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Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Hey guys,
I'm very new to cnc but have had a passing interest since reading about them some years ago. At that time they were horrendously expensive, extremely complicated and generally impractical for all but a commercial setting. Well fast forward about 15 years and thing have improved no end for a hobbyist such as myself and I finally caved in and decided there was a better way over the old manual methods I've been accustom to.
The problem was I had little to no information when I started looking at machines and so I didn't rush, instead I spent around 6 months just researching as much information as I could so as to be armed when it came time to pull the trigger so to speak. My budget was limited and that brought about even more complications as you always went the best for your money even when there's comparatively little of it. From this budget I set some realistic minimum specification that met my requirements. It had to be a 1250mm x 1250mm working area with a minimum of 200mm Z axis travel for the work I had in mind and to allow some growth and experimentation in the future. I was also mindful of that I'd be predominantly cutting MDF and this stuff is horrible for the lungs and makes a huge mess whenever its cut so a dust enclosure was a must as I didn't want the workshop covered in MDF 'snow'. Aside from that I was fairly flexible on the mechanical details as long as it was accurate and reliable. Speed wasn't a real concern and even if it was my budget wouldn't stretch to a fast machine that did all I wanted anyway, this was one of the main compromises.
So armed with a set of requirements, a budget and the knowledge I'd gathered I set about looking for a supplier in the UK. I knew that it would be tough but I really had no idea how tough! There are very few cnc manufacturers in the UK who supply machines in the UK that start at less than £10k for what I wanted. Marchant Dice was one and the other I found advertising on ebay - Strike CNC. Marchant machines looked good but the price quickly rose as I inquired about the extra's I wanted for requirements and I no longer thought it was a very good deal. That's not to bad mouth Marchant, they were very helpful during all my inquiries. I didn't bother ringing Strike CNC at all because the lack of website and only an ebay presence made me suspicious when spending that amount of money(I shouldn't have been but more on that later). And that was pretty much it for UK suppliers I could afford. I did consider shipping overseas from places like K2CNC, ShopSabre, CNC-Step but the taxes and/or shipping costs quickly spiralled.
Next up was searching ebay for a used bargain but again I found little to no machines within my budget that supported 200mm Z travel for the larger 3D work I had planned. Sure you could drop £20k and get something that had 200-300mm z travel but that was double my budget. At this point I was fed up of ringing places and staring at websites for hours. It was starting to look hopeless and maybe my expectations were unrealistic.
I gave up the search for about a month to re-assess and when I began again I came across Strike CNC on ebay once again. I figured I had nothing to loose so sent them a message asking for them to contact me. Within about 30minutes I got a phone call from a really nice chap down there called Michael and over the course of a couple of hour conversation I'd convinced myself they were the real deal and the next day we hashed out the details for my machine and I placed an order. Thanks god for that! I was doubtful I'd ever get the machine I wanted for the budget I'd set but glad that Strike proved me wrong.
That was back in mid December 2011. But because their machines are made to order there is a lead time which increased by me adding a lot of extra's in there too. I'm expecting delivery next week on the 8th Feb.
For now I have attached a couple of work in progress shots as the machine neared completion that Michael kindly sent whilst I was biting my nails in anticipation of the exciting arrival of the machine but once the machine arrives I hope to post some pictures on here and hopefully give them a little exposure from a very happy customer(so far!). These guys have been nothing but helpful and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them, they're machines are well made too and the fact that you can tweak virtually any part of the order is a big bonus if your looking for something a little more tailored. The prices are better than anything I managed to find outside of DIY'ing my own machine too.
For those interest the specs of the machine are as follows:
- 1250mm X travel, 1250mm Y Travel, 200mm Z travel
- Y axis with dual ballscrews and 4nm motors
- X axis with 4 nm motor
- Y axis with dual ballscrews and 4nm motors
- Z axis 3 nm motor
- 4 axis integrated control box with interface spindle control
- Dual power supplies
- 16x10mm anti backlash ball screws
- Dual 25x10mm ball screws
- 240v single phase operation
- Precision Hiwin linear rail on the Y axis
- Precision Shaft linear rail on the X axis
- Kress spindle mount 43mm & Kress milling spindle FME 1050F
- CNC hand controller
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3 Attachment(s)
Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Machine was delayed for a week. Now due this Wednesday. Have attached a couple more images that I got from Strike to show the finished machine.
