The SainSmart 3020 CNC Router (300mm X 200mm Table Size) Un-boxing and Assembly - Thibaultron

[thibaultron]

Part 001

 

This will be a three part un-boxing, with assembly to start in Part 4.

 

I purchased a SainSmart Genmitsu 3020 CNC Router (300mm by 200mm table) during their Pre-order sale, and it arrived the other day. This will be a build log of the unboxing, and assembly of the router.

 

SainSmart has a great reputation in the small CNC router community. The 3018 Prover is the best value among the 3018 machines, even over their lower cost 3018 Pro machines. Most of the 3018 machines out there have Bakelite front and back base pieces, as well as the uprights. The Prover has an all aluminum frame.

 

I had been looking at their 3018 Prover machine (300mm by 180mm table), but had wanted to do some immediate upgrades to it. The cost of the upgrades would have made it more expensive than this new model they just released, and would still have been less sturdily constructed. The 3018 has one option that the 3020 may not have, though time will tell. The 3018 has an extension kit available to make it a 300mm by 400mm table machine. I was planning to install the extension on my a 3018. The table with the extension, though is made from two sections of extruded aluminum set on a MDF base. The table thus has more give than I would want for a precision machine. It would be perfectly good for most of my needs, but the 3020 has a stronger mechanism. The 3020 costs about $150 to $200 dollars more than the 3018 (depending on sale prices), so for lighter jobs you can decide.

 

3020 CNC

 

 

3018 Prover

 

 

The 3020 has several improvements over the 3018:

1.     The side pieces on the base assembly are 40mmX40mm extrusions, rather than the Prover’s 20X20.

2.     The uprights are 2mm thicker and have a wider base with 16 screws attachment bolts. The Prover has 12 bolts.

3.     The linear bearings under the bed as well as the assembly holding the feedscrew are metal on the 3020, on the 3018 they are plastic. The rods the bearings slide on are 12mm on the 3020 and 10mm on the Prover.

4.     The X axis slides (mounted at the top of the upright) are linear slides mounted on 20X40 extrusions on the 3020, and 10mm round linear bearings on 10mm rods on the Prover. The linear bearings are thus supported their entire length on the 3020, while the rods are the only support on the Prover. The stiffeners for the 3018 are 20x20 extrusions, giving less stiffness than the larger ones on the 3020.

5.     The 3020 has stronger servos than the 3018.

6.     A nice feature on the 3020, is that all the feedscrews have knobs for manually turning the screws. On the 3018, you have to try to turn them by grabbing the screw itself.

7.     The 3020 has SainSmart’s 300 watt motor, rather than the 3018’s 60 watt one.

8.     The 3020 has an aluminum motor mount, the 3018 a 3D printed plastic one.

 

The last two features alone are worth the extra cost, to add an aluminum motor mount and a 300 watt motor to the 3018, costs more than the additional price of the 3020!

 

One down side of the aluminum plate on the 3020, is that it is a cast plate. Cast aluminum plate is more brittle than an extruded plate, so some care has to be made not to overly tighten any clamps or hold down screws when clamping work to the plate. Extruded aluminum plates are seldom flat, though, so that is probably why they went this route.

 

Neither machine will cut to milling machine tolerances, but should do well for most any job we would need.

 

The 3018 Prover comes with a little better off-line controller.

 

Now to the un-boxing.

 

I will say that it is well packed. When it was delivered the delivery guy needed a signature. Rather than letting me grab the box and set it down, he plopped the side of the box down on the pointed upright on my porch! It punched a hole in the side, but the surrounding foam protected the contents! Another hole in a different location on the box, as delivered, didn’t cause any damage either.

 

It arrived in a good size box, that filled both arms as I was carrying it.

 

 

The first thing seen when the box is opened, is a instructions/assembly manual, and a card of self-adhesive wiring labels.

 

 

The first layer of packing holds most of the small parts and part bags, and there are a lot of them.

 

 

The manual is a nice glossy paper item, with a parts list, the instructions for assembling the router, and installing the included free software. The software is usable, but definitely entry level.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the instructions they have a step for installing the rubber feet, but they come already installed.

 

 

Here is a picture of everything in that first layer of stuff.

 

 

They include a set of 10, 20 degree engraving/carving bits. They have rubber sleeves on the cutting tips, to both protect the edges, and protect your fingers from those same edges. These things are sharp! You leave the sleeve on when installing the bits, and then remove the sleeve right before starting the cuts.

 

 

These bits are what is called in the machining industry “D” bits. The cross section of the cutting area is D shaped. Think grinding ½ of a round bar, leaving a half round shape.

 

 

 

 

Next is the off-line controller box, with a cable, a slot for an SD card for loading the cutting files, a SD card for that use, a USB cable slot, and a connection for the controller cable to the machine. Also shown is the thumb drive with the software for the design and cutting programs, as well as a few simple designs to cut with.

 

 

 

[thibaultron]

Part 002

 

Here is the Z-probe. Once you have loaded the cutting file and installed a cutter, you have to determine how far the end of the cutter is from the blank’s surface, so the machine knows what height to start the cut at. The probe is hooked to the machine, and the hardware can detect when a cutter touches the probe. You place this probe on top of the blanks, position the cutter over the probe, and then either manually lower the cuter until it touches the probe, or run a bit of code to lower the cutter automatically. When the bit contacts the probe, the machine then knows the exact height from the tip to the workpiece.

