One of the BEST no-nonsense, full explanation, "Lets build this together" videos I've seen on this subject period. Great job! If I could subscribe again I would but I've been a subscriber for months now.
I know Im asking randomly but does someone know of a way to log back into an instagram account..? I stupidly lost the account password. I love any help you can offer me
@Alexis Alaric thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site on google and I'm trying it out now. I see it takes a while so I will get back to you later with my results.
Fantastic video once again. Seriously every time I see a new video posted I think, "I'll watch it later." And once I finally do watch it, I'm like, "Why did I wait?! I can't wait for the next one!" I'm in the process of assembling components for a CNC machine and so happy you did a step-by-step. All to often these kinds of videos skip the process of showing what we'll need and where we can find it (along with a demonstration along the way). Perfect video! I can't wait for the next one in this series!
NYC CNC If you do sell anything, I will be in line to buy it! It's the least I can do for all your hard work making these excellent videos. I've learned so much from them! By the way, my gShield just arrived today and I got it all setup per your awesome instructions. It's working great on my NEMA17 test motor. Would it be possible for you to update the description of the video to also include a link to download the sample file you used in the video (or one we can also use) or maybe a resource to read up on those files? I'm curious to see how those look since I'm so new at this. Might be useful to someone else also getting started. :D Thanks again for all of your help. Also to, thanks so much for replying! You've replied to every one of my comments. lol I feel special. lol
NYC CNC Ah, that makes perfect sense. Can you tell I'm new to this? lol After doing a quick Google search, I found tons of g-code samples to use in testing so no need to show anything. Thanks for offering! I ended up finding a very simple circle sample tool path example right off of GitHub and a bunch of complex examples off of Mach3's forums. Thanks again for getting me started. This is so awesome!
thank you, I have been looking for the method to get gerber data into the arduino cnc sheild with no luck untii i found this video. now I can go ahead with my project. thanks again.
Thought I'd let you know this video was so great it became the starting point of the building of my own diy CNC router back when you posted it. It has been running for a while now, and I still try to make upgrades to it, just for kicks. I use it primarly for woodworking, and I still don't get tired of watching it cut through wood. Thanks!
A good and informative video. Btw. you should never change the jumpers or plug/unplug motors while the stepper driver is powered, as there is a very good chance of destroying the chip by this.
Holy cow. I am really interested in Arduino. Never heard of it til a few months ago. Explored a tad bit online and your videos. Never touched a stepper motor but im aware of them in CNC machines. I'd like to get the materials together finally and....mess with them, especially Arduino. In the short end of a goal, I'd like to be able to do engraving. This and your Part 2 video really did it for me. Im on board. Its cheaper than I had ever thought. I figure I have to start somewhere. Maybe a few months down the road I can actually run some worthy youtube videos about it myself.
Finally! Got to see one of your videos before it hit the magic 301+ count. I LOVE these smaller projects. Home CNC lathe here I come. :-D I plan on combining some of the parts from the DIYCNC site... the 640ozin motors I believe. And I am sure you have already heard this, but when engraving, micro stepping helps with detail, but causes an exponential decrease in torque. The more steps, the more dramatic the falloff. For example, at an 8 micro, you have about 20% of rated torque, which can be even higher losses in cheaper steppers. For micro engraving, works great. For doing the lines on these plates, may not be of any use, especially when you figure in that each step is (based on what I saw so far) .0025" or smaller using the gearing and movement mechanisms. That is far less than what most humans can notice. Also, when microstepping, GREAT detail must be paid to the rigidity of the machine. I have learned this from a small engraver project in an engineering class. We used cheap ASME rods, 2 start, 4 TPI. We had a 128 step motor, and a 2:1 reduction, giving each FULL step a .001 resolution at full torque. The frame we built was only capable of about a .005 shift, so we over engineered one part and overlooked the frame. Fun, and eye opening! 24 and 48 volt power supplies can be pretty easy to come by, and as I typically say, buy once cry once. a 25% increase in cost to futureproof is ALWAYS worth it to me. I may not be "cheap" but I try to be Frugal.
Lasse Langwadt Christensen True, but the good news is that stepper motors offer a much higher initial torque than servo, and can carry that through a pretty good range. Towards the upper 25-40% of the speed range though, there IS the dramatic fall off. Good news is that most people wont be hitting that unless they have some crazy gear ratios in place that are making each step less than .001 or so. Tormach did a pretty good article on this when going over the design considerations for the PCNC1100 www.tormach.com/uploads/300/TD10223_Series_3_Whitepaper_0214A-pdf.html Also, any decent stepper manufacturer will offer a torque curve for each model, or at the very least a guideline. That helps determine the optimal travel speed, and can save quite a bit of money in other areas. Like I mentioned above, it becomes so easy to over power one part, and let another struggle. Torque becomes less of an issue with better screws, or lower ratios, but then with those, you hit STUPID high peaks, and EXTREME falloff at top speed... I feel like it is a coin flip whether I get in over my head with these some times.
NYC CNC Not entirely formal with steppers alone, but a great deal of exposure. Early in my education I pursued a mechanical engineering path, in particular, machines, robots, and CNC type tools (my own research for CNC but parallel with the robotics course). I had the greatest exposure during a 1 year full blown robotics and engineering course, where we built and designed competitive battle bots and/or task oriented robots. We had about a month and a half where we did labs on the contrasts of servo vs stepper vs standard motors, and how to weigh them out for our specific needs. The long story short is that servo and stepper work well for the purposes of smaller machines where position matters. It is the positional awareness and flat torque curve of brushless AC servo motors that provides the best benefit in the newer VMCs. It is much easier to compensate for torque in a servo because of its flat curve and rapid falloff at a specific point.
Wow! Got it working first shot! By far the best no bull, walk through there is out there! Great work and thanks for taking the time to put this out there for the rest of us out here!
How timely! I just bought a GRBL Shield a couple of months ago to play around with while building a small router/engraver out of aluminum. I'll be watching for future episodes! Keep up the great vids!
