Thread: 3 Axis 900x500mm
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07-09-2017 #1
Over the last few weeks I've been hanging out in Clive's garage after taking him up on his offer to help me cut the larger plates and assemble a new router to compliment the mini-mill I built a couple of years back - that machine's still going strong and I'm making some good work with it, but I really do need a bit of extra cutting area (my ultimate goal is to build my own bass guitar from scratch - despite already having eleven of 'em - it's a big part of getting into the whole CNC thing for me).
Clive's done the heavy lifting here - the only area where I managed to make a significantly greater contribution than him was in the biscuit eating and tea drinking department (thanks Mary..!)
The design is a tweaked version of a tried and tested router he built a while back - there's also been a great deal of CAD/CAM input from Dean, to whom I'm hugely grateful.
It's based on the heavy duty Motedis extrusions which I ordered from Germany.
A fairly conventional build - the hardware is made up of the usual suspects:
- 1610 ballscrews on the X/Y with a 1605 on the Z all mounted on the BK/BF bearings blocks. The X and Y axis are geared 1:1.5 (20T pulley on the motor 30T pulley on the screw) while the Z remains 1:1.
- Profile rails are HIWIN HR20s.
- I'll be using AM882 drivers.
- Standard water-cooled 2.2KW spindle with a Huanyang VFD.
- Machine control will be via the newer version of Linux CNC (I get on with it and it looks so much nicer than Mach).
Not sure on the BOB as yet and still undecided on a computer to run it off - I have a (very) old Windows box which I could re-purpose, or I could take a leaf out of Clive's book and squirrel away a MOBO into the control box (nice idea!). Ideally I'd love to run this off a laptop as it would mean no extra monitor to accommodate around the machine - Clive's pointed out that this can lead to issues, such as certain power saving features kicking in (that you have little/no control over) - but I'm totally open to advice here..!
There have been a couple of hiccups along the way - a couple of holes in the wrong place, a ball-nut coming off the end of a ball-screw, but nothing that's fazed Clive - in fact, I re-packed the ball-nut myself and was surprised to learn that it's not that big a deal - I was gutted when it happened, but sit tight, be patient, pop them in methodically and you can have it sorted in half an hour.
Here's a short vid of the machine semi-assembled over at Clive's. The X slides easily as it's not back-feeding against the screw (the ball-nut mount needed shimming so was left unattached). The gantry will get detached for transporting back to mine at some point next week.
It's coming together. I've been busy making some of the smaller bits and pieces on my mill:
And here's a vid showing some of the cutting that went in to these smaller parts. I've taken to using a drilling strategy to cut out large chunks out of the stock so as to avoid deep slotting. I can deep slot, but I'm not a fan - it can get a bit loud for a confined space and it means using a fair bit of WD40 which I'd sooner avoid. The spindle bracket was cut dry, ok - the odd squirt of WD during the drilling routine, but the profiles themselves were cut using only air.
I'll hopefully darken Clive's doorstep again (if he hasn't tired of me by then) to cut the mounting holes for the spindle bracket - it's a bit too tall for my mill when stood on end.
That's about it for now. I have some video of Clive's machine cutting the larger plates - it needs editing down a bit, but I'll get something up in the not too distant.
There's still plenty to do - homing switches, e-chain, electrics/electronics. In fact there's probably a couple of months left before it's up and running properly - as ever, it's the small things that end up taking time...
I'll post anything of interest as I go...
Wal.Last edited by Wal; 20-09-2017 at 02:43 AM.
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07-09-2017 #2
Nice! Drooling!!!
Last edited by Nickhofen; 07-09-2017 at 08:38 AM.
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Wal Your too kind I only see one spindle bracket you will need two. If you get the other cut we can do them Monday.
..Clive
The more you know, The better you know, How little you know
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07-09-2017 #4
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16-09-2017 #5
Quick update.
Spindle brackets about finished:
Thanks once again to Clive for helping out with the drilling and countersinking of the mounting/clamping holes - these one-piece brackets are a smidge too tall for my mill so it was a real help to get that bit done over at his place.
I've spent a bit of time this week making some NEMA23 motor covers. See that large chunk of plastic..? I spotted it in a scrap bin outside an industrial unit coming out of band practice last Sunday. I didn't just want to take it, so I drove back in the morning and asked if I could have it - the answer was 'yep' and I've been chuffed about it ever since - 750x220x50mm - got to be the skip find of the month, huh? Not sure what it is, but it cuts very well... I've got a feeling that it might be worth trying to cut this conventional as opposed to climb. The 6mm cutter's quite aggressive and the material is surprisingly hard, so I've kept the DOC/step-over quite conservative. Here's a vid:
The cut's not as clean as I'm sure it could be, but the burr knocks off very easily with a bit of wire wool/fine sand-paper. I tried using a t-slot cutter for the under-cut (where the wires come out of the motor body) but even with the spindle at 3krpm it was still way too hot - I'll use aluminium caps to seal 'em up - an extra step, but it'll work - here's a bit of 3D to show you what I mean:
Still want to try making these covers out of some walnut I've got lying about (much to Clive's amusement) - no reason why a decent hardwood shouldn't work, eh.?!
Wal.
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Still want to try making these covers out of some walnut I've got lying about (much to Clive's amusement) - no reason why a decent hardwood shouldn't work, eh.?!
Going to be a very nice machine, Keep up the good work and vids...Clive
The more you know, The better you know, How little you know
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16-09-2017 #7
Those covers for your motors are going to add mojo! Nice touch!!!
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16-09-2017 #8
very nice and simple could kill for a machine like that right now, but think its at least 3 projects away.
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19-09-2017 #9
Covers pretty much finished now - just waiting for a bunch of 16mm cable glands to arrive (in black) and then I can pair up and solder what's coming out of the motors onto lengths of CY cable. (Of course, the walnut covers will be getting brass cable glands...) A couple more pics:
...and a vid showing the machining off of the extra bit of plastic that was used to clamp to whilst cutting the main body along with a quick bit at the end showing the cutting out of the alu caps:
Next job is to fit the e-chain, I reckon.
Wal.
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20-09-2017 #10
Started on the Y-Axis E-chain earlier today. I've got a length of chunky alu L-section that I rescued from my Dad's shed a while back and it's pretty much the ideal size for this job - well, maybe a little on the heavier-duty side...
First job was to drill and tap a hole on one of the plates that makes up the side to side moving part of the Z-Axis. Rather than take the whole thing apart, I used the plate edge tapping kit I 'designed' and had made by Dominic when I first joined the forum. Worked nicely...
Then I machined a little (0.6mm) step into the L-section, this'll prevent it from slipping/rotating without having to use two bolts.
I attached one end of the E-chain - looks alright so far. Space at a premium at this end of the axis as I need to get a little bracket in there somewhere for the limit switch...
Next I need to make a 7mm spacer that will sit between the L bracket and the extrusion at the other end of the axis. Should look something like this:
Again, recesses and proud bits are to prevent it (and the L-section) from rotating once bolted on.
There'll be another bit of L-section positioned somewhere in the middle to prevent the chain from sagging...
Wal.
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