Web Goblin cnc has begun

[Web Goblin]

Some of my parts have arrived so its time to get the build started. The bed frame is 1250mm long by 1065 mm wide. It will be running on linear rails and bearings with ball screws driven by NEMA 34 motors.
The whole assembly will sit on a purpose built angle iron frame with adjustable feet to level it.
Pics 25, 28, 29, 30 show the extrusion and the built base frame with part of the linear rail attached. 26,27 show the bearing riser plates and the y-axis risers. 14 shows the bearing mount plates and the risers and 16 shows how they fit together.
I havent got the ballscrews yet and some of the motor mounts are out of stock but should be here soon.
Hopefully tomorrow I will finish fitting rails for the x-axis and get the bearings and mount plates fitted. Then I have to work out the mounting plate for the frame to fit to the base which will also mount the motors and the ballscrews. If I can get that done tomorrow I can get them cut out on the Laser at work Monday.
I need to figure out attaching photos as well

Regards

Ian

[h4ppy-chris]

look forward to seeing more pics all the best.

[Lee Roberts]

Looking good, cant wait to see this machine come to life !

[Web Goblin]

I managed to get my motor and bearing mounts drawn up and cut out and flanged. They have been fitted and are ok. On the first photo the top flat part of the mount is lying slightly at an angle. I know that the brackets are accurately flanged so I can only think that the angle iron of the frame is slightly twisted. I have gone round all sections of the base frame with a level and it matches the frame so it appears to be level.





I also got the chance to mount the y-axis risers as well so that I could get an accurate measure to get the y-axis bars cut. First photo shows the bearing blocks mounted on ther bearings.




Hopefully tomorrow I will get some time to paint the motor and bearing mounts.

Ian

[andy_stephensni]

Ian / all,

i'd love to make a cnc but - a limited subject knowledge and reading between here / cnczone / mechmate forums - it all gets a little overwhelming sometimes. Anyway (I think I) need a simple approach (if not a total kit for which I have high hopes for AdCNC one of these fine days!) so thought i'd ask my first question here on Ian's Extrusion build.

Hope nobody minds or maybe can be moved to another thread ?

I've been looking at Ahren's R&P parts [http://www.cncrouterparts.com/index.php?cPath=21] and just re-reviewed a build at http://www.cnczone.com/forums/cnc_wo...ate_-_off.html.

Has anyone looked into the detail of how the cncrouterpart parts (eg the rack clamps at http://www.cncrouterparts.com/produc...products_id=64) might integrate into extrusion more widely available in the UK eg KJN / Valueframe?

http://www.aluminium-profile.co.uk/
http://www.valuframe.co.uk/

Andy.

[Web Goblin]

Chip,
I will be using 20mm diameter 5mm lead screws from Gary at Zapp. Once the paint on the mounts has dried I will fit the motor mounts with one bolt and clamp the end bearing in place to get a measure on the screws then get them made to fit. I already have the motor mounts and the bearings to suit the screws. The linear rail is 25mm and I think it was around £150 per meter. Its not cheap but its very good. I will be using 15mm Linear rail for the Y-axis because I have three lengths of it spare from an old job. It will also be more than enough for the machine.

Andy,
most of ther uk profle that I have seen has either 6,8 or 10mm wide slots. I dont know if the american stuff will still be in imperial sizes so it might not fit very well at all. The valuframe stuff is great stuff. Thats what I have used for my build except for the wider 275mm profle for the y-axis riser plates because the valuframe range only goes to 200mm wide I think. Normally if you are using a rack and pinion drive I would space it out from the edge of the frame by maybe 2mm and centre the drive pinion to the rack so that it would have a little bit of float. The good thing about rack and pinion is that it can float about a bit and not cause any problems and also if your gearbox/motor assembly is spring loaded it helps to keep the pinion in mesh and also lets it follow an uneven rack.

Regards

Ian

[Web Goblin]

Unfortunately I havent gotten much work done on my build over the last week.
I decided to change to motor and bearing mounts to straight plates. Got them made and fitted and levelled the frame up again.



Also managed to cut and fit the rest of the X-axis linear rail.
The Y-axis extrusion arrived this week as well.




I need to set up the Y-axis on the floor of the workshop to see where to drill the riser plates to take the Y-axis extrusion. I also need to see where I am going to fit the motor mount and then see where, if anywhere, I need to cut out a notch from one side to take the ballscrew. When I get that done I can get them fitted and it will start to look like a machine then. I also picked up my steel enclosure today to take all the electrics so I suppose I can get that started while I wait on the ballscrews to get machined.

Regards

Ian

[Web Goblin]

I managed to drill and tap the Y-axis riser plates and the Y-axis beam.
Have them refitted to the machine and have also fitted two sections of the linear rail.


Tomorrow I need to thread some of my 12mm setscrews to make the thread longer and I need to make a 3mm spacer for the Y-axis beam.
After that the next job is the Y-axis motor mount.

Regards

Ian

[Briann]

Ian,

Interested to know what facilities you need to put something like this together. I see from the last pic that you seem to have access to a bandsaw, small vertical mill, and an ML7, but somewhere you also mentioned access to a "laser" at work! What do you reckon the minimum set of kit is to start a build like this? Something to cleanly cut the long sections to length squarely, then relatively small turning and milling jobs?

Thanks,

Brian

[Web Goblin]

Brian,
I ordered the aluminium extrusin already cut to the lengths I needed. The best way to cut ali is a cold cut with a slow cutting saw similar to a wood chop saw. This leaves a nice finish. If you get everything cut to size them you just need tools for assembly. My bandsaw is only used for cutting timber before going on the wood lathe. Whats behind it in the picture is my old Meddings floor standing drilling machine. Its old and a bit noisy but does a very good job. My ML7 I class as a toy lathe. I'm sure I will probably upset a few people with that comment but thats my opinion. I have access to a colchester student at work which is much better but a bit worn and also a bridgeport milling machine. I look after a 3KW cO2 laser at work so I can usually manage to get some small jobs done like my motor and bearing mounts.
If you are looking for a lathe I would recommend trying to pick up and old one in good condition. Not too sure about the smaller milling machines but I believe the Warco ones are good. Add a decent socket and spanner set and a good quality set of allen keys and various drill and taps.

Regards

Ian