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View Full Version : BUILD LOG: My Build - I blame you lot for this....!



HiltonSteve
31-07-2009, 11:28 PM
Today I finally got machine cutting after 2 months of design and building something that ended up nothing like what I was originally going to build, but that seems the norm! Don't know how much I have spent and don't really want to add it up otherwise it may put me off building another machine.

Totally enjoyed it from beginning to end (not that its complete yet), I got up this morning at 7.45am and was in the workshop at 7.50am with a cup of coffee adding the finishing touch's, at 9.30am I started it up and milled some writing on a piece of MDF with a big smile on my face. Something really rewarding about building a machine and seeing it work for the first time.

Spec -

All aluminium frame - tooling plate which I got at the right price!
80 x 40 Aluminium extrusion for bed length
THK 20mm linear slide all round - 4 bearings per axis
16mm Rolled ballscrews and nuts all round - courtesy of ZAPP.
3.1Nm stepper motors all round - Roy - DIYCNC
5A driver cards (Driver 50's) - Roy - DIYCNC
Uniport BOB - Roy - DIYCNC
36V power supply - Roy - DIYCNC
XLR connectors, stepper cable - Arc Eurotrade
Kress 1050 240v Spindle
Sideplate profiling - John S (nice job John)
Ballscrew machining - Me - On Leinen lathe I bought!
Motor and ball nut mounts - Me - again on lathe
Idea's and advice - you lot...


So I have attached some build pics which I have been taking while putting it together for you all to take the piss, point out the faults, tell me how nice it looks, etc etc.

There are 2 issue's I have with the machine at the moment and I am hoping for some sensible solutions please......

1 - The steppers run a bit notchy when at low speed, this may be normal but I am pretty new to all this, still seems to mill nice. Tried them on various microsteeping settings which did not make a difference and also Roy's advice from DIYCNC which made a slight improvement but I am still not 100% happy with them.

2 - Vibration on ballnuts when running between 1500 and 2700 mm per min, especially the 1m x axis. The nuts are lined up spot on with the screws to the point were I have been shimming them with shim steel to fine tune them. I can make the vibration go away by putting slight side force on the screw in any direction near the nut when running but did not think that was a solution. There is a very slight runout on the X axis screw in the centre and I mean very slight... bigger ballscrews, better quality or more grease???

The MDF bed is only temporary, I plan on making a T slot bed later on. Need to do a bit more testing and fine tuning first.

The large holes surrounded by the 4 smaller ones in the sideplates are for the built in 4th axis when I get round to it, that was John S's idea!

Not sure whether to build a smaller machine or a bigger one next, probably be a bigger one..!

HankMcSpank
01-08-2009, 12:57 AM
A great job (one thing's for sure - I'm never gonna post up pictures of my scrapheap challege CNC rig after that!).

I can only add one small comment about your 'issue-ettes ....I can't see what type of couplers you're using (they're hidden), but what I established after using my little machine for a short while, is that the L050 'jaw couplers' I was using were very unforgiving wrt motor/rod misalignment (not saying your rods/motors are misaligned, and I can see you're saying they're not!)...I've since bought some Oldham couplers & wow, what a difference they make!

Anyway...great job - you've obviously thrown a lot of thought, effort (not to say dosh) at it!

John S
01-08-2009, 01:14 AM
Steve,
Problem 2, can you get any tension on the floating end of the ball screw and pull it to get some tension on it ?
I know you have double angular contacts at the drive end but if it's just floating over 1metre then it could be whipping,

Problem 1, Give me a bell over the weekend, I may have a fix.

.

Kn8
01-08-2009, 04:49 AM
Steve
A very nice job!
Ivan

bikepete
01-08-2009, 08:15 AM
Wow, looks great! Congratulations...

Swarfing
01-08-2009, 08:48 AM
Putting me to shame Steve as i am still on the last base. Great job and at last you can play with your new toy.

HiltonSteve
01-08-2009, 09:50 AM
Steve,
Problem 2, can you get any tension on the floating end of the ball screw and pull it to get some tension on it ?
I know you have double angular contacts at the drive end but if it's just floating over 1metre then it could be whipping,

Problem 1, Give me a bell over the weekend, I may have a fix.

.

Problem 2 - Yes John, I could screwcut the ends of the ballscrews that are sticking out on the x and y as I left them a bit long and turned them down to 10mm, how much tension will it need as I only have a normal bearing in that end. I could always change it for a angular contact though (just 1). Running at 3100mm/min on rapid at moment and the vibration go's away when its warmed up, could it be that beacuse the gantry moves so easily that there is no load on the ballnut? I can feel a very small amount of backlash in the nut if i get hold of the gantry and pull and push on it, and I mean very small amount.

Problem 1 - Speak to you later.

John S
01-08-2009, 10:23 AM
Only if it works :clap:
Not all R&D sees the light of day.

Steve, battery on charge on the phone, try later.

HiltonSteve
01-08-2009, 11:03 AM
A great job (one thing's for sure - I'm never gonna post up pictures of my scrapheap challege CNC rig after that!).

I can only add one small comment about your 'issue-ettes ....I can't see what type of couplers you're using (they're hidden), but what I established after using my little machine for a short while, is that the L050 'jaw couplers' I was using were very unforgiving wrt motor/rod misalignment (not saying your rods/motors are misaligned, and I can see you're saying they're not!)...I've since bought some Oldham couplers & wow, what a difference they make!

Anyway...great job - you've obviously thrown a lot of thought, effort (not to say dosh) at it!

Scrapheap challenge is one of my favourite programs, don't be ashamed and get some photo's up..!

As for the couplers, I am already using oldham's.

HiltonSteve
01-08-2009, 11:55 AM
Shiny bits :D 4th axis could be a limiter....depending on what you want to do with it.

Stick with the MDF bed.....5m rapids on the Z can get a bit giddy when setting up lol

I have some slatwall earmarked for mine.

I thought you would like the shiny bits kipster..! lol

HiltonSteve
01-08-2009, 03:49 PM
Steve how wide is your Z plate that router is mounted to?

150mm - Check out the PDF attachment on my first post, most of the important dimensions are on there.

This was the minimum distance to allow for to thk bearings to fit end to end and also give me enough room to fit the nut and mount block behind.

BillTodd
01-08-2009, 06:57 PM
Very nice job Steve :)

HiltonSteve
01-08-2009, 08:34 PM
Just been playing with my new toy.

Just made this.....

Cycle time 7 mins
Cutter - Solid carbide 6mm dia 3 flute endmill
Spindle speed - No.2 on Kress router
Depth of cut - 2mm
Feedrate -800mm/min

Made a bit of noise and a lot of mess but i am quite impressed, just did it all in one pass, next time i will rough it and finish it then it should come out even nicer.

John S
01-08-2009, 09:30 PM
Yabut when Kip gets his free to a good home plasma working it will do the same thing in 5 seconds in hardened steel to 4 microns.

Alltogether now "We don't want no skeenking alloy"

:rofl:

.

HiltonSteve
01-08-2009, 09:41 PM
Stop it Now. . .. . your teasing me on purpose.:nope:
Looks great to me just has is mate. . . . . If my machine cuts like that I,ll be well chuffed.