 

 

 

The plug attaches to the controller board, and the alligator clip to the body of the cutter bit. After finishing with determining the height, the alligator clip is removed, and the probe moved away from the machine, naturally. The cable remains attached to the control board.

 

The next bag contains the two wrenches needed to tighten the collet nut on the spindle, and the hardware for the four clamps to hold down the workpiece.

 

 

This is the Emergency Stop Switch for the router. The instructions show this as already installed, but you have to install it. All this requires is removing the nut and washer, feeding it into the upright, installing the washer (Note: the points on the washer face the upright during installation), and screwing on the nut. The button is pressed to stop the machine, and then rotated clockwise to reset the button. BE careful installing the assembly, as the button will unscrew from the switch, if turned, counter clockwise,! Just screw it back on, if this happens. Yes, I had this happen.

 

 

 

Next is the bag containing the three X,Y, and Z limit switches. As delivered there is only one for each Axis. These are used to “Home” the spindle to the 0,0,0 position (Spindle assembly to the far right for X, Table all the way forward for Y, and Spindle all the way up for Z. In other words the X=0 and Y=0 is at the upper right corner of the table). They also, of course, act as true limit switches for their respective end of each axis. The limits of travel for the other ends have to be manually set in software. Mounting holes are provided for brackets for additional X and Y Axis limit switches, but no hardware is included, so I’ll be contacting SainSmart about the availability of two more switches and brackets. See below about the additional Z Axis limit Switch.

 

 

Also included as an optional switch for the Z-axis (Spindle Full Down). I installed it,

 

 

Note that all these switches decrease the area that can be milled! I’ll go into it further in the Assembly sections later on.

 

They also provide an USB cable to connect the machine, and the stand alone controller to your computer. This has the old “T” shaped small USB connector, so don’t lose it.

 

 

For supplying power to the spindle, they use this patch cable that connects the power supply leads to the spindle motor wires.

 

 

They supply a fairly long piece of spiral cable wrap to use in organizing all the cable runs. I made a few mistakes doing this, and could have used about an extra foot, but I did get them wrapped up. They give you a bundle of cable ties and a Chip Brush, also.

 

 

The last piece in this group from the first layer, is the Spindle and Controller Board power supply. This unit does not have a power switch, so you have to either unplug it when not in use, or have a switch installed in the wall outlet, or use a power strip with a switch. The power supply has a built in cooling fan. Don’t panic, like I did, if the fan does not come on when you first plug it in. The fan is controlled internally to only run when the supply is hot enough to require cooling.

 

The next layer of parts has the upper assembly with the X and Z Axis travelers, the 300 Watt spindle motor, and the three cutting bits that came as an extra with my pre-order. These bits will not be included with the machines ordered now.

 

These are the three new style bits, that I suppose are designed for use with metal. They have a multi-chromatic color coating.

 

 

The upper assembly is shown in these pictures. The spindle mount holds the larger 52mm diameter 600 Watt spindle motor. The Prover’s 60 Watt motor is 42mm. There was supposed to be a 42mm ring adapter to allow you to use one of their laser units, included, but it was missing from my box. I’ll contact SainSmart this week to see if they will send me a replacement ring. The spindle comes with a collet that holds a 1/8" cutter bit. Most of the cutters range in the 1/8" to 1/4" shank diameter. SainSmart sells other collets for these shanks

 

 

 

This pictures shows the assembly from the bottom. At the top is the stepper motor for the Z-Axis, with the Z-Axis adjustment knob above it. The all-aluminum Spindle assembly runs on two linear bearings for X-Axis travel. To the left is the X-Axis feed adjustment knob, and to the right is the X-Axis stepper motor. Just down from the stepper motor is the bracket for the X-Axis 0 position limit switch. The left hand upright has mounting holes drill to accept a similar bracket (not included) for mounting a limit switch for the other end of the axis. The spindle up/down Z-Axis is also drilled for both switches, and an optional switch is included in the kit.

 

The Z-Axis also has metal linear bearings, and feedscrew mount. The feedscrew mount for the X-Axis feedscrew is also metal. You can see the holes for the 16 mounting bolts at the base of the uprights. The Prover has 12 mounting bolts and a narrower base.

 

 

 

This picture shows the X-Axis linear bearings, as well as the larger metal stepper motor coupling nut used for all three axis. The brown block on the side of the spindle assembly, is the contact surface for the upper and lower Z-Axis limit switch contacts.

 

 

 

 

The un-boxing will continue in Part 3.

[Chuck]

47 minutes ago, thibaultron said:

These bits are what is called in the machining industry “D” bits. The cross section of the cutting area is D shaped. Think grinding ½ of a round bar, leaving a half round shape.

Just test those before you cut anything. Depending on how accurate the work needs to be,  probably 6 out of those ten will have the poi nt off-center.  They will still cut beautifully but the cut line will be wider than your drawing by a lot. I regularly use those exact bits.  
 

