This is the latest job

It was a difficult job to complete. Gs kept stopping and freezing forcing me to restart several times. I had to restart my PC to free up Gs. I wish that the team at Longmill would fix this. I discovered that if I slow down to 35 inches per min I could get the many carvings that I had to do done. Everything on this clock minus the electronics was done on the Longmill MK 2.


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@doublednpr VERY fine, Dan!

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Wow! That’s incredible!

WOW! Super fine Dan.

Thanks! If the Gs team could fix the problem with the freezing problem I would enjoy this system even more.

What version are you running? I had a similar freezing back on 1.1.0 but my router kept running the gcode while the visualizer froze at 47% complete. I just left it running and the visualizer started back up at 69%. Job ran to completion. They worked on that and released 1.1.1 and then a few days later 1.1.2 which I am now running on. Just completed a 2 hour spoilboard resurfacing with no issues.

I have a little different issue. The controller stops the router but the visualizer acts as thought it is still controlling the router. Also a strange observation in regards to where the visuaizer thinks the router is. They get out of sink and when the white dot on the visualizer falls about 5 to 7 inches behind the true location of the router on the project the controller stops controlling the router. But Gs acts as though it is still running though it is frozen. I have to restart the computer. It is very strange.

@doublednpr It could be many things, Dan, but, for a start, if you are running Windows, make sure that all power saving settings for USB ports and USB hubs are turned off. You may need to do this in both power settings and then in device manager for the USB devices.

What a beautiful job you have made of this chalet style cuckoo clock. It is redolent of a specific era in clock production. It paints a very evocative image and one can imagine the sound that it makes as it chimes the hour. The dark colouring was perfect for this style of clock which could almost be a black forest timepiece. Lovely work, Dan. It makes me want to up my game. :+1:

A new challenge for your very skilled work is this intricate Jagdstück. It is a black forest timepiece dating back to around c.1900.

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I am 71 and do not have a lot of expertise in Windows 10. This operating system is brand new for me. Can you explain what you are talking in a more simplistic way?

@doublednpr I’ve sent you a private message, Dan.

Can you send the STL files for this clock. I will give it a try.

Hi Dan. I am sorry, I do not have any files for this clock. It was am image found on Wikipedia. I am working on creating .stl files from images but I have not much success to report yet.

Great job, Dan. You’re eons beyond my CNC level! Great job.

Thanks so much! But I am thinking about getting rid of this equipment. It takes to many hours to do these 3D carving and this equipment can’t keep up. It goes to sleep and locks up and you are forced to restart. My current project started last Sunday and I have had to restart every day. This is a 9 hour job and it stopped between 55-85 percent completed. I am tired and I can get support from Longmill. They say they are going to get back but nothing.

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@doublednpr That’s really too bad, Dan. My previous offer to help is still on the table. I understand, though, if you prefer to move on.

You think that sounds a little harsh? I was very upset with the crazy problems with this system. I think that if I made signs and plaques this system would work. But I work on projects that take a lot of time to build. All of them 3D. If anyone knew how to keep these systems working even at 35 in/min I would live with it. I don’t think I am living to a ripe old age but this stopping problem is killing me fast.

I would like to have others that are having the same issues get on a conference call and brainstorm. You can call me and we can talk.
Dan

@doublednpr I don’t know who you are addressing, Dan, but I certainly never said nor intimated that your comments were harsh.

A week ago, I sent you a private message offering to call you to see if we could resolve your issues. As you did not respond, I did nothing further.

Since many others on here have had similar problems (including me) and since there are several threads setting out how they solved their problems, perhaps some of them will take you up on your offer of a conference call. Keep in mind, though, that your phone number is not available to anyone here. I would strongly suggest that you do not post it on the open forum. Reserve it for private messages.

Hi Dan. I have no idea what your background is but your work is really inspirational. The whole CNC machine thing is the rapid development of the hobby arena. There are numerous machines out there and whether you choose Shapeoko, StepCraft, Longmill, Avid &c., there will not be any out of the box solution at this end of the CNC hobbyist market, which does not require fettling.

It is the nature of these machines that no manufacturer at this end of the market can tell what conditions their machines will be used under. That has to make it incredibly difficult to make recommendations that suit all needs and even harder to support every use case. After a couple of false starts with machines that could not really do what I needed or they were built to poor standards, I settled on my current machine.

It took a lot of learning and time to make the machine do what I thought is should be capable of. Now it does that and it works to precise tolerances. It is not screw driven but belt driven and I could not be happier. It will create workpieces that I have designed and produce them at tolerances of ±0.001" . It is still a hobby machine and I would never contemplate using it for a commercial production environment but I know of someone who uses the same machine for commercial projects.

I guess I am saying that you will be rewarded by sticking with it. Unless you are willing to spend $30,000 on a Haas or similar commercial machine, you are unlikely to get instant results and the learning curve for creating what you want is still relatively steep. Of course you are free to tell me I am talking nonsense and go anyway.

Matching your desires with a CNC machine may not be the easiest thing if you do not know what you are going to ask the machine to do and then understand whether that machine you have selected is able to produce what you want. My journey is about 21 months old once I had got my third machine in a year and had an affinity for what could be achieved with it. I may not have enough experience or background to even discuss this with you. I have now got to a point where I can design and produce anything I wish to make with my machine. Had I abandoned it in the early days (when it only produced major headaches for me) I would not be enjoying it now.

I hope you stay because I would love to learn how to produce the quality of work that you have shown here. Somewhat selfishly, I don’t wish to see you leave before I have acquired some additional skills using your knowledge. If you choose some other options, I wish you all the best.

Jeff

Thanks for the kind words. I would appreciate any support and insights that would help me make this work. Longmill support and management has not helped to date. You seem to be very intelligent and maybe we together can find a solution. There is one problem I hate messaging. Today nobody talks they message.

Do you know anyone else that is having similar issues? I can give you more about who I am and what I know if we can talk sometime soon.

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