Another pic below of the finished article, just had to finish it off..!


When we going to see a vid of it in action.

Kip take note, A "router" cutting the " Occasional bit of Ali ":rofl:

Charging video camera now, will have vid posted tomorrow for you.

Hemsworthlad, do you have a spindle mount yet for that machine you are building??

HiltonSteve
02-08-2009, 02:05 AM
Made it all myself, let me know what you want in it and I will see what I can do.

HiltonSteve
02-08-2009, 07:17 PM
OK latest update...

Been trying to mill a 3D rooster from the Cut 3D demo program this afternoon and found a problem with my machine, after doing a finishing cut with a 3mm ballnose it returned to x0 y0 and was about 3-5mm out. I put it down to loosing steps and tried different settings in the motor tuning by changing the velocity and accel, made absolutely no difference at all.

Then I remebered that I had upped the kernal speed when trying 1/16th stepping so I dropped it down from 45k back to 25k and hey presto, no more lost steps, in fact the motors are running a lot smoother and the ballscrews vibration seems to have dissapeared.

Don't fully understand this so if someone could explain why the kernel speed was so critical I would be interested to know.

I am ruuning mach on an old compaq P3 866mhz machine but in the driver setup program it said it was running 'excellent' at 45k.

John S
02-08-2009, 08:17 PM
You must be nuts to run at that kernal speed.

.

HiltonSteve
02-08-2009, 10:25 PM
You must be nuts to run at that kernal speed.

.

Had to up the kernal speed because it was limiting the max speed of the motors. At 1/16th microstepping I was set at 3200 steps per mm which meant the max i could get the velocity to was about 460mm / min.

John S
02-08-2009, 10:38 PM
Oh sod it, forget it that joke was obviously wasted ......................

HiltonSteve
02-08-2009, 10:54 PM
Light bulb just came on.... :biggrin:

Swarfing
03-08-2009, 11:13 PM
Is this about routing or rooting????....both sound good anyway lmao

Lee Roberts
04-08-2009, 03:07 AM
The large holes surrounded by the 4 smaller ones in the sideplates are for the built in 4th axis when I get round to it, that was John S's idea!

I was just about to ask !

HiltonSteve
04-08-2009, 03:54 PM
Ok, here's the video for you. Its a bit noisy so be warned.

DIY CNC Router cutting MYCNCUK logo in MDF

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oL4Du3OmBs

Swarfing
04-08-2009, 04:42 PM
I am Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo jealous :toot::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:

audioandy
04-08-2009, 06:39 PM
Great video Steve and congrats on the machine,what did you use to generate the g code?

Andy

HiltonSteve
04-08-2009, 06:45 PM
Great video Steve and congrats on the machine,what did you use to generate the g code?

Andy

ArtCam pro.

Took me a few hours to get to grips with it but once you get the hang of it you can do anything you want. You can download a trial version from the website if you want to have a play.

http://www.artcam.com/downloads/brochures/brochures.html

HiltonSteve
05-08-2009, 10:18 AM
OK, will sort it tonight.

Never mind routers cutting ali, considering making a slower high torque spindle and fitting a coolant pump so that I can cut steel. I think it should be possible with small carbide endmills but we will see.......

bikepete
05-08-2009, 11:47 AM
Quick query Steve - when you said in the OP "All aluminium frame - tooling plate which I got at the right price!" any chance you could let on where that was from?

See John S is recommending ASC Metals (http://www.ascmetals.com/) in another thread. Thought might also be worth trying Metalfast's offcuts service (http://www.metalfast.co.uk/offcuts%20and%20bar%20ends.htm) but apart from those any ideas?

HiltonSteve
05-08-2009, 02:28 PM
Quick query Steve - when you said in the OP "All aluminium frame - tooling plate which I got at the right price!" any chance you could let on where that was from?

Leengate Metals in Nottingham - http://www.leengatemetals.co.uk/

I got all my aluminium tooling plate for the same price as standard plate as they had just bought a load from a company that went bang. Don't know if they have any left but I would have thought so.

HiltonSteve
05-08-2009, 02:28 PM
Try service metals...They just quoted me happy on a piece of 800x420x30mm plate....Just crept into 3 figures!


Thats a good price.....

HiltonSteve
05-08-2009, 07:43 PM
Photo of same logo in aluminium.....

3mm cutter
600mm/min

took about 10 mins.

I think I could seriously speed it up by taking less material in one cut and up the feedrates, going to have another go now...

John S
05-08-2009, 09:43 PM
Dunno what the problem is cutting metal on a router ?

I bought my little Isel for small metal jobs and engraving.

http://www.stevenson-engineers.co.uk/files/llanfairpg.jpg

Done as a demo but look at the tails of the g's, every one is perfect and finishes up as a feather edge.

Any lost steps, loose screws etc would have meant that it lacked consistency.

.

HiltonSteve
05-08-2009, 10:28 PM
Nice job john, what cutters did you use for that??

Just had another go at the MYCNCUK logo with different method -

3mm coated carbide cutter running at between no.3 and no.4 on the kress.
Finish depth 3mm both times.

1st time -
Rough it out with 1.5mm depth of cut @ 600mm/min leaving 0.5mm on the sides then finish it at same speed. Time taken - 10mins

2nd time -
Rough it out with 1mm depth of cut @ 1000mm/min, fancy ramping moves instead of plunging, leaving 0.3 in the bottom and 0.5 on the sides, finish cut at the same speed. Time taken - 11 mins

Problem is cutter keeps getting clogged up, did not stop it just tried to dodge the large clogged up bits coming off the cutter now and again.

Will be buying some proper cutters for aluminium tomorrow, see if thats any better.

John S
05-08-2009, 11:03 PM
Try LanfairPG :rofl:

John S
05-08-2009, 11:10 PM
Steve,
The problem is recutting chips, the less flutes the better as it's not the cutting action that's the problem, it's the space for the chips to go.
A single flute router cutter works best in alloy unless you buy special cutters.

Even then you need coolant, well more lubricant to be precise to stop the welding to the tool.

WD40 is advise for aleoy and it works well but being tight I make my own, 75% paraffin and 25% ATF or any light hydraulic oil.

Modify an oild spray gun to give you plenty of air but just a dribble of knacker laqueur.

.

Lee Roberts
05-08-2009, 11:35 PM
Problem is cutter keeps getting clogged up

I can’t find the link now but I did read on a wiki page awhile ago that this because the cutter is cutting/braking the chips up to fast and that the flutes can't remove them from the job quick enough.

I also tested this when I had my Rockcliff running, I started off with a speed that was ok and seemed to work, I then turned the speed up on the router and that’s when everything went a wee bit Pete Tong!

Sure enough the cutter started to clog and then started to jam in the Ali, the end result was this:

Click the image for a bigger view ! (http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photoplog/images/2/1_DSC06356.JPG)

http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photoplog/images/2/medium/1_DSC06356.JPG (http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photoplog/images/2/1_DSC06356.JPG)

Now it may have pushed on but I was using some spring clamps to hold the Ali down and as soon as the jamming started the Ali plate started to move and the E-Stop was the call of the day.

