DIY CNC QUILTING MACHINE

[khalid]

Anybody interested in this project must see the following thread at cnczone... the third page in this thread is the start of our commitment to this cnc quilter machine....

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57404

you can buy an expensive quilting machine for your spouse/GF's but why not go into the cheapest option and surpurised them with the gift...(We must do something remarkable for our house women and i think this is the one project that is necessity of every women nowadays)...

your involvements, ideas and contributions is highly appreciated..

I am developing the drawings of the complete machine that will be cut on MDF....The setup is very easy...

Regards

[handh]

I will be watching this tread. My wife would love that.

[cutitout]

I have had the idea for years to try this on the shopbot -- trying to come up with ways to hold the underside of the sewing machine with magnets and allow it to travel with the top half on a tightly stretched quilt.

[khalid]

Eric.. you are right but we the basic problem is the stitch regulator or cruise controller.. You can buy it arounf 500US dollars..but its too much for me.. lets do it DIY

[bleeth]

If I ever gave my wife any kind of a sewing machine I would be singing soprano by the next morning!!

[khalid]

DAVE... Just try to tell ur wife you are making CNC Quilter for her...After telling this, you will never able to use shopbot unless you make it for her


I don't understand why will u sing saprano? does your wife do not like sewing machine or she not know how to sew?...You can solve her second problem indeed..

[bleeth]

She knows how but does not consider it a pleasure. Her ideas on appropriate gifts do not include any items that are for household chores. This is a fairly common viewpoint in the west.

[khalid]

Dave: During research on this topic,i surf through the internet, and i saw many western womens sewing great stuff and they are doing for hobbies only... I saw their techniques they are very creative and hardworker...

Your's may be exceptional case


P.S: I think for a women the great gift is 'Love and Care'...and the things you do for it by ur own... Getting the costly gift from shopping center will not make her that much happy then if u make her something special on shopbot by urself..

[cjohnson]

Khalid,
While your thought process seems logical and reasonable (and quite normal from someone from Mars), you must remember that we are talking about a specis from Venus and not Mars here. You mustn't make this mistake of using logic again as that has been a mistake of mine during my years of trying to figure them out.

All joking aside, my spouse would probally love a quilter but she would want me to operate it and then that is where i would have to draw the line.




cj

[daniel]

I want one for myself! I have been playing with some electronics and programming in my spare time. This project is way cool....
I'm not sure what I can contribute as my knowledge of programming is low and my knowledge of sewing is non-exsitent. I do have a source for stepper motors, They are PX243M-01AA, I can get these for 5 bucks, Probably less if I buy more than one.....


2712

I also might be good for getting some prototype circuit boards made....

I really Like this project Khalid!

[khalid]

CJ Wrote: ""All joking aside, my spouse would probally love a quilter but she would want me to operate it and then that is where i would have to draw the line.""

You are 100 percent right CJ.. Initially you will have to train her on software and Quilter operation... as far as vector drawings are concerned , at that time i would have 1000's of Quilting designs..I will lend you;)
I myself run from teaching;) But in the long run, you will see some beautiful and creative stuff in your house...May be this stuff sell more than the price you get from machining a single job on your shopbot;)

[khalid]

Daniel Powell


Thanks for your help... Currently, I have all mechanical and electronics stuff on hand for experimentation.... Just i need to involve you in brainstorming to come up the solutions for PC based cruise controlling of sewing machine..... I assure you,We are not far off from the solution ..... Keep in mind that, the whole thing may take some time...

I will make the machine first and when i satisfied of its operation, then i will make as built drawings (included all modifications)... R&D involves money and time and both are scarce here..Lets cross the fingers

[mikeacg]

Khalid,

I have 4 different commercial embroidery machines here. Let me know if you need any pictures of anything. There is also a free downloadable digitizing program on the web - I'll find you the address. It's not as easy to use as the commercial stuff but you should be able to handle it (the manual is downloadable as well).