NYC CNC No but I did consider that. This is a purpose-built engraver for 80% lowers. I have a heavy piece of structural aluminum for the base, and plate for everything else. Gantry style with moveable table. It should be pretty stout. A very part-time project as I'm in no hurry.
FYI: Bigger steppers have bigger coil inductance. Inductance is a source of impediance that will restrict the amount of current. If you need to drive your steppers faster, they may start to skip steps because of the inductance impedance. If you need to operate your steppers at higher speed while maintaining torque for your load you will need a power supply with a higher voltage. For robotics or machine automation I would recommend at least a 48VDC power supply if not higher. Otherwise I believe you may be disappointed by the performance of the steppers. Although I don't know how high voltage a GRBL shield will operate. I've used gecko stepper drivers for my projects which can operate up to about 80VDC.
Bravo! Just ran into your series and I am very impressed. I do arduino and other projects with my children and I'm leading it to a cnc machine. This is exactly the kind of tutorials I was looking for. Thank you so much!
Thanks for the great video. I have an Uno with Cnc Shield 3.0. This is my first CNC machine and I can't wait to start cutting. Your video is helping me get it going.
I really want to thank you for this video! Your explanation made me finally understand how to flash grbl on arduino and I could build my first, tiny cnc machine! Really, thank you very much! :)
I see that there are 27 dislikes for this video. How could anyone dislike it? Some people are just sad. An absolutely fabulous tutorial! You do a great job, thanks for sharing your knowledge with the world :)
John you are my Pimp Daddy right now!!! I don't know how I missed watching this part of your series, but I'm sure glad that I took the time tonight versus zoning out to a magazine. I've had 2 Zombie projects (they just won't die) bouncing around in my head for the last 18 months, and I wasn't quite sure how to integrate them into the fabric of reality. Now with the Arduino (which I have a couple kicking around) + the GRBL shield I see a clear path to functional prototyping. Shit! I have no excuse but to crack the whip on myself and get these things off the ground as soon as my current production run tails off. Seriously though- you must NOT sleep much. I live darn near a parallel life and I can only imagine the hours that you are putting in outside of the workshop just to keep up. Keep living the dream man...you continuously impress the hell out of me with what you are pulling off in the Buckeye state (I'm your neighbor to the North these days LOL). Live long and prosper- and horde 5.56 :-).
I'm going to be stuck on the road helping a client in Arkansas during your open house, otherwise I'd certainly come down. Damn work gets in the way of living sometimes. Will get you up to date when the Zombies start looking for brains to eat.
Dear NYC CNC, FIrst of all, I cant thank enough for what you have been sharing to us. I am a mechanical guy from Vietnam! I very much enjoyed your online course even some are sold out! I kindly have one question for you (or anybody here). I am trying to host some online courses (virtual classroom for 6 students average) and trying to use BLACKBOARD but I dont know how I can purchase it even spending the whole day at their offical web! I know NYC CNC are using blackboard training courses! Please share if you guys know about this! Thank you a lot!
Great video, one of the few I've watched even more than Harry Potter! Have an idea but no idea how to go about building it. This video and others by you have given me at least a basic understanding of what might need to happen to make my idea reality. Knowing I still have much to learn I look forward to more of your excellent tutorials and explanations. I also very much appreciate the source list you provide in your comments. Thank you, sincerely. Steve
nice, thanks. Speaking of steppers Iv started contacting people about possibly adding second motor and making the tilting 4th axis into a 5 axis for the tormach, lets see where that takes us. Cant remember if I mentioned making a fixture to attach 70-90k quality pencil grinder with chucked engraver bit to the nose of the tormach for plate engraver its on the list maybe it will work fine.
NYC CNC Open Source FTW! I can see making stand alone bar feeders, part loaders, lathe part catch arms, etc. with an Arduino and GRBL. Lots of neat applications for cheap CNC.
Just started watching your videos on CNC with Arduino and stepper motors. Have my fingers crossed as I continue to view the vids that the parts for this project are Hobbyist affordable? Back to your great video!
Where would the parts be ordered from it would great if the parts could be ordered sections at a time. This way a motor and one rail could be purchased and played with then moving on to ordering the next part. Sound funny but it helps me justify the spending and progress. (Retired hobbyist) Thank you for taking the time to reply and help.
FYI --If you FU and reverse the power connections to your CNC Shield, disconnect everything, yank out all of your Poloulo boards and look down between the "A" and "Y" driver positions down at the board level. You will see a tiny glass tube which is the FUSE that you just blew. Buy a new fuse and replace it. If you want to take a risk, desolder the fuse and replace with a thin wire like the super fine transformer winding wire. Either way, your CNC Shield should leap back to life.
NYC CNC I snuck in just in time. It's been 4 years and they've already scaled the classes down to just the basics + latin and theater. It was a lot of fun but it taught me that I have little patience for code work (outside of G, that is)
NYC CNC just a very basic course but the robotic arm was a pos so I rebuilt it for them. They were cheap made in China steppers so he ordered a set of better steppers. Tore it down and replaced them and new belts. And I have rebuilt many gauge clusters due to faulty stepper motors. But that isn't really robotics just fixing stuff. Gotta make hay when the sun is shinning. I rebuild power tools, gauge clusters, alternators, power steering racks, etc.
Great video! I'm really looking forward to seeing these projects come together. I just finished building a small servo driven drawing arm, and I've been trying to learn more about using gcode to get images into a usable format that I can send to my controller. the g-code sender has lots of promise. thanks!
funny seems like all our types that love automation and programming and machining and the likes also Love reloading, and to think I though There was something wrong with me :) lol we are definitely a rare breed aye. LOL Take it easy brother
You may have covered my question but how do you find out in the software or how do you tell it how far the max travel is and give it a starting point?? Ps.. I’m thinking of building a diy CNC myself but to my own specifications, and really that’s the only thing I’m confused about.. Thanks!!
