mysite blog

MKII CNC X Axis

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:46:00 +0000

Things are slowly taking shape, I have laid out the slides for the X Axis as well as built the bearing blocks and supports for the Acme Thread. The caridge will have the nut attached to it underneath the aluminum plate. I have found that 10mm Aluminum fits perfectly into the slot on the extrusion and once locked togher makes the entire frame very rigid.

The Bearing blocks on the Acme Thread were made up of 3 layers of 10mm X 50mm bar choped and drilled. The screws that can be seen are for positioning and will be replaced once evryting is alligned.

MKII CNC Router Table

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:45:00 +0000

After having heaps of fun with the original DIY CNC machine and having it run on carving jobs for some 12 to 14hours per day it came as no surprise that the aluminium angle used for the guides started to show signs of wear and the MDF also seemed to show some reduction in structural integrity. Although I could have realigned things and probably continued to use it I decided to look for other options.

I first contacted a local aluminium supply company who in turn put me in touch with another company who own an extrusion die for channel that has the perfect profile for the job and after a bit of negotiating managed to obtain 20meters of the stuff. In addition I managed to locate a supplier with some hardened steel 20mm shaft and some linear bearings as well as a few pieces of Acme Shaft with Nuts.

Armed with only a vague idea as to what I wanted I started to look at ways of making the primary table/structure. One if the issues I had was this channel usually has a special locking rail that would not be practical for my purpose so i set about coming up with a simple solution using some 20mm angle that was left over from the rails on the original machine.

Each bracket has two screws and a large washer allowing for the bracket to be clamped into the rail. once in there the assembly is pretty solid and although i intended to use something like loktite to stop the screws from coming out I didn't think this is going to be needed.

End Provile of Aluminium

Cutting lots of Brackets

Heaps of Brackets (still not enough)

Cutting a 45deg angle on one side

Cutting a 45deg angle on the other side

Drill and Tap each bracket

Slot one side of the bracket

Slot the other side of the bracket

Check to make sure bracket slides on

Add Screws and Washers, Washers have flat ground on them

Assemble Allign and Tighten

Check for Squareness and adjust as required

Electro Photography

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:22:00 +0000

Some 20 years ago after building a small high voltage source for an experiment I noticed the corona shooting out from all of the edges, Having also been in to photography I decided to see if it were possible to capture the discharge and set about building a device for doing so.

I later found out that was I had built was a type of Kirlian Camera however in my case there was no need for a specialized camera. Some time in the future I hope to build another unit that will utilize both a digital camera and have the option of a video camera.

This is only one of the photos taken at the time, when I come across the rest I will scan and add them to the list and if there is enough interest I will give a description of how to build a similar device.

New Zealand 10 cent coin

The photo was entered in to a photographic competition and rated highly commended.

DIY CNC Video

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 06:46:00 +0000

Here is a short video of the router in action. I have been having problems finding small router bits so have modified a 1.4mm drill bit and am using it to route some 2mm thick acrylic. You can see a little bit of flexion in the drill due to the speed of the table. After the video I tweaked this down a little so as to ensure a cleaner cut and hopefully not snap the tool.

DIY CNC More Testing

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 02:30:00 +0000

A few more test while i come to grips with the software and the types of tools. I have just made a simple modification to the collet that will now allow me to use any of the dremel type bits and this should recude the costs as well as enable me to use much finer bits.

The first picture is of my sons name engraved into a peice of MDF. the depth of the cut is 10mm andn the height of the lettering is approximatly 24mm for the R. The routing bit used was a 6mm drill bit that was ground down to 3mm then what was left of the 2 flutes were sharpened with a dremmel.

The next image is of the Evilgenius Logo engraved into a peice of Teak I had laying around I used a 3mm ball bit to engrace this however i suspect the wood was not level as there is a slight diference in the depth of the engraving from top to bottom. The frame is 50mm X 50mm and the depth is 1mm. I will see if i can get a smaller bit or a tapered bit as i think this would look much better with a smaller diamiter bit.

DIY CNC Testing

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:24:00 +0000

After almost finishing the milling/routing machine i decided to throw some work at it and see what it would handle.

One of the projects and tools i would like to add is a point digitising tool where you can place an opject on the table and have the XYZ axis traace the opject in 3D. I have some cylindrical nylon rod that will make a great base however as i have found with milling lexan is that if you dont clamyour work well enough its likley to be thrown across the room and and up with the router taking a random chunk out of it.

