Switches

Even though it sounds simple and straightforward, switch selection for your CNC is very important.

You need to consider many factors to make sure your machine is user friendly, dependable and most importantly SAFE.

The standard switches would be a general push button type. Depending on the manufacturer, there may be different types of

button shrouds, colors and heights offered. These different shrouds and heights will make the button more or less intuitive to press.

A high shroud that extends past the top of the button would force you to be more exact when you go to press it. A flush shroud

would be less exact and a lower than the button top would be easiest to press. Why does this matter? Take my CNC for example.

I have some buttons on my CNC called "Pause" and "Start" (Picture HERE). The start button is green and has a flush shroud. The pause

button is red and is raised. The colors tell me "STOP and GO" and the difference in button height allows me to

know what button I'm pressing without looking. If I need to pause the CNC job, I'm probably watching the cut and need to

be able to pause the job quickly without taking my eyes off the job. The raise button head makes it easier to press.

Undoubtedly the most important button will be the emergency stop or more commonly know E-Stop button. These

are usually larger than any other button, are the color red and have a push/pull or push/twist action (Picture HERE).

The push/pull type is "ON" when the plunger is pulled out and off when it's pushed in. The push/twist is "ON" when

pulled out and off when pressed in with the main difference being to reset it you have to give it about a 30 degree twist

for it to reset to the "ON" position. These are very useful when you have children around. On my CNC I have one

E-Stop that controls Mach3 and one that is a "all power off" to the entire CNC machine.

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January 5, 2012