Monday, March 25, 2013

CNC controller case.

Though I don't think I'll have Apple banging down my door to design their next iHipTM device, I'm slightly proud of the fact that I turned this:


Into this:



I MUST do something about the quality of pictures I take!
This photo looked great on the 4" screen of my phone, I've never until I go to
post a picture that I notice the blur. Sorry. The panels are not yet assembled
but are balanced in place, that's why they don't look lined up.

this weekend.

Here's a really high level description of the workflow I used, with links to all of the open-source software I used:

I used LibreCAD to design each side as a 2 dimensional layout. From that, I imported the 2D dxf files into FreeCAD, to build the 3D mock up you see in the first picture. The mock up was not technically part of the manfacturing pipeline, but it helped me catch a few problems before I milled it. Once I was satisfied, I the imported the LibreCAD files into HeeksCNC to generate toolpaths. Once I had the NC files, I imported into "Pronterface", part of the PrintRun 3D printing host suite. I've mentioned it before, but my CNC is driven by a Sanguinololu board, with a moderately modified version of the Marlin firmware.

--P

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