AeroModeller – June 2018

43

everything is accurately aligned square

and true then check all the bolts are

tightened up and you’re ready to move

on to the electronics.

Electronic Electrickery

The control board is specifi cally

designed for the task; it takes the G

Code instructions from the computer

and makes the magic happen. G Code

is the common name for a widely

used numerical control program

language. In the case of the C Beam it

instructs the stepper motors to move on

the three axes to produce the fi nished

item; eff ectively it tells the machine what

to do and when to do it. G Code can

also be used to operate non-cutting

machines such as 3D printers. (See the

AeroModeller March 2018 article on laser

cutting for information about turning

CAD drawn DXF fi les in to G Code using

software such as LaserWeb4.)

There’s no real construction as such

for the control board, just a case of fi xing

the appropriate colour coded wires into

their relevant screw terminals. A 3D

printed mounting plate for the control

board and cooling fans is included in

the kit, the intention being to fi x this

assembly on the C Beam frame - there’s

nothing wrong with this but it does leave

it exposed. I decided to enclose it all

as shown in the accompanying images.

I repurposed some of the original

mounting hardware to fi x the board and

fan as shown, (fi rst cutting all the holes

for the stepper motor sockets, fan inlet

and outlet, switch, fuse and USB). To

make the installation fl exible I used the

multi pin connectors shown, colour

coding them reducing the possibility of

connection errors. The red switch is an

emergency stop button and I also made

the suggested modifi cation of adding

a 15A fuse and TVS (Transient Voltage

Suppression) diode to prevent any

potential issues with back EMF surges.

The mains power supply provides the

24 volts required for the electronics and

stepper motors. Connections are made

A sacrifi cial easily replaceable second

MDF board is mounted on the cutting

table main board.

The router is mounted to the carriage plate by this

custom holder. It is designed for the DeWalt Router

so other models may need a shim to fi t correctly.

As supplied the electronics mount on this 3D

printed board that fi xes to the router frame.

I decided to install the control board in this

custom enclosure. The red button is an

emergency stop facility.

You don’t need to do all this extra work but I

enjoyed it and made my build unique.

If you enclose the electronics don’t forget to

make provision for cooling air to get in and

the warm air to exit. The USB socket is for

connection to a PC.

A little over the top but I made the X, Y and Z

stepper motor leads removeable.

COMPUTER ROUTER.indd 43 26/04/2018 15:45