Everyone else's sentiments seem to be inline with mine 
... the top would look nice, but then again, the practicality of it, is then you have an engraved logo on a horizontal surface (to collect dust and stuff) that is likely most often covered.
So leaning towards the sides right now ...
... the top would look nice, but then again, the practicality of it, is then you have an engraved logo on a horizontal surface (to collect dust and stuff) that is likely most often covered.So leaning towards the sides right now ...
Here's a picture of the 2nd box; the joinery wasn't perfect on the last one, and this bothered me A LOT. So I built a 2nd copy fixing my mistakes from the 1st (and I bought a better 1/2" router bit for the box joints so that I get a nice clean cut)
If my dust collection for my CNC router comes at some point, and some 1/16" bits for the slot, I'll be all set and will be able to do this much quicker (probably still looking at an hour a box by the time you account for sanding and everything ... + at least another hour for assembly, and similarly the face/back plates will go faster once I have dust control on the CNC ... so I don't have to stand over it vacuum in hand ... ...)
FYI--it's all black knobs from now on ... just my stock of them is arriving tomorrow (prefer the look of the black over the chrome but chrome was all I had left for the picture
...)
If my dust collection for my CNC router comes at some point, and some 1/16" bits for the slot, I'll be all set and will be able to do this much quicker (probably still looking at an hour a box by the time you account for sanding and everything ... + at least another hour for assembly, and similarly the face/back plates will go faster once I have dust control on the CNC ... so I don't have to stand over it vacuum in hand ...
...)
FYI--it's all black knobs from now on ... just my stock of them is arriving tomorrow (prefer the look of the black over the chrome but chrome was all I had left for the picture
...)
So the 2nd unit is now built, and all put together and running as my primary unit, took some time, and made me realize, that the wiring and installation of the electronics is likely more time consuming then the woodworking ...
I'm going to be starting work on the first 2 units to go out to customers, so if someone wants one, let me know. These will likely be on a pre-order type basis, as they are a lot of work, so I'm not going to be building them if no one wants them
Here's the final pictures of the FC E-Nail by J-Cat w/ wood enclosure:
...I'm going to be starting work on the first 2 units to go out to customers, so if someone wants one, let me know. These will likely be on a pre-order type basis, as they are a lot of work, so I'm not going to be building them if no one wants them
Here's the final pictures of the FC E-Nail by J-Cat w/ wood enclosure:
Started working on 2 wood enclosures for the 1st 2 units to go to the public.
Serial #'s 0001 and 0002 (I'll engrave the serial # into the bottom)
Also received the dust collection attachment for my CNC router so that helps (as I can walk away now well it is engraving and milling things and do other stuff while that's in process)
All this playing around with the CNC router though, now has me wanting something bigger ... oh well ... these things happen! ... this is how obsessions start for me ... now looking at upgrading to this unit for my CNC machine:
MillRight CNC Carve King 2 Kit Bundle | Affordable CNC Machines
Serial #'s 0001 and 0002
(I'll engrave the serial # into the bottom)Also received the dust collection attachment for my CNC router so that helps (as I can walk away now well it is engraving and milling things and do other stuff while that's in process)
All this playing around with the CNC router though, now has me wanting something bigger
... oh well ... these things happen! ... this is how obsessions start for me ... now looking at upgrading to this unit for my CNC machine:MillRight CNC Carve King 2 Kit Bundle | Affordable CNC Machines
i know exactly what you mean. mine is already 12"x16"x2.5" - think i will just duplicate this one for more production volume. been playing with mine for the last 3 days. still amazed at the precision for a cheap machine ($600 + USB to LPT controller)
Which machine is it?
found it on AliExpress, but was located in USA, free shipping from CA - i didn't want to wait for a slow boat from Chin-ah. the link i have doesn't bring up the product page anymore - here is the store page:
RATTMMOTOR CNC- POWACE Store - Amazing prodcuts with exclusive discounts on AliExpress
looks like it has a 500w spindle now - the 300w is perfectly adequate for cherry wood. some assembly required and pretty minimal instructions.
the controller is from CNC4PC.com ($9.50 shipping from FL) - works perfectly with the 3040Z, once i set the calibration correctly:
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Shipping to Canada on all these is brutal though (~$300-$500 CAD) ... so total cost of one of these is definitely >$1,000 CAD.
