Making a Custom CNC Controller Connector Panel | Plasma and PCB
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- Today we're making a custom CNC controller connector panel with a custom PCB to handle the wiring for an array of M12 industrial sensor inputs. We'll plasma cut a steel panel, and mount everything in the NEMA enclosure.
Tools used in this video:
*This site contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated
Knipex Automatic Wire Stripper (Amazon*): amzn.to/3aFM8oF
Ferrule Crimper Kit (Amazon*): amzn.to/30hUfAQ
Dymo Rhino 4200 Label Maker (Amazon*): amzn.to/34LRkDU
Mini Heat Gun (Amazon*): amzn.to/2LVUiNt
Hypertherm Powermax 30 XP Plasma Cutter (eBay*): ebay.to/2JgTrK6
3Dconnexion SpaceMouse Compact 3D Mouse (Amazon*): amzn.to/2TSJ2q9
Wera Kraftform Screwdriver Set (Amazon*): amzn.to/2UzK6CL
Wiegmann 20x20x8 NEMA1 Enclosure (eBay*): ebay.us/UpVh5w
Centroid Acorn Motion Controller (Amazon*): amzn.to/3GboLRU
120mm Fan Filters (eBay*): ebay.to/39J95pS
Noctua 120mm 5V Premium Quiet Fan (Amazon*): amzn.to/3Lu1oa3
Shielded RJ45 Bulkhead Passthru (Amazon*): amzn.to/3GZACD1
1/4" Pneumatic PTC Bulkhead Passthru (Amazon*): amzn.to/3LMbLWK
Milwaukee Brushless Impact Driver (Amazon*): amzn.to/2Xgcjjc
Bondhus Metric Hex Key Set (Amazon*): amzn.to/3eqZzwb
Bondhus SAE Hex Key Set (Amazon*): amzn.to/3h9bJLZ
2" Kant Twist Universal Clamp (Amazon*): amzn.to/2UG76wv
Raw Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons...
James has literally everything figured out.. its quite impressive.. His mind is akin to a 1 terabyte sd card , and everyone else is trying to boot a floppy disk in DOS with lines running up and down the monitor
Come on.... some of us are running Win 98 or even Win XP. Not to say I am..... Some days it feels like I am running a punch card mainframe and some days a nice stable Linux system.
Well said. Although I'm running Win 3.1 on a 486 though. 😂🤣😂
Hey, I resemble that remark! LOL James ends up with good outcome because of good forethought, design and planning. The CNC plasma cutter is the coolest, I never imagined one of those back in the 80's.
Pretty standard controller build. Nothing unusual here.
I like W H A T ! , shrink tubing label printer..... amazing..... I have been a follower of this channel for a while and I'm for sure picking up tips and tricks here and there. In this video I really had a wow moment when you showed the circuit board for the connectors. I have done multiple test boxes for work and home projects with similar connectors and I always bitch over all wire soldering I have to do at the end. The worse part is that I make my own circuit boards but never thought of this simple solution. This will save plenty of time on coming projects.
Thanks James for educating us..
1. There's quite a bit of electrical engineering know-how going on in these "shop" videos.
2. Your use of multiple cameras is smooth and well planned/executed. After the initial somewhat overuse, you have discovered less is definitely more. Nice balance.
3. Video editing and quality continues to improve weekly!
4. The 3D mouse really makes your Fusion segments shine. That's it, I'm ordering mine now.
Agreed, James is a true professional at the this UA-cam thing. I really appreciate his content. And you def won't regret the 3d mouse. I've had one for about a year and it's worth every penny.
I third the 3D mouse. It's a must have.
Thanks for the feedback. Scaling back the multicam has made shooting and editing less work, and also dramatically reduced the amount of data I have to manage, which I immediately undid by moving to 4K. :)
I like that connector pcb board James very well though out.
Let me know if you plan on selling them they would work perfectly for my upcoming project.
Echoing this comment. I would love to purchase one!
Ditto on the PCB and the connectors. Also interested in the 3D printed hardware for the Centroid suff.
@ Allan, I found the connectors as well as the files for the cnc4pc support. If you need those, send me a PM.