Mike

[mikeacg]

Free embroidery digitizing software:

http://www.thredworks.com

They also have tutorials online.

[khalid]

Michael
Awesome software... Thanks for information.... Currently we intend to make this machine to function as a quilter... so at the quilting stage this software is not required... I intend to keep your CAD and CAM software for handling this type of Quilting work....and I hope after accomplishing this goal, we will move it one step forward as an embroidary machine.. It will not that smart as commercial machines you have but it will be a low-cost hobbiest solution...
We just stick into making some solution to computerized control the needle movement of ordinary machines cheaply available in market..once we succeeded doing this then we can do anykinda embroidary stuff

[larryl]

Khalid, I am working on a quilter myself. I am not using the shopbot equipment though. My equipment is two steppers from Stepperboard, and a dual axis controller from Peter Norberg Consulting. I have built the system for my wife's quilting machine which consists of a plastic mount on the machine platform which holds the X axis motor for linear motion along the table, and another on the side of the carriage which controls the lateral motion of the sewing machine. The sewing machine is equipped with a cruise control and a Husqvarna Viking Mega-quilter sewing machine. The cruise control ensures that the stitch length remains the same no matter what the speed of the motors is. As far as the hardware is concerned, everything works as designed, however, the real problem is interfacing the controllr with software. The Norberg controller is very proprietary and only uses software built from vbasic, .net, c++, etc. I am not a programmer in those languages so I am having difficulty finding software that would be sufficient to modify. The problem is the language that the controller uses, which is proprietary to Norberg. Any suggestions would be helpful. Great project, a lot of fun putting it together.

[eric_schumacher]

People interested in this topic should reference the CompuQuilter solution. There are only a few products in this space and I think there is room for a better and lower priced solution.

http://www.compuquilter.com/

These guys want 15k for just the steppers, computer and software to drive a 15k long arm quilter. I'd imagine that shopbot could do the same for half with more quality.

Popular long arm machines for use with CompuQuilter are:

http://www.kenquilt.com

http://www.apqs.com/

I've seen the Ken Quilt machines and they have nice rails ;)

[larryl]

Eric,

While CompuQuilter.com is a nice site to look at, the thought of pay $15K for the package just doesn't appeal to my sense of finances. I mounted the motors on the table and the carriage the other day and did some tests using a laptop computer that proved that the controller and the motors and mounts are a viable design. Now I am working on the software control using vb.net. The controller comes with the necessary classes for vb6, however they are not fully compatible with vb.net, and require some modification to make them work.

[eric_schumacher]

Larry, that's why I said 'reference' the solution. In other words if you are looking to build something like it you should take a look at it. I really do mean you should go see it at a show. It's cool, but not the best thing in the world. It would give you some ideas.

You can interop with vb6 com with vb.net so you should not have to mod your classes. Is it just a dll?

[larryl]

Eric, I decided to go with another controller board that is Mach3 capable. It also has estop capability and multi-axis ability for future expansion. No the file is not a dll, it is a true class file. That is one of the reasons I decided to go with Mach3. The other reason is the ease of modification of the software. I have completion to the point of initial on table testing now. When I have an acceptable proof of concept, I will publish it in this blog.

[rb99]

Which control board did you go with?

RIB

[larryl]

Richard,

I went with the Rockcliff 4 axis controller. It has Estop, and add on capability. It operates on 12 to 24 volts. I set it up at 24 volts to give a faster charge time to the steppers. That way it's not so slow on the up take. I may change the motors that I am using (NEMA 17) to a NEMA 23 motor for more strength.

[larryl]

Eric, Sorry it has been so long since I last wrote. I am one of those gov't employees that has to travel a lot. I just got back from an extended trip. Anyway, no it's not a dll, it's a full blown class file that has to be interfaced into the .NET file. The thing is really cumbersome and awkward. Like I told Richard, I decided to go with a Rockcliff 4 axis board that is usable with Mach3. Gcode is so much easier.