Sweet video! question: is there a rule of thumb folks use for sizing lead screws and stepper motors for various lengths of lead screws? like would 1/2" lead screw with a Nema 17 stepper be too small for a four foot length of movement?
To be honest I’m very new to pc, because I’m not familiar where you’re saving it and could use a little help, as I’ve only ever used my iPhone so a video on how you did everything I would GREATLY APPRECIATE it
This is great! Looking forward to the series. I've been using GRBL and GRBL Shield for about 2yrs on my home made CNC with no complaints. I recommend upgrading to the latest firmware as it has independent X,Y and Z feedrates and other improvements. Also, especially if you want to customize your machine interface, check out the good work of John Lauer and Jarret Luft with ChiliPeppr . Pretty awesome stuff.
With the power supply I found that you dont need the combined amps of all the steppers at its output voltage. The steppers want something like a low Voltage@rated amps so you need that power P=U*I for every stepper. What you need out of your power supply is voltage reserve so you have voltage to counteract the countervoltage that steppers generate while spinning fast. I learned it the hard way by overengeneering the power supply of my cnc thing and being baffled why it does almost consume no amps while it ran at a lab supply.
NYC CNC Look at this page reprap.org/wiki/NEMA_17_Stepper_motor There is a amp and a rated voltage at which that amperage flows. Lets say you have a motor that needs 3 amp and 3 volt than your power supply needs at least 9W power. That rating is given for a motor that stands still. If a stepper motor turns it generates a counter voltage that must be overcome by adding it to the motor voltage so that 3 amps of current can flow through the motor. Lets say the motor generates a counter voltage of 1 volt then the motor driver chip will deliver something like 4 volts so the set current will still flow. You need the higher voltage power supplies just to do that! Inside the motor there is still just 3 V @ 3 amps that do the work so there is still only 9 watts that will be needed. There is not 1V*3A=3W power loss in the driver because it controls the amperage via pwm and not as a resistive current limiter. If you have a 24 Volt supply that means 9 W would draw only something like I=P/V => 9/24=0,375 Amp so you would need something in that range to power the stepper. I would take a power supply that has 24 V and maybe 1 Amp because of losses in the driver and reserve but I would not use a 24V 3Amp to supply the motor.
NYC CNC The drivers on a grblshield won't do much more than 2A on a good day, but anyway - you'll need to know the nominal voltage for the steppers, or calculate it from the resistance. for a 2.5A Nema17 is it probably around 1.5 Ohm: 2.5A*1.5R = 3.75V 3.75V*2.5A = ~9.5W per motor, three motors = ~30W 30W@24V~= 1.25A add a bit to account for losses
.Amazing work!!! Thank you for share your time and knowlage. Really usefull. My father has a industrial milling machine, but it is manual. How can i convert it into an automatic milling (CNC) using Arduino. Best Regards and thank you.
How hard do you think it would be to add sensors to the arduino with the GRBL shield in place? I am thinking of making a CNC router with a self leveling base by using linear actuators and a IR range sensor or an ultrasonic sensor to gauge the relative inclination of the plane. I will be using a Arduino mega so it should have a few extra pins accessible.
yeah that's probably a good idea nearest I can tell is it able to run using mach3 more like a CNC unlike my board which I have to trick it into thinking is a 3D printer
Hello, while processing the g-code file I created with UGS in CNC, the CNC axes go to the place they need to go very fast when the carving work of a point is finished and trying to go to a different point (idle acceleration), which causes tooth skipping and the coordinate is distorted. I wonder if I need to adjust the grbl settings or the g-code file to reduce the speed of the axes in these transitions (idle speed).
In this case can we use the universal G code sender to control the stepper instead of using code from arduino, like you did on the other video of controlling stepper motors!
thank you for the explanation was helpful for me. their is a point i would like to know it. how can a set homing and point zero on grbl and arduino and can we run arduino with grbl on Mach3 and how please be generous with another explanation video
Hello, thanks for the tutorial. Is it possible to drive 3 nema 34 with this driver? Or can I combine ST-M5045 with this driver? I would like to build a large machine and use 3 nema 34 and arduino, but i do not know if it is possible. Thank you.
hi mate having trouble running the universal g-code sender it wont open up like yours does wont let me open a jar file what do you suggest to use to open that I am running windows 7 64 bit
awesome job! i just love anything robotic. i was wondering...can you set up more than 3 axis using GRBL? i would need 5 or six axis to set up a multi purpose Cartesian robotic arm any help would be greatly appreciated. thank you for your time!
hi, can I ask if i can use the step motor that you mention on this project with the kit i have, and if i can use a 24vdc for it.. CNC V3 Shield + UNO R3 Arduino Compatible Board + 4 PCS TI DRV8825 StepStick Stepper Drivers. just start to build a small cnc router. thank you. great video tutorial.
hello buddy i am totally new to science. i had trying understand some of the concept but i m not able to understand that what is the wiring work i have to do to connect the stepper motor with chip.
hi, could you please tell me what is the max size of the bed that grbl supports? im starting to design my own cnc but for it i should first know the max size cause i might design something that grbl cannot support
I am thinking of making a CNC like machine that I will use to write stuff on large sheets of paper (about 30 inches by 26 inches). I plan to Use an arduino board for the project. What advice do you have for me ?
awesome video, love the channel. what type of c are you using to run this project. i am going to be purchasing everything needed for this project this weekend. haven't seen any videos of metal being cut with it. have you done any yet?
the stepper motor i have bought has 4 wires. and the plugs on the grbl shield has 4 plugs. can i connect the stepper motor no mater witch color on the grbl plugs?
Thank you, good tutorial, my question is how far can be the maximum work area, for example I need axis X 1500mm and axis Y 2500mm, is that possible with Arduino?
What's next...a rack and pinion mounted AR15 with Arduino/stepper controlled motion and automatic rapid trigger puller? That would get people drooling.
