioned but decided I could get a very basic CNC design up and running more quickly.
Cheers,
F.C.
Hi @@dumbo800,
Thank you for the words of encouragement. I'm using closed loop, hybrid steppers now and it works amazingly well for home-designed/built. Recent improvements have eliminated earlier catastrophic failures.....at least so far. ;-)
Cheers,
F.C.
Hi Cliff, excuse me, could you explain to me what is the relationship between spindle revolutions and divider revolutions? Does it change based on the number of gear teeth to be created?
Hi Hellboy,
Yes, the relationship changes with the number of gear teeth created. The spindle/hob rotates once for every tooth being created. For example, if you are cutting a 20 tooth gear, the spindle will make 20 revolutions while the gear blank (what you call the "divider") will make 1 revolution. The rotation ratio is always number of teeth over 1 or T/1.
I hope that helps?
Cheers,
F.C.
@@FCleff Thanks
Great video !! What encdoer using?? Incremental or absolute??
Hi Yun Ki Lee,
Thank you for your kind words. The encoder is an AMT-102. It can be used as either an incremental or absolute. For this project I use it as an incremental.
Cheers,
F.C.
@@FCleff thank you reply !!
Looking at your video and studying..Is it possible to receive the encoder as an interrupt signal, receive the number of processed teeth in Arduino, and then transfer the step motor as much as the ratio of the encoder and the number of processed teeth?
Hi Hun Ki Lee,
Yes, that's how it works but not in real time. The ratio (hob rotations / gear blank rotations) is calculated once in the arduino code after the operator enters the tooth count and other control parameters. Once entered, no further changes are permitted.
Hope that helps,
F.C.
@@FCleff thank u reply~ merry christmas~
@@pneumega357 , you're most welcome. Peace on Earth
Give the speed of your steppers, this is probably not an issue (or even noticeable), but the double universal joint setup (2 min mark) causes the output shaft to turn at a variable speed. It actually changes speed 4 times per revolution (once per 1/4 turn) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_joint
At least the UJs are in phase with each other. When they're not in phase, they try to straighten themselves out which puts all sorts of stress on every part of the drivetrain. Seen a boat engine with a jet unit connected by a short shaft going through a pretty steep angle, and out of phase. The owner couldn't work out why his jet unit exploded after such a short run time.
Hi justcheckinm8,
Thank you very much for the considerable thought that was put into your comment. The "universal joints" used in that video are actually 3/8" drive socket wrench universals that I used, well, because I had them on hand. The pivot axes on these things are not coplanar and therefore the rotation speed varies badly (as you point out). I changed this system to a more modern coupling in the next video: th-cam.com/video/veRfrUFbzHo/w-d-xo.html It now runs quite smoothly.
Cheers,
F.C.
hi friend, i'm from brazil, greetings, how can i make a controller equal to this arduino? do you have to sell me one? or teach me how can i make one to control the encoder?
Hi, it’s good at you. Will you be able to share this device? I understand that it was assembled on Arduno with a software sketch, I will be very grateful to you for your help!
Hi, Александр Коваленко
Yes, I will be able to share this device at some time but it's not ready yet. I am making some progress but it's very, very slow. Thank you for your interest.
Cheers,
F.C.
A very nice idea on the electrical side but I can see a mechanical problem. This is the use of spider type universal joints to drive your automatic feed. These joints do Not revolve at a constant speed even in a relatively common axis. They speed up and slow down twice per revolution. When used at the extreme end of their useful angles the difference is quite staggering and when you look at the video showing the dials of the table feed you can actually see the variation of the speed of feed. Slow ing up and down twice per revolution of the driver. This must therefor make some sort of variation to the gear being cut, or am I wrong in this assumption? This is why constant velocity joints instead of spider yokes were introduced into the modern cars to obviate the variation in steering mechanism of front wheel drive, and four wheel drive vehicles because the tighter the steering angle the worse the variation of rotation became.
Hi SAMRODIAN,
Thank you for your comment. You have a keen eye. Yes, this setup was a poor man's imitation of a true cardan shaft and, as you point out, turns the feed screw at an irregular speed due to the offset axes (pivot axes within each joint are not co-planer). It was quickly/cheaply made from two CHEAP Harbor Freight 3/8" drive socket universals, 3/8" square tube and 3/8" square bar. That said, the changing/pulsing feed rate is not noticeable in the finish of the tooth and has absolutely no effect on tooth profile or pitch. I abandoned this "cardan shaft" drive for a much less complicated, less expensive flexible coupling. It is shown in "Home Hobby Hobber Part II".