Larry

[larryl]

Sorry guys,

I guess I had a senior moment when I did my previous post. Sent you the wrong link.

Here is the correct link: http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/153629/sl/l

[larryl]

Build Log for my CNC Quilter project.

In March of 09, after reading a post on cnczone.com, I became interested in building a CNC Quilter.

My wife is the lucky owner of a Grace quilting table with a Husqvarna Viking Sewing/quilting machine. The table is 112 inches long and 24 inches wide. The sewing machine carriage is 24 inches long and approximately 12 inches wide, with 4 metal wheels with needle bearings mounted on each end to traverse the X axis (long) of the table. Also, there are two optical sensing wheels mounted in the same fasion, one on the Y axis of the carriage and one on the X axis. These optical sensors are tied to the stitch regulator which is further connected to the sewing machine via a option port on the end of the machine next to the power switch and cord. The stitch regulator is controlled by a simple handheld on/off switch which is activated prior to sewing. NOTE: This switch is to be later replaced with a solid state relay controlled by the controller board mist/flood control using the M8 and M9 command.

Since the majority of the build is complete with the purchase of the quilting machine, the only design work is in designing and building the mounts for the motors, traction cables and cable mounts. Locating the correct pulleys for the motors proved to be a challenge. However, I found that CONRAD electronics here in Germany had the necessary pulleys in stock for a very reasonable price.

The actual assembly of the parts for the table was very straight forward. After purchasing a 24 inch by 3 inch piece of 1/8 inch thick aluminum bar, I cut out 4 2.5 inch by 5/8 inch brackets to mount the cable. The cable brackets were mounted on a convenient screw at each end of the x axis of the table and also on the ends of the Y axis of the carriage. (See photos at link: http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/153629/sl/l).

Using small cable clamps I mounted the cable by placing a small turnbuckle at one end of the cable on the table X axis and one on the Y axis of the carriage.

The mounts for the motors are made of the same aluminum bar, and are mounted on 3/4 inch standoffs to eliminate the possible rubbing of the pulley against the table. The cable is wrapped 3 times on the X axis pulley and one time on the Y axis pulley. The mounts for the motors are are drilled and tapped to accept metal screws to complete the mounting of the motors and the final construction of the mount. (see photos at the above link)

Electronics:

The controller is a Rockcliff 4 axis controller with a 12 volt 1 amp "brick" power supply. Here it must be noted that any power supply capable of providing the required voltage necessary to power the board and motors can be used (I experimented with a PC power supply that worked very well). I just happened to have two NEMA 17 .8 degree motors that run on 12 volts 1 amp. I tuned the board to supply just under 1 amp to each of the motors, and pulled an extra 12 volt line from the power connection to power a cooling fan. The board is mounted in a custom cut plastic hobby box with a 3.5 mm receptacle for the power plug. The wiring for the motors consists of small guage speaker wire of low resistance, which is twisted to give a non-mechanicle grounding effect to provide spurious noise filtering. Each motor wire is over 18 feet in length and has a carbon-torroid filter at each end as well. The motor wiring is connected to two RJ-11 connectors on the carriage and two on the electronics box to facilitate plugging in the cable and/or removal of the motors or controller board without disturbing the wiring. (See photos)

Software:

The software that is being used to control the whole assembly is Mach3 with a variety of other software to create gcode and dxf files. At this point, I must say that Mach3 is a very good system for this project, especially if I could find someone with the ability to design screens that would compliment this project and make it easier to operate by my wife. I am not that adept at making screens or I would do it myself. Also, I think that if I could find someone with a CNC milling machine or router/plasma cutter, I would be able to design better more attractive mounts for the motors/axis/cables. I think that if the motor mounts were made of a thicker aluminum bar, say 1/4 inch, the whole system would be stronger and could handle a larger more powerful motor set.