A little tip from my wireman mentor:
When terminating wires you should allow sufficient extra length to permit 3 further termination operations.
That's effectively an additional three-quarter inches which you can swan-neck within the trunking.
Good to know, thanks.
Yes, absolutely. I've been doing electric work (for myself) for years now, and in the beginning I always cut my wires right up to the right length. It works alright on the first install, but then years later I had to change some of that original wiring. You guessed it: wires were too short, had to rip the entire length out and put in a new one. Same story when adding some new things in a electrical system set up by somebody else. They didn't leave any slack, meaning I had to install an additional junction box right next to the other one, only because the original wires were just a bit too short. Since those experiences, I've been leaving at least one loop of slack on every wire.
Always take care of the guy who's gonna do the next repair/change, because there's a very high chance that guy's gonna be you.
We always called it a “service loop” and that’s what the channel is for: to hide it. 😉 I need that wire labeler.
@@feeseize9569 If you really want some style points, turn the excess into a nice "swan neck". Not only do you get a service tail, but the trunking won't get too congested.
Cool. I generally try to leave a little to make it comfortable, but that's a good rule of thumb.
if you had any extra pcb's printed, i'd gladly purchase a couple! This is just what I need for my CNC router project.
same here. maybe sell a svg of the hole panels also :). great content as usual james
I want to make a command and control station for my kids. Any cheap source for random buttons, switches, knobs etc?
Nice work and planning. I never knew there was such a thing as a heat-shrink tubing label maker. I am going to have to get one. Beautiful work ethe pcb. I love that implementation. I will copy that for my next enclosure.
You going to show us how you designed that PCB board?
I would recommend not using a simple round hole for the M12 connectors on the metal plate. Use the version with the two flats. If the nut comes loose torque applied during connection would be transferred to the solder pins rather than into the metal mounting plate. Otherwise a nice assembly, although I would probably have used an off-the-shelf M12 breakout module which could be mounted closer to the action and used a single connection on the box.
I thought the same thing, but how often will these be removed? Not often enough that you wouldn’t notice a loose nut right away. It just adds tolerance stack issues for not much return.
You set the standard! It's going to be hard to live up to it....
As a field service tech for the last 20 years I can really appreciate the attention to detail. Properly marked wires make such a gigantic difference in troubleshooting and tracking faults. Never going to go wrong keeping everything labeled. Puts my soul at ease seeing it done even on the smaller scale that'll only you are likely to have to deal with.
very impressive planning, only 2 gripes , not painting plates and cutting cables above a circuit board apart from that excellent
Perfect timing. I'm in the middle of converting my G0704 to CNC using DMM Servos and Mesa 6i25/7i76+LinuxCNC for control. The M12 panel with a PCB for routing is a great idea. Def wish I had a plasma table to do the connector panel, but I think i'll just do the ol' acetone-transfer trick to transfer a pattern and manually drill/mill out the holes. Impressive work as usual.
This is why I love this channel, the quality of work and attention to detail is amazing. Custom pcb for the connectors and heat shirk labels are the top tips of the day,
Been following this on Instagram, nice to get a closer view here.. such a clean look- Love it! If you make another set of those panels and send them to me, along with an artwork file, I can print directly on them with my UV cure ink printer to label all your connectors.
Just a suggestion on your panels: I noticed you used steel so painting would be great to inhibit rust. I then use my el cheapo blue laser to burn the labels on to the panel. It works great and very professional results. You employ such great choices it would sure add the finish touch. As always great content!
I don't own a laser. Yet. :)
Fixed. I now have a blue laser. Are you marking in paint, or with Cermark, or something else?
@@Clough42 just the basic rattle can, rust oleum. Of course the lighter the paint color the better contrast.
There is a lot more potential for high voltage noise on the primary input wiring than you might imagine.
You may have noticed that many electronic products have the power switch adjacent to the power input. Sometimes with the power button on the back and sometimes with the button on the front of the product with a strangely shaped plastic extension to the front panel button. This approach limits the volume of the product exposed to whatever might come in on the line.
UL (just in case you want to list your box :-) ) has stringent requirements for isolation of line voltage components.
There are also stringent requirements for "convenience outlets".