HI John, I am in need of building CNC Plasma table...but I also wanted to use a router on occasion...none the less....I was going to start out with just a 4x4 table.....and make it so if I needed to upgrade to 4x8 table. it wouldn't take a great deal of reworking...lead screws and rails would need to be changed.....For that application, is there a specific roller set up, rails, steppers, etc that you would recommend to by or manufacture.?
I am trying to make a similar set up, except I have a 0.3v cnc shield. I set it up and uploaded the hex file, but when I tried to make it move the stepper motor by typing G01 X5F20 in serial monitor tab the motors didn't move. Any advice??
Nice one, I have an Arduino Uno coming for Christmas and plan to play with steppers in the near future. One thing I don't hear much of is protecting ones PC when using and Arduino from any feedback up the USB Cable. Been contemplating the purchase of a USB Isolator with an ADuM4160 chip. Have you had any issues with your PC John when using your Aduinos?
Hi! I have here a single Songle SRD-05VDC-SL-C relay. (Not the break out board... only the relay itself) I would like to use it... but have no idea how to wire it up. Please can someone explain me how to do it. I am quite new to all this stuff... it would be nice if you could explain very simple and clear It has on one side 3 pins and on the other 2 pins. What connect to what. kan you pls help me?
Great video. Is there where i can find to download your excel sheet or where to see the formulas ? i want to build mine but i use metric sistem not imperial. Thank you !
I'm installing a 3 axis cnc shield with an Uno and I was able to get the $ command to work last night but not today. I've tried using a new Uno and got the same non-response. Grbl 1.1f ['$' for help] comes up but the communication isn't there...but was last night? Any suggestions? I'm converting a 3040 cnc from parallel to usb. I'm on mac with latest Arduino IDE. I can reset with the shield connected and the steppers knock like they are getting power so I feel like I'm dangerously close :)
hi,i gave up on the dvd/cd steppers,no idea of the steps per rev,so i got some 1.7 NEMA standard types,i use the grbl shield v3 with grbl v1.1f,my steppers don't move as fast as yours do,mine are the 3.3v types,though i supply them with 12v,200 step/rev,i got the micro stepping figured,divide the total by whatever the micro step setting to get the rotational degrees,just for function,no lead screws yet,8mm 2mm 8mm lead on order,just the speed of rotation when i input a Gcode command or jog in grbl controller,does the feed rate slow using larger or smaller No's,ie G01 Z25 F200,F being feed rate,or do i omit the feed rate,i'm a total greenhorn with cnc,so please forgive me if my interpretation of Gcode sucks!. great series of videos by the way,i want to get this going,as i have so many things to do,like make a bigger cnc bed,with laser,router,maybe even add a plasma cutter (inverter type). All the best from the other side,(of the pond). CHEERS.
sir, i just completed hardware part of my cnc router. I'm using 3 stepper motors for the 3 axes.The driver ic i used here is TB6612FNG . Can you plz help me connecting it to arduino uno and also with the corresponding code.
After MANY HOURS of SEARCHING for this part of the diy project, YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE I FOUND THAT GETS RIGHT TO THE POINT. THANK YOU. SUBSCRIBED!!
One of the BEST no-nonsense, full explanation, "Lets build this together" videos I've seen on this subject period. Great job! If I could subscribe again I would but I've been a subscriber for months now.
I know Im asking randomly but does someone know of a way to log back into an instagram account..?
I stupidly lost the account password. I love any help you can offer me
@Rayan Cash Instablaster =)
@Alexis Alaric thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site on google and I'm trying it out now.
I see it takes a while so I will get back to you later with my results.
@Alexis Alaric It did the trick and I now got access to my account again. I'm so happy!
Thanks so much you saved my ass !
@Rayan Cash Happy to help :)
Fantastic video once again. Seriously every time I see a new video posted I think, "I'll watch it later." And once I finally do watch it, I'm like, "Why did I wait?! I can't wait for the next one!"
I'm in the process of assembling components for a CNC machine and so happy you did a step-by-step. All to often these kinds of videos skip the process of showing what we'll need and where we can find it (along with a demonstration along the way). Perfect video! I can't wait for the next one in this series!
NYC CNC If you do sell anything, I will be in line to buy it! It's the least I can do for all your hard work making these excellent videos. I've learned so much from them!
By the way, my gShield just arrived today and I got it all setup per your awesome instructions. It's working great on my NEMA17 test motor.
Would it be possible for you to update the description of the video to also include a link to download the sample file you used in the video (or one we can also use) or maybe a resource to read up on those files? I'm curious to see how those look since I'm so new at this. Might be useful to someone else also getting started. :D
Thanks again for all of your help. Also to, thanks so much for replying! You've replied to every one of my comments. lol I feel special. lol
NYC CNC Ah, that makes perfect sense. Can you tell I'm new to this? lol After doing a quick Google search, I found tons of g-code samples to use in testing so no need to show anything. Thanks for offering! I ended up finding a very simple circle sample tool path example right off of GitHub and a bunch of complex examples off of Mach3's forums. Thanks again for getting me started. This is so awesome!
Great video!! I'm going to get the shield, steppers, and Arduino to get this project up and running! Keep the videos coming !
Stumbled on your channel looking for info on diy cnc. Brilliantly clear instructions, well done.
Now I want to automate everything!!!
thank you, I have been looking for the method to get gerber data into the arduino cnc sheild with no luck untii i found this video. now I can go ahead with my project. thanks again.
Thought I'd let you know this video was so great it became the starting point of the building of my own diy CNC router back when you posted it. It has been running for a while now, and I still try to make upgrades to it, just for kicks. I use it primarly for woodworking, and I still don't get tired of watching it cut through wood. Thanks!
I can't wait to spend more money, thanks John. I've always wanted to build a CNC machine
A good and informative video. Btw. you should never change the jumpers or plug/unplug motors while the stepper driver is powered, as there is a very good chance of destroying the chip by this.
