I’ve been working on a 3d wire bender to make some springs, as I need them to be right, the first time, and every time after that.
First thing I did is look at a bunch of tutorials. So far not a one is perfect, but it’s got enough stuff to make a go at it.
My idea is to set the device as a GCode unit, with the X being the rotation, the Y being the 2nd rotation axis, and the Z being the feed, similar to a Lathe.
in my case, it’s going to be a bit different as the machine has to look like this.
Image is courtesy of https://howtomechatronics.com/projects/arduino-3d-wire-bending-machine/
The Z axis rotates the bender unit around the wire, and the bender unit puts a crimp in it, which is running on the X axis. This leaves the feeder unit, which is basically a MIG wire welder feeder, but tied to a stepper motor so it can be moved out a specific distance as the Y axis.
The only odd thing is the pin at the end has to be able to push on both sides of the wire, so it has to be able to be raised and lowered on ether side of the existing bend. I’m going to use a servo to do this.