While I'm sure you're not going to get a UL listing for you box, I have two recommendations:
-Be sure and isolate any line voltage wiring from internal wiring. Especially logic level wiring.
-Print up a plastic cover for the line voltage outlet section. Not hard to do. Good safety practice.
Hi James. I have 2 questions.
1. What is the make and model number of your small CNC mill?
2. What font do you use for labeling control boxes?
Thanks, and thanks for everything.
Paul
@Clough42 Hi James, I may have missed this, but was wondering why the plasma nozzle touches the work before every hole? Is it doing a Z probe each time?
Oh. One more question.
I’m using one of those $17 digital Hall effect rpm sensors from Amazon. The sensor has three very fine wires (AWG 24?) that connect to power and the panel. I want to use a three pin connector to my control box rather than just a gland for the cable. But I don’t know what type of connector to get. It should be shielded and capable of accepting the small wire.
What would you use?
Thanks again,
Paul
James I have written before with truly not much in value to say...Today is different.... A true diagram of componets and its fuctions with it's value and why is truly a book I would buy.... I in no way want miminize the vedo....But opening up a blue print of your project would be most valuable.... Thanks rog
How did you have your PCB made? I would like to make a custom PCB to mimic the masso control for the onefinity cnc but make it more affordable. Any advice would be great. I'm planning on hooking up a 2.2kw spindle motor with a vevor VFD with integrated stepper motors, because someone told me that they don't require drivers cuz they are already on the back of the steppers. Then I wanna bring everything together so that it looks similar to onefinity Elite controller just way more affordable
I know this is late to the game but I'm just now getting my CrossfirePro running. Care to share your Current, IPM, Pierce Delay, air pressure settings for 16 guage? Those Molex holes look awfully clean. I'm assuming you are using their THC so gap is taken care of with that.
Re: the benefits of dialing in your plasma rig -
Touché!
Rubber caps over those sharp screws would be advisable.
I will second that mini hot air guns are great for heat shrink tubing.
Sorry, but you are making amazing box and then destroy the look by using the ugliest screws to fasten the connection plate to control box. .. but still i will copy your idea for PCB behind connecters.. thanks for interesting content
I had to come back and comment again. I think I figured out your new project. If it's what I'm thinking, that's going to be awesome. I think you mentioned that you wanted one in a past video. The only thing I can imagine it being with having the air is a basic Pick & Place machine. You already have the Mill & Plasma table. I don't think it would be a CNC router because you don't do much wood work. I'm looking forward to hearing if I'm correct or not. Time will tell.
I think I am glad I am not doing this job ...That's what I think .... Thanks for Sharing ... Stay Safe...
Just a FYI, IEC C13/C14 is specificed only for 10A. Careful :)
Want 16A? Use C19 to C20 :)
WHOPPIEE, YOUR GETTING WAY THE HELL OFF TRACK OF WHAT MOST FOLKS WOULD LIKE TO SEE, COME BACK DOWN TO OUR LEVEL, WE ALL KNOW YOUR SMART, JUST DO SOME MACHINING WITH NORMAL!!!! HOBBY TOOLING!!!! DAMN!!
Great video. The UL1007 is unshielded, no? Is the shielding only necessary outside of the enclosure?
Hello James. Can you put the part numbers up for mouser components you used? I am looking for the particular panel mount, 4-pin connectors around which you have designed your pcb. It would be nice to see the other components as well, such as the iec plug connectors. Also, what info do you have for the 4-pin plugs that will screw into panel mount connectors? Thanks James.
Hey James, can you publish Electronic diagram, please.
Hello James, I'm a new subscriber. I wanted to let you know that your videos are amazing and very detailed. I am very glad I found your channel. I think the reason you haven't blown up is because you're missing animations. It's great to see all the details but some times adding animations is much better as us viewers can get lost in so much details. Just a suggestion. I mean no offense or in no way devalue your work!!!
This is an awesome idea, if only it was a couple of months ago 😂… I’m tempted to redo it anyway are you selling the pcb or making the design available to have printed?
I'm interested too if you are selling pcb's
James - You are a super professional and also a great UA-camr. I really enjoy seeing your creativity and learning as I go. I've been around lots of industrial electrical boxes, and they don't get any better than yours.
