User:MLange

MLange is located outside Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Ordering parts in Canada
The best prices for ordering parts in Canada are mostly found by ordering from US suppliers and dealing with the tax and duty incurred from importing into Canada; however, RobotShop.ca offers quick shipping from Montreal, QC.


 * 3x Pololu A4988 Stepper Driver, $13.35 CDN each from RobotShop.ca (or $11.50 CDN each from MixShop)
 * 3x 68oz-in Stepper Motors, $16.88 CDN each from Sparkfun.com (US)
 * or 3x Soyo 2.8V, 1.68A, 61oz-in NEMA17 Stepper Motors, $18.56 CDN each, from RobotShop.ca
 * or 3x 125oz-in Stepper Motors, $23 CDN each from Phidgets (Canada)
 * 1x 24VDC 6.25A Delta PSU ($44.82 CDN) from Digikey.ca
 * or 1x 24VDC 4.5A TDK/Lambda PSU ($32.69 CDN)
 * or 1x 24VDC 6.5A TDK/Lambda PSU ($38.04 CDN)
 * 1x Set of 5 Small Heatsinks, 7.95 CDN from Sparkfun
 * or maybe I'll grind down a Pentium-era heatsink like this)
 * 1x Arduino Mega 2560 and matching proto-shields
 * or 1x Freeduino (have) and matching proto-shields
 * 1x Powerfist 1.2A Rotary Tool for spindle, $19.99 CDN from Princess Auto (Canada)
 * or 1x Jobmate 36-piece Rotary Tool Kit, $14.99 from Canadian Tire.

My Build

 * 1x Shapeoko Mechanical Kit
 * 3x Pololu A4988 Stepper Driver, $13.35 CDN each from RobotShop.ca
 * 3x 68oz-in Stepper Motors, $16.88 CDN each from Sparkfun.com (US)
 * 1x 24VDC 6.25A Delta PSU, $44.82 CDN from Digikey.ca

My Shapeoko
Serial#: 280

Upgrades Added

 * Zip Ties for Belt Anchors

Upgrades Planned (in no particular order)

 * Self-Powered Arduino (Not USB-powered)
 * 1x 24VDC-to-5VDC switching mode power supply (Digikey.ca, 3W Output (500mA@5V) Seeed, 25W Output)
 * Dust Brush
 * 4x Dollar Store paintbrushes, handles cut off and attached to each other?
 * OR something like this: Instructables: 0% Dust Brush for CNC RotoZip
 * Emergency Stop Button
 * 1x PowerSwitch Tail II (I have the original PowerSwitch Tail) connected to the spindle power cord
 * 1x Red Pushbutton Switch (In the parts bins here somewhere, really) to pull PowerSwitch Tail high/low(?) (OFF) when depressed, and trigger the Arduino to "Shut. Down. Everything", including proper power-down of steppers(?)
 * OR 1x E-Stop Switch (Princess Auto (Canada))
 * Limit Switches (for the X and Y axes) (Maybe using RepRap v7 Opto Limiters, or these)
 * 4x Opto Switches (Digikey, Chassis-Mount/3-pin connector (Here's a better Datasheet), and the matching crimp connector.
 * User Interface (for use without attached computer)
 * 1x LCD Shield (ITead, DFRobot), and Adafruit even has an I2C version (the LCD and buttons together only take two pins)
 * OR 1x VFD Display (BGMicro 4x20 with Enclosure, AllElectronics 16x2 or 20x2)
 * 1x SD Card Shield (ITead, SEEED) or SD Card breakout (ITead)
 * AND/OR 1x Bluetooth shield/module (ITead, SEEED) or Xbee Shield (with Bluetooth or XBee module) to stream wirelessly (and/or perhaps for remote progress monitoring?)
 * Arduino Enclosure
 * Acrylic(?) box with fan for venting and a filter to keep out particulate
 * Preferably something that can be milled with a Shapeoko
 * Touch sensors under the acrylic to allow for UI use without letting shavings/particulate/etc in?
 * OR maybe one of these for the "GO" button: (Rounded: BGMicro / Flat: BGMicro)
 * Wire Wrap
 * Wrap wires with spiral-wrap tubing (Digikey.ca) or split-loom tubing (Princess Auto) and black Zip Ties or some kind of Cable Chain to prevent pinched wires
 * OR use old keyboard spiral wires and PS/2 plugs to connect steppers?
 * OR use hunks of CAT5 cable?
 * Manual X/Y Movement?
 * Wii Nunchuck (clone) over I2C? (I'd imagine I2C could only be used on the Arduino MEGA, as I2c and Serial tend to conflict if used in quick succession on a regular Arduino) (Itead, or any gaming retailer (EBGames (Canada)/Gamestop (US), Walmart, etc)
 * WiiChuck (To connect Wii Nunchuck to Arduino) (Sparkfun, Seeed, Itead)
 * Spindle Speed Control
 * Tap into the spindle's speed control knob/slider?
 * Again with the Wii Nunchuck? G-Code?
 * Pick-and-place Mod
 * Plenty of fun pneumatic stuff here