So I take each of the ten bits and test them by turning the spindle on.  Then as I see a bit wobble I will mark the shaft with a sharpie and set it aside for less accurate use. You can easily see the wobble once you get a perfect bit that spins true.   This caused me much heartache until I realized what a difference it makes.

 

If working with small parts this matters a great deal.

 

I mainly use 10, 15 and 20 degree V engraving bits.  

[thibaultron]

Part 003

 

The last layer holds the base of the machine.

 

 

The bracket just up from the Y-Axis knob, is for the Y-Axis 0 position limit switch.

 

This shows the underside of the base. At the top is the Y-Axis adjustment knob, and below it the Y-Axis limit switch mounting bracket. The cross piece at the bottom of the picture is drilled to accept a mounting bracket for a limit switch for the other end of the Y-Axis (not included). I hope SainSmart will be offering a kit with the brackets and switches needed for the X and Y-Axis limit switches soon! You can see the metal linear slide bearings, and metal feedscrew nut mount.. The feet are preinstalled, on these machines, so you can ignore that step in the instructions. At the bottom is the stepper motor.

 

This also shows the 40mm X 40mm side rails (as opposed to the Prover’s 20mm X 40mm rails). The top and bottom cross pieces are 2mm thicker than those on the Prover.

 

 

Here is a picture of the top of the base.

 

 

You can see the cast aluminum table with the etched grid and 30 mounting holes for attaching the supplied clamps, or to be used to bolt down a work piece. The grid is also numbered in both X and Y directions. I don’t know what size the mounting holes are. I’m going to take one of the clamp bolts to the hardware store and find out.

 

In addition to the router, I also, separately, bought an additional set of cutters, and a set of 15 collets. SainSmart sells a set of 40 various cutters and if you buy the 15 piece collet set, you get a discount bundle deal.  I also bought an additional set of 20 degree cutter bits, not realizing that the router came with a set.

 

Here are the cutters in the 40 piece set.

 

 

These are a set of “Corn Cob” bits with SainSmart’s “Nano Blue” coating. The “Nano Blue” coating provides additional wear resistance, over an uncoated bit. The “Corn Cob” refers to the bit being studded to provide more cutting surfaces. These remove more material in each pass, but give a rougher surface finish. These are typically used for roughing cuts to remove the bulk of material from a large area. You then change to a finer finish bit and run another pass to cut the final fine details.

 

 

This group is a standard set of uncoated HSS 2-flute flat bottom end mills. These are used for flat bottom cuts, vertical sided cuts, and can be used for drilling or plunge cuts. They are similar to regular metal working end mills, used in milling machines.

 

 

These are uncoated round nose end mills. They are used the same way as the flat bottom ones, but leave a semi-circular bottom when cutting a slot. They are typically used for the finish cuts in 3D relief designs as they can cut smooth sloping cuts, and rounded bottom transitions.

 

 

The last set in the 40 pack, is another set of “Corn Cob” bits, but with a gold colored coating. I don’t know the difference between this and the “Nano Blue” coating, other than it too offers wear protection. SainSmart does not really explain the properties of the various coatings they offer.

 

 

The last set of cutters a 10 pack of their standard 20 “V” bits. These are used for engraving, and rough cuts.

 

 

The 15 piece collet set should hold any bits I’m likely to need for this machine. Collets hold a cutter shank securely, but each collet holds a specific size shaft. They do not have much, if any, ability to hold a different size shaft. Explaining why would involve much more detail, than I want to get into, just take my word for it. These collets are inexpensive though, so buying a set is not a problem.

 

 

Part 4 will be the start of assembling the router.

[thibaultron]

For those who might be interested in these CNC routers, I recommend James Dean Designs videos, on YouTube. He has a great series on setting up and using various CNC routers. Start with the 3018 videos, even if you will be getting a 3020. Operations on both machines will be similar.

[EricWilliamMarshall]

Very exciting! I’m very curious how you adventure turns out; fingers crossed!

[Gregory]

Great review!

[thibaultron]

Part 004 – A modification you may want to make to the X-Axis

 

This section was supposed to be the start of assembling the router, but I have a modification you might want to make, before everything is assembled, and awkward to handle.

 

First I have been quoting the thickness of the uprights at 12mm. I measured them today and they are 10mm. I read that they are 2mm thicker than those on the Prover, but don’t know if the write-up was wrong, or if the Prover uprights are 8mm.

 

As the unit is delivered the Y and Z-Axis limit switches are built so that they contact at what I would say is close to the mechanical limits, so they are good. If you buy another Y-Axis bracket and switch, they will fit at that end, with the same clearances as the existing setup. Once again a good arrangement.

 

The X-Axis limit switch, however, is set far from where  the mechanical limit of the spindle assembly can go. The X-Axis limit switch mount protrudes 0.563” from the right side upright, and with the switch mounted, the switch contacts 16.18mm (0.637”) from the upright (the limit switch has a .127mm (+ 0.005”) tolerance when the spindle goes to “Home”). The mechanical interference with the spindle assembly with the upright is 4mm! This means you have lost 12mm of usable cutter travel, with the limit switch placed where it is! Assuming in the future you use the same hardware to install a limit switch on the other end of the X-Axis, this means you lose almost 24mm (about an 1”) of  available cutting length along that axis!

