The Bud Toaster - (currently: Model 14, version 3)

[Hippie Dickie]

so this was my February 2020:

Just one cube, but at least that! It has the newest factory assembled pcb and it works just as expected and is trivial to program (or reprogram) the PIC because of the new 5 pin connector holes in the pcb.

Yeah, oh man! I thought I would have the 20 new boards installed in 20 new cherry cubes and really start getting serious about this vaporizer. At least that’s what I thought on January 29 when the 20 boards were delivered.

And February is my magic month – I have done some of my bestest work in a February. So I was ready.

Then, i collided with reality, and instead spent February studying biochemistry as related to coronary issues. Learning about cholesterol and triglycerides like i only hear on YouTube (there are a lot of cardiologists on YT) (and engineers, too - i tend to trust the engineers) and never from the doctor in front of me. And studying nutrition as the proven means to set the body machine operating at peak performance (given the chronological age). Why don't the medical establishment know this stuff??? Free medical care for all is not the right goal when it is so fucked up. Whatever.

But what this post is really about is, i have taken my first step into maker space. Ordered a CNC 3040 3-axis router to see if i can automate the milling of the cube: top, bottom, front and back faces. I am giddy with anticipation about how precise the milling can be with such a machine.

Making this one cube convinced me, like trying to solder the pcb, that this project can not happen without some automation.

So ...​

​

Let the adventure begin and welcome to the next level … ​

​

 

[Creeper]

As I was reading your post this popped into my head...

 

[virtualpurple]

@Hippie Dickie hope things are improving for you related to your coronary issues.

I tend to trust the cardiologists I talk to, but then in my previous work we tended to see them often in short bursts when patients had STEMIs and non-STEMIs. but then, maybe if I had a background similar to engineering I would trust the engineers?

sometimes the doc in front of you may also not convey appropriately. I think sometimes they (the medical community, not doctors un particular) focus on making information that is digestible at the 8th grade level, as that’s what is what we’re taught to explain things at. I think it doesn’t necessarily do appropriate service to those that are capable of understanding the information at a higher level.

you don’t strike me as the type that needs your information broken down into simpler terms.

 

[Hippie Dickie]

@virtualpurple - thank-you for the good wishes and comments. actually, it isn't me (yet) but my spouse. Her trying to track down several ongoing issues resulted in a coronary artery calcium scan (CT, no contrast). hers is 895, mine is 10. here is a plug for "The Widowmaker" on YouTube or Netflix.

Not one doctor in a dozen years said to her to "STOP EATING SUGAR IT IS KILLING YOU". Now she has gotten the message. She is following me on my low carb, healthy fat, whole food, Mediterranean-ish (no pasta!) life style. no ultra-processed food. She is totally asymptomatic, probably due to lifelong moderate cardio exercise, and the treadmill stress test was normal. So it's been 30 days on the new regime, and i suspect after 60 days her lipid panel will be amazing.

i watch a lot of YouTube medical and nutrition. Read a lot of WebPageToday (they think i'm a doctor). and i get lost in Wikipedia for hours at a time.

So, the first words out of the cardiologist's mouth? "Putting you on a statin!" even though statins accelerate calcium deposition, and LDL carrying sufficient mK4 and mK7 will remove the calcium and plaque. Or so they say. the whole lipid hypothesis is flawed, imho. the crappy food in this country is driving health care costs to an unsustainable level - that is, there isn't enough wealth in the people's pocket to satisfy the monster. fix the food and the health will improve. plus aerobic exercise.

i watched part of a bypass surgery - i have great respect and appreciation for anyone who can do that. i don't challenge them - i am not fluid enough in the vocabulary to be articulate enough to make a point, but i do understand what i am being told. and it often pisses me off. i'm kind of opinionated. i see to much response to a metric, not a person.

so, according to the NIH MESA artery age calculator, my 72 year old arteries are 56 years old. what a meaningless parameter. like the LDL itself. whatever, i will rescan in a year and see if i can drive my CAC score down to zero.

if i live that long.

so the new CNC router will be a nice diversion. looking for software now.

 

[virtualpurple]

@Hippie Dickie certainly I hope the same for your other half!

