Steel Router 610 x 1220 x 200

[Stickio]

Ugg just checked my drivers and they are only rated at 50V, looks like im going to have to start replacing electronics anyway.

I am starting to have a change of heart, the way I see it at the moment is that I have a machine that is working ok at the moment so I am not in a huge rush to get this one up and running so as James has pointed out lets do it right the 1st time. I will tweak the design to include twin X screws that way I can order the steel in and get on with making the frame while I save up for other bits.

Where did you get your 75V power supply and drivers from was it zapp?

Didnt think about the Z backdrive, maybe some sort of solenoid brake that retracts in the powerd up state and locking the z when controller is switched off. If I dont do something like that I know for sure I will forget and end up ruining something :)

For those who have not seen it before here is the pully system I was talking about.


At least with replacing the drivers and power supply I wouldnt have any excuses not to make a scratch built cnc mill I've been wanting to build, cant have those bits sitting there gathering dust :P

[Jonathan]

Where did you get your 75V power supply and drivers from was it zapp?

Drivers were from Zapp - their service is excellent, but you can now get them a fair bit cheaper on eBay. I made (or rather assembled, there's nothing to it really) the power supply from a 500VA toroidal transformer on eBay, bridge rectifier and a couple of capacitors. Google it and I'm sure you'll find the general idea...

Didnt think about the Z backdrive, maybe some sort of solenoid brake that retracts in the powerd up state and locking the z when controller is switched off. If I dont do something like that I know for sure I will forget and end up ruining something :)

Could do, I just quite literally stick a spanner in the works if required!

I reckon the pulley diagram you posted wouldn't work very well because the acute angle between the crossing wires is very small. Too tired to calculate it properly now, but I'm pretty sure you'd want the same sort of thing but with one pulley on each corner of the frame, like on a drawing board ruler...

their are people here that will cut/machine items at a cost for you.

That's me...

[pavlo]

Hi Barry

I dont think you would have any problems with racking if you have a single drive on the x axis. Your gantry is identical to mine and I get no problems even on aggressive cuts.

I dont see any advantage of a 10mm pitch on the z screw. x and y speed are important but how often do you need to plunge into the workpiece at high speed? With a 5mm pitch you will not need a brake (or a spanner).

It looks good to me, but then I'm biased :)

[Jonathan]

It's good to have high speed Z if you're drilling PCBs, but that's about the only thing I can think of.

With a 5mm pitch you will not need a brake (or a spanner).

My Z-axis, with 2.2kW spindle, has a 5mm pitch and does drop ... it obviously depends on the weight of the axis.