Re: My steel framed router
Next step involved spending some more money. So I spoke to Gary at Zapp and ordered 3 nema 23, 3nm steppers and drivers plus power supplies and breakout board. An old pc case was scrounged and I put it together like this.
http://www.homdens.co.uk/router/PICT1381.jpg
Looking at the price of motor mounts scared me so I got some more scrap and made these.
http://www.homdens.co.uk/router/DSCF1674.jpg
Which, when painted looked quite good.
I needed a mount for the Kress spindle I bought so I got my £20 B+Q router out and set to work on more scrap. When it was all put together it looked like this.
http://www.homdens.co.uk/router/PICT1390.jpg
A gift of a decent spec pc with a parallel port meant that I could start to get it working. I installed mach3, plugged it all in and told the program it was 400 steps per mm on all axis. I expected to be doing a log of tinkering and tuning to get it to run well so I was very pleased when it all ran flawlessly. All axis jogged at full speed without any problems at all and the acceleration I could get amazed me, I ended up turning it down a bit because the kitchen table it was set up on for testing was shaking too much (yes my wife is a saint).
I have still got to connect limit switches and and e stop button but I thought I would give it a go.
YouTube"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhKl0S1JVds
YouTube"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7uFgeNTnZE
So thats it. It took about 4 months of grabbing the odd hour here or there to get it done but now I have a good, strong working router for about £1000.
Now all I need to do is find something to do with it.
Re: My steel framed router
wow! looks like a real good machine in only 4 months:clap:could you tell me how easy it was getting slides etc from china, how long did it take?how much did it cost plus delivery?what company did you use?
sorry for all the questions but i am just snooping around internet for best ideas and prices to build my own router.
hope my build goes as smoothly as yours
:beer:Tom...
Re: My steel framed router
Hi Tom.
Getting the bits from China was easy. The price was £412.08 including shipping. I expected to get charged VAT and import duty but I got away with it. I'm sure the quality of the ballscrews is not as good as you would get from some of the sponsors of this site but for my first machine, it made sense to me. The drive couplings didn't last long but to be fair, they were rated for 2Nm and I was working them hard on 3Nm motors. I have replaced them for now with reinforced hose and jubilee clips.
The bits from China took about 3 weeks to arrive but when they were delivered, the small pair of linear rails were missing. I emailed the guy and he sent them out straight away without any argument.
I dont know the policy for posting the details of non-sponsors so I will PM you the guys details.
My build costs were
Rails etc £412.08
Motors and drivers £400.51
Spindle £152.50
4 core screened cable for motors £15.00
and about £50 for machine screws and electrical bits and bobs.
Everything else was given freely or was scrap.
I hope your build goes well
Paul
Re: My steel framed router
Looking good pavlo!
I'm using the TBR type supported rail for the new machine i'm currently working on as well, i'm hoping to start my build log VERY soon.
How much did the lovely anodised black cost to have done, somthing i picked up on from your build was aluminium and corrosion, this is somthing i didnt really think about.
Thanks,
Lee
Re: My steel framed router
Hi Lee
I was fortunate enough the get the black anodised bits made for free.
I dont know much about aluminium but I do know that some grades will corrode very easily, especialy if steel screws are used.
Re: My steel framed router
Hi Pavlo,
Ok no problem mate, i hope i wont have any problems but i guess i could look into this and let you know. Maybe some undercoat and a top coat maybe in order!
Great !
Re: My steel framed router
Indoors in the dry aluminium needs no protection as the film of aluminium oxide that forms with oxygen is sefl-protecting. However this does give a dull finish. Anodising provides a nice surface finish and looks better but isnt necessary.
See http://www.keytometals.com/Article14.htm for more info.
Re: My steel framed router
Pav your images have stoped working mate?
Re: My steel framed router
Thanks Lee
sorted now I hope.