Holy cow. I am really interested in Arduino. Never heard of it til a few months ago. Explored a tad bit online and your videos. Never touched a stepper motor but im aware of them in CNC machines. I'd like to get the materials together finally and....mess with them, especially Arduino. In the short end of a goal, I'd like to be able to do engraving. This and your Part 2 video really did it for me. Im on board. Its cheaper than I had ever thought. I figure I have to start somewhere. Maybe a few months down the road I can actually run some worthy youtube videos about it myself.
Finally! Got to see one of your videos before it hit the magic 301+ count.
I LOVE these smaller projects. Home CNC lathe here I come. :-D
I plan on combining some of the parts from the DIYCNC site... the 640ozin motors I believe.
And I am sure you have already heard this, but when engraving, micro stepping helps with detail, but causes an exponential decrease in torque. The more steps, the more dramatic the falloff. For example, at an 8 micro, you have about 20% of rated torque, which can be even higher losses in cheaper steppers. For micro engraving, works great. For doing the lines on these plates, may not be of any use, especially when you figure in that each step is (based on what I saw so far) .0025" or smaller using the gearing and movement mechanisms. That is far less than what most humans can notice. Also, when microstepping, GREAT detail must be paid to the rigidity of the machine. I have learned this from a small engraver project in an engineering class. We used cheap ASME rods, 2 start, 4 TPI. We had a 128 step motor, and a 2:1 reduction, giving each FULL step a .001 resolution at full torque. The frame we built was only capable of about a .005 shift, so we over engineered one part and overlooked the frame. Fun, and eye opening!
24 and 48 volt power supplies can be pretty easy to come by, and as I typically say, buy once cry once. a 25% increase in cost to futureproof is ALWAYS worth it to me. I may not be "cheap" but I try to be Frugal.
NYC CNC there's no free lunch, to move at the same speed you'd have to run the steppers faster, that makes them lose torque fast.
Lasse Langwadt Christensen True, but the good news is that stepper motors offer a much higher initial torque than servo, and can carry that through a pretty good range. Towards the upper 25-40% of the speed range though, there IS the dramatic fall off. Good news is that most people wont be hitting that unless they have some crazy gear ratios in place that are making each step less than .001 or so.
Tormach did a pretty good article on this when going over the design considerations for the PCNC1100
www.tormach.com/uploads/300/TD10223_Series_3_Whitepaper_0214A-pdf.html
Also, any decent stepper manufacturer will offer a torque curve for each model, or at the very least a guideline. That helps determine the optimal travel speed, and can save quite a bit of money in other areas. Like I mentioned above, it becomes so easy to over power one part, and let another struggle. Torque becomes less of an issue with better screws, or lower ratios, but then with those, you hit STUPID high peaks, and EXTREME falloff at top speed... I feel like it is a coin flip whether I get in over my head with these some times.
NYC CNC Not entirely formal with steppers alone, but a great deal of exposure. Early in my education I pursued a mechanical engineering path, in particular, machines, robots, and CNC type tools (my own research for CNC but parallel with the robotics course). I had the greatest exposure during a 1 year full blown robotics and engineering course, where we built and designed competitive battle bots and/or task oriented robots. We had about a month and a half where we did labs on the contrasts of servo vs stepper vs standard motors, and how to weigh them out for our specific needs. The long story short is that servo and stepper work well for the purposes of smaller machines where position matters. It is the positional awareness and flat torque curve of brushless AC servo motors that provides the best benefit in the newer VMCs. It is much easier to compensate for torque in a servo because of its flat curve and rapid falloff at a specific point.
Wow! Got it working first shot! By far the best no bull, walk through there is out there! Great work and thanks for taking the time to put this out there for the rest of us out here!
How timely! I just bought a GRBL Shield a couple of months ago to play around with while building a small router/engraver out of aluminum. I'll be watching for future episodes! Keep up the great vids!
NYC CNC
No but I did consider that. This is a purpose-built engraver for 80% lowers. I have a heavy piece of structural aluminum for the base, and plate for everything else. Gantry style with moveable table. It should be pretty stout. A very part-time project as I'm in no hurry.
NYC CNC
Thanks John! I may take you up on that.
that stepper motor resistance spindle trick is clever and appreciated!
FYI: Bigger steppers have bigger coil inductance. Inductance is a source of impediance that will restrict the amount of current. If you need to drive your steppers faster, they may start to skip steps because of the inductance impedance. If you need to operate your steppers at higher speed while maintaining torque for your load you will need a power supply with a higher voltage. For robotics or machine automation I would recommend at least a 48VDC power supply if not higher. Otherwise I believe you may be disappointed by the performance of the steppers. Although I don't know how high voltage a GRBL shield will operate. I've used gecko stepper drivers for my projects which can operate up to about 80VDC.
Set this up for myself, following along, and it all worked great! Excited to continue! Thanks John, really enjoying your content!
Bravo! Just ran into your series and I am very impressed. I do arduino and other projects with my children and I'm leading it to a cnc machine. This is exactly the kind of tutorials I was looking for. Thank you so much!
Thanks for the great video. I have an Uno with Cnc Shield 3.0. This is my first CNC machine and I can't wait to start cutting. Your video is helping me get it going.
thank you! even though lots of technologies are different now i still learn a lot on how to DIY a CNC machine
I really want to thank you for this video! Your explanation made me finally understand how to flash grbl on arduino and I could build my first, tiny cnc machine! Really, thank you very much! :)
I see that there are 27 dislikes for this video. How could anyone dislike it? Some people are just sad. An absolutely fabulous tutorial! You do a great job, thanks for sharing your knowledge with the world :)
John you are my Pimp Daddy right now!!! I don't know how I missed watching this part of your series, but I'm sure glad that I took the time tonight versus zoning out to a magazine. I've had 2 Zombie projects (they just won't die) bouncing around in my head for the last 18 months, and I wasn't quite sure how to integrate them into the fabric of reality. Now with the Arduino (which I have a couple kicking around) + the GRBL shield I see a clear path to functional prototyping.
