DIY Nema23 Motor Mounts

[Lee Roberts]

Hi, I recently built myself some nema23 motor mounts.

http://www.mycncuk.com/ebay/images/motormounts/DSC04593.JPG

I used aluminium plates with counter sunk holes for the tubes and rods to fit into.

http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photoplog/images/4/medium/1_DSC05094.JPG

http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photoplog/images/2/medium/1_DSC05089.JPG

It was quite tricky getting the holes lined up correctly and I found the best way was to print the nema23 motor drawing on to some sticky backed paper, then stick the paper to the aluminium plates.

http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photoplog/images/4/medium/1_DSC05138.JPG

The other way I then tried was to mark out the centre points and drill them with some Centre Drills, both ways worked and I’m still undecided as to what method I prefer but you can see it’s possible to get good results either way, "Just Have AGO”!
http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photoplog/images/2/medium/1_DSC05057.JPG

Once the whole thing is together it’s really quite strong and doesn’t move at all, if you need to mount your motors then this is a good way to “HAVE AGO” at making your own.

http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photoplog/images/4/medium/1_DSC05008.JPG

To drill the large hole you can see in the pic above I used a HSS Whole Saw Cutter, this isn’t the best way I know but if like me your limited to what you can use then again this worked!

I would recommend using lots of Oil and air to keep things cool as you’re going to find things start to get HOT!, once you have your hole cut, you will need to clean up your hole edges and so on. I found the sanding drums you can get for a dermal worked well; I even fitted them to my bench drill and used them that way.

Now we have a DIY Motor Mount:

http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photoplog/images/2/medium/1_DSC05172.JPG


Obviously things can be done better then I have but I just wanted to show people how easy it was to make mine, if you have got better facilities great put them to good use.

Once your machine is up and running you could always redo each plate using your machine, I don’t feel this would be a must as these mounts are solid but I will be making some more using my machine ;-).

I have popped lots of other pics onto my section of the site gallery, so if you’re interested you can view them on this link:

Link: http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photoplog/index.php?u=4 (http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photoplog/index.php?u=4)

Any comments would be appreciated!

Cheers,
CM

[Lee Roberts]

I have just found some more pic’s of my motor mount fixed to my machine, (Rockcliff) here you can see how I went about fixing them to the machine.

http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photoplog/images/4/medium/1_DSC05176.JPG

and fixed to the machine:

http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photoplog/images/4/medium/1_DSC05177.JPG

http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photoplog/images/4/medium/1_DSC05179.JPG

Ok the pic below shows the motor and mount fixed to the machine, my lead screw isn’t in its correct position and that’s why it’s not lining up with the motor shaft (I was fiddling about, just wanted to test how things would look).

http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photoplog/images/4/medium/1_DSC05181.JPG

You may also notice that the motor isn’t fixed on with anything, i.e. I haven’t put any nuts on. This isn't permanent obviously and of course I will fix the motor with nuts and washers, I was just test fitting everything.

Also shows you how strong the motor mount is, it’s not even flexing with the weight of the motor!

The pic below shows the lead screw in the correct position and nicely lined up with the motor shaft awaiting a coupler!

http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/photoplog/images/4/medium/1_DSC05183.JPG

GO ON HAVE AGO!

[irving2008]

Been playing around with Google sketchup and trying to decide whats the best design for a motor mount that:

Supports a NEMA23 motor
uses a 8 x 22 x 7 ballrace and two 8 x 16 x 5 thrust races (these go either side of the ballrace mount
a 6.35mm - 8mm motor coupler (the ones Lee sold me, whatever they are)
10x2 or 12x3 leadscrew turned down to 8mm for 50mm and threaded M8 for the last 25mm of that.
The second is slightly harder to make but is more compact and rigid I think...

[tribbles]

I have to admit that making motor mounts is very annoying, so I can appreciate what you've been doing (and it looks great)! I hadn't thought of using sticky-backed paper though (what I did was to drill the centre hole, clamp it to the motor in place, and then mark the drill holes).

When I come to fit the other ballscrew to my machine, I'm cheating, I'm afraid - the guy whose workshop it's built in gets a lot of parts laser cut, so the new ones (and also ones to replace the existing mounts, since they're being relocated) will be laser cut from 6mm steel (although the plates will be tapped and welded in place). It comes to just under £2 per plate.

irving - the second would be better, although I'm not sure I'd recess the plates either side of the motor mount (but would look nicer).

[melee]

Hi,

I have just about finished retro fitting a mill.

I found the easiest way to make a mount was to use 100mm box section.
It had 4mm walls so was very rigid and thick enough to tap M5 threads directly into it. Just needed facing on 2 sides.

The below is from the Y axis, the nuts and bolts are not the finished ones, just to test alignment.

regards

Melee

[irving2008]

Hi,

I have just about finished retro fitting a mill.

I found the easiest way to make a mount was to use 100mm box section.
It had 4mm walls so was very rigid and thick enough to tap M5 threads directly into it. Just needed facing on 2 sides.

The below is from the Y axis, the nuts and bolts are not the finished ones, just to test alignment.

regards

Melee
Now that is a neat bit of lateral thinking, wish I'd thought of it!:cool: Since I am machining up the ballrace mount and not using a ready made one it woudn't reduce the amount of work for me significantly but for someone with limited tooling thats an easy way to go.