I have looked for the "right" speeds for different size cutters but everyone seems to run different to the next man. I think you basically have to work out what works for you in different materials and then log the data for next time you want to do the same kind of job.

Lee

Lee Roberts
05-08-2009, 11:37 PM
John replyed as i was typing my reply out.

John S
05-08-2009, 11:47 PM
Learn to type faster.:nope:
.

HiltonSteve
06-08-2009, 11:08 PM
Been playing with my machine again trying to get aluminium to cut nice and...

John, you were right. (No suprise there then! :wink:)

Tried a few different methods of profiling some 2mm aluminium sheet and came to the conclusion that slower is better with these 3 flute cutters that I have.

After various speeds and welding some ali to a 3mm cutter (is there an easy way to get it off without breaking the tool??) I ended up with the kress set on 1 and cutting at 100mm/min with a full 2mm cut straight through the plate, started chipping lovely, gave it a squirt of wd40 and vacuumed the chips up now and again.

I believe that any reasonably built router will be capable of cutting ali with the right speeds and feeds as the cutting forces are very low.

I think I will be able to go a bit quicker with the 2 flute ali master cutters that I have ordered but I will let you know tomorrow.

So here is a photo of my new Z axis sideplate.....:smile:

HiltonSteve
07-08-2009, 09:23 AM
SMcnc!!. . . . . . You got that right we all must be Sado Macochists to do this.:rofl:

I was thinking more down the lines of Smoking Monkey CNC but you do have a point...

HiltonSteve
08-08-2009, 11:21 AM
Just made an ali part with my new Ali Master cutters, using these compared to my 3 flute carbide cutters is like night and day.

No clogging, cuts easier, faster feedrates and a better finish.

If anyone is thinking of cutting ali on your router (yes Kip, cutting aluminium on your router!) then get some of these. Best £7.00 I have spent in ages.

HiltonSteve
09-08-2009, 10:19 PM
So...you got an Alimaster from cutwel? congrats or did you mean an Alu master? either way stick to the centre of the table eh ;) and don't measure the resultant work...Engraving is fine...don't be telling me you can replace a machine tool with a router...please!

Well me owd kipster its bad news I'm afraid....

Made a part yesterday out of 20mm alu/ali/ally plate and put a 38.1mm bore through it with a 6mm alue/allie/hally master cutter and it came out at 38.07. Measured it in 6 different places and yes its concentric (big word, had to check it on spellchecker). Was a bit pissed off though being 0.03 undersize so altered the cutter comp and put it right.

Yes it was near the middle of the table but thats because it seemed the most sensible place to put it. Honestly don't think it would matter were it was on this machine.

Could my router replace a machine tool...... No. I used to have a HAAS VF0 (little baby one) and that could do jobs like this in a quarter of the time but were's the fun in that..?

John S
09-08-2009, 10:25 PM
Steve,
repeat after me

"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "


"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "


"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "


"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "


"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "


"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "

.:wave:

HiltonSteve
09-08-2009, 10:30 PM
"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "


"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "


"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "


"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "


"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "


"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "

"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "


"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "


"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "


"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "


"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "


"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "


(how long for?)

John S
09-08-2009, 10:35 PM
Till I get me shuttle back..............

.

HiltonSteve
09-08-2009, 10:46 PM
Just been in workshop to polish my bed mill, got a bit dirty after milling all that hallumiyum plate over the weekend, nice and shiny again now.:smile:

Shame kips not around, he would of really liked a photo of it.

(John, looks like i'll be repeating

"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "


"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "


"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "


"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "


"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "


"It's not a router, it's a bed mill "

for a while...):naughty:

John S
09-08-2009, 10:49 PM
bastard..................

.

PS any good pubs near Hilton ?

HiltonSteve
09-08-2009, 10:52 PM
Yes.. (message to short my arse!)

John S
09-08-2009, 10:58 PM
Good, you can take me for a pint when i collect me shuttle

Pm sent over another job, you'll like it, just fit on your bed mill :whistling:

HiltonSteve
09-08-2009, 11:11 PM
Good, you can take me for a pint when i collect me shuttle



Bastard..........

MikeyC38
10-08-2009, 02:49 PM
Hi HiltonSteve - Great build - I'm going to be using 80x40 extrusions on my build. How thick are the ally tool plates supporting the 80x40 sides on your build?

Thanks

Mike

HiltonSteve
10-08-2009, 06:10 PM
15mm.

If you pm me your email i will send you the drawing if you want it.

Kammo1
10-08-2009, 06:31 PM
Hi Steve haven't posted in a long time as my computer is as sick as a skegness donkey and a bit temperamental but have managed to get back on the net and must say what a fantastic machine and after seeing that I have gave up on my MDF "SPECIAL" and will go the aluminium rout. I see you had a good mentor Mr John S what a great bloke and I must e-mail him and try and get my build back on track and what to do next. That is the sort of machine I would like to build and I also live in Long Eaton literally 5 mins away from John and I see your in Derby what a small world eh? Would love to see that baby working bro maybe some time........

HiltonSteve
10-08-2009, 07:02 PM
Thanks Kammo....

If you want to come round and see it in action then your more than welcome, also happy to help pointing you in the right direction as it is amazing how much you learn in a short space of time building a machine.

If your 5 mins away from John S then I am sure he can help with all the stuff that you need, but if he's too busy then I'm only 15 mins away.

Good thing about John is that he lets you 'borrow' loads of stuff and you don't have to take it back....:naughty:

John S
10-08-2009, 07:14 PM
Bastard........

List so far

Quick change toolpost
HSS engraving cutter
Solid carbide engraving cutter
Shuttle Express.
Kress 800

Still trying to remember.

HiltonSteve
10-08-2009, 08:23 PM
Bastard........

List so far

Quick change toolpost
HSS engraving cutter
Solid carbide engraving cutter
Shuttle Express.
Kress 800

Still trying to remember.

Never had a Kress of you....... honest me lord

As for the rest, hows £20 quid sound?

John S
10-08-2009, 10:34 PM
Never had a Kress of you....... honest me lord

As for the rest, hows £20 quid sound?

Well it was worth a try.............

Is that £20 per week or per day ?

HiltonSteve
10-08-2009, 11:35 PM
Tell wou what, keep that colour laser printer I gave you and we will call it quits.......:wink:

John S
10-08-2009, 11:46 PM
Keep it ? can't skipped it, gone to the big scrapyard in the sky, it was as reliable as a ..

*!/?-=# bastard let go me arm.................

HiltonSteve
10-08-2009, 11:55 PM
SKIPPED IT ???????

It was alright 'till you dropped it .
:sad:


hopefully John's not wearing his glass's and can't read this, been trying to get rid of that piece of crap for ages.....

Ross77
14-08-2009, 12:59 AM
hopefully John's not wearing his glass's and can't read this, been trying to get rid of that piece of crap for ages.....


Probably can now:yahoo:

John S
14-08-2009, 09:30 AM
BASTARD

Someone I know is in for a smack with my white stick.