Thanks for your interest.
F.C.
Thinking about this original problem, you say it had absolutely no effect as to the pitch of the gear, but i think if you were to take very careful measurements of individual. Teeth I think some Must be narrower than the next few because of the direct mechanical link of the speed of the cutter traversing the work. If it speeds up and slows down some teeth will be cut wider when the feed speeds up and narrower as it slows down. Of course in a small gear it is minuscule but in a larger piece would be disastrous. So a constant feed of the flexible shaft is certainly the way to go!
Hi SAMRODIAN,
Thank you for the comment. It caused me to think and that's almost always a good thing for me. With my limited inspection equipment (eyes and hands), I am unable to to determine the effect of this feed rate variability. In any event, defects would not continue across the entire face of the tooth and would tend to average out to what I consider to be acceptable (for my purposes) quality.
Cheers,
F.C.
good luck
Hi Edam,
Thank you. Good luck to you too.
F.C.
atlas mfc...? ...nice job of frankensteining...sockets n flex joints..any schematics of electrics..?.picked up one of these basket case...
will subscribe
Hi Miguel,
I'm sorry but I don't know what an "atlas mfc" is. Good eye, you got me on "frankensteining" the telescoping universal joint shafts although I prefer to call it "MacGyvering". ;-) The controller has changed quite a bit from that first prototype. I'm still testing the PC boards so no schematics yet. I don't understand..............what did you pick up as a "basket case"?
Thanks for your interest,
F.C.
What type of milling machine is it?
It's an "Industro-Lite" horizontal/vertical with a Dore-Westbbury head that I built from a kit about 20 years ago. The basic machine was made in Sheridan, Oregon, USA around 1970. Thanks for your interest.
F.C.
May I know the rpm for the spindle speed and rotary table ?
Hi Derek,
The simple answer is that the rpm of the work spindle/gear blank equals the rpm of the hob spindle divided by the number of teeth.
The more complicated answer is that the hob spindle rpm depends upon the hob diameter, DP and machine/setup rigidity. Additionally, the work spindle/gear blank has a maximum speed of approximately 16 rpm with these components.
I hope this is helpful. Thank you for you interest.
Cheers,
F.C.
@@FCleff On our medium-sized gear driven hobbers, we typically use (3.82/hob diameter) x 100 for most hobs between 5 and 32DP for our max hob speed. Usually for feed we use .015"-.025" for 1040 and other softer carbon steel, and up to 0.040" for aluminum and plastic. More than that and I find that feed lines appear.
Generally speaking if you have a lot of gashes and a large diameter hob, you can slow the speed and raise the feed and still not get feed lines. Small hob and many gashes? Crank the speed and drop the feed.
And always do sprocket hobbing slower than the formula given tells you.
I sub'd for the bass player.
Hi Jeff Beck,
Sub'd for the bass player? Tal Wilkinfeld? ??
Rock on, dude.
F.C.
The angle between the hob and the work looks like its 90 degrees. They should not be at 90. On the hobs end there should be an angle noted that should be added or subtracted (depends on your setup) from the 90 degrees.
Sorry if you have that angle allowed for, I couldn't see it.
The small hob I have is 1 degree 44 minutes.
Other than that Awesome work.
Hi zardoz992,
Thank you for your comment. I regret that I didn't take the time to explain the set-up in more detail. As you point out it is necessary to tilt the hob to correct for the hob's helix angle. In this case 1degree 17 minutes. I can assure you that the mill's head was set to that angle to the best of my ability. The resulting gear teeth mesh nicely indicating that they are cut parallel to the axis of rotation.
Cheers,
F.C.
Hi can this be used to cut hair shaver blades if so let me know
Hi Alex K,
I hate to show my ignorance but I don't know what a hair shaver blade looks like. Does it look like some kind of gear?
Perplexed,
F.C.
Hair clipper blades
Hi,@@alexk3199
No, I don't think it would work to make hair clipper blades. Thanks for your interest though.
Cheers,
F.C.