I'm also looking at the Sainsmart 4030XL which has the more ridgid structure, 300W spindle, etc. Cost is $1,300 CAD with everything I need (GRBL controller which I like ... I'm all setup now with a raspberry Pi that runs UGS Platform on Ubuntu Server to talk to GRBL ... so I can run everything from my phone ... works great!)
sucks about the shipping charge - that's why i looked for USA stock. i looked at a smaller Sainsmart but i need a 70mm Z clearance for my 2" cube with rough finish. and i have a spare Surface 3 which works well - touch screen control like commercial rigs.
finished my Excel VB GCODE generator over the weekend - can do boss, pocket - rectangular and circular, hole - rectangular and circular, tap - for hole placement. i was avoiding this but turned out to be necessary for nudging features around.
finished my Excel VB GCODE generator over the weekend - can do boss, pocket - rectangular and circular, hole - rectangular and circular, tap - for hole placement. i was avoiding this but turned out to be necessary for nudging features around.
I have the smaller sainsmart (3018), and I just wish it was more ridgid ... and had a little more power (so might as well add a little more space while I'm at it).
The 4030 has 110mm Z-axis. And at $1,300 CAD all in (ie. ~$1,000 USD) ... +tax, that's pretty good. I can't find anything really from China with a decent frame for under $950 or so.
The 4030 has 110mm Z-axis. And at $1,300 CAD all in (ie. ~$1,000 USD) ... +tax, that's pretty good. I can't find anything really from China with a decent frame for under $950 or so.
Here's the next 2 enclosures getting ready to go:
Will mill all the slots and the logo, and the face/rear plates if I have time, tonight and tomorrow. Then all that will be left is electronics and sand/finish. Serial #'s 0001 and 0002 should be for sale next week.
Will mill all the slots and the logo, and the face/rear plates if I have time, tonight and tomorrow. Then all that will be left is electronics and sand/finish. Serial #'s 0001 and 0002 should be for sale next week.
In the process of routing out the face/rear plates on the CNC.
The cases are done apart from that:
And a short video snip of routing the logo (my hacked together vacuum attachment is working well ) ... using 1/2" silicone hose on the end of a gardena hose end using a 12 gauge wire taped along it to make it "formable" to put it in place.
The cases are done apart from that:
And a short video snip of routing the logo (my hacked together vacuum attachment is working well
) ... using 1/2" silicone hose on the end of a gardena hose end using a 12 gauge wire taped along it to make it "formable" to put it in place.
SixStringToker
Naked member
They are just "slightly" bigger than a standard controller.
~3/4" wider than the standard one I have there (in the aluminum enclosure ... add an extra 5/8" in width for the wood enclosure
~ the same height (mine is slightly ... as in a couple mm, shorter); of course add 5/8" in height for wood.
~ the same depth (mine is slightly less deep); and again add 5/8" for wood
~3/4" wider than the standard one I have there (in the aluminum enclosure ... add an extra 5/8" in width for the wood enclosure
~ the same height (mine is slightly ... as in a couple mm, shorter); of course add 5/8" in height for wood.
~ the same depth (mine is slightly less deep); and again add 5/8" for wood
Finished the cases on Friday ... working on electronics, finish, and assembly now:
Edit: Electronics assembly done on the 1st unit, and just powered it on, and all is good
Hopefully have time to finish the other unit and get a finish on the cases in the next couple days.
(I assemble them on a scrap base ... and transfer everything to the final case once tested and the case has a finish on it.)
Edit: Electronics assembly done on the 1st unit, and just powered it on, and all is good
Hopefully have time to finish the other unit and get a finish on the cases in the next couple days.
(I assemble them on a scrap base ... and transfer everything to the final case once tested and the case has a finish on it.)
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- Enclosures waiting for final finish coat to dry
- all electronics are assembled and just need to be mounted in enclosures
- Need to add feet to bottom of enclosures
- then serial #'s 0001 and 0002 will be ready for sale.
It's been a long time coming for a project started in 2018! (not including other iterations of PID controllers etc. that I prototyped leading up to this)
- all electronics are assembled and just need to be mounted in enclosures
- Need to add feet to bottom of enclosures
- then serial #'s 0001 and 0002 will be ready for sale.
It's been a long time coming for a project started in 2018! (not including other iterations of PID controllers etc. that I prototyped leading up to this)
So the 1st 2 units, SN0001 and SN0002, are now up for sale.
They've been stress tested and are ready to go and 100% functional. This 1st batch is just these 2 units, and the next batch will be 3 or 4 more.
Hoping everyone loves these as much as I do!
Each unit has 8-16 hours of labour into them (being the 1st two units apart from my own 2); I've documented the build a lot more clearly including all wire lengths and connection diagrams, so hopefully, including the building of the enclosures, I can get the labour down to 4 hours per unit or so (hopefully less as they aren't really profitable if it takes much more than 2 hours! )
Cost per unit is $450 USD. (likely to go up unless I can get the build times down significantly)
They've been stress tested and are ready to go and 100% functional. This 1st batch is just these 2 units, and the next batch will be 3 or 4 more.
Hoping everyone loves these as much as I do!
