My First Attempt Of A CNC

[AdCNC]

I thought it was about time for me to show all you guys what ive been doing in me spare time (money allowing) ive pecked at a few brains on here, so heres what ive got to show far....

Ive tried so many different ideas but i have reverted to the tried n tested route.

[Wobblybootie]

Hmmm, work area far too tidy!! :wink: Nice job so far by the way ...

[AdCNC]

:D Thanks, You should see it in my other garage! thats no so tidy!

[Ross77]

Looking good. how did you bolt the rails to the side of the box section?


Ive tried so many different ideas but i have reverted to the tried n tested route.

Good plan, Its always good to try other options but most people seem to end up this route. are you using ball screws and servo motors as well then? :smile:

[AdCNC]

Looking good. how did you bolt the rails to the side of the box section?

Before i welded the frame together i aligned both rails and drilled and tapped every single hole in the rail, i made a small pilot bust so it would centre the drill, so each hole is exactly aligned. well that was the idea and it worked perfectly.



Good plan, Its always good to try other options but most people seem to end up this route. are you using ball screws and servo motors as well then? :smile:

Servos and ball screw is the way forward after many a hour pondering the best route. im still undecided on what pitch to go for. im going be using 25mm die for X & Y and was thinking of either 20 or 25mm lead but i want to be precise as i can with control over the spindle.

[AdCNC]

Well, its been a few more weeks and funds have allowed me to do abit more of my build, so i thought i would get a few more pictures up of my Y and Z plates ive built. judging on what ive done so far and materials ive used any recommendations on what type os pitch screw to go for as its wreckin my head as ive never build a machine before and i dont want (can afford) make any expensive learning curves :tongue: im thinking i would benefit from servos but im still unsure if the 1kw servos will be ok, or is it just be overdoing things (as usual) :D

Speed and accuracy is my goal the to combined are, i know come at cost.

anyways hers me pictures enjoy!

[AdCNC]

Heres a few of my cad drawings

[AdCNC]

Just finished the servo mounts for my machine, have a gander...

[AdCNC]

Well heres another update, just a trial run on a few things, as you can see ive got a bit of machining to do including the ball nut housings to get everything to fit. but getting there slowly. :rolleyes:

[AdCNC]

What it should look like once all done.

[AdCNC]

Well santa came early once again for me :smile: and delivered some nice but rather large servo motors and drive!

[Ross77]

Well you've been busy. Are doing all the machining yourself?

Dont think those motors will be big enough tho... :smile: What power are they?

[AdCNC]

Hi Ross, yeh all the machining wiring and alls you can see in my build is all done by yours truly, the motors for the X & Y are 6Nm 3000rpm (peak at 12Nm i think) , 2 for the X and 1 for the Y and a smaller 3.3Nm for the Z they are all 2:1 belt reduced to increase torque!

[AdCNC]

Y & Z servos all ready for the reduced backlash timing belts and pulleys alls going to plan so far! :yahoo: Just got to cut the keyways on the X ball screw and make the nut housings then i can get wiring it all up.

[Ross77]

Very nice. I take it you already have a mill in your other workshop then.?

[AdCNC]

well, i didnt until i started making my machine so i went and bought one, i got it a fairly good price, it does the job nicely. 626 Turret Mill (http://www.chesteruk.net/store/626_turret_mill.htm) i got it for £1100 brand new with power feed and some R8 collets. Next thing will be to cnc that :D

[Ross77]

i got it a fairly good price, it does the job nicely. 626 Turret Mill (http://www.chesteruk.net/store/626_turret_mill.htm) i got it for £1100


And I thougth I had the cnc bug bad.......Thats some serious outlay including all the other bits:smile:. Have you got a mission for this machine when its ready then?

[AdCNC]

Hehe yes i have, ive already got work waiting for me, from a local truck firm that want me to do a run of circuit boards and a motor sport company want me to do some test products for them. for a first machine i think it will be good. ive already got MK2 planned out in solidworks :D

[Ross77]

For a first machine it looks amazing. Mk2 then Mk3, 4, 5............

Just out of interest how well do the angle brackets work on the y axis beams? they look like the whole thing will rack.

[AdCNC]

Thanks Ross. The brackets work really well, its surprisingly stiff without them, i put them for extra support, if you hold one side and move the opposite side with considerable force it flexes about 2mm thats until you attach the to ball screws then nothing moves. im also going to add extra side supports to reduce side ways deflection.

Wheres the best place to get energy chain from? E-bay or is there anywhere cheap in the UK?

[compfranon]

Thanks Ross. The brackets work really well, its surprisingly stiff without them, i put them for extra support, if you hold one side and move the opposite side with considerable force it flexes about 2mm thats until you attach the to ball screws then nothing moves. im also going to add extra side supports to reduce side ways deflection.

Wheres the best place to get energy chain from? E-bay or is there anywhere cheap in the UK?

Best place i've seen for energy chain is to make your own, gives you that satisfied feeling.

Great build thread, those rails and carriages for the Z axis must have been a few bob, having the benefit of work lined up even before the machine is built and having some machinery to help you along the way is certainly a bonus - now wheres that envious smiley when you want it .....

[AdCNC]

The bearings and rails cost, well off the top of my head £800 they are made by hiwin and the rail is 20mm (X, Y & Z), having work waiting for me is is what spurred me on to make a half decent machine in the first place.

