Hello from Germany

[scratchbuilt_designs]

Happy new year, folks !

My name is Dan and if you don't mind a German posting here, I would like to share my stuff with you and engage in a fruitful exchange.
English is not my mother language, so please excuse my grammar and spelling.

I was invited to this forum by Lee over at my Insta account

https://www.instagram.com/scratchbuilt_designs/

I am 54 yrs old, with a mechanical engineering background.

My interests have changed over the years.
Started with scale modeling, but after smashing a few years worth of work into the ground during the maiden (repeatedly ) it was time to move on...
I am interested in case modding - every once in a while, when I have to replace/upgrade one of my PCs

Lately, I am into woodworking and CNC.
I have built me a nice litte woodworking shop when the pandemic struck and many other activities had to cease.
Started with a table saw and gradually built the furniture around it...

In early 2021 I got me a Sorotec CL0805 router kit. I have an old BF20 VMC, which I have converted to CNC some 20 yrs ago, but I never really ran complex programs on it. Mainly some short handwitten G-code commands or even just some lines typed into the MDI.

So the router was my first real approach to CNC and I quickly discovered its flaws and weaknesses.
At some point I made the decision to separate metalwork from woodwork and to design and build a DIY machine, which fits my needs best.

I have a few constraints to respect, mainly the arrangement and remaining available space in my main shop. This was set up way before I even considered this kind of machinery and now I have cabinets with a long bench all around the walls. Not ideal for CNC machines. They all have to be benchtop now, which makes chip evacuation a bummer...

Anyway, end of 2021 I designed a UHPC benchtop router, which I built last year.

And for various reasons, I want to get rid of my Sorotec router now.
The replacement will be again a DIY design and build, which is a custom fit to my needs.

I posted a detailed build log of the UHPC router on Insta and I was honestly speaking surprised how many people were interested in that.
But Insta is not the right platform for a meaningful exchange of thoughts, so Lee's invitation came at the right time for my new build.


And just in case you wonder why I am not posting on German forums...Well, Germans are all idiots

[AndyGuid]

Welcome to the forum Dan, and don't worry, they even accept us Aussies here.

This is a good forum, with its' biggest problem being that the forum software for selecting emojis is terrible, so I virtually never use emojis on here :-(

Those Sorotec Router machines look to be fairly rigid little machines?


By the way, there are two problems with your workshop. It's too clean. And too tidy. ;-)

[scratchbuilt_designs]

Only in the pictures, mate

Sorotec offer DIY kits in various grades - 5 different lines. From cheap and cheerful junk to sturdy machines.
Mine is a so called CompactLine and its key feature is an integrated T-slot table.
Problem is the quality. The machines are made out of pre-faced 5083 aluminum, and so is the table.
But they appearently do not re-face the surface after milling the T-slots, and despite the material is cast and has less internal stress, it still warps/bends a little after the slotting.
My table was concave by 0.15mm in the middle and therefore rather useless.
I had to fix that by adding an additional fixture plate, which I could face to an even flatness...