El Beast - Initial design phase, comments and critique welcomed!

[jarjar]

I like your idea for protecting the motion bits. I may steal it for my own build :)

The gantry looks rather thin to me... And thus torsionally weak. I would go with a Misumi GFS8-100200, at a minimum.

[Voicecoil]

+1 - you just beat me to it Jarjar as I was calculating!
I've just done the sums on a piece of 25 x 200 plate and it's something like 17x weaker torsionally than a piece of the 200x100x5 box I'm planning on using for mine: adding the bit of extrusion on the back will help depending on how comprehensively they're bolted together, but it's unlikely to achieve the same rigidity as a decent box section. OK 100mm deep might be a bit much, but there's a 200 x 80 x 6 that's nearly as stiff. And with a box you could maybe run the returns of the slot covering strips back down inside it - at least that's what I'm planning .

[Zeeflyboy]

there's a 200 x 80 x 6 that's nearly as stiff.

At misumi? I can't seem to find a 200x80 anywhere.

[Voicecoil]

At misumi? I can't seem to find a 200x80 anywhere.

It's just a normal box section extrusion - these are my local stockists:

https://www.simmal.com/product/alumi...tangular-tube/

[Voicecoil]

If you want to stick with profiles, Item do a 80x200 that's not bad as far as profiles go:

http://catalog.item-central.ca/en/pr...-8-200x80.html

[Zeeflyboy]

problem is finding somewhere to buy it in UK.


Cheers guys, I'll have a think - 80mm would be easier to work into the design than 100mm but 100mm is easily available at misumi where I need to buy some profile anyway.

[Zeeflyboy]

I believe I could make the 80mm work, although it would need new plate ordered for the side arms as the stock I have isn't big enough). Problem will be finding somewhere to buy it - have sent an enquiry to ITEM and to another place, will see what comes back. In the mean time I can continue to work on the design as it only really changes the side arms... will run both ideas and maybe look into simulations to get an idea of differences if I can wrap my head around it sufficiently well to simulate a fairly complex construction.








Oh and just printed out a shield belt clasp to see how it would come out - seems to be good, can pull on both ends pretty hard and no give

[Voicecoil]

problem is finding somewhere to buy it in UK.

Talk to Pamela at MBS <[email protected].> they're the UK agents for Item stuff, seem to be able to get most stuff within a week or so. Not cheap, but then quality rarely is I guess, and they seem to be a good source of heavyweight profiles.

BTW, how does your tramming plate work please? is the back of it machined to a very gentle radius so you can tilt it?

[Zeeflyboy]

Thanks - they are actually the other one I sent an enquiry to but from the look of their website was not sure they sell to plebs.

Tramming plate only trams in one axis (left/right as you look at the machine head on), the entire gantry will be able to be trammed fore/aft (the Z-axis can also be trammed left/right independent of the tramming plate) to make sure the axis of movements are correct. Plan for spindle is to tram fore/aft with shim stock then left/right using the tramming plate. The issue I always had tramming just with shim stock is that you would get one axis in, then the other would be out... this way should work well for me.

[Zeeflyboy]

Talk to Pamela at MBS <[email protected].> they're the UK agents for Item stuff, seem to be able to get most stuff within a week or so. Not cheap, but then quality rarely is I guess, and they seem to be a good source of heavyweight profiles.

BTW, how does your tramming plate work please? is the back of it machined to a very gentle radius so you can tilt it?

MBS got back to me very quickly with a quote - not a cheap piece of extrusion, comes to around £200 with cut and delivery... in for a penny in for a pound though I guess!