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Hi Shinobiwan,
Looks like a nice machine and I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with it! Since you're new to cnc just a few things to note:
The Z axis uses unsupported rail which is less stiff than supported rail (as per Y axis) or profile (as per X axis). Since you are machining wood and the span of unsupport rail is a modest size it will probably be good enough. But for interest did you ask how much supported Z rail would be?
The Kress has a good reputation, although like all routers is on the noisy side. The enclosure should help a bit but long machining jobs can get tiring for you and any neighbours. There are lots of threads on here showing the virtues of upgrading to spindles (either air or water cooled) so may be something to consider in the future. It would be a relatively easy upgrade in the future so nothing lost.
Any details on the control box (driver makes, stepper voltage etc)? If it contains commercial bought in units there are likely to be other users on here who can share their experiences and set ups.
Good luck with it all and welcome to CNC'ing.
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Oh Argh Oh ah self control as never been my strong point but the medication must be working because I'm resisting.!!!!! . .:whistling:
When the urge gets too much I just think back to all those 100000's of lines the teacher gave me.??
Casper . . Write 1000's times. . . " I Must learn to keep my mouth shut". . :joker:
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JAZZCNC
Oh Argh Oh ah self control as never been my strong point but the medication must be working because I'm resisting.!!!!! . .:whistling:
When the urge gets too much I just think back to all those 100000's of lines the teacher gave me.??
Casper . . Write 1000's times. . . " I Must learn to keep my mouth shut". . :joker:
Oh dear is it *that* bad?
I knew there were compromises made for that price but I figured for wood it'd be fine.
I'm a big boy and its a router not my first born so please don't feel any need to censor yourself.
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Unsupported rails on the Z are not as bad as other axis as gravity is helping.
True you have sideways cutting forces but the weight of the head doesn't cause deflection like the weight on X and Y.
Add to this they are usually short and stiff, I personally can't see a problem.
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
I agree, round rail for a short Z is not normally a problem especially if you are using it for soft materials?
Looks like a Marchant Dice machine?
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JAZZCNC
When the urge gets too much I just think back to all those 100000's of lines the teacher gave me.??
Casper . . Write 1000's times. . . " I Must learn to keep my mouth shut". . :joker:
That was a waste of time then:whistling:
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Shinobiwan
Oh dear is it *that* bad?
I knew there were compromises made for that price but I figured for wood it'd be fine.
I'm a big boy and its a router not my first born so please don't feel any need to censor yourself.
Ok first I appologize, I made it sound worse than was intended.! I've got a canny knack of pointing out or saying truths "some" Dont want to hear.!! (Mainly the ones selling the machine) But seen as your ok with it then I'll point out the things I think are not Ideal.
First So to be clear for others " THIS IS JUST MY OPINION BASED ON MY KNOWLEDGE" Others will have theres' but this is mine and I've been invited to give it.!!. . .So get stuffed if you dont like it.!!:dance:
Z Axis:. . .Yes I agree with John S, Gary unsupported round rail is ok for short Z Axis. . . But this hisn't short, It's quite long.!
The over hang from bearings to tool tip looks to be a far bit creating a long-ish lever, also the front and rear plate don't look very thick. The other thing is the rear plate length and the amount of unsupported over hang from Y axis bearings, again too much without support IMO. Yes this will be ok for the little Kress but if you want to upgrade to water cooled or larger spindle then I think it will show it's weakness. . . It will certainly restrict the depth of cut(DOC) and feed rates (Fr), even in wood.
Tho it's not easy to see from the pics I get the feeling the Y Axis top gantry cross brace is just a piece of Aluminium plate with the rails bolted onto to it for support.? Say this because cant see any slots that would be present if it was wide profile.!! . . . If so then with that heigh/width gantry combo at this width of machine then it needs bracing up more IMO.
Don't like the ratio between gantry height and gantry side width, the bearing spacing hisn't very much. Yes it's driven from both sides but the height and width don't gel nice and if like I belive the gantry cross piece is just Ali plate with no bracing and just relying on the rails for support then flex will show when cutting hard or deep.!!. . Again restricting DOC & FR.
The frame under the bed hisn't supported enough with just one central support for this wide a machine IMO.
Not a major issue but not keen on them little nema23 motors spinning 25mm ballscrews, they are going to be working over time with the extra inertia of 25mm ballscrews.!
