My new 4 axes wood processing CNC router...

I finally found some time to start the construction of a new 4 axes CNC router.

The characteristics are as follows:

Dimensions (active): XxYxZ 84x43x12 inches, (2100 x 1100 x 300 mm)
Rolled C7 Ballscrews on all axes: Ø25x10mm (x2) on X; Ø25x5mm on Y; Ø16x5mm on Z.
Linear supporter round rails Ø25 on X and Y, round rails Ø30 on Z, all with linear bearings.
Aluminium profile structure, 90x90 mm, heavy. Support assembly made of steel rectangular profile steel 80x80x4, on castors and support bolts.
Stepper motor driven, NEMA 34, 12Nm.
Suhner 1050W spindle with ATC.
The A axis will be a H/V 6 inches dividing table.
Computer: Atom 330 (dual core), 80GB HDD, 2GB RAM.

I bought most materials from Zapp Automation (slides, ballscrews, supports for ballscrew, stepper drives and motors - thanks Gary and Therese), KJN Aluminium (aluminium profiles and connection elements - thanks Tina), Damen CNC ("A" axis - thanks Kevin and René) and Sorotec - Germany (spindle and ATC).

Please see some images below...

Computer simulated structure:
Attachment 2308

Steel support table:
Attachment 2310

Aluminium structure:
Attachment 2311

Structure assembly (detail):
Attachment 2317

X axis (one side):
Attachment 2309

All axes (back):
Attachment 2314

Z axis (no spindle):
Attachment 2313

Y and Z axes (back):
Attachment 2315

Y and Z axes (with spindle):
Attachment 2318

Electronics box:
Attachment 2316

Screen and keyboard:
Attachment 2312

First test (axes Y and Z):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJveFnl9fJo

Unfortunatelly, I will have to wait another month before finalizing the construction.

Any suggestions or questions are welcome!

Many thanks,
Florin

Looking good.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chip

would you say there was a considerable difference in noise between the suhner spindle and the kress?

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Hi chip, I just started the Suhner spindle, it is very quiet at 3500 rpm, then probably it is just a bit quieter at comparable rpm than the Kress spindle. I would say that the spindle sound is not that relevant when you mill into the wood :).

Suhner seems a bit more solid, significantly heavier, but the finishing of the Kress spindle seems to me better. I have a Kress FME1050 for over one year now, and I am very happy with it, I was just looking to have a spindle with lower rpm at the lower end. I will let you know about the Suhner when I will really start working with it, but if you do not install an ATC stay away from it, as you will need two spanners to change the bit (no locking button on Suhner - I would probably go for the FME1050-1 in that case).

Hope this helps.

Florin

Hi,
I succeeded to advance a bit on the router build.

There were some problems with the SmoothStepper interface, it seems that the "EMF sponge" name I found on the internet is very appropriate. I had fo install ferrite rings on all the stepper drivers' power supply cables before making it stable.

Finally, the router is working fine on all 4 axes, and the homing and squaring procedure is working fantastic on the X + C (slave) axis.

I still have to finish the ATC magazine with tool height sensor, the dust extraction system and the 4th axis callibration.

Right now the ATC (Usovo/Sorotec) is working great, but there is nothing done yet on the callibration of the magazine and the tool height sensor.

The ATC magazine is still on the design table :). The 4th axis is working great, but I didn't fix it and there are tests to be done. The dust extraction is designed, but not done yet.

Unfortunatelly, I can work again to this project next month only :(.

You can se below a short video with a wood carving test, in beech. The model is one of the free models from http://www.vectorart3d.com/store/?fuseaction=freemodels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9QAzDuKVjg

All the best,
Florin

Hi Florin,

A lot of work gone into that, well done. Good to see it in action. Looks like it is cutting well, but you might want to consider bracing the ends of the X axis profiles to each other. They are cantilevered up away from the baseframe, so might deflect a bit on the harder cuts. Just a thought - if you're happy then leave it because it might impede work access.

Also, I'm sure GeorgeD (see his 'Y axis design' post) would be interested in this design since the Z axis motor and belt are at the bottom!

Hi routercnc,

Thanks a lot for the good words!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by routercnc

...you might want to consider bracing the ends of the X axis profiles to each other. They are cantilevered up away from the baseframe, so might deflect a bit on the harder cuts. Just a thought - if you're happy then leave it because it might impede work access.

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The design is very solid, as it is using 90x90 heavy profiles from Bosch, with centering spring pins and threaded bars stiffening on all the connections. Actually I used this design exactly for improving work access and increased stiffness. Then, there is a slight controversy about this design: if I was to use a clasic gantry, then the deflection caused by the height of the gantry, would need to be compensated (because of much higher moments) by a huge gantry thickness, which would increase a lot the weight of the mobile part. So, I preffered to increase a bit the weight of the table, and keep the gantry height at minimum. Now, instead of having 2 poles on the side of the gantry, with limited thickness and weight, I have 4 much heawier poles, with all the possible reinforcements, and on a much larger base, holding the X axis.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by routercnc

... Also, I'm sure GeorgeD (see his 'Y axis design' post) would be interested in this design since the Z axis motor and belt are at the bottom!

---

Yes, I saw the posts now. Actually the heavy stepper motor I am using stays a bit better on the base of the Z axis in this case, so there is no dynamic momentum on the Z axis because of the heawy motor. Also, I preffered to have the axial bearing of the Z axis at the base, as the weight of the Z carriage and spindle will push that way. I know I lost around 1 inch from the Z travel there, but balancing the pros and cons I believe that in this case I made the correct choice. Future will tell :). Hope that this makes sense.

All the best,
Florin

Aluminium pocketing and some views of the router which might help a bit more in understanding the design:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj4N-etTauM

Hope this helps,
Florin

Hi Florin,

How is your machine getting on?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dopamine

Hi Florin,

How is your machine getting on?

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Hi dopamine,

Thanks for asking, it's working fine. I moved it from Romania to Ireland, it survived the transport (dis-assembled) and it's still well aligned (0.02 mm difference between the diagonals of a 100 mm square). Sadly, I lost almost three months in the process, but that's life.

I started using it again last week, then the ATC died. It's now back to the manufacturer, as I realised from some videos on the internet that mine was leaking air all the way from the moment I received it (and it shouldn't).

I will post some more pictures and videos, probably next week.

All the best,
Florin

hi florins. how are you doing? how is your cnc machine coming along?
im planning on building mines soon as ive raised the money i need (phew!). any tips you could give me on best places to buy the parts?
thanks