[VHS Group Project] Sherline CNC mill

Projects
21

Post-processor. Basically the output settings that describe the mill to
convert to GCode. Same idea as setting up the config for Marlin in 3D
printers.

Bernie: I did a rough one for Solidworks, should be on the VHS SW computer.
It’s definitely is not perfect, needs a bunch of tweaking.

22

Any CAM software has post processors that translate the super awesome
machining instructions you generate in the software into G-Code that the
machine can understand. Most machines have a few codes that are specific
to them necessitating specific post processors for each different type of
machine. The post for my Haas will most likely not spit out code that the
sherline can understand.

Also, here is a demo part that I did in Fusion360 and applied some
toolpaths to. http://a360.co/1nNS9Gb Have a look.

23

Oh yeah, and LinuxCNC is EMC2, which Solidworks and I think Fusion 360 have
by default.

24

Would there be any interest in a q and a session for the CAM portion of
fusion 360? If be happy to setup my laptop and projector and answer
questions through demonstration.

2 Likes
25

That would be awesome, and it would be great to meet a fellow CNC machinist. I use ArtCam and RhinoCam, just started playing with Fusion360.

26

I’m now using fusion for all my CAM needs and modeling too.

27

Should do an interactive “get this toolpath onto the Sherline” demo night!
:smiley:

2 Likes
28

I am really interested in getting on this machine, have some pulley gears that I need to make for an indexer for my CNC. Is this the CNC in the corner that is specifically made for metal milling with coolant?

29

Ok never mind, sorry for that. I know which machine this is now.

30

OK, as some of you may have seen I have been messing with the Sherline. Time for some brain dump on my misadventures.
I will make another post about the PCB milling part. This is mostly my observation on the Sherline CNC itself.

I have changed the .ini file so that when homed. the machine co-ord at the top of the z-axis is zero and -8 (inches) and bed level.
now it runs like i expect it to, and fusion 360 has built-in surpport for linuxCNC

The sherline has some reliability issues, looking to get some feed back on how I can go about improving the machine. thanks

  • with regard to the z-axis. the coupling from the motor to lead screw was slipping. i have tightened the set screws, which seem to have solved the problem for now. I don’t know if this is indicative of some sort of wear and tear issue
  • the wire on the z-axis homing switch is prone to coming loose enough to not making contact but not visually noticeable. This causes huge issues if you are trying to home. this can probably be remedies with some soldering.
  • at some point while machining tonight the belt slipped right off of the pulley on the headstock mid operation.
  • the computer crashed at one point, and when i reset the computer, the spindle turned on. i am not sure if there is a way to rewire the controller so it doesn’t default to on, when computer is not connected.
4 Likes
31

This is an artifact of using a parallel port - if LinuxCNC isn’t running, the parallel ports outputs are indeterminate. If the spindle enable line wiggles on, the spindle starts. This is worked around in both LinuxCNC and Mach3 with what is known to as a charge pump - when LinuxCNC is running, it’ll toggle a pin of the parallel port at a particular frequency. This can then be detected by the controller (or an intermediary circuit) and used as an enable/disable flag for the axis and spindle.

http://wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?About_Charge_Pumps

2 Likes