DESIGNS BY PHIL, LLC

I couldn't take pictures while I put the gantry on, here is what made it easy for me. I put it in place on the table, which makes it sit lower than it mounts obviously. but, if you just START one screw on either side in opposite corners, it will be level enough to line up the rest of the screws. just one or two turns on the first one so you are not twisting the screw with the gantry. Once these 2 screws are in place, you can add the rest. At this time, you may tighten all 16 screws into the bearing blocks. this will set the distance between the Y rails. DO NOT put the screws into the anti backlash nuts yet. you want the gantry to be able to roll front to back.

Demon ControllerTM Post Processors

Demon Shield
Manual V1.1 REV 5
(zip file)

Pictures of covers I designed

Pictures of my completed 500mm CNC4NEWBIE Newcarve

Pictures of my custom waste board

Next I prepare to wire. the X axis drag chain needs to be over about 5 inches on the 500mm to allow the carriage to go all the way to the right without binding. A trick to make pushing wires easy for the X axis drag chain is don't attach the end yet, only the beginning. this way the wires have a straight line to push through instead of around a curve. The Y axis drag chain I put fully in place because the cables have to continue on to the X axis drag chain. But you can remove the snap on covers of the drag chain near the curve to act as a pulling elbow to make it easy.

How To Connect a DPDT Switch FOR LASER/SPINDLE Controll

Next, slide the two longest 20mm x 40mm extrusions onto the right side Y rail assembly. just line up one T nut at a time and work it into the upper slot on the extrusions.

You need to change your dir port invert mask ($3 in GRBL settings)
put in your current $3 number, click the button next to the direction the axis DOES travel. it will tell you the number to change it to in order to make the axis travel the correct direction.

GRBL Settings

Next, slide the front 20mm x 40mm extrusion left and onto the left front Y rail end plate as you do. At this point, none of the T nuts should be tight. You want the assemblies (Y rails and gantry) to set the spacing for the extrusions. There can be gaps in the 20mm by 40mm extrusion base. the cast corner brackets are strong enough to span the gaps.

Here is the order which I tightened the corner brackets. Remember to square every extrusion along the way.

For the CNC4NEWBIE Newcarve, I set all axis at 8x micro stepping (S1 OFF, S2 ON, S3 OFF).

As you can see, I got five 20mm x 40mm extrusion pieces with my 500mm kit. Apparently, most come with only 4, but I will be milling aluminum and have a custom waste board so I wanted an extra support across the middle even on the 500mm.

Next I put the z axis carriage on. Then you can also put a square against the left face carriage and see if that's close. This is done on the cross extrusion beam (not pictured) if you have it, but since that could be off a little bit, your real test should be skim cutting a square pocket in a scrap piece of MDF. this will get you close though.

The Demon ControllerTM can be used with the X-carve post processor or any of these. There are 3 post processors that include M7 and M8 activation. They will deactivate at the end using the M9 command.

WATCH THIS VIDEO BEFORE USING FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!

VFD post processors

STEPS PER MM CALCULATOR

Use my calculator and the procedure in the video to calibrate your steps per mm. Doing this fine tunes your CNC machine's movements. Jog the spindle a short distance first to make sure you are close before sending it a longer distance. you do want to eventually do it as far as you can safely to get your travel as accurate as possible.

The homing/limit switches

First, I preload the 12 M5 T nuts and screws in the holes on the Y rail end plates. Don't tighten them all the way, just thread them on enough to not fall off.

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

slide the left rear end plate onto the top slot of the rear extrusion.

MACHINE BUILD AND DEMON CONTROLLER SETUP

The auxiliary connections

First, let me say that CNC4NEWBIE is a great CNC manufacturer that makes affordable and VERY heavy duty CNC machines for home and shop. Coupled with a Demon Controller TM f, it makes an unstoppable team that will not leave you high and dry. This page has pictures and videos showing how I assembled my machine, tricks I figured out to make it easier, and how to setup a Demon Controller TM with it.

With the gantry all the way forward against the 2 front Y rail end plates, tighten the front 6 M5 screws on the 20mm x 40mm extrusion after you check that the extrusion is centered. Only the front at this point.