[compfranon]

The bearings and rails cost, well off the top of my head £800 they are made by hiwin and the rail is 20mm (X, Y & Z), having work waiting for me is is what spurred me on to make a half decent machine in the first place.

More than my machine build - LOL

Machine is looking real well, good luck with the build, now you have the work the clock is ticking :naughty:

[AdCNC]

Hehe thank buddy, im addicted. Watch this space for more (better) designs:smile:

[compfranon]

Hehe thank buddy, im addicted. Watch this space for more (better) designs:smile:

Why, are you gonna copy my design then :wink:

[AdCNC]

Well, Thanks to irving for the technical help ive manage to finish the drive enclosure. just got wait for the data cable come and ill try and get some life out of the motors.

[AdCNC]

Just a few more photos, as you can see ive mounted the energy chain and ive also mounted my limit switches.

Just need a smooth stepper board now to get some good rapids.

Enjoy. :tongue:

[John S]

I have a spare one dual port, I bought for a job that didn't materialise, also got the connector board from CNC4PC for it, the C25

[AdCNC]

You have PM John

[Lee Roberts]

Looking good Ad !

[AdCNC]

Thanks Lee.

Well ive been busy once again. I went over to see JohnS to day, and after a few hours of chinwagging and a few cups of strong coffee. I came away with some goodies. So now i can finally get my machine running the way it was designed to be run.

Cheers John :beer:

[John S]

Strong coffee ?
You never said you wanted strong coffee, that was normal punters brew.
People who bring bickies get strong coffee.

.

[AdCNC]

Haha, fair enough john, ill remember next time to bring some bickies ;)

[HiltonSteve]

Haha, fair enough john, ill remember next time to bring some bickies ;)

Hobnobs are his favourite's.....

Yes the coffee is strong, must take some milk next time!

Hope you didn't borrow too much stuff, but then again he has plenty to go round...:naughty:

[AdCNC]

Haha yeh ive taken note. i didnt borrow to much stuff, next time ill go in a bigger van :smile:

[John S]

Bastards................


.

[irving2008]

Can we organise a coach-party from London? I'm sure Hank, myself and few other would love to bring some biscuits (we have hobnobs down here too!)

[AdCNC]

Just a quick update, having setup my machine with a Smoothstepper board and having some "technical issues" i reverted back to basic LPT port set to 100KHz giving me a max of 3000mm min rapids as apposed to 7000mm odd before :D

But this was the out come of my first test run!

What ya all think!

[irving2008]

Looks impressive...!

[John S]

But this was the out come of my first test run!

What ya all think!


Looks crap to me..........

.

[irving2008]

i must be easily impressed then ;)

[AdCNC]

That shitty code someone did for me.... ;)

[HiltonSteve]

Not bad.......

But can I borrow your cordless drill, got a lot of holes to tap and it might come in handy....

[AdCNC]

Lol not after the stories that Johns told me :whistling:

[HiltonSteve]

Talking about borrowing things, my mate came round tonight to do a couple of emails as his PC has packed up, he went home with a laptop, 4 cans of beer and a bike.

I think me and John may have something in common about letting people borrow stuff that we will never see again..!

[John S]

Four cans of beer ??????????????????????

All I get is a half eaten pack of hob nobs..........................

[AdCNC]

Lol well that's better than a kick in the bollox :wink:

[AdCNC]

Had a little spare time so i thought i would give this file a whirl that John S sent to me.

Didn't turn out too bad.. what you guys think?

I know i know i should of left abit more room around the edges.. ah well maybe next time


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBw4Eym-sRc

[AdCNC]

Well the time has come to finally stop killing my lungs when i do any machining jobs on the cnc. so i pulled my finger out and designed a dust extraction system and i must say it works perfect! no brushes or the like to get in the way. and no mess left behind! ill post a vid on you tube in a moment of it in action.

What ya all think lads!!

[John S]

What ya all think lads!!


Crap.......

[AdCNC]

HAHA cheers john, can always count on you to flood the forum nice comments :P

[AdCNC]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs4tIuC6gBM

[AdCNC]

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

[psiron]

Thanks very much for posting such great videos, a great help to inspire new builds :)

[AdCNC]

No worries buddy, my pleasure

[psiron]

Is that HDPE your cutting in the last video? Im building a mchine myself, the mechanical stuff seems straight forward enough but the electrics seem daunting :-|
Great place to get help though, Ill need it too!

:)

[psiron]

Sorry just saw the video title, duh!

[John S]

Adie,
In the profile video it's pausing on the horns.

Check in Config > General config you have Constant velocity ticked as opposed to Exact stop, if you have then increase look ahead by another 10 lines, se if that helps.

.

[AdCNC]

Adie,
In the profile video it's pausing on the horns.

Check in Config > General config you have Constant velocity ticked as opposed to Exact stop, if you have then increase look ahead by another 10 lines, se if that helps.

.

Cheers john, ill have a look tomorrow. i just thought it was supposed stop and retract a little, as its leaving the holding tabs!

[John S]

Ooops probably OK then, I missed the tabs.

[AdCNC]

ill let you off :tongue:

[AdCNC]

Just a insite to how i machine alloy on my wood/plastics router.

Ive just attached a new screen but have yet to cut slits at the bottom of the skirt.