artyman

Test fitting of the gantry assembly to the baseboard, mainly to check my marking out is good before drilling. All is as planned there, and the gantry runs smoothly on it's rails. next was a dry fit of the rest of the base assembly, and clearances are looking good there. time now to drill all the bolt holes , including a 9x6 grid on the table to fit 54 t-nuts, for clamping points.

Just arrived now, Many thanks TK :smile:

excellent, thank you

Help!!!... Where's the list gone??... I can't remember what I ordered, now I've got a PM from TK

You're welcome, Unfortunately I've never used PRO-TOOLS, so I can't really help much further, but have you tried the Logic Control XT or Mackie Control XT emulation modes?

If it's T-Lever fitting you want, check this out... they do all ALPS stuff, but the shipping is a bit pricey. http://stores.ebay.co.uk/familygate/english-/_i.html?_fsub=15382714&_sid=90872977&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

The Z-axis is now threaded up, and the slider is moving smoothly :frantics: The gantry (X-axis) now has the bottom brace fitted and is ready to have the Z-axis mounted, and also start fitting to the base section. Next job is the motor mounts... make all 3, and fit to the Z-axis, and then the X-axis, once the z-axis assembly is mounted and moving smoothly.

There's no need to upgrade the core module, the MBHP MF_NG can be connected to the PIC core.... see this thread:- basically, the MF_NG module is placed between the GM5 and the core8 module, 1 MF_NG module per core.

Yes, you are right that aluminium would be more long lasting, but I've done a LOT of online research into this and most DIY CNC kits and plans use wooden frames, so it's not an un-viable option. I don't see any reason why a wooden-framed CNC should be less accurate than an aluminium framed one. Built correctly, a wooden frame can be perfectly stiff enough to satisfy the needs of lightweight CNC work. The other reason I decided on a wood frame was cost - as I don't have the tools to machine the sort of size pieces needed, I would have had to get them custom made, which would more than double the price tag.

yeah.. I was originally looking at something similar, but it's far too small for what I want, and kits for the size machine I'm building were looking at being £800-1000+

Thank you It's a steady process having to cut and drill each piece accurately, and believe it or not... I've only had to re-make 1 piece!! The advantage of a kit is that 90% of the hard work has been done, it only has to be assembled. The disadvantage is that there's limited options on what size machine you can build, I've built mine to fit the space I have. Mine has cost me somewhere in the region of £250-300 so far, and there's still some bits to buy... e.g. drag chains to keep the cabling tidy, and channel for it to lay into. I'm expecting the total cost to be about £300. btw, I used to live in Sheffield... went to University there. Rob @ rosch.. cheers, if this turns out to be accurate enough, I may be able to do the odd midiboxer a favour or 2. :wink:

Hi, As the plans for my (upcoming) MBLC required a lot of CNC work doing, I thought to myself... Why not build one? So... several hours of internet browsing later, and jaw-dropping of the prices of kits, I started out to design my own to the size i wanted. The design spec was simple - to be able to rout a panel the size of a 6u rack panel. The process of sourcing parts began, from various sources, Ebay being the most prominent, and the design started. Being on a tight budget, the most expensive parts - lead screws and ballnuts were replaced with standard threaded bar and a clever arrangement of wood block and threaded inserts to reduce backlash. Now building it starts... Beginning with the z-axis and gantry:-

just found out the shift register will only output 35mA, so a transistor switch will be needed. The only question now is... NPN or PNP ? I had read about using a series resistance on each LED in parallel, and I'll choose these to run the LEDs at approx 15mA, which should still give a good brightness.

Is it possible to drive, for example, 4 LEDs from a single DOUT pin? e.g. to make a 'light bar' indicator. or would I need to use a transistor switch like this:- with the 4 LEDs (and current limiting resistors) in parallel as the load. [NPN transistor assumes the DOUT pins are active high] many thanks in advance.

Here's a couple more ideas to add to the pot... There's no real need to switch a port from front to back.. just have 1 port (in and out) on the front and all the rest on the back. that's how it's done on my MOTU Midi express XT. Another way could be to have the front sockets wired in parallel with the rear ones, and just use it as an 'either one, but not both' option, or fit a midi merger on the 2 I/P sockets so both could be used.

AAAARRRGH!!! MIDLIFE CRISIS TIME!!!!.... But what to do?... Go on a 2 year bender of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll..... Jump on a Harley and ride off into the sunset of deepest Yorkshire.... NO!!... I'll build a MIDIbox !!.... a) because I want to b) because it's got more features than my current commercial solution As I see it, the MIDIbox community is all about people who want to build this hardware for themselves, to use themselves, and in the spirit of the community where all this technical know-how, design and advice is given freely, I believe it's only right that the originator of a project is asked permission for one to be sold. In all the cases I've looked at, where this courtesy has been observed, permission is given. What it all boils down to is MUTUAL RESPECT !!

Marvellous !!! Thank you for this, I will certainly confirm the results when I've built it and testing starts... though it may be some time Once again, Many thanks Rob

This is the page... http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=drive_a_midibox-lc_with_4_lcds_on_1_core there's a download link at the bottom, but it just brings up the main forum page. Any help in locating this file would be greatly appreciated, and a kick-start to me to get this built (including building a CNC router for panel manufacturing) Many thanks Rob

Hi, I was reading through the WIKI and found the page showing a MBLC with 4 2x16 LCDs. The connections seem straightforward enough, but the link to the firmware is broken. Does anyone have this firmware? or can help with this. this is exactly what I'm looking for, but I don't have the necessary programming skills to implement myself. Many thanks in advance,

I'm interested... busy gathering parts for a project, and those PIC core boards will be especially useful. PM me pls... If you're close to me, I can collect... save the job of wrapping and posting.

Hi, I've noticed that MIOS32 supports up to 8 OLED displays @ 128x64. Would the new MIDIbox LC be configurable to take advantage of this (i.e. one display for each channel)? I'm at the planning stage at the moment, and have found some nice little displays that fit my size requirements, and I really want to be able to use them. Regards artyman

Nice one TK !! looking forward to starting some midibox projects... got a big one planned for the future, but a GM5 module seems a good place to begin, especially as it can be recycled into the big project. many thanks Rob

Hi, First... NICE job !! Second.. I'm planning a 24ch 3 core MBLC to use as a mackie control in cubase, and as I understand it, each core needs to be connected on it's own MIDI port. Does yours link the cores by midibox link, or do you have a multiport interface e.g. GM5 module in it to connect each core to? also, I'm wanting to use touchfaders, so I assume I'll need to use the PIC-based core, not the STM32 one