CNC controller enclosure - Shapecut part 3

I realised this afternoon that I have completed the wiring for the CNC machine. At least to the point, ready to test. The component parts are all mounted in an enclosure and the connections necessary to control the X, Y and Z axes, are all in place.
This is the next step for the proof of concept to convert an ancient Shapecut Oxy Gas cutter to CNC control.

When looking for boxes to put the parts in to, I was surprised that I could get a good quality metal case at a very reasonable price. I was even able to download the CAD drawing of the Schneider enclosure to use in Fusion 360.

I offered everything up in Fusion 360 before starting anything in the workshop.

I was going to cut a sheet of steel as a mounting plate but I happened to have the exact right size, already cut! That does not happen very often.

I'm using Rivnuts to secure everything. I'm not normally a fan of them because if they slip it is very difficult to remove the bolt. In this case, it would not be too difficult to repair and they make mounting the equipment much easier.

It's all fitted very nicely with only one flaw. I had not allowed for the bolts to mount the lower outer panel of the case. I've had to cut some holes to make space for the nuts to protrude through.

I've deliberately designed it to have air from side to side, over the driver heat sinks and through the power supplies. I think the result looks very tidy, plus I've added some branding.

I've used wire ferrules for better connections and a tidier job. The interconnects between the enclosure and the CNC machine are provided using GX series aviation style connections. In this case GX16's. They are a common choice of connection for hobby machines but I am not impressed. The sockets are circular with a nut fixing. Unless you have a specially shaped punch tool, they are always going to twist in their mounting holes. They are also time consuming to solder. Their only advantage is that the are readily available at a low price and have a suitable power rating.

I did briefly investigate proper industrial power connectors but the cost, for something with a locking hood, came to well over £100 each end!

Joan having a cat nap

I tested every cable end to end to make sure there are no shorts or breaks.

I made a last minute design change to mount the emergency stop within the main case. I was going to have it on a fly lead but for my requirements, that was an unnecessary complication. It did require re-arranging the internals in the case and re-making a couple of the wire harness links.

I'm pleased with the result, so far. The next job is to sort out the software and test it all.

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Shapecut Series:
Part 1 - Magic Eye to CNC
Part 2 - CNC proof of concept design
Part 3 - CNC controller enclosure

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Desktop monitor curved in both directions

This thought came to me when someone suggested a portrait monitor to avoid lots of scrolling.

It occurred to me that you could have a section of a sphere to get the benefit of both a landscape and a portrait monitor.

Expanding on that, it would probably be better if it was square rather than circular.

Something about 90cm (35") square would be the ideal size. Anything wider and I've found that it requires too much head movement to be comfortable.

The radius would be the same in both directions and similar to the generally established norm for the current crop of curved wide screen landscape monitors. A desktop monitor would therefore have a radius of about 1800mm (1800R.)

Using current standards the resolution would be 3840x3840 pixels.

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A history of the garden

This is the evolution of our garden since we have owned the property.

It did not look like the above when we moved in November 2004.

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Open garden

On Sunday 19 May we opened our garden to raise money for charity. This is part of the National Garden Scheme.

It was an excellent day. Busy from the start to the finish.

I did not have time to take any photos, most of these were taken by our friend Christine Brenkley and she was kind enough to allow me to share them.

We were worried if we would get anyone coming but we had 146 visitors, the first arriving a little before we planned to open.

Our Mums were on the gate all day, collecting the entrance fees and generally chatting with everyone who arrived.

Keith helped Dean with the forge and blacksmithing demonstration while Vanessa and I served tea, coffee and cakes. Claire arrived to look round and ended up helping out in the kitchen, mainly washing up all day. Shelley pointed out and named the plants to interested visitors.

Our family and friends helped make the day successful and fun. Thank you, to all.

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