.

AdCNC
15-08-2009, 07:19 PM
Hi Steve, i was looking at your build and must say A1 on the machining front as regards to the aluminum! how did you cut the two sides out of what looks to me like 3/4" or 20mm aluminum plate?

John S
15-08-2009, 07:43 PM
Steve's on holiday for a fortnight so can't answer but being a true mate and to stop the bastard lying thru his teeth I can tell you he didn't cut them, I did.

At the time Steve didn't have a working machine, a bit of chicken and egg situation, no sides, no machine but need to machine sides etc.
Steve did the drawings and supplied the material.

I ignored his drawings and did it how I wanted :yahoo:Musta been a fluke but it worked out OK.

.

AdCNC
15-08-2009, 08:50 PM
Ahh right well i must say you made a good job then :D im in the process of making a machine, but on a slightly larger scale ( 6x4ft ) mainly out of alloy but the bench is good old wood! i just need to machine the sides out but can see them being a right arse ache as they are 20mm thick and around 305 x 750mm. i was thinking of either making a undersize template in wood and using a router with a small end mill and do it manually or i was goin draw them up in CAD n tackle some engineering place but i dunna want shell out too much on getting the damn things cut out!

John S
15-08-2009, 10:10 PM
Just squeeze 305 x 750 on the Beaver I reckon, have to check the 750 bit later.

.

AdCNC
16-08-2009, 12:06 AM
oh righty!, Beaver eh? ill have to think of a name for mine when its finished! :)

Cheers for that anyways john!

HiltonSteve
16-08-2009, 11:05 AM
I might be on holiday but I'm still here!

I can confirm that John has a really nice big beaver and he knows how to use it, did a great job for me and can highly recommend him.

If he can't fit your job on then it should just fit on mine, so one of us should be able to sort you out.

AdCNC
16-08-2009, 11:05 PM
Well thanks a million guys i dont live that far from you, good old sunny stoke! as for your beavers i would love to see them in action ;)

Lee Roberts
19-08-2009, 08:23 PM
Geeet your beavers outtttt, Geeet your beavers outtttt, Geeet your beavers out for the lad !

HiltonSteve
07-09-2009, 01:14 AM
Been playing with my machine for a few weeks now and everything is running sweet, the only problem I have is getting rid of the dust / chips when cutting wood and MDF, its amazing how much crap a 6mm cutter can create in very short space of time! Up to now I have been using our old Dyson vacuum which to be fair does a reasonable job but not really up to continous use and will soon be dead if I carry on abusing it!

So yesterday I went out and bought myself a small(ish) dust and chip extractor (see photo's below) which came with a standard 4" flexible pipe, this baby is quieter, shifts a lot more air and is built to run continously.

Now I have seen the router dust extractor mounts that fit around the spindle with the brush's and plastic flaps but just did not like the idea. Seems to me that they will probably end up getting in the way when cutting or changing tools so.... I had an idea and knocked up and bit of a prototype out of a couple of bits of MDF and the top off of an old 4" drain pipe connector this afternoon (see pics).

First test run it worked very well, cut a few deep slots in some MDF and when finished there was little or no dust or chippings around at all.

Still a bit bulky but just wanted to prove the theory a this stage, final design will probably incorporate the router mount into it and make it all out of aluminium.

But before I go any further with this has anyone seen or used anything similar that may be able to throw a few other ideas into the pot???

ptjw7uk
07-09-2009, 08:57 AM
Most of the professional ones have a brush curtain to contain the 'splash' from the cutter. Only problem I foresee is that if the base gets to large then it will restrict the x and y movement. It would be great if the system could actually surround the router could aid cooling but would be very hard to design.

Peter

HiltonSteve
09-09-2009, 11:55 PM
I have been doing some feed/speed calculations for cutting wood and mdf and found that my feedrates are nowhere near what they need to be to give me the correct chipload, this would explain why my carbide cutters seem to produce a lot of dust in mdf and dull off quite quickly.


Calculation -

Chipload required for MDF with a 6mm cutter = 0.33-0.41
My min spindle speed with Kress 1050 - 10,000rpm
No of flutes on cutter - 3

Feedrate = number of flutes x chipload x rpm

So... feedrate = 3 x 0.33 x 10,000

Feedrate = 9,900 mm/min !!!!

A 2 flute cutter would drop this to 6,600 mm/min, but this is still pretty high.


The problem is my machine only had a max feedrate of 2900mm/min, played with all sorts of settings when i first got it running but that was the best I could get. Feedrates/rapid speeds above that and I got stepper motors stalling and missing steps, but tonight i decided to have another go. So, I switched everything on and found for the first 2-3 mins I could get my feedrates up to 7,000 mm /min but then I started getting stepper problems, kept bringing the values down until the problems went away and guess what the feedrate ended up at.... 2900mm/min!

Took the top off my controller box to see how hot the driver cards were and found that the heatsinks on them were seriously hot, you could only hold your finger on them for 5-10secs. So I decided to do a bit of a cooling mod....

Found a couple of 120mm 12v PC fans and made some mounts for them, fixed them over the top of the driver cards which more or less covered the cards completely and wired them up to a spare 12v supply. (see photo's below)

I now have the motors running at 5,000mm/min without any issues and the driver cards don't even get warm. I did wind it up to 7,500mm/min but to be honest I think its just too fast for the machine, 5,000 looks and feels much more comfortable. The next problem was acceleration and decel, had to wind this up to 1000 mm/sec to get square corners when cutting rectangular pockets. I may have to screw the machine down to the bench now to stop it from throwing itself off!

Now running at these speeds it looks feels much more aggressive, maybe a bit too aggressive but does seem to cut a lot cleaner and a damn site quicker.

Conclusion - Cutting MDF can be a bastard nightmare, it can give you cancer and knackers your cutting tools. Looks like I might steer away from using it too much in the future. But from what I have read most woods are in a similar chipload window so still need similar feedrates to the above, may look at getting some 1 flute cutters so I can reduce the feedrates and see if they are any better.

Anyone else finding the need to run this fast when cutting mdf/wood?

John S
10-09-2009, 12:10 AM
Single flutes are the way to go, It's not so much chip load but space to get the chips out the way so you are not recutting chips.

Couple of people on Ebay selling Trend single flute router cutters in carbide.

I use these on Tufnol which is very abrasive and they last a long time.


Never tried Roy's 5 amp drivers as I have a load of the 7.8 amp Chinese drivers. Was running bastard Gecko 201's but these Chinese drives outperform them easily, better rapids, cooler running but best off all they don't blow up on switch on now that Marriss has now kindly admitted to on the zone.

HiltonSteve
10-09-2009, 12:22 AM
Never tried Roy's 5 amp drivers as I have a load of the 7.8 amp Chinese drivers. Was running bastard Gecko 201's but these Chinese drives outperform them easily, better rapids, cooler running but best off all they don't blow up on switch on now that Marriss has now kindly admitted to on the zone.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that there is anything wrong with Roy's 5A drivers, just that if anyone is thinking of using them then make sure you keep them cool, maybe what I have done with the cooling is a bit over the top with the 2 x 120mm fans, I was only looking for one fan and found two so I thought I may as well stick them both in whilst I am at it.