Amazing, professional job. I've been a controls engineer for almost 25 years, and I really enjoy watching your projects.
Do you sell those PCB boards? I’ve got some Clearpaths and a Acorn Board ready to go. Would love to see a video on how you wired everything up.
All the machine tools I've dealt with use flush as opposed to projecting prox. Less chance of an errant metal chip giving false signal
The internet: A plasma table is not a precision tool.
Clough42: Not with that attitude.
*jaw drop* - i dont even know what to say. As a former security expert who did cabinet wiring... just awesome work
Is there any particular reason that you picked the square rather than the hex crimper? I can think of arguments both ways...
As a industrial network installer your wiring and labeling soothes my OCD.... I love it!
I am looking forward to seeing you new machine. Looking back in your videos you have been working on the design for quite a while and giving us a little peek along the way. Keep it up.
I cringed a little when you started working right on the enclosure door when you cared so much about the smoke and burn back from cutting those openings.
your projects are so nice. I'm jalous. thank you for sharing.
18:48 the moment he realized and tried to fix it
No shielded cables for sensors and data? Won't the pcb card act as a giant antenna? Hopefully no disruptions to expect
Your attention to detail is unbelievable. I’d get 15minutes into a job like that and wash my hands of it. Amazing work
What are the tolerances between a micro switch and the inductive senser? Is the inductive sensor more repeatable to a given limit than a micro switch?
Your timing is exceptional. I’m starting to get things laid out for a cnc control box and, like magic, you drop a video with what has to be a benchmark in control layout and wiring.
Sadly, I don’t have a plasma table. But I have a few 3D printers that should have no issue making panels to accept all the connectors and such.
Thank you, yet again, for delivering exactly what I need.
Wiring montage while getting the funk out with a bass groov, you know a lot of us would watch it, right?
Very impressive.....I do this for a living and love how you take such a disciplined and professional approach to a home project. Fantastic to see this.
very good job very clean thanks for all the videos you make
The air solenoid need to bleed outside the box so no moisture inside
Id move all that air business to its own external box. Would leave room for some nice robust relays
So is your next cnc an avid cnc?love your vídeos!thank you!
Anyone have a source for affordable and/or lightweight M12 connectors and cables? Or recommendations for alternatives for automotive applications?
Sorry, I don't. I have purchased from Digi-key, Mouser, and Allied. None are what I would call cheap. I have seen some Aliexpress listings, but didn't have the time to mess around with shipping, so I don't know anything about them. I have previously used GX16 Aviation connectors, but the proximity sensor kit from Avid uses M12, so that's what I used here.
You have set the bar VERY high for home shop projects. Excellent, as always.
Ok, I was REALLY impressed with label printing heatshrink!
Does it have to be white, or can you use most colours? And what sizes will the label maker take?
The color is inherent to the cartridge. I've seen white and yellow, and sizes up to 3/4" (19mm) but haven't really looked closely.
I was surprised to not see RF gaskets, and metal fan cages. I would have thought bare "prototype" (according to the FCC) boards would need some level of protection
I haven't had much trouble with radiated RF. My biggest issues have come from conducted common-mode noise from VFDs. In general, I think controllers like the Acorn tend to be pretty robust against external interference, but I guess we'll see. My biggest concern is usually interference with my wireless microphone system.
That is hands down the sexiest solution I've ever seen.....
Nice awesome I like ...I maybe would have designed the circuit board with the other 2 spots for the connector housing but just not populate, easy of future expansion and all the holes in the connector plate sealed with a rubber plug, but that's just me :)
Not a bad idea. The other thing I wonder about future expansion: will I want some connectors that aren't wired to the 24V power bus? I don't know. If I do a future version of the board as a product, I'll definitely want to incorporate suggestions like this. Originally, I intended to mount the board at the end of the subpanel and I was thinking I wanted to miter the corners to avoid running into the screws, but in the end that didn't matter.
you could have just spray painted would toke a sec why leave it like that or clear coat?
Exhaust for the pneumatic valves.....are you gonna run that out of the enclosure?
Moisture and lubrication in the enclosure doesn't seem like a great idea.