I am with you in many ways. Statins are pushed where emphasis should be greater (far greater) on diet and exercise. However, with regard to the general public, people are far more willing to be compliant with taking a pill.

Unfortunately that leads too often to providers proposing the pills first instead of placing the emphasis on nutrition and lifestyle. This does no service to someone such as your wife who it seems will tackle it head-on.

 

[Summer]

@Hippie Dickie, I can't believe this time has finally arrived. As a new member, I started following this thread in 2018 (& the thread started in 2009 ), I was wondering if you were ever gonna be satisfied with the next (& the next ... & the next .... etc. ) prototype. And I'm ecstatic that you reached a place where you are pleased with the result. I am very happy for you. And it looks great to-boot! How about a vid. of it in action?

 

[Hippie Dickie]

How about a vid. of it in action?

there is a YouTube link in my signature:
A session on YouTube

it is from 2012 but the fundamentals are the same.

 

[Hippie Dickie]

okay, a little further into the new adventure ...

i ordered the CNC3040Z-DQ on 3/5 and got it about a week later … and i had been wondering why the Alibaba listing has "DIY" as part of the description. well. the reason is that there is virtually no instructions. do it your own damn self, indeed.

okay, so by 3/23 i had the necessary USB to Parallel port adapter and software to drive the CNC from my Surface 3. Now, i must say, the Surface 3 makes a sweet controller - touch screen control of a cnc router is like having a professional rig. could make it voice control. maybe after this feasibility study is complete.

it took until 4/2 before it dawned on me that the configuration settings for motion control were really wrong, which is why the tool path was not what i thought it should be.

then the magic happened. i now have a professional-ish cnc router with one ten-thousandths of an inch accuracy (i.e. step size).

so, now i am deep into the GCODE. for software i went with the GWizard Editor, which has a conversational gcode generator - for hole, slot, pocket, boss, and tap. the output is pretty primitive and needs a lot of clean-up editing, but i am learning enough to start writing my own gcode. i now have gcode for the four faces of the cube.

The face milling operations take a minute to 3 minutes each face - hell, i can't even find my ruler and scribe in that short amount of time, and my accuracy is no where near 1/1o,000 of an inch. the cnc opening for the DEANS plug is poetic. i need to take some pictures.

using the cnc is a bit like playing 3d chess. i have snapped 3 bits already by trying to drive the spindle through things it can't go through. kind of amazing how strong the stepper motors are to shear off a 1/8" diameter carbide bit. i am developing some protocols to try to manage my carelessness. (also, i always wear safety goggles!)

also got to try my new brake-shear-roller tool - this will make forming the several 0.012" stainless steel and 1/32" copper pieces so much easier and with better precision.

so now the task is to make the next 19 cubes. thinking longer term … i could easily place 35 cubes on the platform and have them all milled in about 6 hours. it would not take long to do 1,000 cubes at that rate. hmmmm.

 

[lazylathe]

@Hippie Dickie

Loving the update on the cube's progress as well as your newly acquired tooling!
Sounds awesome! Can you share some pics of your new toys in action?

Thinking how far you have come with this project is mind blowing!

Just saw your updated your sig, or I have been blind... Going to watch the sesh now!

EDIT:
Awesome video, seen it, watched it again, blown away!
One question:
When you stir the vial, do any small particles fall through the holes or slits?
Easy to clean out the oven?

 

[Hippie Dickie]

do any small particles fall through the holes or slits?
Easy to clean out the oven?

no, the small bits don't fall through the bottom, but some do get sucked into the draw tube, and stick to the inside of the tube. some vapor condensation happens (which is what the bits stick to). a single full-size paper towel is rolled up and used to swab out the draw tube after a session, when still warm, and the tube is rendered spotless clean.

the oven is about 1-1/2 inch deep, so a q-tip can easily reach inside, but really, i never clean the oven tube - just doesn't need it. maybe if i used concentrates in the vial some might leak through into the oven. but i have a different tube for concentrates without holes in the bottom, which kind of works, but i don't get enough 'trates to work that out fully.

i'm an organic flower kind of guy - i feel more intimately connected to the herb that way - i love that it is so absolutely pure coming from this vape.