Please don't get me wrong I'm not saying the machine is rubbish because it's not, but again "IMO" It does have potential for issue's in some area's.!! And even thou you are only planning on cutting wood, there's cutting wood and then theres cutting wood with correct DOC & FR's and this is when any weak area's show them selfs.!!!
On another note I also think the bullk of the cost of this machine would have been the Cabinet enclosure.??
Like Routercnc I would be interested to know the spec of the drives control box etc.! . . . Also the price if your up for sharing.??
Hope you have good fun when it arrives and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.. :toot:
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JAZZCNC
Ok first I appologize, I made it sound worse than was intended.! I've got a canny knack of pointing out or saying truths "some" Dont want to hear.!! (Mainly the ones selling the machine) But seen as your ok with it then I'll point out the things I think are not Ideal.
No problem, I wish I'd known about this place back when I first started looking around. Nothing wrong with a frank opinion, I'd rather have that than the marketing speak!
From my limited knowledge I can see your concerns about some of the decisions taken with the construction but whether this negatively affects the parts I intend to produce will only be realised once I start cutting. I think your right that I'll have to dial back the speeds significantly. I've been told rapids of 5000mm/m are to be expected but cutting will reduce this greatly and I imagine 1500 upto possibly 2000mm/m with a 1/4" DOC in MDF will be about the limit. I'm more concerned about acceleration because I'll be doing a lot of detail work where this is more important than traverse speeds. Wondering how much things will jerk around with higher settings, probably quite a lot by the sounds of it sadly.
Quote:
Tho it's not easy to see from the pics I get the feeling the Y Axis top gantry cross brace is just a piece of Aluminium plate with the rails bolted onto to it for support.? Say this because cant see any slots that would be present if it was wide profile.!! . . . If so then with that heigh/width gantry combo at this width of machine then it needs bracing up more IMO.
Don't like the ratio between gantry height and gantry side width, the bearing spacing hisn't very much. Yes it's driven from both sides but the height and width don't gel nice and if like I belive the gantry cross piece is just Ali plate with no bracing and just relying on the rails for support then flex will show when cutting hard or deep.!!. . Again restricting DOC & FR.
It does look like alu plate that forms the gantry but its alu extrusion. I'm not sure about the exact dimensions but it looked like about 160mm x 30mm or possibly 160x20mm.
Quote:
The frame under the bed hisn't supported enough with just one central support for this wide a machine IMO.
This was a concern of mine in recent days since I started looking at some of the DIY builds on here - much more substantial beds. I can't see an easy way of bracing it more thoroughly though, especially in the direction parallel to the gantry, because the ball screws are in the way make a decent and useful cross section of bracing impossible to fit in there.
Quote:
Not a major issue but not keen on them little nema23 motors spinning 25mm ballscrews, they are going to be working over time with the extra inertia of 25mm ballscrews.!
I was led to believe these are nema28 on the x and y with 4Nm rating. However when I do a good search for nema28 I get nothing. Only nema23 and 34 return useful results. Unsure now.
Quote:
On another note I also think the bullk of the cost of this machine would have been the Cabinet enclosure.??
The enclosure was £600 extra so nearly an 1/8th of the price.
Quote:
Like Routercnc I would be interested to know the spec of the drives control box etc.! . . . Also the price if your up for sharing.??
I feel some what stupid because I have no idea about the electronics aside from the specs I was given(these are in the original post). The machine was the first of its kind with the enclosure so I agreed to have them take some pictures for marketing purposes and got it cheaper. They're selling the same machine with hiwin rails all around (mine is only on the Y) and possibly some more upgrades including the electronics for £6999.
Quote:
Hope you have good fun when it arrives and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.. :toot:
I'm sure I will and thanks.
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Gary
I agree, round rail for a short Z is not normally a problem especially if you are using it for soft materials?
Looks like a Marchant Dice machine?
Hi Gary the machine is from Strike CNC.
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
The motors are nema 24 and to get anything useful from them you will need to have quite a high voltage power supply.
Also the comment that they are two small for 25mm diameter ballscrews is totally right especially if you want to get them spinning fast.
The 4Nm is just the holding torque and totally irrelevant, and without a high voltage these motors will perform really bad.
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
I was going to post something similar to what Jazz has just posted about this machine, but there's no point now as he's said it all really.