But now they are cooler they run just fine.

I will have a hunt round on ebay and get myself some of those single flute cutters, they do sound like the way to go. Ta.!

compfranon
05-03-2010, 12:03 AM
Thats a beauty of a job you did on the driver and power supply housing, most professional. Did you use an old desktop pc case.

HiltonSteve
05-03-2010, 11:37 AM
Thats a beauty of a job you did on the driver and power supply housing, most professional. Did you use an old desktop pc case.

I designed and made the controller case from scratch and yes it did turn out really nice. I have considered making a few more which I will look into if i get enough interest.

I could either just supply the powder coated cases empty but with the mounting holes for the drivers etc and the front stainless plate cutomized to suit whatever you are putting inside or possibly would look at building up ready to go controller box's wired up with drivers etc.

If anyone is interested then let me know.

HiltonSteve
26-04-2010, 12:17 AM
Had a spare couple of hours today so decided to replace the temporary MDF bed that I put on the machine when I built it, the cutting fluid that I have been spraying when working with alumuminium has finally taken its toll, just one of those jobs that I kept putting off but just can't put it off any longer.

Looked at aluminium extrusion t slot plate but when I priced it up I stopped looking, decided to come up with something different.

Thought a nice piece of 20mm aluminium tooling plate would do the job...:cool:

So I now have a nice blank piece of plate and was thinking of drilling and tapping a series of M8 holes into it for clamping etc, I will plug the holes with grub screws when not being used so they don't get clogged up and will be leaving them blind so that I can contain fluids a little easier, but before I do I am open to suggestions for hole spacings and the pattern.

Well....???

AdCNC
26-04-2010, 12:43 AM
Thats a nice bit of allow steve, where did you get that from? and looking at the photo has it been faced flat?

HiltonSteve
26-04-2010, 12:45 AM
Thats a nice bit of allow steve, where did you get that from? and looking at the photo has it been faced flat?

Found it.....:whistling:

AdCNC
26-04-2010, 12:48 AM
lol not at johns then. did you "find it" nice and true faced? :P

HiltonSteve
26-04-2010, 12:53 AM
No, did not borrow it from John...!lol

Made my entire machine out of the same grade and yes it comes in with a ground finish, really nice to work with.

John S
26-04-2010, 12:57 AM
He couldn't borrow it from me, he's borrowed everything else there nothing left..........................

.

HiltonSteve
26-04-2010, 01:03 AM
He couldn't borrow it from me, he's borrowed everything else there nothing left..........................

.

I'm sure I could find something...

See you Tuesday!

Have you eaten all those hobnobs yet? Tesco are doing them 2 for 1 so can bring plenty round to keep you occupied...:heehee:

HiltonSteve
26-04-2010, 12:24 PM
Right, drawing attached of proposed hole layout for bed.

Machine should be able to drill most of the holes but won't be able to tap them.

Just the 380 holes to tap by hand then......:confused:

John S
26-04-2010, 01:58 PM
I've got an air tapper, 20p per hole, hows that sound ?
.

HiltonSteve
26-04-2010, 02:08 PM
I've got an air tapper, 20p per hole, hows that sound ?
.

Sounds bloody brilliant.

Just re-designed it and it now only has 4 holes in, when can I come and 'borrow it' and drop the 80p off?

ptjw7uk
26-04-2010, 02:38 PM
Perhaps he'll except hobnobs in payment! may work out cheaper!

Peter

John S
26-04-2010, 05:53 PM
Sounds bloody brilliant.

Just re-designed it and it now only has 4 holes in, when can I come and 'borrow it' and drop the 80p off?

In words of one syllable - get stuffed

HiltonSteve
28-04-2010, 12:23 AM
Been drilling the 360 holes in the bed plate tonight, centre drilled them first then drilled them blind down to 19mm depth with a 6.8 drill ready for tapping.

Had to shuffle the plate along the bed so the machine could get to some of the holes, still need to shuffle it back to get to the remaining 60 that are left but should have it done for the end of the week.

Took a while so I did a video while I was waiting for it to finish, bit like watching paint dry but i thought i would share it with you...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ5QxQ7JImM

John S
28-04-2010, 12:43 AM
Don't bother centre drilling, centre drills are a throw back to when you used dead centres in a lathe and the pip is to hold white lead as a lubricant.

Unless you actually need a centre hole for a lathe, use spotting drills then the size drill or even better is to buy a few good quality stub drills and just use these to start and finish the holes, saves hours of time and being short and stubby they are hard to break

HiltonSteve
28-04-2010, 12:47 AM
Only used centre drill to pre-chamfer the holes before drilling and tapping, just happen to have one next to the machine that was the right size.

Seemed like a good idea at the time!

John S
28-04-2010, 12:54 AM
Get one of these.

2109

HiltonSteve
28-04-2010, 10:22 AM
Get one of these.

2109

Smart arse....

Lee Roberts
28-04-2010, 02:05 PM
Get one of these.

2109

What is one of these John?

Bed plate looks very nice Steve, will be emailing you later on with some parts to be cut :).

HiltonSteve
28-04-2010, 02:16 PM
Bed plate looks very nice Steve, will be emailing you later on with some parts to be cut :).

Thought that you was ignoring me....!

Still got those ballscrews and ballnuts of yours, let me know what you want doing with them and I will get them sorted for you.

Lee Roberts
28-04-2010, 02:37 PM
Na mate just been busy serving the Masses, i have been thinking of you tho :tongue::whistling:

Its the x side plates next, done the drawing just need to mark it up for you and email it.

Have you been trying to get hold of me or somthing ?

HiltonSteve
29-04-2010, 10:57 PM
Lee, not been trying to get hold of you, just not heard from you for a while. Send me the drawings and I will see what I can do.

HiltonSteve
29-04-2010, 11:02 PM
Found a kress spindle mount tonight that I had made a while ago so decided to get it mounted on my machine.

Now have my new 1 HP DC spindle which covers 0-7000rpm and the Kress which does 10,000 to 30,000rpm. The kress will only be mounted when I need it for engraving etc but only takes a few seconds to mount, now got the best of both worlds...

Lee Roberts
29-04-2010, 11:10 PM
Looking good mate, will do. Just been busy with other things, lame i know but hey!

John S
29-04-2010, 11:36 PM
Lee, not been trying to get hold of you, just not heard from you for a while. Send me the drawings and I will see what I can do.


Creep.........

BTW is that my Kress ?

.

HiltonSteve
29-04-2010, 11:51 PM
Creep.........

BTW is that my Kress ?

.

Your Kress? No its not your bastard Kress, and the angle grinder is mine as well, now you are really taking the p......

*!/?-=# bastard let go me arm.................

aidank
20-05-2010, 10:56 PM
Found a kress spindle mount tonight that I had made a while ago so decided to get it mounted on my machine.