Finally, the parts list:

2-NEMA17 stepper motors (Lin Engineering) $7.00 for both.
1-plastic hobby box (Arcade electronics) $4.00
1-1/8 inch thick by 2.5 inch by 24 inch aluminum bar. Any major hardware store chain $10.00
Assorted metal screws (on hand)
1 spool of 35 lb polyurethane coated stainless steel fishing wire (Bass Pro-Shops) $24.00
adequate length of wiring (speaker wire on hand)
4 packs of SnakeSkin wire covering (Arcade Electronics) $12.00
1-Rockcliff 4 axis controller board. (Rockcliff Machine Inc) $148.00
1 Mach3 controller software package. (freeware download until purchased)
Necessary tools and equipment.

The total cost of this project including the mailing fees is just under $300.00. Total build time involved, including waiting for parts is just about 9 months.

Now, that beats the devil out of buying an expensive system that would require a technician to set up and probably would break down 20 or 30 times before the wife really learns how to use it.

I have enjoyed this project immensely and am available to lend advises to anyone who asks.

Thanks for the support guys, you are awesome.

Larry

[mikeacg]

Larry,

Looking at the pictures, you have done a very impressive job on this project. I look forward to seeing it completed! Thanks for sharing!

Mike

[khalid]

The project is still in progress..currently the work is on designing a simple low-cost stitch length controller..

Okay.. One more thought, let we install the two knobes on the X/Y carriages..As you all know the PWM stuff , you rotate a knobe and motor run in direction following the knob movement..

Now consider you scalled both knobes for X and Y carriages Length..For example The X knob if in the middle of small X-carriage will output the same value as if Y-knob is middle in the Y-carriage length..

We can add gears to take the knob one full rotation through out the length of carriages and scal them equally..

Now when knob moves they will give us some signals and we can then take the hyp. of triangle and then can manage to programm the arduino to control a mechanism that will press the speed control pad up or down.

Any thoughts??

2713

[khalid]

The Project went ahead..You can see the progress at
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57404&page=11

[khalid]

Now the Gcode Quilter can Produce the Output for Embroidery work too..

2714

For details please watch following thread...
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57404&page=12

[khalid]

I am currently Planning to Make a simple GUI for the embroidery application... I plan to add following functionalities

1- The User will open the DST file
2- The File will be read and displayed in Picture Box with some information (Total No of stitches, Height and width, No. of Colorsetc)
3- User will be given a choice to add some special G&M code at Top and Bottom of the Gcode (Like G21/G20, G90, G64, M30) ..Here I need your Inputs

4-On the basis of selection the Gcode will be generated in the Right textbox.

Now,
I currently thinking of to store each Design and its Gcode in a database... So that you can retrieve later on... We can sort the design with Design No. or File Name etc...

Any Suggestion at this time?

2715

[khalid]

Now this program is standalone..You no need to work with Vcarve Pro or any CAM software..If you have embroidery file (abundant on internet) you can generate Gcode from it...Some work has been done to display the Gcode in Picture Box, and some initial Gcodes...


2716

[khalid]

Added some more functionality...

1- You can add extra informations in Gcode Header
2- You can simulate the design
3- Gcode was refined and readable. For Fast stitching The Z1 was added into new line in rapid move.... Added M7 and M9 for lighting up/Off the bulb during changing the thread in the needle.

[khalid]

2717

[rb99]

You are very good!

No new laser? I have not been given a tracking number. It shipped on the 14th, and should arrive no later than 14 business days. I have sent an inquiry to customer service...

RIB

[khalid]

Hi Richard,
I haven't complete reading of your post and a Postman bell the door and deliver the Green Laser..

Its a nice coincidence
.. Thank you very very Much Richard for such a nice gift

Best Regards

[ghostcreek]

Again Khalid, your work is excellent. I am following this in my own small way. Great project.
My wife got the bug when I showed her the first couple of posts. It turned on a light bulb for her.
Thank You again, keep it up. Happy 2010

[khalid]

Thanks Michael
.. I am happy your wife has interest in this Project... Marry Christmas and Happy New year to all of the shopbot forum members...

