Rebuilding my DIY Desktop CNC with an Arduino

I have been busy rebuilding my DIY CNC machine.  It will be all metal when I get done.  It will also include a USB interface, likely an Arduino.  None of my computers have a parallel port these days.  So something has to be done to resolve that issue.

This first picture is the new metal parts all drilled and ready for assembly.  Well maybe ready to be filed so they can be assembled.....

Here is the first video, getting the electronics working again:



Here is the second video with the X and Y axis working:


I have finally ben able to get GRBL to work with my CNC.
You will need to install the Arduino software.
Then plug in the Arduino and install the driver.
Then Unzip and install the GRBL software into the Arduino library.
Then compile and upload the GRBL software into the Arduino.
Open the serial interface and set the baud rate at 115k
Then install Universal G-Code Sender on the a PC
Set the baud rate to 115K and you should now be able to control the CNC.
Now to get the limit switches to work.....



My latest upgrade is to mount the Arduino to the electrical area.  The limit switches are still not wired up.

The Z axis is now working!

Here is the latest video:

By the way I tried one of the Arduino CNC shield's but the IC's got so hot that you could cook on them and then it started hanging up because it was overheating.

What my Lab / Man Cave looks like

I recently added some more shelves in my lab to hold more books, videos and projects.  Here is a couple of views of the room.

On the left side at the top there is my DVD video collection, below that there are my Volt/Ohm meters, cameras, etc. Lower down is my prototypes for my books in white plastic binders.  Center is my project shelves with some dinosaurs and my CNC machine covered in stuff.  At the bottom there is a cupboard that my dad built for me when I was a teenager.

In this picture is my free-to-me 32 inch TV mounted on the wall.  Below that there is my free-to-me 17 inch laptop and a road kill 24 inch monitor (attached to the Raspberry Pi on the desk at this time).  To the right of that is my Epson printer that was also given to me.  The book shelf on the right side of the picture actually holds books as well as some parts bins and my CD / Software collection.  The cute brown dog is something I made way back when I was in high school.

So there you have it, the room where all of my books have been written, the room where my inventions are being built.

HP Pavilion DV9000 Series Resolder or Reflow the NVidia BGA Chip

I know there are hundreds of other posts on this subject.  I have now tried it and it works!  The last time I sent the motherboard off and spent some money to fix it.  I had two sick HP DV9700 laptop's and I could not even sell them for $40 on eBay.  So with nothing to loose I thought I would give it a try myself.

You will need the following.
1. Spacers for under the motherboard to allow air flow underneath it.
2. An aluminum heat shield, a pie plate works
3. A heat gun capable of reaching about 450 degrees.
4. The defective motherboard.
5. A timer, a cell phone will do.

First run a time test.  Set a piece of solder on a metal surface and with the heat gun one inch away from it see how long it takes to melt the solder.  In my case it took 3 minutes.  Set the motherboard on the spacers and center the heat shield over the GPU chip.  In the picture above it is the left green chip located just above the center of the arc where the cooling fan goes.  Start the timer and hold the heat gun in place moving it slightly to heat the top of the chip evenly.  After the timer runs out let the motherboard cool slowly, like for 30 minutes before handling it or reassembling it.

  

Reassemble everything and hopefully you now have a working laptop!  So far this has fixed every motherboard that I have tried it on.  This fixes problems like CD ROM drive not recognized, No sound, garbage on screen, etc.