Comments sought on new build: A CNC Router for RC Gliders and Planes

**njhussey** · 07-10-2013

Funnily enough I've taken home one of each item to measure with the vernier calipers ;)

**njhussey** · 03-11-2013

Cheers Si, I'll put them in the lathe and take some emery paper to them to get them to fit.

Fitted the 2 solar panels to the shed roof and wired them in series into the charge controller and wired the 2 x 115Ah leisure batteries again in series into the controller and.........it works!! Have a small 600W inverter coming next week so should be able to run small things like soldering irons, radios etc. until I decide what my power requirements are.

Installation has loose wires all over the place as I was running out of time this evening but I wanted to prove it all worked. Shed desperately needs tidying as I've been bringing stuff back from storage and just dumping it in there.

**njhussey** · 08-11-2013

First time out to the shed since installing to see if its working ok and it is, just need to run the batteries down a bit to see if it charges them as they're topped up now so not being charged.

**Jonathan** · 08-11-2013

Looks like yours are working better than mine the day after I mounted them:

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That's after I'd wiped the snow off!

**njhussey** · 11-11-2013

Originally Posted by Jonathan

Looks like yours are working better than mine the day after I mounted them:

That's after I'd wiped the snow off!

They seem to be pumping out voltage and you can see it fluctuate as the sun comes out. Just bought a plug in electricity cost meter to see what some things consume to see what I'll need. Booked a day off this week so I can sort out the shed as it's a right tip with boxes and RC models scattered and piled up everywhere.
Put the ballscrews in the works lathe and had it on slow today at lunch and took off a couple of thou off the shaft with some emery cloth as it would have been a tight interference fit. Now a nice tight sliding fit on the shaft so happy. Still unhappy that there is play in what should be a fixed bearing, anyone else have this?

**njhussey** · 16-01-2014

Well after another couple of months of inactivity I finished welding up the basic frame. I've still got to attach the side rails (and ends) but am unsure whether to bolt them (so I can adjust them so they're level) and then weld them or just weld them as near as possible as I'm going to do the epoxy levelling on them. I presume that It's doubtful that they'll be level enough to mount the linear rails directly on them without some form of levelling? I've no straight edge to measure them with mind...

Attachment shows the frame tacked up previously not welded up before the eagle eyed point this out...!

**Wobblycogs** · 16-01-2014

Looking good Neil.

I think I'd just weld rails in place if you're going to epoxy level them. I can't imagine that bolting them first would improve the final outcome by more than a mm or two for fair bit of work. I've got some brackets if you need them though ;-)

**njhussey** · 16-01-2014

Cheers Graham, preferred method is to weld them rather than bolt and weld!

**njhussey** · 20-01-2014

Today in lunch I finished off a couple of welds on the frame that I missed last week and put the first of the side rails on and tacked the back upper beam on.

Used my bevel box to set the top rail level with the bottom rail. The second rail will be referenced to the first rail later this week when I get back in the workshop.

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Although you can't see the first reading on the bevel box that well it does say 0.0 and 0.0......much like the second one!!

Once all the rails are welded up then I'll be getting the grinder out (and the welder again to fill any holes etc...!!) to smarten up some of the welds and also to get the bed rail welds flat so the base will sit flush with the frame.

I've still got to cut some squares out to weld in the upright tops for when I do the epoxy levelling. Also got to weld on a couple of stops on the ends to park the gantry up against when not in use.

**njhussey** · 24-01-2014

Well after being off sick with stomach cramps for the last 3 days I got into the workshop at lunch to weld the second side rail on and start tidying up the welds. I am quite pleased with the accuracy I got (hopefully) on the rails according to my level box. I referenced the first side rail from the base frame and then using the level I clamped the second rail and referenced that from the base frame front and then kept tapping the rail down with a soft face mallet until it was showing 0.0 & 0.0 all the way from the front to the back. I checked the level again before tacking the rail in place and then checked it again before doing the final welds. I'm still going to epoxy level the rails I think...

I started cleaning up some of the welds but there's a lot of that to be done as my welding is rubbish! I also put on (at Jazz'z suggestion) a piece of 50x6 flat on the end of the rails to act as a stop for the gantry when it goes vertical.