 

[Summer]

(also, i always wear safety goggles!)

i'm an organic flower kind of guy - i feel more intimately connected to the herb that way - i love that it is so absolutely pure coming from this vape.

 

[GerVn_Vap0rist]

That looks very interesting ! Will follow that for sure

 

[Hippie Dickie]

very productive day with the 3040Z-DQ cnc router:

and i didn't snap off any bits!!! the area the bit can reach is just under 12" x 16" (thus the 3040 designation - for mm).

there is a controller:

which uses the LPT port of the pc as the communication channel:

this particular LPT adapter connects to a USB port and software different from, but functionally similar to, MACH3. i blathered on about this a couple of posts above.

so, today i finally ran the latest GCODE that milled four faces of the cube exactly as desired.

Top has 3 holes. the two small ones are 1/8", drilled with a 2mm bit. the holes are just snug when inserting the LED lightpipe - a 1/8" diameter plastic rod, shown inserted in the right hole:

the front has the BBQ thermometer, which is just enough larger than 1-1/4" diameter that it took a lot of handwork - scraping and sanding - to get it to fit, which invariably caused an out of round hole. not anymore. the BBQ just snaps into place:

and of course, perfectly centered.

the bottom is so sweet - and it makes hollowing out the inside a simpler process - just a 1-1/2" boring bit for 1-3/4" deep, then a 1-1/4" boring bit for 1/8". then, the cnc enlarges the 1-1/2" opening to 1-3/4" for 5/16" deep:

the pcb just drops in … the opening is actually 1.76" (the precision of this new toy just blows my mind).

but the best part, the pièce de résistance, is the back face, where the DEANS plug opening is located:

i could NEVER get such a fine fit doing it by hand. i'm in love.

now i need to create GCODE to mill out the inside of the bottom cover to fit over the components on the PCB, and scribe the outside of the cover with a "+5" and "-4 " next to their respective buttons … plus "START", "RESET", "SAVE", "T1 <-> T2" to identify other button functions.

so, one cube done, 999 more to do.

 

[lazylathe]

So pretty!!!
So much rapid development in such a short time!! Loving your use of new technology and how it has drastically helped you already!
Amazing!
Still yearning to own one of these bad boys!!

 

[Hippie Dickie]

mastering the machine … working on the gcode ...

one milling task that always took a long ass time was engraving the bottom cover to fit over the pcb - that is, remove from 1/16" to 3/16" over the components that stick up on the pcb:

so i programmed a gcode generator for making rectangular pockets (using VBA in Excel) and i got it perfected, if not optimized, today. fully half the effort with trying to achieve production is making specialized rigs to hold stuff so it can be processed. so i'm finally working that out as well.

so when the cover on the left is placed over the pcb on the right:

(damn, skewed to the left in the shot, but actually fits perfectly.

now that i can make the cubes and covers, time to finish the build-out of some pcbs. First, the DEANS plug. Got the first 10 pcbs done:

now, just 2 heater coil mounting clips and k-type thermocouple per pcb and it can go into a cube. my new brake-shear-roller sheet metal tool should make this so much easier to do.

next: i'm going to see if i can figure out the gcode for engraving text on the outside of the cover, next to the buttons.

 

[lazylathe]

@Hippie Dickie

Amazing!!
Just moving and a grooving along my man!!

If I look closely, I can see my name on one of them!!!!

 

[Hippie Dickie]

well, we'll see about that ... anyway, i greatly appreciate your support and encouragement.

so, a little bit of progress today on the text engraving task:

the text is 1/8" tall, engraving is 0.04" deep.

i'll see if i can finish the text gcode tonight

 

[Hippie Dickie]

made a little progress today, working out all the gcode for the text and positioning and excel spreadsheet to regenerate the gcode when position changes. still a work in progress:

i think i need to try playing with the feeds (velocity of cutter over the material) and speeds (rpm of cutter).

i was thinking i want the text to be cut as a nice deep channel … but what i really want is readability with some durability. so maybe burning in the text is a better approach. and the positioning needs to be tweaked quite a bit. i still have a lot to learn about cnc router techniques.

so, try again tomorrow. plus! i snapped the tip off my first engraving bit. def speeds and feeds issue.

