# Please Help Custom CNC Router



## cijo88 (Jan 24, 2016)

I purchased a custom built CNC router and am in over my head trying to get it to function. It has Mach 3 and some other things but I cant seem to troubleshoot AND WAS WONDERING IF THE BEST WAY TO START WOULD BE TO JUST BUY A NEW COMPUTER AND SOFTWARE?


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## gjackson52 (Jul 4, 2015)

Welcome to the forum !


Gary


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## weber (Oct 3, 2011)

Can you get some support from whom you purchased it from ? From the photos I can not see any of the stepper motors or ball screws , rack and pinion or other driving device for axis movement. Did you receive those with the machine ?? it does not look like there ever was one on the Z axis. Was the machine ever operational ?

Glenn


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## Tagwatts (Apr 11, 2012)

Interested, I would like to find out more info in this area. Sorry, but I am no help..





Remember, always eat your dessert first.


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## frankr4ever (Jan 12, 2012)

Learn the software !!


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## beltramidave (Jan 6, 2016)

Can you elaborate more on what it does and doesn't do? As someone asked..did it ever work?
Willing to try and help if you can give us more info.

Dave


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## weber (Oct 3, 2011)

Am I confused ? You asked for help and then never responded to anyone trying to help you.


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

weber said:


> Am I confused ? You asked for help and then never responded to anyone trying to help you.


I suspect he joined a cnc forum . I would have done my homework before jumping on that deal . I think he's going to regret this purchace from what I'm seeing . Would have been way further ahead spending another $2500 and having an actual cnc router table from Probotics that works straight out of the box . Well usually


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Welcome to the forum CJ.


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## cijo88 (Jan 24, 2016)

Sorry, couldn't remember where the actual forum site I had posted too. 
Yes the router has worked, just never been able to run a complete program, so I'm assuming it has a glitch. I haven't received any help from the guy I'd bought it from since he couldn't figure out the issue. (I figured save the money and I could figure it out) hind sight is 20/20. I haven't hooked up the z simply because I haven't been able to get any drive to work the way I want it too. i just don't know how to find the problem whether it's my computer or the router :/


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Sorry CJ I thought you jumped ship . I can certainly understand trying to save some cash . 
It sure looks intimidating from the pics . I think the experts here are going to need a lot more information


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## weber (Oct 3, 2011)

Apology accepted

Can you tell use what drivers and motors you are using and also the type of break out board ? A quick thought may be that beside using the DB25 cable to use mach 3 that in may also require an USB connection in order to work. My first machine used DMM technology servo drives and I spend several hours before I found that it required both. 

Another thought is that you may have bad connections, when I built my second machine and brought it home ( after 2 years) my machine ran extremely erratic, I worked on it for 2 weeks and even switched several motors wiring from bi-polar to polar. Anyways the culprit was 2 loose connections 1 on the x axis and 1 on the z axis, I had spent about a week trying to adjust the motor tuning before I found that problem.


Glenn


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## beltramidave (Jan 6, 2016)

Give us more info on the hardware. Need brand/model #'s of drivers, breakout board, motors. Also, does it talk to the computer via USB or parallel port?

What exactly happens? Does an error come up on the screen? Is there a schematic for the control system? Help us help you!

Dave


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## Tagwatts (Apr 11, 2012)

*CNC Router Info and Software*

I can only tell you what I have learned by asking and looking at different CNC Routers. I will purchases the Shark Router handled by Rockler and Woodcraft and by others I am sure. This is made here in the United States. A fairly new company is the producer for these units. The name of the company is "New Wave Automation". I think the product is pretty sound. I like the software because it is compatible with Windows 7, EP, 8, 8.1 and Windows 10. It was very easy for me to use. This is one of the selling points I looked for ease use. From what I can tell, most all the these type of CNC Routers all use the same or near same control units. This I am speaking of the smaller home use CNC Routers. I do not know if this will help you or not, but hope it may give you some light. I think the software you mentioned is used with many different computers. I doubt it is s your computer being the problem, unless you have a really old computer.


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