So to make life easier I am creating a base that the nylon plug will slot into and be held while the router is working on it. the base is made form 25mm thick MDF and was milled with the one tool and one nc file. all that was required was to slit the paper thin meterial left on the base and cut off the side peices i left so as to make sure the part did not slip while being routed.

Photos are below.
I would like to add that the tool tok 2mm passes until it reached the desired depth, this was done to ensure that not too much load was put on the motors and ensured that the steppers did not slip a steep or two also after cutting a few other tings from MDF i found that as i was using a rather course router bit the tool would heat up and burn of i went too deep in one pass.

Freshly cut part

Nylon Plug fits perfectly

Part removed from base stock

The hole left in the base stock

DIY CNC XYZ Table

Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:11:00 +0000

I have always wanted a CNC milling machine and have decided to create my own with of course the assistance of the internet. My intention is to fist create a prototype unit that is somewhat simple in design and will allow me to use it to build a more complex unit or essentially grow bigger and better versions of itself.

I started by creating a simple stepper motor driver that connected to the parallel port and would allow me to use some freeware CNC software to send commands to the motor however after a while I began to realize there were some restrictions with this design as each motor required a minimum of 4 control lines. So searching on the web i located a project that was based on a PIC micro controller and allowed the motor to be controlled by two lines. one being the step and the other being the direction. This project is called Linistep and also has several modes that can be used to drive the stepper.

Here is a photo of the two circuits I put together, these were etched using a toner transfer method and one was etched in Cupric Acid and the other in "Servisol" Amoniumpersophate (or something like that) I tested both chemicals to see what gave me the better result and to be honest I am still a fan of the Cupric Acid.

The table is being contracted from 25mm MDF and the rails are high grade aluminum angle 25X25X6. This is probably over kill but the price difference between this and the lower grade was minimal. The bearings are roller skate bearings. these apparently were/are quite high quality however I also have a set of SKF bearings that I will be comparing to see what handles the abuse better.

After a day in the workshop working out how to build the guide for the router. the first attempts was not great as I lost almost 200mm of sideways travel but with a quick redesign things were back on track and I assembled the table. All axis move quite easily and there is very little slop. At the head it seems that the maximum amount of slop under pressure s around 1mm and required quite a bit of pressure to flex it that much.

18th August 2009, I finally got the table to a point where i could test all 3 axis and run a rest route with the router. I have not yet built a speed controller for the router or a box for evryting. The speed controller os less important and will be a later addition however the box will be one of the first projects created with the router (i hope) All going well i intend tyo put a peice of MDF or Ply on the table and upload the NC file then just cut all the shapes required for the case.

Ugly cabling, Notice the yeppow cables used doe the motors. I wanted somethign that was going to loose as little current as possible and as extension cords are really cheap as well as being rated for 240V 10A found this to be a freat solution for many little projects.

Cabling to the controllers was a little messy but once the case is built i expect to be able to clean up. Probibly the only thihng i really dont like is the connectors for the boards. they are not the best and have a tendencey to wiggle out and dissconnect themselves. Bending the pins of the connector a little reduces this problem however will look at an alternative connector.

The Heatsinks used were P4 or AMD headsinks, as these are only about $12.00 with the fan and provide ample cooling. The whole system runds cold to the touch with the fans running.

Curretnly i am using my laptop to tun MACH3 CNC Software, Once i am hapy with the way things are running my intention is to create a MiniITX system with an LCD Screen. However my Toughbook as a touch screen and this is really cool when controlling the system. A touchscreen would make for a nice jog controller.

The start of a test. This is a 40mm Dia circle using a standard router bit. The router will spiral down using the speed of the bit to dit rather than the force of the steppers to push the bit thru the MDF.

The finished item, its 10mm deep.

Arc-O-Phone

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:25:00 +0000

The weekend saw the birth of yet another little project, below is a video of the creationin action. The music you can hear is being emited from the arc and was being taken from the headphone jack of my stereo. thjere were no speakers used at all.

The next step will be to build a second channel and try and integrate these into a set of head phones currenlty the driver voltage is at 24Volts and the unit draws around 3 Amps.

I would like to thank The Rock radio station for providing an emdless supply of music into my workshop that keeps me entertained and provides the perfect source to test these gadgets with.