 

I ran an experiment by moving the mounting of the bracket to the outside of the upright, rather than the inside. With the bracket mounted here the spindle gained about 12mm (0.470”) of additional travel, while still stopping with about 1/8 of an inch of clearance before the spindle assembly would hit the coupling nut on that side. Assuming you bought a switch and bracket like those used in the kit, and mounted them in this fashion, you would gain 24mm or a little less than 1” of usable travel, while still having the protection of limit switches at both ends. This takes the usable travel from about 265mm (10.4”) (with two switched mount in the factory way) to about 289mm (11.3”) almost 10%!

 

If you are interested in making this modification, I detail the changes below. The mounting holes in the upright are drilled and tapped all the way through, so no modification to it is needed. Be aware that this may void your warranty!

 

First I removed the bracket with the limit switch installed, then I used a cutoff wheel to cut the protruding switch mounting bolts even with the inside of the bracket. This allows the bracket to fit tightly against the front surface of the upright.

 

 

 

 

Next I placed the bracket in place. The upper bolt hole fit correctly, but the upright angles forward at this point, and the lower hole was slightly offset.

 

 

 

 

 

Using a round file, it extended the hole to fit.

 

 

 

Then I installed the other screw.

 

 

 

 

I had to cut the spiral wire wrap a little shorter (see my assembly write-ups coming soon), and tape the wire for the lower Z-Axis limit switch down. I will make a more permanent hold down later. I need to go to the hardware store and see what they have available.

 

 

I moved and “Homed” the spindle several times, to insure that this was a safe modification.

 

I hope this helps those buying this router!

 

The assembly will start in Part 5.

[thibaultron]

Part 005

 

This part starts the actual assembly of the 3020.

 

The manual starts with inserting the 16 “T” nuts for attaching the upright onto the base.

 

 

The “T” nuts have a spring loaded ball on the back, that is supposed to press against the back of the slot, and hold them in place. Well some of them actually worked this way! Some would hold the nut against the front, but not strongly enough to prevent them from sliding around, and some would not hold them at all!

 

 

 

Starting on the right hand side, I put in four nuts each, into the two slots. The hole should face toward the front of the base. You can see two of the “Not Holding Worth a D**m” nuts at the left hand side of the upper row.

 

 

I then used a dial caliper set at 20mm (0.787”) to space the back of the first row of nuts from the front (inside) of the rear cross piece. Then I spaced the nuts that same 20mm from each other (front of one nut to the front of the next one). The upper row has been spaced in the photo below (this shows the left hand side nuts).

 

 

After adjusting  they looked like this. Note: that I turned the rubber foot out to help support the back of the upright while I installed the bolts

 

 

I repeated this on the other side, and then spent a lot of time spouting bad words, until all the bolts were installed and finger tight. Thankfully the better holding nuts were placed in the center four positions, but to get the outer nuts in place, I had to, at times, slide the uprights forward and back, then use a screw driver to push an errant nut back under, until the holes lined up, and then install that screw. Eventually the task was completed!

 

Next comes spacing the back of the uprights 13mm (0.512") from the rear surface of the rear cross member. Now most videos I saw they just used a metric ruler to do this. Being a masochist and somewhat of a perfectionist. I used a machinist’s depth gauge! I hate myself sometimes, but I wanted as accurate a setup as possible.

 

 

You could also use a caliper to do this.

 

 

After more bad words, I managed to get the spacing within 0.001” of each other.

 

The next step is to insure that the X-Axis supports are square with the table. I used a machinist’s square, set on the table.

 

 

I used a light behind the square to check the alignment (no light shining through means the surfaces are in full contact), to check that the surfaces matched.

 

 

One side was fine, but on the other the bottom support lined up, but both runners on the top support stood about the same distance away from the square (the ends of those two were not properly lined up). I loosened the two screws holding the end of that bar, and adjusted it to line up correctly.

 

Once this was done I removed each of the 16 upright mounting bolts, one at a time, and applied blue thread locker (do not use the Red version! You will never get them apart again!) on them, to insure they don’t vibrate loose on me, in the future. I also did the same on the two X-Axis support bolts I loosened earlier. I was going to do this for all the factory assembled bolts, but the two I had to loosen were torqued down quite a bit, so I left well enough alone.

 

 

At this point I checked the clearances on each axis for the amount of mechanical clearance the design had, in relation to how the limit switches were mounted. The Y and Z axis seemed like they allowed the most reasonable clearance for maximum travel. The X-Axis switch was in my option, set way too far into what would otherwise be useful cutting area. After I had gotten everything setup, I looked into this further. See Part 4 for my solution to this X-Axis limit switch problem.

 

 

SainSmart supplies two different length screws to mount the limit switches to the brackets. The shorter screws are used for the Z-Axis switches.

 

 

I also installed the optional lower Z-Axis switch.

 

 

The next step is to install the controller board.

 

At this time, I went ahead and installed it per factory instructions, but I will not leave it there for long. Putting the board in range of a fair amount of future saw dust, and metal chips is not a great idea, and the fact it has a cooling fan, just insures that any wood dust floating around will be sucked in! There is a similar problem with the power supply and its fan.

