It's begun....

[Washout]

Wow, if I get half that performance I'll be ecstatic :-)

Thanks for the tool - that's a great help.

Now to see if I can get a ballscrew macined and delivered before Christmas.....

Chris

[Washout]

A quick pic of the machine for those interested.

Doesn't look like I can get a ballscrew machined before Christmas, so the build/upgrade etc is going to have to go on hold. I'm also moving house next week, which means taking the gantry off or seeing the removal guys slip a disc or two and this will also be a good opportunity to fit the second ballscrew when it arrives.

For the sharper eyed amongst you I didn't have my new gantry mounting brackets on when I took this pic, but they are ready. Also for some reason the flash on my crappy camera phone has made the ali extrusion look like I have pimped it with blue LEDs, but the coolant is indeed green. I've been using PC watercooling pump and fluid, as I have been water-cooling my PC's for years without any gunk forming and using a spare radiator/fan unit means I don't need much of a resevoir for water. So far I've yet to feel my spindle get warm after a continuous 54min session.

BTW - the new house has a 31x15 foot workshop and I'm going to be building a workbench down one wall out of steel box section, which means learning to MIG weld - does anyone have any recommendations for a welder and whether gasless or gas is better?

Cheers


Chris

[JAZZCNC]

BTW - the new house has a 31x15 foot workshop and I'm going to be building a workbench down one wall out of steel box section, which means learning to MIG weld - does anyone have any recommendations for a welder and whether gasless or gas is better?

Gas less is mickey mouse stay away if you want to weld seriously. If your mainly going to weld box section or thicker stuff then just buy a cheap stick welder because to weld 3mm box section you'll need a decent sized Mig. . . . Cheap Migs are rubbish and pretty much useless for thick stuff.

Also to get decent welds from a Mig you wan't CO2/Argon mix (Boc Argo sheild) and the little cannister bottles and regulators that usually used with cheap Migs are rubbish/expensive and last about 40mins on a good day.!! Plain CO2 or pub gas spits like crazy.
The real Mcoy bottles are difficult to get hold of unless you know somebody with an account at Gas supplier and even then you'll have to pay for the bottle rental plus Gas.!!

Even the cheapist stick welder will give better welds in 3mm box than an average power Mig.!!

[AdCNC]

For the sharper eyed amongst you I didn't have my new gantry mounting brackets on when I took this pic

First thing i looked for.

Id go with Jazz's recommendations, i was in the same boat as to what welder to go for a few years back and last year i bought a old oxford oil filled welder off e-bay probably the best arc welders you can buy IMO. then from there i got a new Oxford S-Mig 330-1 even tho the new Oxfords are not made by Oxford but Technical Arc. They are very good welders, and for the money even the cheaper ones they do will be good.

But id look on e-bay for a old oil filled arc before you get a cheap buzz box arc welder!

[D.C.]

Got to agree with Jazz that arc is much better than mig for this sort of thing.

Something you may want to consider is having a look on the skill swop websites to see if you can find someone local offering free welding or just find someone that you can pay to do the one off welding job for you. They will probably do a much better job in a couple of hours for beer money, so if you only have this one job that needs welding it might be a lot cheaper and easier to outsource it.

Buying your own welder even second hand, some sticks, gloves and a mask mean you are probably going to drop £50 - £150 on gear easily and then you will spend hours researching how to use the thing, hours practicing and then do a not great job of welding the frame.

Of course if you want to learn to weld and have lots of ideas for projects that need welding, it's lots of fun and very satisfying so go for it! :)

[Washout]

Thanks guys,

I'll do a little more research before settling on something, but I'd like to learn the skill myself, as there will be other projects that require it (I need other sturdy work surfaces run up for example).

I was initially looking at MIG, as it seemed the easiest to pick up and from a few tutorials I have seen looks to be a matter of timing and motions to get a penetrating and consistent weld, but like decent soldering (or any other skill for that matter) will be a matter of practise, practise and more practise I expect.

Thanks again


Chris

[D.C.]

In that case have a good read of this site, (Especially the safety page!) get hold of a few pieces of scrap that is the same thickness that you will be using and start practising.

Arc Welding Tutorial

If you are welding anything that needs precision placement you will need to clamp it in position and put a few tack welds on or the welding will pull the work pieces totally out of alignment. It is also worth buying a pair of overalls to wear when welding so that you don't set fire to yourself.

Clean up your work space so there are no bits of saw dust or plastic bags etc lying around on you will burn the house down, make sure you are well ventilated and make sure the kids aren't around staring at you while you weld, the light can cause permenant blindness and even if you only suffer temporary blindness it is extremely painful and means a trip to A&E. This is also a very good reason not to start your weld off and then drop your mask, if you can't start the weld without binding the stick either practice more or stop being a tight arse and buy a reactive mask. :)

Also be careful after you have finished the weld don't lift your mask and stare at it, the slag that forms on top of the weld can suddenly explode off the weld ( I've had a 1cm long bit of very hot slag burn itself into my neck from doing this)

[end safety lecture]

[JAZZCNC]

I was initially looking at MIG, as it seemed the easiest to pick up and from a few tutorials I have seen looks to be a matter of timing and motions to get a penetrating and consistent weld, but like decent soldering (or any other skill for that matter) will be a matter of practise, practise and more practise I expect.

Yes pretty much correct but with MIG's the kit and Esp the Gas make a massive difference to how easy.? A cheap low power MIG with wrong Gas is no fun believe me.!

[Wobblycogs]

I've just been looking into welding so that I could weld up my frame and heartily recommend the site DC pointed you towards. The guys on the forums over there are friendly and knowledgeable.

I reckoned that it would probably cost around £500 to get a MIG welder and all the other kit needed to allow me to weld up my frame which is mostly 4mm box section. You'll need (at least): welder, apron, gloves, mask, wire, gas and g-clamps. When it comes to PPE I tend to go with something quality so that cost includes a half way decent auto-darkening mask and the welder is new rather than an e-bay special. I had a look around on e-bay, if you want a dinky little 90amp job then e-bay is the place to go but you'll be wanting more like a 125 to 150amps. I'm sure they turn up and a bargain can be had if you are willing to wait long enough though.

The real sticking point for me was gas, I found a local supplier that was cheap enough but I didn't really want to be signing up for a contractor and storing gas bottles in the house. I'd also need to find somewhere to store about 50kg of welding machine which would be problem for me at the moment.

[wilfy]

any vids of your machine cutting?? it looks awesome