Now have my new 1 HP DC spindle which covers 0-7000rpm and the Kress which does 10,000 to 30,000rpm. The kress will only be mounted when I need it for engraving etc but only takes a few seconds to mount, now got the best of both worlds...

following this thread with great interest, what make is the primary spindle you have the one that does 0-7000rpm

regards,
aidan

HiltonSteve
21-05-2010, 12:06 AM
Aiden,

The primary spindle on my machine is detailed a little more in another thread I started - http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/showthread.php?1789-New-spindle-idea-for-my-machine-DC-1HP

But basically it was a spindle cartridge which I found in a box of bits and pieces which came with a lathe that I bought and was bundled up with some linear slides, looks like someone was thinking about making either a lathe or mill but never got further than collecting the parts together. I took the spindle cartridge and re-manufactured it into a usable ER16 collet version then bolted a 1HP DC motor to my machine and connected them together with a belt drive. Have a look at the attached thread and it 'may' make more sense...

So your question as to what make is the spindle head is..... mine! (sort of)

But, to make a similar spindle cartridge should be quite easy as after re-machining the one that I found I realized that there is not a lot to them, just get the right good quality bearings and the rest can be made on a lathe in a couple or 3 hours.

If you want more info then I will be happy to help and point you in the right direction.

Guisborough
19-08-2010, 09:33 PM
What a great thread,

thank you its been was fun reading it,

If you were to start the build again would you change anything?

Ricardoco
20-08-2010, 02:05 PM
Well I know where to come when I build a bed mill, what a great thread, not to mention a great machine!! I expect you are very happy with it. I would be just standing back staring at it every now and then and in the words of a famous series and say " I Made This!" Cool


Rick

HiltonSteve
22-08-2010, 08:13 PM
Sorry I have been a bit quite lately, been up to my neck with finishing my bathroom and various other diy jobs which seemed like a good idea at the time but was definatly not, had no time to play in the workshop but that will change very soon....

Currently sitting in a hotel lobby in turkey waiting to go to the airport, 37 degrees and it's 9 o clock at night, been sweating my nuts off the last 2 weeks and can't wait to get back to some 'proper' weather!

As for my machine... What would I change, mechanically not a lot as it is rock solid and gets very good accuracy as it is, maybe ditch the steppers and go for servo's but that's a lot of money for little gain as for as I can see.

Other than that then the next upgrade will be a coolant pump system for when I am cutting aluminium.

Anyway, I will be back in the morning so nobody get any ideas about coming round and nicking it, it's that heavy now you will need a forklift to shift it!

John S
22-08-2010, 08:51 PM
Too late, it's in the Donald, mate.

Auction 9:00 am in the Saltbox Cafe.

.

HiltonSteve
22-08-2010, 09:07 PM
Bastard...!

AdCNC
26-08-2010, 11:28 AM
Hi Steve, just havin a quick look over your build... (unless i missed it), you didnt mention where you get your alloy cutters from?

HiltonSteve
26-08-2010, 12:29 PM
Been using these people for a while now - http://www.cutweltools.co.uk/home/milling-cutters

Quick delivery and pretty good prices, for general cutting (no good on aluminium) they were doing a deal on the K2 coated cutters a few weeks back, don't know if they are still doing them at the offer prices but worth asking.

For aluminium they do a Alu-power range, had good results with them.

Jonathan
26-08-2010, 01:15 PM
For aluminium they do a Alu-power range, had good results with them.

Which of the range would you recommend / have you used?

HiltonSteve
26-08-2010, 04:57 PM
These are the ones I have used - http://www.cutweltools.co.uk/files/ww/2%20flute%2045%20degree%20helix%20carbide%20slot%2 0drills%20alu%20power.pdf

2 Flute solid carbide - the cutting angles on these prevent the chips from sticking and blocking the cutter up, also plenty of fluid needed when cutting to wash away the swarf and keep the cutter lubricated.

The more solid the machine the better, if you have any play anywhere in your machine then you will find it when cutting aluminium, also realistic speeds and feeds need to be used to keep the cutter cutting and not just rubbing away the aluminium, too slow a feed rate combined with a not so solid machine and they wont last too long, you have to make them work to get the best results.

bjamc13
14-09-2010, 10:26 AM
Dear Steve,

Absolutely amazing. Very nice and clean design. I would like to build a similar construction like your. You used 80 x 40 alu extrusion for bed. I have 50x50 extrusion for cheap price. What do you think: bolting together two of them would give the same rigidity like one 80x40? Or it is not the way to go?

HiltonSteve
14-09-2010, 11:00 AM
Dear Steve,

Absolutely amazing. Very nice and clean design. I would like to build a similar construction like your. You used 80 x 40 alu extrusion for bed. I have 50x50 extrusion for cheap price. What do you think: bolting together two of them would give the same rigidity like one 80x40? Or it is not the way to go?

Thanks for the comments...

The reason for using 80 x 40 extrusion was so that I had a nice large surface area on the ends to help pull everything square when I bolted it together, and also in the 80 x 40 there are 2 mounting holes in each end which I tapped out M12, this meant I could put some decent size bolts in and really tighten them up to keep everything solid.

I can not see why 50 x 50 will not work on its own but putting 2 together to make 100 x 50 will certainly be better. Whether you need to do it depends on what you are thinking of using the machine for and how solid you want to make it.

Quick tip, obvious maybe, but when you drill the two endplate's that the extrusions are bolted to then clamp them together and drill all the mounting holes at the same time through both plates, it will make life a lot easier when trying to square the bed/machine up.

bjamc13
14-09-2010, 11:34 AM
Hi Steve,

Thanks for the advices. Of course I will make the drilling as you suggested. I got the 15 m of this 50x50 extrusion for 80 EUR, so I don't have bad feeling using them all to build a solid machine.
I intend to mill wood, plastic and alu, but not the harder metals.
It seems that ZAPP has quite good prices for ballscrews&nuts, it's very likely that I will order from there. I have used ball screws, but they are heavy weight really: 40x12 in three sizes 400mm/10000mm/1080mm. I don't know if I will use them ever, because I don't want to waste so much power to move the gantry with these brutal screws. But if someone has good ideas how to utilize them .....

irving2008
14-09-2010, 05:12 PM
40mm dia ballscrews are going to really kill your acceleration, were these the ones advertised recently on ebay, ex VMC1010 machining centre?

routercnc
14-09-2010, 08:36 PM
Would gearing them down 3:1 (giving 4mm per turn instead of 12mm, and helping to turn all that inertia) make them more useable?

HiltonSteve
14-09-2010, 10:23 PM
The pitch on the screw may not be the only problem, think about the size of the ballnuts. Finding space to fit them in and also making mounts for them could end up more expensive than downgrading to a more usable size like 16mm x 5mm pitch.

HiltonSteve
09-10-2010, 06:36 PM
Eventually got time to finish off my coolant upgrade this afternoon.

Got the tank and pump from Axminster, bargain at £130!

Made up some side plates out of 2mm stainless steel and screwed them in position with some neoprene 3mm rubber sandwiched inbetween to stop any leaks. Worked well and no leaks so far!

Did a few test cuts, 30mm dia pockets at 5mm deep, cutting 1mm at a time with a 6mm HSS 2 flute slot drill. Spindle running at 4000rpm with a feedrate of 800mm/min. Noticeable difference now it is flooded with coolant.