Shit! I have no excuse but to crack the whip on myself and get these things off the ground as soon as my current production run tails off. Seriously though- you must NOT sleep much. I live darn near a parallel life and I can only imagine the hours that you are putting in outside of the workshop just to keep up. Keep living the dream man...you continuously impress the hell out of me with what you are pulling off in the Buckeye state (I'm your neighbor to the North these days LOL). Live long and prosper- and horde 5.56 :-).
I'm going to be stuck on the road helping a client in Arkansas during your open house, otherwise I'd certainly come down. Damn work gets in the way of living sometimes. Will get you up to date when the Zombies start looking for brains to eat.
Zombie projects is a good phrase, I'll borrow it!
Dear NYC CNC,
FIrst of all, I cant thank enough for what you have been sharing to us. I am a mechanical guy from Vietnam! I very much enjoyed your online course even some are sold out!
I kindly have one question for you (or anybody here). I am trying to host some online courses (virtual classroom for 6 students average) and trying to use BLACKBOARD but I dont know how I can purchase it even spending the whole day at their offical web! I know NYC CNC are using blackboard training courses! Please share if you guys know about this!
Thank you a lot!
Great video, one of the few I've watched even more than Harry Potter! Have an idea but no idea how to go about building it. This video and others by you have given me at least a basic understanding of what might need to happen to make my idea reality. Knowing I still have much to learn I look forward to more of your excellent tutorials and explanations. I also very much appreciate the source list you provide in your comments.
Thank you, sincerely.
Steve
nice, thanks. Speaking of steppers Iv started contacting people about possibly adding second motor and making the tilting 4th axis into a 5 axis for the tormach, lets see where that takes us. Cant remember if I mentioned making a fixture to attach 70-90k quality pencil grinder with chucked engraver bit to the nose of the tormach for plate engraver its on the list maybe it will work fine.
man the trick with wire resistance is so money! Thanks.
A perfect video NYC CNC!!!! Such class from start to finish. 1st class all the way.
Huge thanks. One of the best examples I've seen on YT.
Can you make more of these videos? You get to the point fast with no bs great video btw.
Amazing! I didn't realize the software is finally catching up to the arduino. That cnc program is amazing to get up and going fast.
NYC CNC
Open Source FTW!
I can see making stand alone bar feeders, part loaders, lathe part catch arms, etc. with an Arduino and GRBL. Lots of neat applications for cheap CNC.
Just started watching your videos on CNC with Arduino and stepper motors. Have my fingers crossed as I continue to view the vids that the parts for this project are Hobbyist affordable? Back to your great video!
Rud Dog I calculated everything for about 205.51 before any shipping or extra stuff (unless the brackets are only for one axis then its 325.49)
Where would the parts be ordered from it would great if the parts could be ordered sections at a time. This way a motor and one rail could be purchased and played with then moving on to ordering the next part. Sound funny but it helps me justify the spending and progress. (Retired hobbyist) Thank you for taking the time to reply and help.
Rud Dog they are in the description in about 6 different links
ztmackin Thank you overlooked that in my rush.
FYI --If you FU and reverse the power connections to your CNC Shield, disconnect everything, yank out all of your Poloulo boards and look down between the "A" and "Y" driver positions down at the board level. You will see a tiny glass tube which is the FUSE that you just blew. Buy a new fuse and replace it. If you want to take a risk, desolder the fuse and replace with a thin wire like the super fine transformer winding wire. Either way, your CNC Shield should leap back to life.
Update for anyone using GRBL 1.0+ - the default baud rate is now 115200, not 9600 like he shows in the video.
4:18 I'm pretty sure, since the source code is all available on github, that you can compile and upload the source code within the IDE.
This is taking me back to robotics class in high school.
NYC CNC I snuck in just in time. It's been 4 years and they've already scaled the classes down to just the basics + latin and theater.
It was a lot of fun but it taught me that I have little patience for code work (outside of G, that is)
Nice video John great information. Haven't used stepper motors since high school in a robotics class.
NYC CNC just a very basic course but the robotic arm was a pos so I rebuilt it for them. They were cheap made in China steppers so he ordered a set of better steppers. Tore it down and replaced them and new belts. And I have rebuilt many gauge clusters due to faulty stepper motors. But that isn't really robotics just fixing stuff. Gotta make hay when the sun is shinning. I rebuild power tools, gauge clusters, alternators, power steering racks, etc.
Tri-Valley Jr Sr high school Valley View Pa 2007 most outstanding vocational student. NYC CNC
NYC CNC I have been machining parts and doing maintenance since I'm 13 I'm 26 now so about 13 years actively involved in machine trades technology
NYC CNC yeah ashland foundry and machine works.
NYC CNC I'm kind of the do everything guy. I balance impellers manual lathe, manual boring mill/ vertical turret lathe, radial drill press, cnc boring mill and cnc lathe
Great video! I'm really looking forward to seeing these projects come together. I just finished building a small servo driven drawing arm, and I've been trying to learn more about using gcode to get images into a usable format that I can send to my controller. the g-code sender has lots of promise. thanks!
Thanks, John. You are a genius and a great teacher.
Just learned that "gooey" isn't the end result of Pepsi spilled
on my keyboard!
I look forward to seeing this project completed!
I have experience with Arduino. I also reload ammunition. This project is speaking to me!
funny seems like all our types that love automation and programming and machining and the likes also Love reloading, and to think I though There was something wrong with me :) lol we are definitely a rare breed aye. LOL Take it easy brother
You may have covered my question but how do you find out in the software or how do you tell it how far the max travel is and give it a starting point??
Ps.. I’m thinking of building a diy CNC myself but to my own specifications, and really that’s the only thing I’m confused about.. Thanks!!
:) great job on sharing and explaining the basics, arduino may be the ticket for some smaller cnc projects :) . Keep up the great videos.