And eventually, a custom Arduino Shield
Incorporating a number of the elements of the above list into one MEGA-sized (or normal-sized?) *duino Shield, under CC BY-SA
 * Option 1:
 * Separate ATMega328P for GRBL processing (??)
 * 3-4 Pololu A4988 Module sockets and associated electronics
 * Support for 1 or more servos (RC Spindle, etc)
 * Support for 1 or more fans (intake/exhaust and/or fan pointed at drivers)
 * Power Interface for 24VDC -> 5VDC via switching mode power supply (Digikey.ca) to power the Arduino with
 * Limit Switch pin headers and other inputs (IE E-Stop)
 * SPI port for remote-mounted UI and SD card slot via MCP23S17 (VFD/LCD and related switches. Rotary Encoder?)
 * Allow reprogramming of the GRBL ATMega with little/no hardware mods (See this: Digi Pin 10 of base arduino goes to RESET pin of GRBL chip)


 * Option 2:
 * 3-4 STMicro L6470 ICs
 * Support for 1 or more servos (RC Spindle, etc)
 * Support for 1 or more fans (intake/exhaust and/or fan pointed at drivers)
 * Power Interface for 24VDC -> 5VDC via switching mode power supply (Digikey.ca) to power the Arduino with
 * Limit Switch pin headers and other inputs (IE E-Stop)
 * SPI port for remote-mounted UI and SD card slot via MCP23S17 (VFD/LCD and related switches. Rotary Encoder?)

Companies that ship to Canada
This is far from an exhaustive list, of course, just a few favourites. The prices for things vary widely by store. (I don't have any vested interest in any of these stores, I'm just listing them for reference. Feel free to merge this into a larger list of stores/resources) Pro Tip: Don't ever import something into Canada by UPS or Fedex unless absolutely necessary. Go for postal mail (USPS, Hong Kong Post, etc) whenever possible. Even if it's a bit more expensive to ship, it will save you a lot when you take into account UPS's rather high brokerage fees.


 * Electronic Parts and Assemblies
 * Canada
 * DigiKey Canada (Ships from USA, but they will bill Canadian GST/PST/HST so you won't get charged brokerage fees and such by the UPS driver)
 * Phidgets, Calgary, AB (has a nice selection of stepper motors)
 * RobotShop.ca, Montreal, QC
 * Abra Electronics, Montreal, QC
 * MixShop, Toronto, ON
 * USA
 * Adafruit, New York, NY
 * Sparkfun, Boulder, CO
 * China
 * ITead Studio, Shenzhen, China
 * Seeed Studio, Shenzhen, China
 * DFRobot, Shanghai, China (I have no experience dealing with this company, but ran across them in my searches)
 * Electronic Surplus
 * Canada
 * Addison Electronics, Montreal, QC
 * Motrak / Import Best Buys, Montreal, QC
 * USA
 * AllElectronics, Santa Clara, CA (They call you with a shipping quote to Canada if shipping is over $10. Website doesn't calculate shipping. $7.50 minimum shipping and handling. Offers USPS and UPS to Canada)
 * Alltronics, Van Nuys, CA (Offers USPS and UPS to Canada)
 * BGMicro, Garland, TX (USPS to Canada, $7.50 minimum shipping and handling)
 * Futurlec, New York, NY (Among others; my order shipped from Germany with a return address in Thailand)
 * Electronics Goldmine, Scottsdale, AZ (USPS to Canada)