Mini Rare Bear - CNC Fun-time.

Well, I've been posting updates to a few of the message boards but I figured it was time to "bring this project home". So here we go.

I've had my CNC for nearly a year and it seems that all I ever do is add things to it without ever making anything useful. I added Logitech gamepad controls, a piece of steel pipe for zero-ing the X and Y axis perfectly, a automatic Z zero tool, many mounting points for fixturing and accurately flipping/milling parts. I finally said, "Enough! It's time to make something".

One of my favorite hobbies that I enjoyed up until 8 years ago was remote controlled (R/C) airplanes. Something significant in my life occured at that time and I decided to put things on hold for a little while. It was the birth of my twin daughters. Well, they're 8 years old now and it's now 'Daddy Time'. Here is is.

I used to love pylon racing. I was really good at it too. Since I stopped flying, I've always tried to catch the air racing out in Reno on the web or TV whenever I can. Out of all those beautiful warbirds, the Rare Bear is my favorite. There are so many Mustangs, Sea Furies, etc. But only one 'Bear that is worth watching. This is it.

With that, I decided to return to the hobby a few months ago and recently, I decided to try creating a semi-scale replica of this amazing plane. I started with some 3 views of the older version of Rare Bear and using MOI and Rhino 3d (CAD) I whipped up the following designs. The next steps are to generate the toolpaths and load some foam!

I've got a lot more pictures to show, so stay tuned.

Programming the Logitech Gamepad

A lot of folks have been emailing me about how to use Keygrabber to program the Logitech USB Gamepad for use in Mach3. Rather than waste your time and, to a lesser extent, mine, I am providing the links to the site I used to figure it out. It's really quite simple but Daniel Kemp at Hossmachine.info has a neat article and wired two USB devices up in a slick enclosure with a bunch of other stuff. It's the first article on the page, "Control Panel". At the bottom of his article and pictures are 3 screen shots and a video showing you how it's done. Enjoy!

Jogging the HS-1 with a Logitech Gamepad

I had been hearing about a lot of folks using an X-box 360 controller to jog their CNC machines. About the cheapest price I could find on an X-box controller at Wal-Mart was around $20.00. I happened to have a Logitech Dual Action USB Gamepad (that I got on Ebay a few months ago) lying around and decided to give it a try.

Using 'Keygrabber' supplied with my installation of Mach3, I was able to get this little controller up and running in about 15 minutes. It required installing the drivers from the Logitech site and then simply running Keygrabber and configuring a few keys. (More on how to configure Keygrabber later). In a nutshell, I mapped the left joystick to the X and Y axis. The right joystick (up and down) is mapped to the Z axis. A video is embeded below showing me jogging the spindle around with the gamepad. Video is a little jumpy but that is what happens when you have an 8 year old 'camera person'. Thanks Abby!

What I like best about this method is that is offers exponential control over all three axis. I have Mach3 configured for 300 inches/minute and, as you can see, I can make very minute adjustments or rapidly move the spindle to another area just by moving the sticks.

There are plenty of buttons on this gamepad you can configure for various things. You can adjust the feed rate and jog rate with two buttons. You can also add cycle start, feed hold, rewind program, load G-code, etc. to the buttons. I think this thing offers a whole lot of flexibility and precise control for less than $10.00.

Get the $10.00 gamepad here.

Here is the demonstration.

My CNC Router

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The 'Pride and Joy' of my shop was added this past Christmas. I have been having so much fun learning to use it. You really need to be a programmer/engineer to operate one of these things. I control it with a P4 2.4 Ghz desktop and Logitech Dual Action controller. Basically, a PC game pad with dual sticks. I use it for starting/stopping jobs, feedhold, and jogging the spindle into position. The thing I like most is the 'exponential control' I have with the sticks. Move the stick a little and the machine jogs slowly. Cram the stick to the left and it moves at full speed. This allows for very nice control of my machine.

Having spent the past 3 or 4 months learning to use it, I'm now planning my first real project. A set of gears to be incorporated into a coffee table I'm currently sketching up. The gears will be used to slide out a tray when a door is raised on the top of the table. I still have a few details to work out but I plan to start cutting some prototypes in the next week or so. Stay tuned.

Below is a picture of the little beauty and a video of her doing her thing. Yes, I've named her but I'll reveal that in another post!

My Garage Workshop

Welcome to The Workshop Garage. I started this blog for all of you who have to share space with the family car. This particular space is 'sometimes' shared with a 2006 Black Ford Escape. During the bad weather, wheels on most everything, allow me to quickly make room for the 'overnight guest'.

I finished a major renovation of the shop last spring which included insulation, drywall, paint, lights, and a 100amp subpanel. Each row of outlets have their own circuits, as well as the lights and overhead outlets. Since the renovation I've added a couple of 240v circuits to run the larger compressor and other things.

Feel free to drop me a line or leave a comment anytime!

Here are some pictures of the shop right after the overhaul. Since then, I've added several more things to it. It doesn't look as clean now.