My initial intention was to make Quilting machine because of its simplicity and straight type of stitching...But Now i don't know How (By the grace of God Almighty), the whole project is going to a high end commercial embroidery machine...

I am confident it will perform any stitch the state-of-the-art embroidery software provide...


Yesterday I completed the drawings...Today , I hope, I will receive the Machine Foundation wooden structure and Off-course a low-cost Manual Sewing machine... I purchased aluminum Profiles and cut as per the dimension...

Today , Late, I will able to post some Hardware Pictures... Software is further extended and Thread Thickness has been added along with Scroll bars for Complete viewing of generated Drawing in Picture Box..

I am really enjoying the project, and keep watching here... I am 200% sure the thing will work...

[khalid]

Yesterday I added the functionality to Generate Gcode for CROSS-STITCH..


2718

[khalid]

Finally i am in position to post some pictures of hardware of my Embroidery Machine... Their are 04 major parts in the hardware:
1- Sewing Machine Support Structure (MDF and Wood)
2- X/Y- Carriage ( Mostly Aluminum , few parts CS)
3- My Controller Box
4- Sewing Machine

Day before Yesterday, I completed The X/Y- Carriage and Yesterday my complete day spent on the controller box..This time i am using PIC based controller... Actually, The Controller box got damaged during Flight.. The Transformer Loosen and left it place from the foundation screws and rolled over on the Modular Cards.. I have removed the broken/damaged components and now it has to be checked for integrity...

The sewing Machine Wheel is removed and some components/Linkages were disabled for embroidery work..


2719


2720


2721


2722

[khalid]

Yesterday installed the carriage and repair and tested the controller cards..

2723

[mikeacg]

Khalid,

It is looking fantastic! What is the maximum size area you will be able to sew?

Thanks for sharing!

Mike

[khalid]

Thanks Mike

The machine has working area of 20" x 8"...
Regards

[rb99]

Nice work Khalid.

Are you sure the carriage will be secured with just those 2 bolts into the wood?

Cheers,

RIB

[khalid]

Hi to my great Friend Richard... As the whole carriage is made up of Aluminum and the great portion of weight is due to the stepper Motors.. It hold tight.. Yesterday I dry run the machine on my controller and all the moves the machine made were in my favor.. No doubt my wife will more than happy against her expectations....

Keep in touch man


Regards

[khalid]

One Failure..One success... I have burnt my controller card due to my mistake..I have a small piece of strand of wire below my contoller card and it short circuit the FET...
...

My new controller card is under etching...soon will be flooded with the electronic components...
My two other motors are running well
..

[mikeacg]

Khalid,

Can I have the Eastern US franchise for your new company? Ha ha ha! You are amazing!

Sorry to hear about the setback but I'm sure you'll be up and running again soon!

Mike

[khalid]

Mike.. Full authority to you Patent the design, Software and have a nice business;)...
Regards

[khalid]

My controller card are in preparation stage as i have blown one of them due to short circuit ... Meanwhile i improved the software a bit and refine the code generation...
You can see the needle marks as i added in the software...


2724
2725

[khalid]

Added Colors and MenuBar.. Now you can see the number of colors 'in-orders' and simulation of each color...


2726

[mikeacg]

Amazing, Khalid!

Thanks for keeping me up-to-date on your projects!

Mike

[myxpykalix]

khalid
I have been foillowing this thread but not that interested because i don't own a sewing machine, lol...however here is a question.

Is this a program you wrote to run this machine?
I know there is programs that run home sewing machines here and I wondered if you could use either software already made for your machine or could your program run machines here?

[khalid]

Thanks Mike...
Hi Jack..Nice to hear from you...

Is this a program you wrote to run this machine?
Yes.. This Program will just create a Gcode from Tajima File Format... Actually, all the embroidery software produces the binary coded files , these files contains axes information and lot of other things but not in the form of Gcode...The embroidery machines in this world are driven by Stepper Motors and get special commands written in the embroidery file...But unfortunatly our CNC machines do not understand that language... We only work with G and M codes... So I have written this small programm to convert that binary coded file into GandMcode.. This way we are now able to make our own embroidery machines and are able to operate them just we operate our CNC machnes..