Hopefully the 4nm motors are these:
http://www.cnc4you.co.uk/index.php?r...&product_id=70
So strictly speaking Nema 24. They're quite promising as they have a low inductance for their size, though I've never tried them. It's such a mismatched system. Instead of going for a higher lead ballscrew for X (i.e. RM1610 like they used on Y, or RM2010) to prevent whipping they've used a 25mm ballscrew then stuck bigger motors on to try and compensate, but it will still be nowhere near the performance (especially acceleration) you could get with 3Nm motors and a smaller diameter screw. 5m/min is adequate as the machine probably isn't rigid enough to cut faster than that.
£600 sounds a lot to add for an enclosure, though the price is understandable given the use of aluminium extrusion. Why not just make it out of wood, e.g pine or if they have a big enough machine cut the enclosure out of plywood sheet? Should be much cheaper.
You could add more braces to the bed parallel to the X-axis without interfering with the ball-screws. Without that you may see the bed bend away from the tool when it plunges down. Plunging with the tool something to avoid anyway (unless it's a drill!) but not always possible.
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1 Attachment(s)
Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
What's with the Nema 24's My understanding is that the size is determined by the across the frame distance so 2.3" and as they all have to fit the same bolt hole pattern they should all be the same. I have bought these larger powered 4nm's from Zapp, Roy at DIY - CNC and also from the link above and China direct. They are all interchangeable so all must be 23's unless i'm missing something here ?
Also £600 for the enclosure doesn't sound high to me. These guys are working for a living, not pissing about in a garden shed and that stuff isn't cheap. I built two enclosures for the KX series machines to go in at the shows for ARC. I'll bet he wished I'd only charged him £600 quid a pop :tongue:
Attachment 5358
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
To tell you the truth I think they made a mistake on the enclosure as I know that the extrusion was over £400.00 for my frame work alone
James
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
John S
I have bought these larger powered 4nm's from Zapp, Roy at DIY - CNC and also from the link above and China direct. They are all interchangeable so all must be 23's unless i'm missing something here ?
I can't see the 4nm motors at Zapp, only the standard 3nm that everyone sells.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
John S
Also £600 for the enclosure doesn't sound high to me. These guys are working for a living, not pissing about in a garden shed and that stuff isn't cheap. I built two enclosures for the KX series machines to go in at the shows for ARC. I'll bet he wished I'd only charged him £600 quid a pop :tongue:
What I meant is I'd never recommend paying that much for an enclosure when it's something anyone can make. You don't really need to know anything about CNC to make an enclosure, as it's just a box. Plus if you're going to charge £600 for an enclosure why make it from extrusion when you get a bigger profit with other materials :lol:
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Nema 23 motors are 56mm square.
the 60mm motors are an oddball so they called them nema 24.
We only sell the 3nm version of the 60mm motor, i tested the higher torque version and found that they performed worse than the 3nm version.
As john rightly says, you cant expect a company to make a bespoke enclosure for near nothing, £600 is not bad, we all need to make a living.
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
I suspect these are nema24 and I incorrectly called them nema28. Everything else seems to fit.
What does concern me is the points raised by some about the inertia and general mass of the screws being too much for the stepper motors. Obviously its hard to tell without testing and you can be sure I'll post some video's of the machine working to allow you to look for any issues that I might not be able to identify being a beginner.
Supposing I do find that the motors are inadequate, how big of a job would it be to upgrade them to something suitable?
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Gary
As john rightly says, you cant expect a company to make a bespoke enclosure for near nothing, £600 is not bad, we all need to make a living.
Where there's clear panels, they've used Lexan too rather than just clear perspex. I've had a quick look at prices for a 4 x 8ft sheet and its not cheap. The machine is 1.8m D x 1.8m W so your looking at a couple of sheets of that if you arrange your cuts sensibly. Overall I was happy at £600.
I know what you guys are saying though. I DIY too (not CNC machine though) and don't consider my time spent as a commodity so £600 for a cover would seem expensive compared to something I could knock up. In this case though I wanted a neat package that ran straight out of the box.
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Have any of you guys tried building this vacuum hold down kit:
http://www.m-powertools.com/products...h/big-mach.htm
The price seems good compared to the alternatives and because it works off a regular hoover you don't need venturi or vacuum pump.
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Gary
i tested the higher torque version and found that they performed worse than the 3nm version.