Once the headphones have been finished I may have to build a larger set of stand alone speakers that throw larger sparks :)

Heer is a link to some of the technical information about the Arc-O-Phone along with the circut diagram and the PCB used. I do not accept any responsibility for any errors or oproblems that may be encountered and if you chose to build this unit do so at your own risk. Arc-O-Phone Technical Details

Prof. Boris van Galvin

Copper Etching

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:50:00 +0000

After several evilgenius meetings we realised the need to create a badge of honor that could be worn as a symbol of our dedication to the cause. After much experamentation and the application of a bit of science a process was found that not only produces great results but can be reproduced with reasonably predictable outcome.

My first thoughts were to use Ferric Chloride however this has apparently been tanek off the market in New Zealand and the replacement chemical is a on shot etch solution. To be honest I have made home brew that could etch better than that stuff.

I then discovered a few posts by varous people how have used Cupric Acid to etch circut boards and as i was also intending on doign the same for another project felt that it was an ideal test.

To create the etch solution I used Hydrochloric Acid and Hydrogen Peroxide. Care must be taken not to inhale the fumes as they are definatly not good for you but then the same applies to salt water hydrolisys.

The 6% Hydrogen Peroxide was purchased from our local chemist and 30~40% Hydrochloric from our local pool supply company. I Measure 2 Parts Hydrogen Peroxide in to a NON METALIC container then added 1 Part Hydrochloric (ADD ACID TO WATER) so Hydrogen Peroxide first as its mostly water and Hydrochloric last.

For my first test I used a section of the graphical background used by another Evilgenius (Mjr. Pisht) for his business cards then transferred that to the copper.

The results were great. I compleated two etchings one of the postive image and the other inverted

By this time one of the crew had finished the artwork for the badge and since i now knew that the etch procees worked it was just a matter of deciding if the badge looked better as a negotive or posotive releife.

I later produced the gauge background for the darwin gun using the same method, from memory the lettering is well under 2mm high. The mottled colour was caused by oxydising the peice after it was etched and not danding/polishing it.

Although I did not have enough time to complete a nice test peice in Brass i did grab a feltpen (water resistant) and scribled on a peice of brass then etched it with the following results. Apologies for the light glare.

Larger images are posted in the gallery.
http://www.evilgenius.net.nz/gallery/album/Copper-Etching

Evil Genius Power Supply MK1

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:13:00 +0000

Here is a sneak peak at my Evil Genius Power Supply. Although I have limited its output for this demonstration when tuned correctly it will self arc in free space/air over a distance of around 50mm giving an estimated output voltage of 50'000 volts. The unit is compleatly self contained and requires no external power source. Although its a little heavy it is transportable.

One big warning however is not to touch the output terminals "EVER" it really hurts!

And for a short clip of the unit in action :) Yes i know the sound is somewhat anoying but whats the point of having insanley high voltage unless you can hear it sing.

X-Ray-Ban Goggles

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 07:39:00 +0000

Due to the emissions released from the Darwin Gun it was necessary to acquire a set of safety goggles so that continued and prolonged use of the gun would not result in any unwanted blindness or possible worse. The critical factor was to reduce the blue aura emissions from the primary discharge stream and for this a primary lenses was selected that has optical properties in the opposite end of the spectrum.

Front View with Accessories Bar in centre

Secondary Lenses open

Rear view of Primary Lenses

Side View with Label and Strap Clip

Label

Click here for some of the construction pictures

Darwin Gun

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 07:31:00 +0000

I came across an article in a book written by Dr George Rolleston a professor of Anatomy and Physiology at Oxford University who in an article published 30th May 1860 describes a way to greatly influence human behavior by electrical stimulation.

Rolleston theorised that by using a localized electrical stimulation it is possible to influence the behavior of subjects"

It was not 1930's that the reson for this became apparent from the discovery of Testosterone and its effect.

Rolleston describes in detail the mecanisim for administering the localised electrical stimulation and although a respected member of both the X-Club and the Royal Society he was scoffed at leading to him dropping any further research on the subject.

After reading the paper I was somewhat intregued and decided to create this device following his detailed descriptions. although the design seemed simple enough I can only guess as to what the results will be. If this design is successfull the degeneration of testosterone in the target subject will lead to sexual disfnction and or sterility.

To view a video of the unit operating follow this link.