So the work flow is..
1-- Create your embroidery designs in any embroidery software in the world i.e. Wilcom, Sophiesew, XPWing, Bernina etc. Or download beautiful embroidery designs free of cost from internet...

2- Export the embroidery design into DST format.

3- Open my Software, import that file and convert it into Gcode.

4- Open Mach3, EMC,KCAM,WinCNCetc and import your Gcode and run your own embroidery Machine.

Hope this answers the question.

[khalid]

A little more improvement in the interface Ver1.3..

2727

[mikeacg]

Khalid,

Have you sewn anything yet? I would be interested in seeing the output to compare to my machines.
Also, if you need any designs, I have several digitizing programs and about 15 years worth of designs. Let me know if I can help!

Mike

[khalid]

Thanks Mike
... I have about 30,000 designs... My Machine is still on hold.. Soon I will share the video of the machine working with this Gcode generator programm...

I will share this software as a Freeware as soon i BETA test it..

Regards

[supertechster]

Khalid K. is a name that many people will remember for years to come. I have been following this thread (and alot of other CNC stuff) for the past year, because I am really into robotics and CNC possibilities... but only last month really got VERY interested. For my wifes birthday, I bought her a 10' Machine Quilting Frame and a 16" long arm quilting machine (non-CNC). With it, after rolling the QuiltTop, Batting and QuiltBottom pieces onto the 10' long rods, she can free-hand in any direction in a 16" by 120" area, use a pantograph with stylus that fits in grooves in the wood forms, or use a small red-laser to 'trace' a 120" by 12" repeating pattern. She has gotten very good and circles, loops, swirlies, feathers and stars.. but compared to the power and accuracy of CNC, her manual skills are no match. I can no longer sit still and watch and have started collecting the parts I needed to build an stepping-motor and computer-controlled X-Y platform to put her machine on. I has to be a surprise. Imagine, ANY of over 60'000 patterns in ANY color(s), quilted across a 18" by 120" swath. Then of course, she'll have to have CNC roll advancement, speed regulation, thread break detection, 1-cycle motor operation (po pull up the lower thread and start... and ... and...
All her girlfriends are jealous. I happened to be looking for a 400Gb tape drive (LTO3 for my hobby (IT/Electronics enthusiast) and on the same page were some BEEFY, 24v 360-step(!) stepping motors and a little light went on and I changed to QUILT, and up popped the Machine and Frame, right here in my state (US) for cheap! So I called tha lady and left a message (it was 2am) and sent her an email, and the next days she called and I went and picked it up. Wife was so happy she cried, laughing, jumping and hugging me and so childlike again. OK, so I have to make this a dream machine now... no excuses. First I thought a small prototype 'Line Follower' for the laser-tracer gizmo, hooked to a small PC and some X-Y motor/controllers because even thought the Laser points down, there is reflection which can really hurt her eyes, then I thought CNC, went searching, and found your thread. If I modified her existing X-Y table, which is wood and has metal 'V' rails and bearings with some strong motors and sensible controlling software, that 'could' work, but I am not a programmer and stopped the whole thing. Now I am like her, happy and jumping and eager to buy parts and build because I found your thread. Please allow me to use your genius to please my woman? I can design, layout, etch, drill, solder and interconnect anything...and repair or modify anything electronic... but sadly I am not a programmer. You are my only hope.

I need it to move accurately Right and Left 120" and detect stops
I need it to move Foreward and Back 16"
I need it to Advance and Rewind the Quilt on the 10' long rods
I need it to One-Cycle the thread pickup and 3-4Cycle the sewing ending.
And I need it to be easy for her to use. She is already collecting patterns to use when I am done building it, and has ~20'000 so far(!!)

Thanks!

[khalid]

Hi Steve.. Happy to know your wife has a quilting hobby... Now, What you want is possible...