Interesting, that's precisely the information I was after here:
http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/showth...ers-or-drivers
Please could you elaborate on what tests you performed?
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Jonathan
I can't see the 4nm motors at Zapp, only the standard 3nm that everyone sells.
Sorry, brain fart meant the 3nm ones but both Gary's and Roys are in the fatter frame. So although they are fatter at 60mm and called type 24? the bolt fixings are still the same as type 23.
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
I ran the SY60STH88 and the SY60STH100 on the same drivers at the same voltage and the larger motor could only get to about 60% of the speed as the 88mm long motor.
I ran them on the Leadshine M542 at 40V and the Leadshine M880 at 70V.
While the longer motor would give more torque at the lower speeds, this soon changed after hitting a few hundred RPM.
Also the specification in the link you posted looks all wrong.
Look at the inductance and the current and compare it to the 88mm long motor.
The Inductance is lower than the 88mm long motor but also the current is lower.
You would expect the inductance to be higher if the current is lower.
I suspect the inductance is actually a lot higher than is shown in the datasheet, and if this is true you need a much higher voltage driver to get a good performance from the motor.
even at 70V, the 88mm long motor performed better.
There is only so much power you can get from a motor with such a small frame, and if you want more power you have no choice but to go to a larger frame motor like a nema 34, but at the same time also use much higher voltage.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Jonathan
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Oh and to simulate torque i coupled the motor to a larger nema 34 motor and shorted the windings.
This works but its bloody noisy.
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
I've looked back through some old emails and can confirm the PSU is 60v. No other details on the make or model of the drivers though.
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Fair enough, I should have compared the power consumption. The ratings imply the power consumption is nearly equal which is inconsistent. I'll continue to steer clear of those motors...
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Weird, I thought I'd posted this earlier but must have miss-clicked.
Should problems arise. Can you tell me if its possible to swap the nema24 to a more suitable motor? And if so what would you recommend.
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Shinobiwan
It does look like alu plate that forms the gantry but its alu extrusion. I'm not sure about the exact dimensions but it looked like about 160mm x 30mm or possibly 160x20mm.
Ah ok slightly better than feared thou at this width extra bracing would be my prefered choice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Shinobiwan
This was a concern of mine in recent days since I started looking at some of the DIY builds on here - much more substantial beds. I can't see an easy way of bracing it more thoroughly though, especially in the direction parallel to the gantry, because the ball screws are in the way make a decent and useful cross section of bracing impossible to fit in there.
I would run 2 piece's parallel with the screws close as possible, positioned vertical like the side rails. I would also change the centre one to the same position then take staggered cross supports between each. If your not sure what I mean just ask and I'll draw it for you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Shinobiwan
The enclosure was £600 extra so nearly an 1/8th of the price.
They're selling the same machine with hiwin rails all around (mine is only on the Y) and possibly some more upgrades including the electronics for £6999.
£600 is very cheap for the enclosure like as been said but to be honest for 7K I'd want far more for my money than this machine offers. I'm self employed so know exactly how hard times are at the moment but to be honest at 7K there making VERY good profit.!!
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JAZZCNC
I would run 2 piece's parallel with the screws close as possible, positioned vertical like the side rails. I would also change the centre one to the same position then take staggered cross supports between each. If your not sure what I mean just ask and I'll draw it for you.
A good suggestion and this is something I will very likely do.
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JAZZCNC
£600 is very cheap for the enclosure like as been said but to be honest for 7K I'd want far more for my money than this machine offers. I'm self employed so know exactly how hard times are at the moment but to be honest at 7K there making VERY good profit.!!