Thank you for sharing this tutorial. I am making a circuit board milling device/ conductive ink printer and you REALLY helped me along.. Thank you! :)
I always called it GeRBiL, like the animal.
This video might just get me to build something with my arduino... Thanks!
Sweet video! question: is there a rule of thumb folks use for sizing lead screws and stepper motors for various lengths of lead screws? like would 1/2" lead screw with a Nema 17 stepper be too small for a four foot length of movement?
To be honest I’m very new to pc, because I’m not familiar where you’re saving it and could use a little help, as I’ve only ever used my iPhone so a video on how you did everything I would GREATLY APPRECIATE it
This is great! Looking forward to the series. I've been using GRBL and GRBL Shield for about 2yrs on my home made CNC with no complaints. I recommend upgrading to the latest firmware as it has independent X,Y and Z feedrates and other improvements. Also, especially if you want to customize your machine interface, check out the good work of John Lauer and Jarret Luft with ChiliPeppr . Pretty awesome stuff.
Writing you from germany.. Great and vey helpful videos, good explained. Thank you for those videos
With the power supply I found that you dont need the combined amps of all the steppers at its output voltage. The steppers want something like a low Voltage@rated amps so you need that power P=U*I for every stepper. What you need out of your power supply is voltage reserve so you have voltage to counteract the countervoltage that steppers generate while spinning fast. I learned it the hard way by overengeneering the power supply of my cnc thing and being baffled why it does almost consume no amps while it ran at a lab supply.
NYC CNC Look at this page reprap.org/wiki/NEMA_17_Stepper_motor There is a amp and a rated voltage at which that amperage flows. Lets say you have a motor that needs 3 amp and 3 volt than your power supply needs at least 9W power. That rating is given for a motor that stands still.
If a stepper motor turns it generates a counter voltage that must be overcome by adding it to the motor voltage so that 3 amps of current can flow through the motor. Lets say the motor generates a counter voltage of 1 volt then the motor driver chip will deliver something like 4 volts so the set current will still flow. You need the higher voltage power supplies just to do that! Inside the motor there is still just 3 V @ 3 amps that do the work so there is still only 9 watts that will be needed. There is not 1V*3A=3W power loss in the driver because it controls the amperage via pwm and not as a resistive current limiter.
If you have a 24 Volt supply that means 9 W would draw only something like I=P/V => 9/24=0,375 Amp so you would need something in that range to power the stepper. I would take a power supply that has 24 V and maybe 1 Amp because of losses in the driver and reserve but I would not use a 24V 3Amp to supply the motor.
NYC CNC The drivers on a grblshield won't do much more than 2A on a good day, but anyway - you'll need to know the nominal voltage for the steppers, or calculate it from the resistance. for a 2.5A Nema17 is it probably around 1.5 Ohm:
2.5A*1.5R = 3.75V
3.75V*2.5A = ~9.5W per motor,
three motors = ~30W
30W@24V~= 1.25A
add a bit to account for losses
Didn't know it was that simple... Great vid
NYC CNC No follow up for this video? I mean the rest of the CNC building?
GREAT! (Y) Waiting for that...
.Amazing work!!! Thank you for share your time and knowlage. Really usefull. My father has a industrial milling machine, but it is manual. How can i convert it into an automatic milling (CNC) using Arduino. Best Regards and thank you.
I use grbl for a while and I think grblcontroller is a Vetter program. Its made for grbl an supports also better configuration tool
How hard do you think it would be to add sensors to the arduino with the GRBL shield in place? I am thinking of making a CNC router with a self leveling base by using linear actuators and a IR range sensor or an ultrasonic sensor to gauge the relative inclination of the plane. I will be using a Arduino mega so it should have a few extra pins accessible.
yeah that's probably a good idea nearest I can tell is it able to run using mach3 more like a CNC unlike my board which I have to trick it into thinking is a 3D printer
I heard reloading and CNC and had to subscribe. :D
Awesome video, what is the benefit or advantage to jumping the pins to give different rotation rates?
What's the use of the ammunition box? Are you panning on starting a war?
This is so awesome, we really want to try this.
Problem is we have a Mac, will this set up work with a Apple Mac ?
Hello, while processing the g-code file I created with UGS in CNC, the CNC axes go to the place they need to go very fast when the carving work of a point is finished and trying to go to a different point (idle acceleration), which causes tooth skipping and the coordinate is distorted. I wonder if I need to adjust the grbl settings or the g-code file to reduce the speed of the axes in these transitions (idle speed).
Hi! How do i connect a stepper to the coupler? My hobby stepper shaft is smaller than the coupler hole 😔
Hi, great video. Can you show where I can set in the arduino code the steps/unit value? Thank you.
Hey, great video. Do you have any idea about what could be wrong if the motor spins the same way regardless if you tell it to go x+ or x-?
Thanks.
In this case can we use the universal G code sender to control the stepper instead of using code from arduino, like you did on the other video of controlling stepper motors!
I'm making 4-axis Arduino based CNC machine.
Please could you help me about Arduino code to control 4 stepper motors?
محمد مبارك حسين Muhammad Mubarak Hossain tinyg will help you
What is tinyg dear friend?
thank you for the explanation was helpful for me. their is a point i would like to know it. how can a set homing and point zero on grbl and arduino and can we run arduino with grbl on Mach3 and how please be generous with another explanation video
This is one of the greatest grbl related videos on the internet and it has 97 thumbs down. Nonsense
Hello, thanks for the tutorial. Is it possible to drive 3 nema 34 with this driver? Or can I combine ST-M5045 with this driver? I would like to build a large machine and use 3 nema 34 and arduino, but i do not know if it is possible. Thank you.
very nice work you are doing here! i have a question, if you fit bigger motors will you fry the arduino? thank you!
hi mate having trouble running the universal g-code sender it wont open up like yours does wont let me open a jar file what do you suggest to use to open that I am running windows 7 64 bit
awesome job! i just love anything robotic. i was wondering...can you set up more than 3 axis using GRBL? i would need 5 or six axis to set up a multi purpose Cartesian robotic arm any help would be greatly appreciated. thank you for your time!
hi, can I ask if i can use the step motor that you mention on this project with the kit i have, and if i can use a 24vdc for it..