(How to make hair clipper )youtube video 3:20-3:50 those are the blades I was talking about
Hi, @@alexk3199
Thank you for the Interesting video. I would say my hobbing attachment is NOT suitable for making hair clipper blades.
Cheers,
F.C.
Hi..Sir ..how much this one..attachment ? How purchasing..
Hi arif ali,
Thank you for your interest in this project. I'm sorry but is not for sale at this time.
Cheers,
F.C.
You have a video how to make one of these?
Hi Glenn,
Sorry, but I haven't gotten a video on building it put together yet. The mechanical hardware is extremely simple and I don't intend to make a video on how to build it. Also, the most difficult part for me has been something that no video can show. That would be the Arduino software and the Android app that forms the user interface. I do plan to publish the electrical schematic, PC circuit board and compiled code to make it all work at some point in the future.
Thanks for your interest,
F.C.
Patent It first. You deserve all the credits. I had this idea in my dreams.
@@FCleff u r superb
F.C.
I would be very grateful if you could send me a copy of your Industro-Lite users manual. I'm not sure what the best way is to do this but if there is anything I can do to facilitate just let me know. Thanks.
Hi John,
I don't have a scanner/copier that works right now. Faxing at the "local" office store is EXPENSIVE and a bit out of the way for me. I'll try to get something worked out with a neighbor but it might be a while. By the way, what model/serial number is your Industro-Lite?
Cheers,
F.C.
@@FCleff F.C.
You don't seem to have an email listed in your youtube 'about' page which I understand. So we might communicate less publicly I have placed my email address in a dropbox file that you should be able to access by going to:
www.dropbox.com/s/1ke8yrpwnnga1uw/email.txt?dl=0
I'm of a certain age where I'm a bit more guarded than younger folk so If you have any difficulties getting my email let me know here and I will figure something else out. Happy to cover any (reasonable) expenses you might incur and time is not a big concern.
My machine is a very complete M500, serial number 348. It was purchased at a SF Bay area auction. I was told it was previously owned by a San Jose State engineering professor who unfortunately passed away. Also picked up his 10" Logan lathe. I treat both with a certain reverence in respect for their previous owner.
john
Can I contact with u? Can u supplying this attachment to me?
Hi Sanjay,
No, I can not supply this attachment. I suggest that you view recent videos on hobbing attachments created by "Andy's Machines" here on TH-cam.
Cheers,
F.C.
Hello my friend I want help I want the code and method of installation please
A single-tooth cutter swung in an arc with the disc on a rotary table on a sine plate is much cheaper than a hobb and uses regular gcode.
Hi Gary,
Thank you for your interest and comment. I wanted to learn something about hobbing as a gear manufacturing technique when this all began. I hadn't really thought about the cost of the cutting tools. I'm sure you're correct in saying "A singe-tooth cutter.........is much cheaper than a hob[b].." However, I don't have a CNC mill, "a rotary table on a sine plate" or, for that matter, "gcode". I would imagine, and this is just a wild guess off the top of my old bald head, that acquiring all of that AND the skill to use it would set me back WAY more than it's cost me so far. The $26.00 I paid for the hob and the $11.50 I paid for the #2MT tool holder was, as tooling goes, not expensive. Even if I add in the ~$150.00 that I paid for all the controller/stepper motors/drive components/rotary encoder, I image I still came out ahead, that is, IF that was important. Besides, I got the added bonus of learning a bunch in the process. At my age, learning new stuff is PRICELESS.
Cheers,
F.C.
Eh... Arduino is pants at stuff like that, control on these things must be hard Real-time. Get a proper PLC and things won't glitch out mid cut anymore. There is a bit of a hardware cost there tho.
Years ago I took a shot at building a hobbing machine controller, too bad I didn't have the foggiest back then about what I was doing and mucked it up real good.
Hi aleksander,,
Thank you for your interest and suggestion. I made a simple change to the Arduino code and the hobber has worked reliably ever since that all too public (but honest) crash. Additionally, I've switched from the Arduino Uno to a much faster 32 bit Arduino called a Due which allowed me to run the mill quite a bit faster.
That said I'm certainly interested in learning from the voice of skill and experience. Could you suggest a "proper PLC" and make a guess at what the electrical hardware would cost for a complete controller (PLC, stepper motor drivers, user interface, power supply(S), ...etc) ? If you used a servo system, could you make a guess as to the cost of the motors, encoders, servo amplifiers, power supplies, etc.?
