neowalla wrote: I can't re-photograph it as I have already unhooked the stock Richauto controller, so to show how it was terminated, I have to re-size the existing pictures I have.
It's not just the VFD. I just have zero confidence in this project and I'm afraid of destroying my machine. I've been in IT for 20 years, use Linux as my main O/S at home, and I have a background in electronics as well, but I do not know CNC electronics specifically and so the Mesa manual is like Greek to me. There are absolutely no videos on youtube (in English) on hooking one of these things up. I would love to find the textbook for "CNC machining 101" just so I can get a big picture understanding of what is going on in these things, but I haven't found any yet.
I'm trying to replace the Richauto A18 controller that came installed on my CNC just so I can have more granular control. Oh and being able to set feeds/speeds would be nice too. the Richauto completely ignores whatever I set in Vcarve. I know these Richauto controllers are out there. Laguna machines use them, as I'm sure a lot of other Chinese built machines do. I would have thought someone out there had been through this before, but maybe not.
At this point though I'm thinking about aborting this project, reinstalling the RA, and work instead on tweaking my post processor so it works correctly. Then finding (or writing) one that works in FreeCAD. The Richauto controller sucks, but at least it functions.
The standards for "being in IT" must be pretty damn low. I'm nothing much more than a hole digger, lifter of heavy things, ie; pretty much disposable human labour. I've had no trouble using the Mesa gear.
Wiring up your machine and getting it under control is a drop in the pond compared to thinking "Which order will I do the machining ?"
"How am I going to set up the job ?" "Do I need to make a custom fixture to make a custom fixture to hold the job I want to do ?" and finally "Where the hell is that widget that I just put down ?"
