Running a two axis lathe program without G-code?

[captrob75]

The hardware is all sorted already. What i’ve built works and was running with 6600 motor drivers and a 5 axis breakout board and Mach3. I think they were running on 24vdc. Torque was sufficient to drive the modules. The 2208 drivers and CNC shield for the Uno look to have plenty of capacity for this.

[captrob75]

@Paul_KD7HB

The key is the ratio of steps for one axis compared to the other. That way you can do, say, one step on one axes and three on the other.

The taper is 30° included, 15° per side. I think that works out to 1:3.75. It has to be close, but not perfect. I have a GO / NO GO gage I made.

[cedarlakeinstruments]

Correct. The main drawback to doing it the way I suggested is that if you want to change the gcode, you'll have to reprogram the arduino.

One other way of doing this is to get a DLC32 board. This is an ESP32 CNC system (about $50 when i got mine) with 3 axes that let's you load and run gcode from an SD card.

[captrob75]

I’m ok with changing parameters in the code if need be. I was able to get GRBL into Arduino IDE 1.8.9 today and got gSender loaded onto the computer. I also ordered an SD reader for the Arduino card if there’s a place to add it

[DaveX]

@captrob75

I created code with an AI code generator to get started. It looks like it’s giving me all straight line moves and one of my moves has to be a taper, moving two axes simultaneously.

// Include necessary libraries
#include <Stepper.h>

// Define constants for stepper motor pins
#define X_STEP_PIN 2
#define X_DIR_PIN 3
#define Z_STEP_PIN 4
#define Z_DIR_PIN 5

// Define constants for spindle motor relay pin
#define SPINDLE_PIN 6

// Define variables for stepper motor steps per revolution
const int X_STEPS_PER_REV = 200;
const int Z_STEPS_PER_REV = 200;

// Define variables for stepper motor speed and acceleration
const int X_SPEED = 100; // in steps per second
const int Z_SPEED = 100; // in steps per second
const int X_ACCEL = 100; // in steps per second squared
const int Z_ACCEL = 100; // in steps per second squared

// Define variables for button and button state
int buttonPin = 7;
int buttonState = 0;

// Create stepper motor objects
Stepper xStepper(X_STEPS_PER_REV, X_STEP_PIN, X_DIR_PIN);
Stepper zStepper(Z_STEPS_PER_REV, Z_STEP_PIN, Z_DIR_PIN);

void setup() {
// Set stepper motor speed and acceleration
xStepper.setSpeed(X_SPEED);
xStepper.setAcceleration(X_ACCEL);

AI steered you wrong. Stepper.h doesn't do acceleration or have a setAcceleration() method. It conned you into thinking it knew what it was doing.

@captrob75

To cut a taper, i’ll have to match how long it takes for the two motors to reach their positions at the end of the move.

If you are aiming to do coordinated motion for a taper with acceleration, you have to match the acceleration curves as well, which is more difficult. And without which, you could get get a shaft with curvy ends and a straight-line move.

Definitely use something like GRBL, since it solves both the coordinated motion and acceleration problems.

[J-M-L]

Please learn how to use code tags if you want to post code here.

Many of us will appreciate if you take the time to correct your post and add code tags around your code.

There is a small pencil below your existing posts.

• click on this pencil ➜ that will let you edit your post.
• Select the part of the text that corresponds to the code
• Click on the <code/> icon in the toolbar to indicate that it is code
• click Save Edit

(Also make sure to properly indent the code in the IDE before copying and pasting it here. This can be done by pressing ctrlT on a PC or cmdT on a Mac)

[captrob75]

I have flashed the Arduino Uno with GRBL and connected to gSender. Tomorrow i’ll connect to motors and see if everything works as expected.

[J-M-L]

@captrob75

Tomorrow i’ll connect to motors and see if everything works as expected.

Tomorrow I’ll connect to the forum and see if the code tags work as expected…

[captrob75]

I connected two TMC 2208 drivers and two stepper motors, powered by a 18v 2A wall wart. The motors made a stuttering motion instead of turning smoothly. I’m using gSender CNC software and I can’t find where to tune the motors like I can in Mach3.

[J-M-L]

Post 40 still looks bad…
No respect for the forum…

Good luck with your project.

[captrob75]

@J-M-L

Post 40 still looks bad…

i erased it. Happy now?

[J-M-L]

Thanks for helping - posting code was fine, you just needed to add the code tags .