T0 means reset to factory setting - i think i will change this to UNDO

RUN means start the 7.5 minute session
+5 CLICK -4 adjusts the session temperature​

T1-T2 ​

means switch between temperature 1 (the session start temp) and temperature 2 (for example, a boost temperature)​

SET saves the current temperature as either T1 or T2​

the buttons have different function depending on "before session", "during session" and "after session".

should be able to finish the first of 10 cubes tomorrow.

Modnote: Edited for font color adjustment

 

[Hippie Dickie]

finally feeling comfortable with the cnc router - but still figuring out how to best hold the cube down to the work surface - damaged 2 cubes when the spindle shifted them sideways and gouged the surface.

milling the cover disk is working fine:

outside of the disk:

new wording, better positioning, countersinking the screw holes, AND the five holes at the top are lined up to allow a 5-pin probe to contact the pcb to reprogram/readout the PIC processor - making it easy to fine-tune the PID algorithm.

inside of disk:

this shows the engraving to fit over the components on the pcb. i guess i mentioned this before - well, this is the latest gcode version and except for optimizing the tool path for faster milling is adequate to make some vapes.

which brings me to my next issue … yet another woodworking challenge … the cnc milling can only happen if the raw material is proper - that is, the cube better be 2-1/16" in all dimensions and the cover disk should be .25" plus a smidge. may have to get some tools until i can outsource this to a local woodworker … if that is even possible.

the quest continues

 

[lazylathe]

@Hippie Dickie

Now that you have a CNC mill, you could mill the blocks to the correct size as well as mill the covers yourself.

I am loving the progress now!!
Fantastic!!

 

[Hippie Dickie]

you could mill the blocks to the correct size

theoretically, yes, however, it would take a long time. kind of like 3d printing, which takes a long time to create things. what i am looking for is a planer/joiner to get the speed necessary to do a thousand in a reasonable amount of time. and a belt sander to take off the final 1/32" at 400 or 600 grit.

 

[lazylathe]

theoretically, yes, however, it would take a long time. kind of like 3d printing, which takes a long time to create things. what i am looking for is a planer/joiner to get the speed necessary to do a thousand in a reasonable amount of time. and a belt sander to take off the final 1/32" at 400 or 600 grit.

Have you looked into a larger face mill cutter to reduce the time?

 

[Hippie Dickie]

i only have a 300 watt spindle - just not suitable. the joiner is infinitely faster. thank-you for the suggestion.

 

[Hippie Dickie]

okay … so i am finally, this week, getting back into gcode programming for the cnc router after about a month diversion into leather crafting - but that's a subsequent post.

the cnc router is just amazing, to say the least - although i am still trying to perfect the hold down jigs for securing the cube and cover so the tool doesn't move them. pretty quickly i got 6 cubes done - fully functioning and tested …

here is a snap of 5 of the 6 - i'm currently using the one on the right, which is why it is somewhat darker in tone … i'll get a full group shot when the 20 cubes are done:

… at which point i was out of k-type thermocouples and BBQ thermometers.

so, back to china to find the BBQ thermometer supplier - it has been several years since the last order. ordered 100 this time, with a customization, or so i thought - but that's yet another subsequent post.

one thing that has been bugging me is that the cube cherry is from one supplier and the round cover is from a cherry dowel from another supplier … and the current dowel is slightly smaller diameter than the opening in the cube, due to the +/- 0.01" tolerance of the pcb manufacturer. i totally didn't consider that when i ordered this batch of pcbs, or i would have made the pcb slightly smaller. but the grain still doesn't match even if the fit is better.

so instead, i cut a 5/16" slice for the cover after cutting the 2-1/8" cube - both cut from the same stick of 2-1/8"x2-1/8" cherry wood. and, with custom gcode tweeking to accommodate the actual sizes, and a gcode routine to round the square slice, i end up with this:

a great fit and the grain matches and one less supplier.

and i now have all the bits and pieces to make the rest of the 20 cubes. so now it's a test to see how long it will take. i think i can, i think i can ...

 

[lazylathe]

@Hippie Dickie

WOW! What an awesome update!!!

I have been here over 10 years and this is the first group of CUBES ever presented to humanity!!!
I still see my name on the second from right one for some reason...