For 3 amp motors, I set the Current at the 2.8 amp, 2.9a peak setting (S4 OFF, S5 OFF, S6 ON).

Setting up my Y axis rails

C:\ProgramData\Vectric\VCarve Pro\V10.0\My_PostP

Demon ControllerTM and the IOT relay

Place post processors in the following directory:

Current steps per mm

Distance sent (mm)

Distance traveled (mm)

new steps per mm is:

396.4144099

TB6600 Driver Settings

Looking at the base parts I got

Then, slide the gantry all the way BACK against the 2 rear Y rail end plates. Tighten the rear 6 M5 screws on the 20mm x 40mm extrusion after you check that the extrusion is centered. The left and right 20mm x 40mm extrusions can be put in place after the Y rail end plates are tightened. use a machine square to ensure the 20mm x 40mm extrusions are square to each other.

This is also a good time to see if the face of the X axis carriage is in tram. put a square against the face of it and the left or right Y rail. if it's not square, loosen the 16 screws attaching the gantry to the bearing blocks and rotate it square before tightening it up again.

Putting on the gantry

Here are the TB6600 driver and GRBL settings I am sending out the Demon Controllers with

How Homing Switches Work

Pictures of the wiring completed

$0=10 (step pulse, usec)
$1=255 (step idle delay, msec)
$2=0 (step port invert mask)
$3=0 (dir port invert mask) <-- WILL VARY BASED ON WIRING
$4=0 (step enable invert, bool)
$5=0 (limit pins invert, bool) <-- WIRES CONNECTED TO THE NORMALLY OPEN LIMIT SWITCH PIN
$6=0 (probe pin invert, bool)
$10=115 (status report mask) <-- GRBL 1.0c
$11=0.020 (junction deviation, mm)
$12=0.002 (arc tolerance, mm)
$13=0 (report inches, bool) <-- USE $13=1 TO SEE MACHINE AND WORK POSITION IN INCHES
$20=0 (soft limits, bool) <-- SETUP YOU PROPER MAX TRAVEL DISTANCE BEFORE TURNING ON
$21=0 (hard limits, bool) <-- DO NOT USE HARD LIMITS
$22=1 (homing cycle, bool) <-- YOU MAY WANT TO TURN THIS OFF AND TEST FOR CORRECT DIRECTION OF JOG FIRST
$23=3 (homing dir invert mask)
$24=25.000 (homing feed, mm/min)
$25=750.000 (homing seek, mm/min)
$26=250 (homing debounce, msec)
$27=1.500 (homing pull-off, mm) <-- A DISTINCE OVER 1 ENSURES DEPRESSING THE SWITCH FOR THE SECOND PRESS
$30=1. (Max. RPM)
$31=0. (Min. RPM)
$32=0 (Laaser Mode, bool)
$100=133.333 (x, step/mm)
$101=133.333 (y, step/mm)
$102=200.236 (z, step/mm)
$110=4000.000 (x max rate, mm/min)
$111=4000.000 (y max rate, mm/min)
$112=2000.000 (z max rate, mm/min)
$120=100.000 (x accel, mm/sec^2)
$121=100.000 (y accel, mm/sec^2)
$122=100.000 (z accel, mm/sec^2)
$130=VARIES (x max travel, mm) <-- 500mm = 400, 750mm = 650, 1000mm = 900, 1045 = 900, 4545 = 1344
$131=VARIES (y max travel, mm) <-- 500mm = 365, 750mm = 615, 1000mm = 865, 1045 = 1315, 4545 = 1315
$132=VARIES (z max travel, mm) <-- 6 INCH TRAVEL Z = 150, 7 INCH TRAVEL Z = 175, 8 INCH TRAVEL Z = 201

Now, slide the front extrusion further to the right. Only the front, not the rear. This allows your left Y axis assembly to be put on the rear extrusion first, then the front so you are not struggling to line up two sets of T nuts at once. It makes life easy.

Demon Post Processors (zip file)

Installing the drag chains

The motors to the drivers