Cheers,
F.C.
Mkay, for power, any old 24V supply will do the job, maybe add 48V if you do DC brushless servos, mains for mains powered servo drives. Keeping the steppers you have is very acceptable option, but adding an encoder to the stepper driving the gear blank if you don't have one there might be a good idea. Not sure how it is with your current drives but commercial drives run steppers very smoothly and accurately, add an encoder and its as good as servo in this application.
What I would recommend is scouring ebay for second hand parts from decommissioned machines. There at least you can get the price upfront, for new parts you need to ask a quotation for everything. Plus you can get stuff significantly cheaper if you spot a good deal. The drives and motors don't have to come in a pair, as long as power ratings match reasonably you can conf the drive to do what is needed.
For PLC you have 3 options
1) Traditional standalone hardware plc, can be very cheap maybe under 100$ but you will likely need to find matching drives etc if you skimp on that. They also sell stuff that is pretty ancient so be careful that it will do the job before you buy it.
2) PC based PLC, for example TwinCAT or CodeSys, these are not cheap and motion control is extra, but for example TwinCAT you can indefinitely use trial licence, you just manually have to renew it every 7 days. The best communications bus for this option is EtherCAT, it hijacks one of your ethernet nics and runs a realtime protocol over it.
3) If you are feeling very adventurous and are not afraid of tricky challenges you could try open source PLC-s, but its unlikely to be plug and play deal and making sure it runs realtime might be a challenge.
For work I use option 2, easily the most powerful option, but might be an overkill for your small application. The licences run something between 600-1000$ but for hobby you can get by with free trial licence.
If you wan't to have a go at option 3 you might want to take a look at this thread openplc.discussion.community/post/ethercat-drivers-8802560?pid=1297869655
The first thing to decide is what communications you are going to use, the encoder inputs, drives and PLC have to be able to talk to each other, once you have decided that you can select the actual components by the power ratings of your motors, price etc. I would recommend selecting everything from same manufacturer, if you try to mesh Omron with Siemens with Beckhoff, well its possible, but not smart.
For Beckhoff based system you might get away with:
www.beckhoff.com/english.asp?ethercat/ek1100.htm
~90$
Coupler, you need that to connect everything to PC
www.beckhoff.com/english.asp?ethercat/el5151.htm
~150$
Encoder input for monitoring the hob wheel
~200$
www.beckhoff.com/english.asp?ethercat/el7041.htm?id=693180626091
A decent stepper driver with encoder feedback for the main gear drive and feed motor, using the encoder is optional. EL7031 is the small brother of this, maybe for the feed motor, but if I looked at ebay the price was actually worse, so you might as well get two of these. You could also skip the EL5151 and get a third of these to act as encoder input. Not sure if you can use only two of these with one driving the feed stepper blind and acting as a hob encoder input at the same time, you probably can but I'm not sure.
Or you could ask Beckhoff for a quote on these parts.
You might find cheaper solutions from other manufacturers.
Hi Aleksander,
Thank you!! Your knowledge of such things seems truly impressive and, I'm sure, would yield a controller that is industrial-grade and professional when implemented by a competent, experienced person such as yourself. However, I'm neither of those things. I am merely an old-age pensioner on a very limited budget (target cost for my controller is
Yeah, 100$ pricetag is hard to beat for such a controller.
Its not hard as such to work with industrial controllers, the hardware manufacturers do make it very easy to use their products, they don't make it very cheap. Or well, its reasonable price for an industrial machine, for an hobby builder, unfortunately not so much.
I'm just lucky I have some such parts lying around to play with.
It is a very good result to get it running with Arduino at all, I don't think I would dare to even try such an approach. Or well, I kind of did many years ago when I was young and foolish, the machine was bigger tho and shrapnel flew faster than it would with this one.
Its possible obviously to create a very stable and fairly accurate system with a small micro like Arduino has, but it's really easy to muck it up too. That's sort of why PLC is the industry standard. It guarantees stable timing and the programming languages are restricted such that you can't really get sometimes works sometimes doesn't behavior. If it works, it works forever.
Can you send me code
Hi Ravi,
I'm sorry but the code is not available at this time.
S45C
K machine