I need it to move accurately Right and Left 120" and detect stops
I need it to move Foreward and Back 16"
I need it to Advance and Rewind the Quilt on the 10' long rods
I need it to One-Cycle the thread pickup and 3-4Cycle the sewing ending.
And I need it to be easy for her to use. She is already collecting patterns to use when I am done building it, and has ~20'000 so far(!!)

All the above is possible... Recently i uploaded the executable on cnczone... I don't now how can i mount the ZIP file here...

Soon I will integrate Gcode generation for Quilting purpose in the same Program... Just stay in touch..

[larryl]

Khalid my friend it has been a long time since I last wrote to you. Just wanted to let you know that when you have the quilter software finished, I would still like to test it out on the CNC quilter that I built. I've been really busy here working on the quilter, I have moved the X-axis motor from the rear of the carriage to the left side mounted face down to facilitate placing the drive cable down the center of the table. I have some photos on the CNCZone photo gallery under members gallery "L". I am making new mounts for each end of the table to have a better placement for the cable. Should have that done by tomorrow evening. I am still interested in testing your quilter software on the CNC Quilter, so when you have finished doing the fine polishing on it let me know and I would be proud to be your beta tester.

Larry

[khalid]

Khalid my friend it has been a long time since I last wrote to you. Just wanted to let you know that when you have the quilter software finished, I would still like to test it out on the CNC quilter that I built. I've been really busy here working on the quilter, I have moved the X-axis motor from the rear of the carriage to the left side mounted face down to facilitate placing the drive cable down the center of the table. I have some photos on the CNCZone photo gallery under members gallery "L". I am making new mounts for each end of the table to have a better placement for the cable. Should have that done by tomorrow evening. I am still interested in testing your quilter software on the CNC Quilter, so when you have finished doing the fine polishing on it let me know and I would be proud to be your beta tester.

Larry

So far i am getting feedback to add some functionalities in embroidery software and now i think this is the last updation with all the menu and Feedrate ;)... Sure I am a lier :(... It will not be the last updation...

Now currently I am designing very very heavy CNC MILLING MACHINE that will cut/mill/drill 8" thick Steel plates.. I am currently gathering quotations for 30Nm stepper Motors and drivers +Hiwin Rails 1" thick, + pricision ground ball screws etc... The drawing will soon be started ....

This machine will be Gantry Type and have a working area of 6feet x 6feet...

Due to some busieee-ness, I could not implement the Gcode for Quilter in my software but as soon as i get the time i will append it for you...

I have uploaded fully functional program at Rapidshare:


1 - Download the software from rapidshare and install it
http://rapidshare.com/files/357858731/Gcode_Generator.rar (http://rapidshare.com/files/357858731/Gcode_Generator.rar)
2-Download VB60.EXE, installed and reboot

3- Replace the executable file the last version (attached here) that enable the save function.
4- Also replace the file name in PROGRAMS FILE, because default option when install the program is the exe file than comes in install program.


Regards

PS:
My above software is compatable with all versions of Microsoft WIndows (Win95 , win 98, windows 2000, WinXP,Windows 7 etc)

[widgetworks_unlimited]

Wow! 8" thick steel plates... How long is your end mill? Are you going to use a forklift or crane to lift them onto the machine?

It's been fun hearing about how your quilting project has really come along - good luck with both machines.

[khalid]

Wow! 8" thick steel plates... How long is your end mill? Are you going to use a forklift or crane to lift them onto the machine?

It's been fun hearing about how your quilting project has really come along - good luck with both machines.

Hmm.. We have Ganry Crane in our Machine Shop.. and all the gadgets for lifting/Placing all type of stock material... Manpurpose for this machine is to drill holes in Exchangers tube sheets and Baffle plates.. In addition to this it will able to mill too..

This project is now EMBROIDERY project..:)
Regards

[zeykr]

Khalid,

Could the program also be modified to export an .eps or .dxf file so that we could convert embroidery files to files for vcarving.