The air in my shop is dry, so I don't expect it to be an issue, but I'll probably run the exhaust out eventually anyway. The only exhaust is from the ATC, so it's minimal, but still...
Do you offer those panel for sale? I would be interested if you did
Can I ask which space mouse you re using with Fusion ?
Got to love a plasma CNC. Very nice work, James.
Your skills are just amazing. Thanks for the great video James.
With a laser cutter, could you make the sub-panels and engrave them in the same go? Ofc with different power levels :)
Inexpensive lasers won't cut metal, but can mark it with spray-on marking compounds.
@8:08 - looks like someone is getting a laser engraver. CO2 or diode?
Wait... What? Printable heatshrink is a thing? Within the grasp of mere mortals? Wow! You ought to be on commission. :D
Affiliate link in the video description. :)
Insane CAD design. Great job!
SUPER-Clean...Love it!
Wow. Just wow.
Also, how are you panning around so smoothly in Fusion360?
SpaceMouse.
Can you share a link for those pre-wired panel connectors?
Search m12 pigtail.
fuse your 2 extra inputs for rated amps of the devise
Great work as always James. Ciao, Marco.
James……
As us Aussies would say mate…
“You are one Ridgy-Didge bloody genius”🤣
👏👏👏
Love watching you work mate,
Regards
Robert
James,
As always, amazing work!
Any plans to sell that m12 connector PC board?
I’d love to get my hands on one for my cnc router build.
Does that Dymo printer support PC connection? Some of them you can import an Excel file into their software and have it print out all the labels in one shot. SUPER handy.
Also, the PC software allows you to create custom layouts - like matching the 5.08mm pitch of those pluggable screw terminal blocks.
James your channel is very informative and concise. Thanks for your valuable time. I'm building a 5ft x 5ft CNC router table with clearpath servos with a dual motor gantry for the Y Axis. Parts are arriving daily. Where did you get the M12 connectors with the wires already on them? Also is the PCB board for sale because everything you have on it I plan on adding it to my machine including a ATC spindle and a separate box for the VFD just like yours. I like the Idea of using the M12 Connector to run it to the main box which I will have a CNC4PC C94 board. I'm using cable glands for the Clearpath Data and power wires going into the Main control box, trying minimize as many connections as possible but I like the idea of the M12.
At about mi 10 into the video - the board, how many layers does the board have?
Two. The top and bottom are power and ground planes, and the signal traces cut across those, leaving enough copper to carry the power.
No low resistance Earth/Ground connection stud of the mounting plates you have fabricated, that include Mains potential circuits.
No low resistance Earth/Ground of cabinet or door.
Use copper wire to Ground and not rely on mechanical jointing.
Good luck with the Inductive and capacitive sensors in terms of calibration drift and destruction from static discharge - the Capacitive prox are the most prone to drift and failure.
There's a copper ground wire to a bolted connection on the perforated subpanel. Pepperl+Fuchs inductive proximity sensors are designed and built for industrial applications just like this. They'll be fine.
@@Clough42 If you have used the correct type of Earth/Ground terminal blocks there is less need to wire ground the internal gear plate if it is unpainted, due to the fact such terminals bind into the DIN35 rail.
That doesn't ensure the external mounting plates that contain Mains Voltage connections or the actual enclosure and door are Earth/grounded using low resistance wiring, rather than non-specific mechanical connections.
I am very well aware of prox sensors of various manufacturers, having used them in Industrial controls equipment since the early 1980's during custombuilt control systems design/manufacturing and fault diagnosis/repair field service roles. Both types are prone to static discharge failure, the Capacitive type to a higher degree, especially if having a low operational voltage rather than 110/240V A.C. Both types are also prone to temp drift effects.
Almost surprised you didn't use a PCB as your connector panel face too (at least for the non-high voltage) like on the els, I figured this was too intricate for the plasma. But I guess the turn around time on the plasma is much better 😁
Man I wish my hobby projects looked that professional... I proudly announced using reverse proxies and CNAME entries to give each of my diy smart home services a domain name and my colleagues laughed and said I was 10 years behind the curve. But hey, that playhouse we built is square plumb and true despite being on a slope, and it's way more sturdy than needed.