Hi All Just wanted to say hi & introduce ourselves we are a CNC router Engraver & laser manufacturer based in the south west of the UK just outside Gloucester our premises are on the vantage point business park our address can be found on google maps.I thought i would post & answer a few questions some have had We have x8 CNC routers in our range from our standard models to our PRO range boasting full hiwin rails on all axis we also offer a range of upgrades for the standard models as well as a bespoke service for custom models , this particular CNC router was originally a 1200x1200 for this client he then chose to up grade to the enclosure as well as the hiwin profile rails on the 1 axis, we did recommend the hiwin rails on all axis & pointed out they are far superior on all axis as opposed to the standard supported bearings in a ideal world we would only recommend hiwin rails on all axis but this is ultimately the customers decision weather to go for the upgrade or not & we have to supply the customer with what they want that said as long as the Z axis rails are not long unsupported shaft for the Z axis is acceptable many of our competitors use unsupported rails on the X & Y which to us is not acceptable.The dual axis is run from 6A drives with a high powered PSU we use dual power supplies on our CNC routers ,by using the 6A drives on the dual axis this allows us to use higher powered PSUs that cannot be used with the standard.4.2A drives The motors are nema 23 4NM on the X & Y axis & we found these (once powered with a high voltage power supply) provide more than enough torque to move the gantry at 5mpm , we have tested many motors & drivers over the years from not only the UK suppliers but also a few of the US suppliers & found our current system the most efficient , by moving to a nema 34 motors you start to have problems with slow acceleration & deceleration due to the high inductance & high inertia not to mention the vibration due to refinance in the 34s this coupled with the even higher voltage requirement deemed them not strictly necessary, we found that our current 4NM motors (& there are a few different manufacturers of these) are some of the highest powered we have come across & we have tested a lot of motors & drives across multiple platforms before coming across our current system but of course we can add nema 34s if that's what our customer prefer. This particular machines gantry is our standard range & has heavy gauge 30x180 gantry back support, the upright gantry is heavy gauge 40 series we only use heavy gauge extrusion on all our products including all bases & mini models this gives a more rigid & robust design, the Z axis back plate as well as the front Z plate bearing our logo is solid plate.i do hear your criticism about the supports but once you see the machines in person you get to see just how rigid they are we have been told pictures do not give our machines any justice Also the cost of the enclosure was 600.00 this is VERY cheap as we use lexan polycarb (some of the highest quality in the business) this plastic will not break infact you can tie it in a knot bend it even stamp on it & it will not break the cost also includes the larger base for the CNC as the standard machine base was 1400x1400 with the enclosure the base had to be 1850x1750 so included all the materials to make the larger base so this was a very cheap upgrade for enclosure, yes you can make one cheaper out of wood if you go down the DIY route but we are a business & a wooden enclosure may not fit in with the overall look of the machine. This client payed £4460.00 for this model & we thought it was a very good price We do also sell a pro version of the model for 7K but this contains full hiwin 20 rails ,T Nut bed & a gecko control system also for 7K we have a 4 axis 8x4" CNC router with full Hiwin upgrade 8" 4th axis with tailstock the base has 80x80 legs & 80 series base , we use larger components on this model so it does weigh quit a fair bit which is testament to its rigidity it is a solid beast of a machine we are currently manufacturing x2 of the larger 4 axis 8x4 CNC routers for another client & will post pictures if any one is interested in seeing them over the next few weeks Any constructive criticism is welcomeAll the best Strike CNC
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Hi all
there must be some typos wrong the motors are nema 23 4NM
this machine has dual 20mm ball screws the motors are more than powerful to power these personally i would not move up the the 34s as there are inherent resonance issues & problems with acceleration & deceleration as well as the other problems stated in previous post that's not putting the 34s down they are good motors but not needed on this machine our competitors use only 3nm & lower in some cases our are 4NM motors powered & high voltage
RE the bed once the bed is ready for skimming the bed is 34mm thick there will be no discernible flex issues.
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Your observations over using high powered 23's against 34 are exactly what I have come across.
I recently refitted a home conversion done by a third party, they had fitted 1800 oz 34's on a small mill with the understanding that bigger is better.
Once changed to 750 oz in and power upgraded to 72 volts the rapids doubled.
As I said in a previous post that enclosure was a bargain but then again that's the difference between running a business and pissing about in a shed !
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Strike CNC
this particular CNC router was originally a 1200x1200 for this client he then chose to up grade to the enclosure as well as the hiwin profile rails on the 1 axis, we did recommend the hiwin rails on all axis & pointed out they are far superior on all axis as opposed to the standard supported bearings in a ideal world we would only recommend hiwin rails on all axis but this is ultimately the customers decision weather to go for the upgrade or not & we have to supply the customer with what they want.
I would also like to add that you did upgrade the base axis to hiwin rails at cost(£240) simply because I couldn't afford it otherwise and you wanted these rails in place as the machine size pretty much needed them. A real shame I couldn't stretch my budget a little further to get the other 2 axis done as well. Hat's off to you for doing this. I've since looked at the prices of hiwin rails and bearings blocks and they're not cheap.