 

In the next couple of weeks I’m going to build a full enclosure for the router, and will mount the control board and power supply on the outside of this enclosure.

 

I can also tell you from the short time I’ve been playing with it, that the little On/Off switch on the controller (upper left in the above photo) is a pain to operate with it mounted on the back of the unit.

 

I have designed the enclosure based on the one in the James Dean Designs YouTube video for the 3018 type router. Now that I have the actual 3020, I can see how well it would fit my enclosure design, and make any needed changes.

 

The next part will show the installation of the controller board, which will complete the assembly of the router body, and we start the demon octopus of wiring everything up!! (Hint, more bad words!)

[thibaultron]

Part 006

 

The next few pictures show the various connections on the Controller board.

 

The picture below shows the connectors at the top of the board. From left to right are: The Emergency Stop, The screw terminal connector for the power supply(L) and spindle motor power (R) (care must be taken that you get the polarities right! The positive (Red wire) connection is on the left and negative (Black wire) on the left, Connector for a SainSmart laser cutter head (not included), X- Axis servo motor, 2 Y-axis servo connections (you can use either for the servo on this unit, but the left hand one is recommended), and the Z-Axis servo motor. The second Y-Axis servo connector is for a future 4^th Axis add-on. If it is like other brands, this will be used for a rotating holder that allows you to engrave/carve the surface of a round object, (bottle, glass, round wood blank, etc.)

 

 

On the right hand side, Looking from the back of the router, is the USB connector for hooking the router to your computer.

 

 

Along the bottom of the controller, from left to right, 2 X-Axis limit Switch connectors (put the cable from the limit switch in the first slot, in all cases), 2Y-Axis, 2 Z-Axis (put the optional bottom Z-Axis cable in the second slot, if used), the connector for the Z-Probe, used to determine the location of the tip of the cutter, a 5volt connector (not used, as far as I know), and the connector for the cable to the standalone control box.

 

 

Here is another picture showing the whole area.

 

 

There are no connections on the left side of the controller other than the On/Off switch.

 

The instructions say to put the four “T” nuts used to mount the controller in the slots in the X-Axis supports, but there is an easier way. Install the screws in the holes in the controller, then screw on the “T” nuts. The nuts are what is called “hammer” nuts, because they resemble a hammer head. They are designed to slide in the slots then turn and lock into place vertically as the screw is tightened. So turn the nuts horizontally slip all four into the slots, then tighten them in place. Three of them worked, but I had to help one along with a screwdriver.

 

 

Here is a picture of the controller installed.

 

 

Next up is installing the Emergency Stop Switch. The instruction book shows this as being Factory Installed, but it does not come that way. The installation is simple, though.

 

The switch comes with the washer and nut screwed onto the body.

 

 

Note the direction the washer is on the switch, as it goes back on the same way (points toward the upright). Take them off and feed the switch and wire through the hole, with the button to the outside.

 

 

Then reinstall the washer and nut.

 

 

The next step is mounting the spindle motor. Slide it into the mount, and tighten the clamp screws. The motor should be placed so that about an equal amount of the case is above and below the mount. In the end, I chose to have the motor wires stick out on the left-hand side (unlike in the photo).

 

 

I installed the Y-Axis limit switch and attached the cable to it. Then I ran it down the lower inside slot on the right hand frame extrusion. I temporarily taped it in place.

 

 

 

Next was running the servo motor cables. These cables have two different size connections, the large connector attaches to the servo. All the cables are the same length.

 

 

This picture shows the servo, power supply, spindle motor, and E-Stop cables installed into the controller.

 

 

Here are the limit switch cables installed.

 

 

[thibaultron]

Part 007

 

I proceeded to wrap the various cables with the supplied spiral wrap. Then I had to figure out how to mount the plastic connector for the spindle motor wires.

 

 

The first method I tried I really liked, it was neat and simple.

 

 

Unfortunately, there is very little clearance between the servo motor and the cooling fan on the top of the spindle motor, as I found out when I raised the motor! There was just enough of a bulge in the cable tie to catch the fan as the spindle was raised.

 

So I went with this method. It is not as clean looking, but it works.

 

 

The upper cable tie holds the spindle motor connector in place, and the horizontal one holds the Z-Axis and servo motor cable in place on the other side of the assembly.

 

Where I had extra lengths of wire, I looped up the excess and ran it along the rest of the wire. Then I wrapped the spiral cable wrap around the whole thing.

 

 

For the Y-Axis limit switch wire, I discovered that the spiral cable wrap fits into the slots in the extruded side channels, with a secure fit! I secured each end of the length in the channel with cable ties, to prevent the stress at the corner bends from pulling it out.

 

 

 

I temporarily used tape to hold the loop of the switch cable down away from the linear slide bearing path. Later I will find some sort of commercial cable hold down for it.

 

 

Here is a picture of the cable tie supporting the limit switch and servo motor cable. This bundle is pointed up vertically, so that there is a loop of wire suspended over the machine, to make sure the cables do not rub as the spindle assembly goes back and forth along the X-Axis.