Know there would be lots of extra lines for the fill that would need to be removed, but if you could split into layers based on color it might not be that difficult to do.

[khalid]

Khalid,

Could the program also be modified to export an .eps or .dxf file so that we could convert embroidery files to files for vcarving.

Know there would be lots of extra lines for the fill that would need to be removed, but if you could split into layers based on color it might not be that difficult to do.

For the time being my answer is NO.. It is not for exporting eps etc.. It is just a Gcode generator for already created design in Embroidery software.. It is also a simulator of that design.. it just gives you feel of the Gcode in Pictorial representation graphics...:rolleyes:

[khalid]

Hi All,
I want to share the picture of embroidery artwork RENE has done on his ordinary sewing machine using my Software... He did a great job on it...
I suggested Rene to do following improvements to get positive results

1- Tighten the clothe very well on the Hoop.
2- The white thread on the bobbin emerging in picture shows that Bobbin thread needs more tention...
3- You should apply some embroider paper behind the cloth..This will give drastic improvement in embroidery..

I am adding RENE work here... I hope you all will like what we can do..http://www.cnczone.com/forums/images/smilies/RAINFRO.gifhttp://www.cnczone.com/forums/images/smilies/RAINFRO.gif


Further details can be seen in following thread...

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57404&page=24

PS:
Just note he is using Router and sewing machine to get this result... This is just the begining... and we have to see marvels in future.. We break into the core of high end commercial machines manufacturer...:D

[mikeacg]

Khalid,

The link doesn't work (http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showth...=57404&page=23) as it is shortened. Notice the ellipsis in the middle of the URL - "showth..." code is missing!

Mike

[khalid]

Hi Mike,
I think the link is working now
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57404&page=24

Following is some more test results by RENE.. I also added new functionalities to this software.. The software is FREE and my contribution to the community:):)

PS:
You can see the same floral bucket in Wilcom Studio Simulation.

[mikeacg]

Khalid,

The link is good! I am really liking this. My biggest embroidery machine will sew about 18" x 24". Basically I could do tablecloths with this software!

Thanks so much for taking your time and also for sharing it with us!

[khalid]

Hi Mike,
I hope you will get the machine completed very soon and join us in the embroidery thread...Offcourse you can do table clothes because the design software allows you to make the design as bigger as the machine can do it in one go... Currently the small machines (Home based) having very small hoop system so they are making small designs and you have to change the cloth in hoop..:mad:

Okay..yesterday I tested my system for the first time and you can see the results in attached pictures.... The stitches and the thread tension seems good.. Only problem i was facing is the flex in the hoop holding system...Soon show you some more results after making it more sturdier..... :D

[khalid]

Recently, I have made drastic changes in embroidery software... These changes were necessary to make optimum Gcode for embroidery work...

Previously, I have made the Gcode that took 30minutes, now the same Gcode is effiecient and takes 16minutes on the embroidery machine... I have added functionalities to move both hoop as well as Needle when the the needle is above the cloth..this saves 40% of embroidery time... I have also added 'Machine Setting' dialogue for the users that will help them for setting Z-axis (sewing Wheel) values in Mach3 software

[trickey]

I am very interested in cnc my wife's quilting frame which I built for her
we did buy a shop made one which she was not happy with.
I'm a retired diesel engineer and have been involved in all sorts of hobbies
something someone in the group may be interested in my wife sewing machine has only a 9 inch throat which is not long enough at times
I have made the rear roller move in and out on a slide which gives the machine
a n extra 6 inches taking it to 15 inch movement
it is only manually operated at the moment but I have assembled all the parts to
make it move using a 12 vdc motor have bench tested this idea and it should work anybody interested I will share pictures and info
I will have no problem building the mechanical pieces to cnc the frame but I would need help with software as I have never operated a cnc anything

hope you don't mind me joining in
trickey

[mikeacg]

Khalid,

Are you using any kind of backing on the fabric in the hoop?

Mike