The ArduFrauenfelderCNC Version 1.0 - Arduino Pro Micro Edition!

This is the Version 1.0 of the ArduFrauenfelderCNC controller board... Arduino Pro Micro Edition. It's my way of cheating, until I can get the pre-release board completely perfect.

I also like this design as you don't need to add a clumsy FTDI board into the mix, as the ATmega32U4 has a USB transceiver inside of the 32U4. I may have to get my reflow oven project completed and look at SMD components for the controller (as a side project).

Thought I'd just make an update with what's happened (I did say I would be updating more often).

The ArduFrauenfelderCNC: Progress Report 1

Images of the physical mill so far (most of the work I've done in the past two weeks while I've had something close to pneumonia).

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This is the ArduFrauenfelderCNC so far!

It hasn't really changed that much since I last showed it off. The gantry has been modified to allow linear bearings to be fitted and 10mm steel rods to be fitted for Z-axis motion, as well as support structures for the lead ballscrew.

The base unit hasn't yet been modified for actual use. It needs parts for the lead screw support and stepper motor placement (which will be 3D printed to allow varying motors to be used).

Talking of 3D printing I have also designed printed structures for the controller board holder (top left image), as well as the Z-axis linear bearing manifold (centre image, last item in image). I haven't decided on a dremel, or cousin, for use as the drill yet so the Z-axis isn't quite right yet. Once I do pick one I'll get it ready for cutting, more than likely having to modify dimensions to get the unit right for an actual drill.

I'm going to do a test run of the physical mill once I have to all laid out in SketchUp the way I want it (that is I'll take the incomplete mill and send it to be cut at Ponoko so as to see if it's working as designed).

So the reason I got a bee in my bonnet? That would be thanks to Chris the Carpenter at Rocket Brand Studios. I stumbled across his magnificent propeller-based TX for his robots last year and a couple weeks ago re-stumbled it (I really love that thing). Once I found the page about it I started looking at his blog posts and found a video of him milling lexan for a 3D printer. He just really inspired me again to get my arse in gear and get my baby finished. To which I would have to thank him!

I'll continue to get the mill up to speed in the coming months and post as I make progress.

Introducing the ArduFrauenfelderCNC

I no longer have access to some of my previous blog content, which is sad to me. So I thought I'd reintroduce the new and improved ArduFrauenfelder!

He has gained a CNC at the end and is going through his beta development. He is up to version 0.1-b3 and is continually changing as I learn more about how to use ECAD tools and electronic design.

A big change since last we met is that I am using EAGLE as my primary design software (I am still using KiCad but as a secondary tool set, meant to compliment EAGLE). I decided to give the freeware behemoth another chance as most people, both hobbyist and commercial concerns, seem to be using it for electronic design. With KiCad I was disappointed with the lack of native libraries out there (like SparkFun and Adafruit EAGLE libraries. They didn't create KiCad versions, community members have attempted to though), not to mention eagleUp. But with EAGLE I can design with it and then convert to KiCad, whereas you can't do that in reverse. I will release the ArduFrauenfelderCNC board design files in both flavours, but EAGLE will be first.

You may remember I released the ArduFrauenfelder on GitHub but it wasn't anywhere ready for release into the wild. I mainly did that to try and find help, which I didn't. After not getting anywhere I decided to rethink the design and came up with my new naming scheme. ArduFrauenfelder will be the base name for any Arduino device I design, adding designators to the end to complete the name, i.e: CNC denoting the board is CNC related. I also decided to use EAGLE and to become somewhat more serious in my endeavour. I have also decided to make it a joint venture between myself, Design Tech Industries, and the yet non-existent Tamworth Hackerspace which I hope once established can sell the boards as kits and finished products (fully constructed board and mill) to raise money for our shenanigans.

You can find the design files for the board up on GitHub: https://github.com/punklibrarian/ArduFrauenfelderCNC. It's still in Beta versions so that should tell you about it. This is my first attempt at electrical circuit design and as such I have probably done something stupid with my layout and implementation of basic principals. To assist with development I have implemented Issues labels and issue naming schemes:

Box one shows the three labels: feature request - Green, improvement - Orange, bug - Red. Box two shows the naming scheme, which is to add in brackets what the issue is, i.e: [improvement] for improvement etc... As you can see I've already added a couple improvement and feature request suggestions. I'm currently pro typing the board on perf board, which is a little messy, but I feel like it's what I should do. Next I'm going to attempt to create the design files for the actual mill and see if I can get it cut out.

I hope you choose to have a fiddle with my creation and to help me along it completion. It is released under an Open Source Hardware friendly license, meaning it allows commercial use of my design.

I support the Open Source Hardware Definition v1.0