Need to tidy pipe work up but will do that once I have got hold of some energy chain and then will do cabling at same time.

Will sort your plates out tomorrow Lee.

316931703171317231733174


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YjUepB9YYs

blackburn mark
09-10-2010, 06:49 PM
POSH!! its doing my head in watching some of you buggers cutting... im still stuck with cutting my finger nails :)

Lee Roberts
11-10-2010, 03:28 AM
I know just how you feel Mark, only i'v not got any nails left to cut :tongue:.

Cheers Steve looks good mate, dose the waste get filtered and sent back to the res or ?

Did you get my package ?

Also what noticeable differences have you noticed :question:

Lee

HiltonSteve
11-10-2010, 10:10 AM
Cheers Steve looks good mate, does the waste get filtered and sent back to the res or ?

Yes Lee, the coolant returns to the tank were there is a filter to catch any swarf, also the tank has baffles inside so that any swarf that gets through the filter ends up at the opposite end of the tank to the pump pick up pipe.


Did you get my package ?

Yes I did, had to go and collect it this morning, thanks for that! Will get your couplers sorted this week and will try and have everything back to you for the weekend. Did not get round to finishing your plates yesterday as beer and other stuff got in the way, will have them done tonight though.


Also what noticeable differences have you noticed :question:

Difference cutting aluminium now is that I am cutting with a 6mm standard HSS 2 flute slot drill with no problems at all, not tried any of the alimaster cutters yet but at the moment I can't see any need to. Also it means once I set the machine running I can switch the lights off shut the door and go and have a cup of tea and a hobnob then come back when its finished!

Robin Hewitt
11-10-2010, 08:18 PM
Come on, don't be shy, 'fess up, what's the tolerance and finish like? :naughty:

Tell me I haven't been wrong all these years about the need for lots of cast iron :eek:

I'll even go first with a pic, iron cut .001" deeper than intended, biro tip for scale.

Jonathan
11-10-2010, 09:56 PM
Wow, that's a sharp corner! Have to try that on my mill ...

HiltonSteve
12-10-2010, 10:29 AM
Come on, don't be shy, 'fess up, what's the tolerance and finish like? :naughty:

Tell me I haven't been wrong all these years about the need for lots of cast iron :eek:

I'll even go first with a pic, iron cut .001" deeper than intended, biro tip for scale.

Robin, I don't think your wrong about the need for lots of cast iron for a solid machine, I did my apprenticeship at British Rail (a few years back!) and spent a good chunk of my time in the heavy machine shop operating a Noble & Lund plano mill. Bed was about 10m long x 4m wide and the whole machine must have weighed about 100-130 tonnes, 5mm depth of cut with a 15" face mill no problem at all and a nice finish, but you could still find the limits of the machine when you pushed it.

As for my mini plano mill!, I did not expect it to turn out as good as it did if I'm honest and I am not expecting miracles from it. Accuracy on the 30mm holes that I put in the plate was fairly good, measured them on the X and Y plane and they are 29.94 and 29.97 so slightly oval but not too bad. Finish could be a bit better but I just roughed them out, will have a go tonight with a 0.5mm finish cut climb milling to see how it performs and post up some pics.

Robin Hewitt
12-10-2010, 04:42 PM
Accuracy on the 30mm holes that I put in the plate was fairly good, measured them on the X and Y plane and they are 29.94 and 29.97 so slightly oval but not too bad.

Fairly good? :eek:

One or two thousandths of an inch out and he's complaining :whistling:

PS: Climb milling sounds like a terrible idea

HiltonSteve
18-10-2010, 11:40 AM
I have been profiling a couple of 20mm aluminium router sideplates at the weekend and been playing with different speeds and feeds to see find out what works best and gives the best finish.

Ended up at around 4000rpm with a feedrate of 600mm/min with a 2 fulte HSS slot drill, roughed the profile first stepping down 2mm at a time and leaving 0.5mm on all round, then did 2 finish pass's at 10mm deep with the same cutter but dropped the feedrate to 350mm/min, cutting time around 45 mins.

Finish is OK but still room for improvement, i have a couple of ali-master 10mm cutters which have completely different geometry to a standard slot drill so may give that a go to see if it improves the finish.

But overall still quite happy with the results!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx4QCyybqbs

Jonathan
18-10-2010, 01:39 PM
I don't fancy cleaning up the machine after that!

I was also experimenting a bit on friday with feedrates on 20mm aluminium plate. I'm using a nearly new 20mm 4 flute HSS cutter. With a maximum cut width of roughly 5mm (plate was allmost to size, just machining the edges), stepdown of 2mm and 2150 RPM I found 720mm/min to be good. It would go faster, but I'm only putting the cutting fluid on with a brush and I didn't want to push it...

For finishing I tried various speeds still at 2150rpm. I left 0.5mm for the finishing pass and did one 20mm deep climb milling pass. I couldn't really see any improvement in finish below 300mm/min, so I stuck with that.

On the first of the attached photos you can see the difference between accidently running the finish pass at 600 compared to <300.

3200

3201

HiltonSteve
18-10-2010, 11:12 PM
Been doing a bit more testing tonight and decided to see the results on aluminium with 5 different type's of cutters.

1 - Alimaster 2 flute 8mm
2 - HSS 2 flute 6mm
3 - HSS 6mm ripper
4 - Solid carbide 2 flute 6mm
5 - K2 coated 3 flute 6mm

Ran them all at the same speed and feeds to see which gave the best surface finish results, spindle speeds 4000rpm and 6000rpm, feedrate 300mmpm, side cutting taking 0.5mm off which is what i would normally leave for finishing, depth of cut dependent on cutter length. Tried both climb and conventional milling with each cutter.

Results -

1 - Alimaster - Certainly removes material easily but not the best surface finish.

2 - HSS 2 flute 6mm - Cuts nice but still get the chatter lines, surface finish similar to alimaster.

3 - HSS 6mm Ripper - Does what it says on the tin, rips the material off very easily without producing loads of swarf. Finish not good but definitely my choice for roughing.

4 - Solid carbide 6mm 2 flute - This gave a poor finish, carbide is very hard and sounded like it when it was cutting. Kept leaving lots of very small but even ridges. May need to be pushed harder to get best results.

5 - K2 coated 3 flute 6mm - Cheapest cutter of the lot and gave the best results, i put it mainly down to it having more flutes than the others which helps with the intermittent cutting. I have not got any 4 flute cutters but i will be getting some to try.

A few photo's attached, did not take photo's of all the results as some started to look similar to others so did not see much point!

Conclusion - More flutes give a better finish but a ripper is best for roughing out, also need a more sturdy machine to give a better surface finish, but now at least I know what surface finish the machine is capable of and what to expect from it.

AdCNC
19-10-2010, 12:23 AM
Interesting Steve, i use the alu-power alot also, ive noticed that when i use them to mill say a pocket the bottom face is never super clean, it alway leave swirl marks but when do a finishing pass of a profile on some 12mm alloy DOC 0.1mm spindle at 12000 rpm feed at 600mm/min i get a mirror finish. im also going to try some k2's seeing as they are on offer at the mo.