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that said as long as the Z axis rails are not long unsupported shaft for the Z axis is acceptable many of our competitors use unsupported rails on the X & Y which to us is not acceptable.
I think it'll be fine. I have a Bosch GCM10SD Mitre Saw that slides on about 35cm of unsupported rails. Its extremely accurate and the only thing that moves during a cut is blade deflection. With the cnc, as long as I keep to sensible speeds and materials that the machine was designed for I can't see any problems.
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This particular machines gantry is our standard range & has heavy gauge 30x180 gantry back support, the upright gantry is heavy gauge 40 series we only use heavy gauge extrusion on all our products including all bases & mini models this gives a more rigid & robust design, the Z axis back plate as well as the front Z plate bearing our logo is solid plate.i do hear your criticism about the supports but once you see the machines in person you get to see just how rigid they are we have been told pictures do not give our machines any justice
Would have been great if I could have moved up to something like a couple of 80x80mm beams for the gantry and 40x200 for the uprights but as always my budget was the limiting factor. Its good to know you used the heavy gauge of extrusion rather than the light or even the eco version that have progressively more and more voids in the cross section.
Again I've got a great base and enclosure so DIY'ing a machine in the future and just bolting it down on the base is a possibility. Something like the Fine Line Automation FLA300 kit or cncrouterparts CRP4848 for example. This isn't something I'd do for at least a year or two however but the option is there if I ever felt the need for higher feedrates or harder materials.
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Also the cost of the enclosure was 600.00 this is VERY cheap as we use lexan polycarb (some of the highest quality in the business) this plastic will not break infact you can tie it in a knot bend it even stamp on it & it will not break the cost also includes the larger base for the CNC as the standard machine base was 1400x1400 with the enclosure the base had to be 1850x1750 so included all the materials to make the larger base so this was a very cheap upgrade for enclosure, yes you can make one cheaper out of wood if you go down the DIY route but we are a business & a wooden enclosure may not fit in with the overall look of the machine. This client payed £4460.00 for this model & we thought it was a very good price
I can't argue with the price. You gave a few bits for free or at cost. And I'm pretty sure you lost money on the enclosure if you factor the labour. Price is always subjective but its what your happy to pay that matters and at £4.5k I'm happy. I looked around at the alternatives and the only way you can beat that is by DIY'ing and that's assuming your competent enough to pull it off to the same standard (I'm not!) and you also don't mind spending a good number of hours building (I don't have the time either).
Anyway the machine will arrive within the next few hours and I'll post some photo's.
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
I thought you guys might be interested to see what the machine will be cutting so have attached a couple of renders to show.
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
Its arrived!
I can tell you it wasn't fun getting it off the lorry and into position. I had a couple of mates around to give a hand and the 3 of us thought we'd try to lift the whole thing. Wrong! It weighs around half a ton and quickly abandoned that idea. In the end we had to break it down into 3 sections for us to be able to comfortably man handle it off the lorry and into position. We tackled it by removing the router from the base and discovered this was by far where the bulk of the weight was. Once that lump was gone the base was pretty light although a bit awkward to manoeuvre because of the size. Before attaching the router back on to the base we spent a lot of time levelling in all directions as the floor does slope a little. Once that was done we bolted the router back on. Last part was the top enclosure and carrying this around wasn't too bad but getting it back on the machine was a right pain in the backside. The low ceiling in the workshop and tall gantry made it impossible and after some head scratching and a fair bit of swearing we dismantled it and then re-assembled on the machine. Ugh, never want to do that again.
By the time we'd done it was 9pm and way too late to start taking it for a test drive. Its going to be the weekend now before I have time and its going to kill me to wait. At least its setup ready to go now anyway.
First impressions are positive. The build is sturdy and the photo's don't do it justice at all. I've tried to shake the gantry and there's no play or flex whatsoever. Very well put together and polished package.
Here's some images.
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
That machine looks really good and the speakers look even better.
Jim
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
yes speakers look great what do you use for the external material is it sprayed ??
James
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Re: Strike CNC (My first CNC router)
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Originally Posted by
luke11cnc
yes speakers look great what do you use for the external material is it sprayed ??
James
Thanks James. As you suspected they're sprayed.
Those are renders but here's the real thing to give a better idea.