CNC V3 Shield + UNO R3 Arduino Compatible Board + 4 PCS TI DRV8825 StepStick Stepper Drivers. just start to build a small cnc router. thank you. great video tutorial.
hello buddy i am totally new to science. i had trying understand some of the concept but i m not able to understand that what is the wiring work i have to do to connect the stepper motor with chip.
Does grbl flash to the shield? Or the uno? If you had an uno with separate tb6600 drivers would the process be exactly the same?
Great job! Have had you problems with electromagnetic interferences? If so, how did you solve them?
hi, could you please tell me what is the max size of the bed that grbl supports? im starting to design my own cnc but for it i should first know the max size cause i might design something that grbl cannot support
I am thinking of making a CNC like machine that I will use to write stuff on large sheets of paper (about 30 inches by 26 inches). I plan to Use an arduino board for the project. What advice do you have for me ?
IMPORTANT INFO WHEN UPGRADING TO GRBL v0.9 :
Baudrate is now 115200 (Up from 9600).
Great and good explained video! Does this also works for cnc lathe with two steppers?
When You hook the motors up to the board (Im going to use cnc sheild) how do you know which is the XYZ axis? Cheers
The best thing about GRBL is that it is open source. You can make a fork, and hack the stuffing out of it.
awesome video, love the channel. what type of c are you using to run this project. i am going to be purchasing everything needed for this project this weekend. haven't seen any videos of metal being cut with it. have you done any yet?
the stepper motor i have bought has 4 wires. and the plugs on the grbl shield has 4 plugs. can i connect the stepper motor no mater witch color on the grbl plugs?
I was sold at "Combine Arduinos, steppers, automation, and guns"!
That's when I left.
Thank you, good tutorial, my question is how far can be the maximum work area, for example I need axis X 1500mm and axis Y 2500mm, is that possible with Arduino?
thank you for your videos, i like this shield and i know i can control 3 axis for a cnc machine, but how do i control the spindle through pwm signal?
What's next...a rack and pinion mounted AR15 with Arduino/stepper controlled motion and automatic rapid trigger puller? That would get people drooling.
HI John, I am in need of building CNC Plasma table...but I also wanted to use a router on occasion...none the less....I was going to start out with just a 4x4 table.....and make it so if I needed to upgrade to 4x8 table. it wouldn't take a great deal of reworking...lead screws and rails would need to be changed.....For that application, is there a specific roller set up, rails, steppers, etc that you would recommend to by or manufacture.?
I am trying to make a similar set up, except I have a 0.3v cnc shield. I set it up and uploaded the hex file, but when I tried to make it move the stepper motor by typing G01 X5F20 in serial monitor tab the motors didn't move. Any advice??
Enjoying your videos. Is it possible to use the Arduino GRBL to control my VFD for Spindle control also?
Does the Nema 17 stepper motor rotate both ways by itself. Or there are some specific motors which rotate both ways?
Can the GRBL Hex file be used with the arduino Mega 2560 and a Ramps 1.4 Shield board?
Nice one, I have an Arduino Uno coming for Christmas and plan to play with steppers in the near future. One thing I don't hear much of is protecting ones PC when using and Arduino from any feedback up the USB Cable. Been contemplating the purchase of a USB Isolator with an ADuM4160 chip. Have you had any issues with your PC John when using your Aduinos?
hi sir, this is very good tutorial, i want to build cnc drill machine for pcb , how much is speed and accuracy of arduino based cnc machine.
Hi! I have here a single Songle SRD-05VDC-SL-C relay. (Not the break out board... only the relay itself)
I would like to use it... but have no idea how to wire it up. Please can someone explain me how to do it. I am quite new to all this stuff... it would be nice if you could explain very simple and clear
It has on one side 3 pins and on the other 2 pins. What connect to what. kan you pls help me?
Great video. Is there where i can find to download your excel sheet or where to see the formulas ? i want to build mine but i use metric sistem not imperial. Thank you !
Any reason you are using that particular build of GRBL? There have been a few updates with major improvements since the version you flashed onto it.
I'm installing a 3 axis cnc shield with an Uno and I was able to get the $ command to work last night but not today. I've tried using a new Uno and got the same non-response. Grbl 1.1f ['$' for help] comes up but the communication isn't there...but was last night? Any suggestions? I'm converting a 3040 cnc from parallel to usb. I'm on mac with latest Arduino IDE. I can reset with the shield connected and the steppers knock like they are getting power so I feel like I'm dangerously close :)
Hey, you are awesome! Can you tell me please what program do you use to create projects for the cnc....
hi,i gave up on the dvd/cd steppers,no idea of the steps per rev,so i got some 1.7 NEMA standard types,i use the grbl shield v3 with grbl v1.1f,my steppers don't move as fast as yours do,mine are the 3.3v types,though i supply them with 12v,200 step/rev,i got the micro stepping figured,divide the total by whatever the micro step setting to get the rotational degrees,just for function,no lead screws yet,8mm 2mm 8mm lead on order,just the speed of rotation when i input a Gcode command or jog in grbl controller,does the feed rate slow using larger or smaller No's,ie G01 Z25 F200,F being feed rate,or do i omit the feed rate,i'm a total greenhorn with cnc,so please forgive me if my interpretation of Gcode sucks!.
great series of videos by the way,i want to get this going,as i have so many things to do,like make a bigger cnc bed,with laser,router,maybe even add a plasma cutter (inverter type).
All the best from the other side,(of the pond).
CHEERS.
sir,
i just completed hardware part of my cnc router. I'm using 3 stepper motors for the 3 axes.The driver ic i used here is TB6612FNG . Can you plz help me connecting it to arduino uno and also with the corresponding code.
Thanks john for your very helpfull vidio's