On your video have you limited you coolant flow or is that what the pump flows normally?

HiltonSteve
19-10-2010, 10:34 PM
On your video have you limited you coolant flow or is that what the pump flows normally?

Aydee,

There is a tap on the stayput nozzle to adjust the flow and usually I have it about half way open. The biggest problem is getting the coolant back to the tank through the 16mm bore return pipe, machine turns into a paddling pool fairly quickly!

AdCNC
19-10-2010, 10:56 PM
I see, i have concocted my own coolant system from a parts washer, and what i have done is position it under where i am cutting, at the moment tho i have used some polythene sheet as a catch to funnel the coolant back into the parts washer and i have made a removable screen that goes around the spindle from some clear plastic that is used for doorway screens.

When i get five ill pop some pictures up on my thread

MikeyC38
14-09-2011, 01:39 PM
Hi Steve

Just a quick question. About to build my own CNC at last! What was the size and part nos for your THK linear Slides? Can you recommend a good supplier for these
in the uk?

Thanks
Mike Campbell

Jonathan
14-09-2011, 06:07 PM
Can you recommend a good supplier for these
in the uk?

eBay ... but you'll have to wait for the right place. Are you sure you need THK as unless it's some amazingly accurate machine from what I've heard the other brands (Hiwin, NSK etc) are fine for what most people make. Greater errors due to other factors.

MikeyC38
15-09-2011, 01:51 PM
Thanks Jonathan - I'll look into these other brands

HiltonSteve
05-04-2012, 10:05 AM
I am back....!

Got a little bit sidetracked last year building an extension on my house, all finished now so hopefully more time for playing in the workshop :fat:

I get quite a few emails regarding this machine build so if anyone does have any questions then put them on here so that everyone can benefit from them.

MikeyC38
05-04-2012, 10:20 AM
Hi HiltonSteve

Well Thanks to your "inspirational" build log I've finally got my design sorted out http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/showthread.php/4031-Design-Help-Pt2-Required-for-CNC-design-Build/page4 and now trying source aluminium plate for the build. And I've got bathrooms to refurbish :apthy:

Cheers
Mike

JoeHarris
16-04-2012, 11:30 PM
now trying source aluminium plate for the build
e

Hi, only new to this but been designing and redesigning for a decent while now, I'm sure you all know the feeling! I have come across aluminium warehouse http://www.aluminiumwarehouse.co.uk/cutting_calc.php - they sell cast plate at what seems a reasonable price.... Fantastic build by the way Steve I am going to shamelessly plagiarise!

Joe

Jonathan
17-04-2012, 12:39 AM
Aluminium warehouse is good, however I recently needed to order quite a large amount of aluminium (about 300kg) so shopped around and found this place was quite a lot cheaper:

http://www.ascmetals.com/

John S
17-04-2012, 01:29 AM
Aluminium warehouse is good, however I recently needed to order quite a large amount of aluminium (about 300kg) so shopped around and found this place was quite a lot cheaper:

http://www.ascmetals.com/

I fooking told you so three years ago - dipshit.

audioandy
17-04-2012, 12:34 PM
I fooking told you so three years ago - dipshit.

You certainly have a way with words John :glee:

m.marino
17-04-2012, 01:18 PM
Yes he does,

Though I have to thank both of them for posting/reposting that link as they where able to give me a stockist for PB102 Bronze in 1mm sheet form which I need for making reeds. Thanks to both of you on that one.

Michael

JAZZCNC
17-04-2012, 03:59 PM
I fooking told you so three years ago - dipshit.

John this is what makes you so SPECIAL!! .:angel:

HiltonSteve
13-09-2012, 04:36 PM
Right then....

Due to unforseen circumstances, which mainly consist of my missus running off with a bloke with more money than me I have decided to have a bit of a clear out as I have too much stuff to move.

Would consider selling my cnc router (the one in this build thread) if someone makes a sensible offer. Its all in working order and was only being used last week. I will put full specs on if I get any interest but this build thread should give you a pretty good idea.

Also got a nice german 'leinen' lathe, which I may consider selling. Does weigh about half a ton so not something that will fit in the boot of your car! Will do screwcutting etc, 3 and 4 jaw chucks, faceplate, powerfeed on both slides, even have a digital readout for it that I never got round to fitting. Will post details if anyone is interested.

Oh and her pissing off is the best thing that she has ever done, I have never been happier..!! :-)

Let me know...

JAZZCNC
13-09-2012, 04:53 PM
Oh and her pissing off is the best thing that she has ever done, I have never been happier..!! :-)

Been there got the tea shirt and it only gets better mate.!!. . . .Welcome back. (And I don't mean to the site. ;)

John S
13-09-2012, 08:33 PM
Right then....

Due to unforseen circumstances, which mainly consist of my missus running off with a bloke with more money than me

Let me get this right ?

She's pissed off with Jonathan ?

[edit] was up saltbox last week, nearly gave you a bell so you could pop down and buy my breakfast

A11an
05-12-2012, 10:25 AM
Hi,

Just like to say what a nice job you made of your CNC machine!

I've been hit by the DIY CNC building thing and can't wait to start, I rushed into ordering some rails and ball screws but wish I had waited as finding the right aluminium profile in the right size is proving difficult. Still that's me all over.....obsessed!

This is what I want to try and build index.php (http://www.ghqp.com.au/)

this forum has certainly made it easier for me!

thanks

Allan

HiltonSteve
06-12-2012, 12:33 PM
Right...

Nothing is for sale! Missus gone and a new one in her place... Happy days.! Word of advice, if you are married to a control freak you probably wont realise how happy you could be until until you split up, after which you look back and think "Did I really live like that...!"

Now things get even better... my new other half is very interested in the CNC kit which I have and would like to get to know how to use it so we can start up a sideline business. A woman that is interested in CNC??? she actually wants to get in the workshop more than me.!

Should be spending a bit more time on the forum from now on.

audioandy
06-12-2012, 01:23 PM
Glad things have panned out alright for you Steve, nice to have you back :beer:

Fivetide
06-12-2012, 01:49 PM
Good for you ! Women are a bit strange , 20 years of marriage there was good and bad like anything and I have agreat daughter from it so its not to bad, however I am alot happier single, guess she was right I was selfish with my time, I like to spend it making me happy.. go figure :)?

Lee Roberts
06-12-2012, 02:19 PM
Hi Steve,

Welcome back mate, genuinely pleased you’re in a better place all round.

The future sounds promising and something to look forward to, so can’t wait to see what you both get up to, it’s funny because I watched a YouTube vid last night where a woman and her man both run a metal fab shop, was cool seeing the woman diving into Mach and then setting up the 8x4 plasma machine and cracking on with it.


Good for you ! Women are a bit strange , 20 years of marriage there was good and bad like anything and I have agreat daughter from it so its not to bad, however I am alot happier single, guess she was right I was selfish with my time, I like to spend it making me happy.. go figure :)?

Getting on for 10 here, though not married - :peach:

.Me