 

 

This is the other end of that bundle (right hand side). The spindle motor wires go out horizontally to the left, above the level of the top of the supports, loops up and over, then comes back down vertically into the screw connectors at the top of the controller board.

 

 

This shows the cable bundle (left in picture) for the Y-Axis Limit Switch, and the wires from the X-Axis switch and servo motor. This bundle is also held in place with tape for now. The cable you see running all over the place on the left, is for the E-Stop Switch. I did not bundle it with the other cables, as I will be moving it to the enclose I will be building next week. It taped it out of the way for now.

 

 

I taped the Y-Axis servo motor bundle out of the way.

 

 

A closer shot of the tape holding the cable bundle. I wrapped it all the way around the upright, as there was a bit of stress to hold it there,

 

 

The following pictures show the cable bundle for the Y-Axis limit switch, The X-Axis limit switch, the X-Axis servo wires, and the Y-Axis servo wires. I cable tied them to the mounting screws for the controller, with enough of a loop at the top to keep the servo wires off of the controller box. I later added a short pieces of cable wrap to cover the X-Axis servo wires shown laying against the upright, as well as the ones crossing the back of the controller box.

 

 

[Thistle17]

Ron this is a much improved unit over the 3018 Pro which I have. My one word of caution is the software they supply in their package. Unless they have in like worked on it there will be an uphill learning stage. I will be anxious to follow your "power up" reporting. I could not even run the test programs until I discovered that the Y axis direction needed to be reversed in the on board NVM. It was only after exploring the internet did I find what all the parameters were. One reversed the direction but there were others of the same ilk. Once found however the parameters are a bit obscure in definition so be very careful should you need to change any.

 

I don't know if you are planning on using their CAM program or something more elegant. If you haven't played with the INVENTABLES "CAM" like program you will see what I mean. Actually it helped me discover the NVM error in the Arduino control system.

 

I will be a follower of your travels and likely learn from your experience. Good luck!

 

Joe

[thibaultron]

Just getting into the software. I plans to use the UGS as the g-code sender, and I have a 1 year subscription the Carveco.

[thibaultron]

Part 008

 

With everything ready, I plugged the Standalone Control Box to the router controller and ran all the axis back and forth. The picture shows a piece of paper on the router table showing the directions the  + travel commands run the spindle and table. When homed to 0,0,0 the spindle is positioned all the way to the right, the table is all the way forward, and the spindle is all the way up. This positions the spindle at the far right, and at the back of the table. So any commands to move are all –X, -Y, and –Z from the home position.

 

 

One thing to note, if the system is run (except during the “Home” operation) to the point that one of the limit switches is activated the system stops and no further commands are accepted, even those to move away from that position. You have to manually move that axis away from the switch, using the knobs. You can use the knobs with the system on, no damage will occur from back driving the servos by hand. Moving the servo shaft by hand causes it to act like a generator, and some devices can be damaged if not correctly protected, this system is protected. Don’t, however, grab one of the knobs when the table or spindle are moving!

 

The manual says to have either the Offline Controller plugged in, or the USB cable plugged into the  router Controller box, but not both at the same time!

 

With the Offline Controller hooked up, this screen comes up when the powered is turned on.

 

 

Push the “OK/Spindle” button, and you will be taken to the manual control screen.

 

 

Pushing the “Exit/Step” button will change the distance the axis will move when one of the axis +/- buttons are pressed (lower right value). The default that first comes up is 0.1mm, then it rotates through 1mm, 5mm, and 10mm, then back to 0.1mm.

 

 

The value in the “sp:” box it the percentage of full speed the spindle rotation is set to. The default is 10%.

 

You can also step the spindle speed up from the default 10%, up to 100%, from the control box, but I forget the combination of buttons needed.

 

After testing the router with the offline controller, I unplugged it and plugged in the USB cable between it and the computer. I then installed the G-Code software provided by SainSmart that drives the machine. G-Code is the set of instructions created by the design software, that gives the direct instructions to the router control board (i.e. go right 10mm, then down 5mm, and lower the spindle 2mm, etc.).

 

I’ll detail installing the software in a later post, when I can get some screen shots of the process. I really wanted to play with the new toy, and didn’t want to take the time to properly record all the steps.

 

This software also has control “buttons” to run the servos back and forth, as well as manually “Home” the spindle, use the Z-Axis probe etc. I was able to control all the axis from the computer. Once again, activating one of the limit switches (except during “Home”) kills all control of the machine, until the offending axis is manually moved away from the switch.

 

The G-code software provided by SainSmart is alright, but I also installed the “Hobby Standard” “Universal G-Code Sender” program "UGS". It too has a control buttons panel. It has a detailed setup wizard that I have to work my way through, before I can use it though. This wizard provides a lot of customization of things like setting software limits for axis travel (which is needed without the second limit switches on the X and Y axis, and a general good idea, in any case. You can scale commanded travel distance, to what the actual distanced moved was (for example you commanded the spindle to move 200mm, but it actually moved 203mm), etc. Doing this will take a bit of effort, but is why this program is better than the one SainSmart provides.

 

I haven’t loaded the free Easel design program. You can’t just load the Free version of Easel , you have to install the trial version which after 30 days reverts to the free one. So, I wait until I’m ready to actually design something to install this or the CarveCo program. That will come soon, but not right now. I will be trying the sample carving files SainSmart provided, but need to buy some MDF stock to practice on.