Each unit has 8-16 hours of labour into them (being the 1st two units apart from my own 2); I've documented the build a lot more clearly including all wire lengths and connection diagrams, so hopefully, including the building of the enclosures, I can get the labour down to 4 hours per unit or so (hopefully less as they aren't really profitable if it takes much more than 2 hours!
)Cost per unit is $450 USD. (likely to go up unless I can get the build times down significantly)
speakrsrfun
Well-Known Member
Hey JCat, I'm a fellow Ontarian looking to build one of these units for myself. Any way we can talk via p.m. regarding difficulty levels, sourcing parts or whether you'll be offering a filled BOM for kits.
Cheers
Cheers
I hadn't considered doing a filled BOM for parts ... sourcing them as "one-offs" will be costly, due to the fact that you'll need to order from 6 or 7 different locations (ie. you are looking at $75-$100 in shipping costs alone likely). I would estimate, buying parts for a single unit will be about $300-$350 after shipping.
My cost is $200-$250 right now, since I am still ordering very low volumes (just enough with for instance the Omron's, where I ordered 3 in the last batch to build 3 units, and other things like the amplifier and button I ordered batches of 10--since the shipping costs are more then the component when ordering from China ... and the cost from North America is 10-20x as much!)
You are essentially looking at ordering from:
- Digikey
- BuyAPi
- RobotShop
- AliExpress
- Amazon
- Banggood
- ...
We can definitely talk through PM, send me a message. As far as difficulty levels, if you are good with a soldering iron, you should be ok. The other complicated piece is of course cutting out the face and rear plate if you don't have the right tooling (I bought a small CNC router "sort of" just for this purpose ... although now I think I'm going to buy a much bigger CNC router now that I got the taste for what a CNC machine can do for me!!!)
Just thought I'd pop in here and say both of the 1st 2 units are now sold. Thanks to @stickstones and @Copterstyle for being the first adopters
Next batch of 3 to 5 units I will be ordering the Omron controllers for in the coming week (I think that's all I'm missing apart from a couple things I get from within country, so can order/receive within a week).
If anyone wants one from the next batch, I will be taking reservations. If I receive enough interest I may up the 3-5 # by a little. I would estimate these to be ready in ~2 months dependent somewhat on shipping times.
Next batch of 3 to 5 units I will be ordering the Omron controllers for in the coming week (I think that's all I'm missing apart from a couple things I get from within country, so can order/receive within a week).
If anyone wants one from the next batch, I will be taking reservations. If I receive enough interest I may up the 3-5 # by a little. I would estimate these to be ready in ~2 months dependent somewhat on shipping times.
So the one last bug that was driving me nuts (and probably would have irritated everyone that bought it as well), is that the rotary encoder wasn't "perfect" ... it was the only piece that still had a "bug" that I couldn't fix. Essentially it would skip steps, which caused all sorts of issues. The problem was, that even writing a very simple program, it appeared that this was the case. And I had tried numerous rotary encoders.
It occurred to me at around 4:30 this morning, that maybe the whole issue wasn't the hardware, or OS, but rather the interface to the GPIO that the library I was using might be using. Or maybe a bug in there. Well upon closer inspection, this did seem to be a likely culprit. The onoff library used a filesystem based access, which would of course be slow, especially on these little IoT devices where I/O is a bottleneck. So I replaced the use of the onoff library with the pigpio library (which caused other issues which I won't get into the details of).
Now the rotary encoder works perfectly! Never misses a step! So very happy about this bug fix (I've revisited this one bug more times than I can count in the last few years, and worked out too many software solutions to count to make it "better"). End of the day, all I had to do was use a different library that uses memory based GPIO access, and voila! All problems solved
It occurred to me at around 4:30 this morning, that maybe the whole issue wasn't the hardware, or OS, but rather the interface to the GPIO that the library I was using might be using. Or maybe a bug in there. Well upon closer inspection, this did seem to be a likely culprit. The onoff library used a filesystem based access, which would of course be slow, especially on these little IoT devices where I/O is a bottleneck. So I replaced the use of the onoff library with the pigpio library (which caused other issues which I won't get into the details of).
Now the rotary encoder works perfectly! Never misses a step! So very happy about this bug fix (I've revisited this one bug more times than I can count in the last few years, and worked out too many software solutions to count to make it "better"). End of the day, all I had to do was use a different library that uses memory based GPIO access, and voila! All problems solved
SixStringToker
Naked member
Count me in for one of those reservations! 
First 2 units delivered and setup without issue
Thanks for your support @stickstones and @Copterstyle !
Work is beginning on the next 5 units, 2 reservations are left, and 3 are gone.
Thanks for your support @stickstones and @Copterstyle !
Work is beginning on the next 5 units, 2 reservations are left, and 3 are gone.