Small rigid router - Design advise needed

[mitchejc]

Fitted and aligned the Y ball skrew and complete Z axis, so most of the mechanical parts are done now.

z front plate before all the drilling and tapping


Had to but join rails for my Z due to a change in plans. Was quite surprised as the carriages runs very smoothly over the joint with absolutely no click or resistance, so it seams feasible to join rails if one has to.


z stepper mount



100mm spindle fitted just to see if all the holes line up etc.


Now time to start with the control box which is about where I run out of skill and creativety. Wish Eddy could pop over to my place to help a bit:-) I sort of know what needs to be connected but I cant figure out a good layout to do a neat job with routing all that wires etc.

[EddyCurrent]

Wish Eddy could pop over to my place to help a bit:-)

Bit too far I think
Here's a few things to keep in mind;

1. Use a proper metal electrical panel with backplate
2. The size of the panel is not the space you get, it's how big the backplate is and the distance it is from the inside of the door.
3. Two items are sort of fixed, terminals across the bottom or up one side, a door mounted isolator positioned along the edge of the door that opens.
4. Use CAD to draw rectangles representing the guts of the enclosure, i.e. backplate, terminal rail, door isolator, drivers, power supplies, bob + interfaces, fuses/circuit brreakers, relays, trunking, vfd, etc.
5. Just drag the rectangles about to get the best layout, the space you need is going to be bigger than you think.
6. Obey any rules regarding ventilation, and keep large transformers away from sensitive items like the bob
7. Use the cable trunking to route power cables in one and signal cables in the other.
8. The backplate will have an earth point, use this as your earth star point, you can use the DIN rail mounted earth terminals I used to make life easier.
9. Use proper terminating glands for the type of cable you will be using
10. Get a crimping tool and some bootlace ferrules, cable number markers make a better job too.
11. Use tri rated single core cables inside the panel, check the standard colours for panels used in your area, e.g. here it's black for AC power, blue for 24 DC, etc.
12. Make provision for cooling fans, ideally some blowing in and some sucking out. The ones sucking in should draw air through a replaceable filter, you need to keep a higher pressure inside
the panel so dirt is not sucked in through gaps.
13. Use DIN rail to mount everything.
14. Use quite deep trunking, it fills up quickly.
15. there must be more

[mitchejc]

Bit too far I think

Eddie, are you sure? Only an 11 hour flight I'll supply all the beer and sunshine you can tolerate :-)


Thanks for the very detailed reply, much appreciated. I'll go thru it with a fine comb tonight and google the stuff you are referring to that I'm not familiar with.

[T0rnado69]

I'll supply all the beer and sunshine you can tolerate :-)

you got your ticket yet eddy :)

[mitchejc]

Outch, got some prices on steel cabinets. My budget is experiencing a severe hangover to get the machine this far so are there perhaps any cheaper options that's feasible and then hopefully upgrade later? My other problem is that I don't have any tools to cut holes etc into a steel box so I have to factor that into the price. I understand why a steel cabinet is the best choice but can one get away with a wooden box with a metal back plate or something to that effect?

[Blackrat]

lol i almost fell over at the prices ....

i went to visit a friend one day, and found an awesome box in his neighbors garage which he said i could have !!!

look into having a 2mm box laser cut, its still cheaper than buying one, you just have to draw it

+1 on the SIZE of the box , my box is quite big .... or so i thought lol

[Clive S]

My other problem is that I don't have any tools to cut holes etc into a steel box so I have to factor that into the price.

I see a pillar drill and hand electric drill in your shop. 600 x 600 x 300 should more than big enough, You don't need to put the VFD inside the control box. Just how big a box was you considering? ..Clive

[mitchejc]

@blackrat, maybe laser cutting sheet metal is a good plan as I know its going to cost way less than what these enclosures cost but I'm probably going to have a very hard time to arc weld it together. I've tried welding thinner material but it was hit and miss and I burned holes like you wont believe even with 2mm rods, so there's much to learn in that department.

Clive, now that's a great looking box! Those LCD displays really got my imagination going... Can I extend the offer for free beer and sunshine to you :-) I'm a bit scared of butchering an expensive box with what tools I have. I have not done the layout yet as suggested by Eddy but I was guessing maybe 600x400x300 as a ballpark? Content would be 1x PC ATX Powersupply, BOB, VFD(vfd face outside the box) 4 x Drivers and few relays. The driver are quite big at something like 180x160x60 if I recall correctly and I would like some spare space for future expansion.

Excuse my ignorance but what's those white square things in your box?

[mekanik]

Try and get smaller rods, years ago before i got my TIG setup i was trying to patch up a car and only had a stick welder but got some rods from the Local BOC outlet, think they were about 1mm dia but had a substantial flux coating and was told it contained iron fillings, worked OK on thin plate so 2mm plate you should be fine if you could find some.
Know the feeling about the price of steel cabinets, Norweb insisted i had to buy a specific size/type of cabinet/kiosk. It cost 600GBP
Regards
Mike

[Clive S]

@blackrat
Clive, now that's a great looking box! Those LCD displays really got my imagination going... Can I extend the offer for free beer and sunshine to you :-) I'm a bit scared of butchering an expensive box with what tools I have. I have not done the layout yet as suggested by Eddy but I was guessing maybe 600x400x300 as a ballpark? Content would be 1x PC ATX Powersupply, BOB, VFD(vfd face outside the box) 4 x Drivers and few relays. The driver are quite big at something like 180x160x60 if I recall correctly and I would like some spare space for future expansion.

Excuse my ignorance but what's those white square things in your box?

I don't think you will get all that in that size box. I would think twice before putting the ATX inside the main control box as beside the board you would need a power supply, hard drive fan etc plus all the connecter to the monitor, keyboard mouse.
.
The LCD displays were from China about £2 each, the housing for them was done with a 3D printer. The white square things are the 5V and 24V power supply's there also another converter to step up the 5V to 12V to power the motion control board. 24V for the E-stop and 5V for the BOB.
.
I don't think many people on here put the VFD inside the control box. Remember most of these box housings have a bottom plate that you remove and make the holes for the connectors so if you f#%~k it up you just make a new plate.
.
Does the free offer include the flights. only kidding. ..Clive