 

As a side note, the tapped holes in the table, for attaching the clamps are 6mm threads.

 

I will be mapping the hole spacing, and hopefully designing a program for making a spoil board. A spoil board is basically a sacrificial board mounted to the table, so that any miss cuts, or designs that pierce the work piece will cut into the spoil board rather than the aluminum table surface. This would be easier if the holes were all equally spaced, but my initial measurements indicate that there is some misalignment to them. Today I bought some 6mm cap screws that may be more precise than the supplied flat head clamp screws.

 

When I installed one of the 20 degree bits, there was a fair gap between the tip and the table surface, so a spoil board will not seriously affect the cutting depth of the spindle.

[Thistle17]

Ron this appears to be a much improved version of "front end" capability. It also looks like your off to a much better start up than I had experienced. Npw the G Code Sender, UGS is that free ware?

Joe

[wefalck]

Apropos ER-collets: they are designed to hold diametres down to 0.5 mm below their nominal size, which is why they are made in 0.5 mm increments.

[thibaultron]

Yes, UGS is free. Search UGS software or UGS download.

[thibaultron]

Part 009 Installation of Universal G-Code Sender “UGS”

 

Before installing either of the G-Code programs, follow the directions in the start-up manual and install the SainSmart drivers from the USB Thumb drive, and find out which Com Port to use (plug in the machine using the USB cable first).  Record it.

 

The next two parts will be a detailed installation of UGS. Some of the steps will be familiar to most Windows Users, but I included them for any who may not have done them before.

 

UGS is a free Open Source software program, that is used to take a G-Code (a type of machine control software) file and send the steps to a CNC machine. The G-Code is created by a Design software program , like Easel, Carbide Create, CarveCo, The Professional Version of Fusion, etc. The free version of Fusion will not generate G-Code.

 

Using a web browser (these screens are from FireFox), search for USG software (searching for just USG will bring up several businesses, and at least one university). Yes, my search was just for USG in the screen shot.

 

 

For this shot I selected USG - Github.

 

 

Then I selected “Download”.

 

 

Then I selected “Windows”

 

 

Then “Save File” and “OK”

 

While the file was downloading, to monitor the progress, in my browser, I selected “Tools” and  then “Downloads”.

 

 

When the download was finished I opened the Downloads Folder in my User directory. The file is shown circled below.

 

 

The site’s directions say to extract the compressed .ZIP file from here. I use PeaZip, and I don’t know where the un-Zipped files ended up, but I couldn’t find them! So I created a folder labeled “UGS” on my Desktop and copied the file there.

 

Opening the folder I Right Clicked on it and selected PeaZip, then “Extract”.

 

 

PeaZip opens this window.

 

 

 

I selected “OK” and waited for the process to finish.

 

 

When it was finished this new directory had been created.

 

 

Opening the directory you will see this.

 

 

 

Open the “bin” folder.

 

 

Ugsplatform.exe (for a 32bit system), or ugsplatform64.exe are the programs that run UGS. You can either go through this and click on the appropriate file, to start the program each time, or create a shortcut icon on your desktop to run the program from.

 

To declutter my Desktop I copied the UGS directory to the 😄 drive, and then deleted it from the Desktop.

 

 

To create the Icon, Right Click on the Desktop and select “New” and then “Shortcut”.

 

 

This window will open.

 

 

Select “Browse”, and this window will open.

 

 

Select “This PC”, then “Local Disk C” and then select the “UGS” directory, then the “bin” directory.

 

Continued in Part 10.

[thibaultron]

Part 010

 

With the bin directory open select which of the two program .EXE files you will be using, then “OK”. This window will open.

 

 

Select “Next” and this window will be displayed.

 

 

You can leave it as shown and select “Finish”, but the name “ugsplatform64.exe” (in the example above), will be the name displayed under the icon. I typed in “UGS” instead.

 

 

Select “Finish”.

 

This is what the icon looks like on my Desktop.

 

 

 

I was mistaken in an earlier post. UGS does not have a “keypad” that allows you to move the various axis back and forth, like Grblcontrol does. It does allow you to “Home” the machine though, so you can make sure you are connected.

 

Turn on your machine.

 

When you start UGS, this window will be displayed while it is loading.

 

 

Once loaded this screen is shown.

 

The program was already installed, so you see it after I had set the Com Port.

 

The first time you run the program you will have to setup the Com Port. Select the “Port:” button and the software will search for available ports. Select the port you recorded earlier.

 

 

Next Select the “Machine” menu item, and then “Setup Wizard..”.

 

 

 

When the Wizard opens, check the port setting, and select “Connect”.

 

 

You should get this acknowledgement.

 

 

Select “Next”, and the Wizard will go to this step. I was unable to find any configuration files on the SainSmart thumb drive, so I selected “Next” to skip this step.

 

 

The next window checks that the Axis move in the correct directions. Follow the instructions. My machine behaved correctly.

 

 

After checking your machine, select “Next”, and you will go to this step.

 

 

As I was not ready to do the following steps yet, I selected “Cancel” and went back to the program. I selected the “Home Machine” button, and the router went through the Home routine correctly.