Awesome work, James!
My personal two cents: you have plenty space on your PCB, so you could use wider traces, not default 10/20/(?) mil width. I'm sure that the width you used is sufficient for currents in the switches, but wider is better in this case.
Too bad you didn't live stream it
James, that looks excellent. I did similar connector panels on my PM-940V CNC build. I used Front Panel Express for the Panels. I love your PCB board for the connectors. Wirings all the pins is a pain. Are you going to sell you PCBs?
Not sure yet on the PCBs. I was looking at Front Panel Express, and estimating my cheapest option here at around $150 for the two panels.
@@Clough42 Yes, Front Panel Express is expensive but they look great and I didn't have a good method to cut the holes for the Molex connectors. I hope you sell your PCB, it is generic enough that it will work on almost any CNC mill and I need to change some connectors on mine, which, like you, is the reason I used a connector panel rather than cut the holes directly in the cabinet. Your PCB would simplify things greatly.
I second this, you should sell these PCBs.
Im in for one also
Looking great! Thanks l!
The M12 connectors to the PCB is genius! Currently in the process of building my 2nd system, I learned the hard way that double shielding outside the enclosure, and ferrites inside go a long way in terms of electric noise reduction! Any affiliate links for the PCB and M12 connectors?
Seeing those professionally made connectors with pigtails, I wonder why you opted to do the crimping yourself? I mean, pneumatic crimping tool is a good enough reason in itself, but curious if you like the meditative crimping, wanted something weird you couldn't get pre crimped, wanted flexibility when assembling to change wire lengths, etc.
About the plasma CNC comments: Why on earth would you have a robot that can execute your commands with a precision of a tenth of a millimeter (or thereabout) and then only use it for rough cutting? That's like driving a car halfway to work and walk the rest because you can't be bothered to check if there's parking near your workplace.
Hi James, super work as always! thanks for working on these videos! quick question about the M12 connectors, where did you find the library in Fusion that has these? I assume you design the PCB in fusion (as indicated by your video), would you be so kind to share the part number/manufacturer number of these M12 connectors? thanks again!
First time seeing the Dymo shrink tube label printer... My first proper job was a harness shop and the machines we used for that job were pretty old and expensive, they also required a computer. I always missed having that capability for my own projects and I never assumed that there would be a consumer solution at an affordable price.
Brilliant what else to say Thanks
As a former small shop mechanic why have extra junctions? Mostly the air. In my experience the potential for failure is many magnitudes higher at any connections and you doubled yours. Not a dig at all just a question. Your work is amazing beautiful.
Great stuff James, this is progressing into something of a wonder of its own.
Here my 5 cents… Just me being me and an overthinking/belt a braces bloke from the UK, I would earth/bond the panels to the mounting plate then to the enclosure and the door. Just to give any fault current a clear path rather than through screws, nuts and bolts and all be at the same potential. Think of it as another excuse to use the beautiful things that are - boot lace ferrules and insulated crimp connectors. Plus green and yellow chunky cables (2.5mm2) neatly spring coiled and routed adds a splash of even more colour and skill👌
Keep this quality production coming James 👍🏻 its top shelf stuff for my eyes 😂
I know everyone uses those proximity sensors (and they’re fine), but the auto home feature of the clearpaths works great, requires no cabling or adjustments, and I’ve never found the need for anything else. Now leave me alone, I have to completely re-wire my my machine ‘cuz no way it looks that clean. I am so doing that circuit board thing for my connector panel 😁
Nice build so far really like some of the choices you've made like the connector panel and PCB. I made an enclosure out of some spare 5051 1/8 aluminum sheet and ended up just drilling the holes for the connector and wish I would have went your route. I plan on posting up some videos on my build but no where near as good as your controller so far, it is running a PM-728 so at least it works :) Keep up the awesome videos you have inspired me to start posting more!
Pretty good work here james nice job...
i fabricated my cnc plasma control enclosure and then wire up everything ... suddenly there are EMI ( electromagnetic interference ) on the cnc cause of wire not shielded so know i have to rewire everything from beginning :( so be attention to EMI james and good luck 👍🏽