 

 

I stopped at this point, as I don’t have any scrap to test any of the files on right now, but at least I know the software talks to the router.

 

When you start the program after this, you have to open the “Machine” tab and select “Connect” to connect to the machine, before running anything.

 

Part 11 will be about the GRBL Candle program included with the SainSmart software.

[thibaultron]

As you can see in the last picture of Part 11, I was incorrect about UGS having Jog buttons! The "Jog Controller" button opens the Jog button window, unless of course, you've accidentally clicked the "X" in the Jog Controller window! In that case it disappears, and I haven't been able to figure out how to get it back! ***,,,****!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

jog

[Gregory]

58 minutes ago, thibaultron said:

I haven't been able to figure out how to get it back! ***,,,****!

 

 

Should be under the 'Window' tab.

[thibaultron]

Thanks!

[thibaultron]

Part 11

 

Ran into a problem yesterday. The Z-Axis mechanism was locking up during the "Homing" operation. It was mechanically locking before it contacted the upper limit switch. The stepper motor was buzzing loudly as it was still trying to turn the feedscrew. I couldn’t see any debris in the slot at the top back of the feedscrew nut. Then I noticed that the coupling nut looked like it was lower than it had been. The other coupling nuts sit in a depression in the frame that puts the set screw for tightening the servo end of the coupler partially below the frame surface.

 

Thinking that the nut for the Z-Axis was the same, I took the assembly apart. Nope! It turns out that the coupler hits the top of the seated feeds crew, before the nut gets that deep into the upper frame/motor mount! ###....####. While putting everything back together was not difficult, and the parts seem to slot nicely together, I hope that nothing is just slightly out of factory alignment.

 

After running the feedscrew, by hand, until the slide was mostly at the bottom (being careful to hold it off the limit switch), I Then slid the coupler back onto the servo shaft as far as it would go, and tightened the clamp setscrew. The slide now cycles correctly.

 

I also had removed the spindle motor during the disassembly, and I had noticed that the wires had sagged and were touching the frame, during cutting. So I turned the motor to put the wires from the motor to exiting from the right, as shown in the instructions. This seems to help.

 

I have been using an old piece of Particle Board (as opposed to MDF) for my trial cuts, and I have broken 2  20 degree “V” bits in short order. This is a very old chunk of material (at least 25 years old) and may be of different composition to modern stock. In any case I would not recommend using Particle Board on this machine with “V” bits. I’ve purchased both ¼” and ½” MDF boards, and will use these from now on.

 

I’ve also found that the “V” bits stick into the aluminum top surface of the Z-Probe when using it (deep enough that the probe will raise off the workpiece when the slide is lifted back up). This gives a false height, naturally, and mars the probe surface. It use the slip of paper method for setting the “V” bit height now. I have not used any of the other types of bits, and will report on them, when I do.

[EricWilliamMarshall]

I'm glad you were able to bypass/solve/etc. the numerous glitches. Quite the adventure!

[Thistle17]

I ran into a set of mechanical and software problems with my 3018 Pro. Not sure this isn't normal for everyone. For a seemingly well made, reasonablly priced unit it does make one wonder how much testing these products have had prior to the mnarketplace.

 

Nonetheless Ron your journey is packed with good information and should be helpful to those that follow. Thank you for posting.

Joe

[thibaultron]

Part 12

 

OK, the single X and Y-Axis limit switches are not enough! I have to contact SainSmart again about getting a set of matching limit switches and mounts. It turns out that the Software Limits are only effective, if you never change the “0” positions of the axis. You have to do this for most jobs, as you have to set the axis “0” to some position over whatever chunk of workpiece you want to carve. Once the “0” position is changed the soft limits go out the window, and the machine will happily go past the mechanical limits, as the total available travel is no longer “X”, it is now “X- however much you moved the origin.”

[Thistle17]

Another example of running a full sytem check of function before the product goes out the door.

You just solved why my system overode my DIY limit switches. Thank you Ron.

Joe

 

Edited December 4, 2021 by Thistle17

[thibaultron]

Thistle, your limit switches should have stopped the travel, before the mechanical limits were reached. My problem was only with the software limits. Any  G-code software problems should not effect the hardware limit switches! Run the table by hand and test that the switches, actually activate, before the mechanical limits are reached. Also make sure that you have at least a few mm of clearance after the switch activates, to allow the whole system to physically stop, when running full out, and for the fact that switches have a tolerance for activation. The limit switches that are supplied with the 3020, have about a + 0.008" tolerance.

[Gregory]

On 12/2/2021 at 11:03 PM, thibaultron said:

...if you never change the “0” positions of the axis. You have to do this for most jobs,

Haven't explored this with CNC, but with my laser , I have a set home position (effectively '0' ), then I am able to  just position my drawing in the software workspace so it aligns with laser '0' ..

 

Do you not have a similar option with your software?

Edited December 4, 2021 by Gregory

[thibaultron]

Easel CNC assumes the 0,0 point is at the bottom left corner (like regular Cartian Coordinates). So I always have to move the 0 when using Easel. I'm just starting with CarveCo, and haven't drawn anything in it yet.