1.7*0.74*0.4m Mill / Router building...

[FatFreddie]

Runout isn't great - 0.05mm ish.

What were they quoting for runout? I was looking at some that were quoting ten times better than that - just wondering how reliable the claims are.

[Jonathan]

What were they quoting for runout? I was looking at some that were quoting ten times better than that - just wondering how reliable the claims are.

Yes mine was indeed quoted at ten times better than than.


I've decided to make a welded steel frame for my router. This is my initial design:



I will probably add a few more triangles to that, however I'd like to keep the front of the machine open.

In that drawing I've discarded the tall gantry sides and replaced it with a bit of 100x60x3.6mm steel box section, so now the 'gantry' is only 100mm tall, not several hundered mm. This should help with the stiffness.

Also I am intending to have the existing bed fit inside the frame and attach it to the 6 vertical pieces with a series of holes which will allow the bed to be raised and lowered depending on the size of the job. Most of the time I will have it as close as it will go to the gantry, giving only 100mm (ish) z-travel. I've not yet needed more than this so I think it's a good way of stiffening up the machine without compromising on working volume. It'll also gain a good bit of travel on the Y axis.

[Jonathan]

I've finished one side of the frame... took all day! It's nice and flat/square :)



Got some tidying up to do now! ...



I'm going to get the other side of the frame clamped up now, and weld it tomorrow. I think I'll clamp the other side to the side I've just welded.

[Jonathan]

I have now welded the second side of the frame. I clamped it to the other side to get it flat etc:



I then tacked it together and welded the horizontal joins ... then rotated it and did the same etc:



My welding is getting much more consistent. Still probably should have chosen something simpler for my first welding project!



Now I have positioned the remaining pieces to work out how to proceed:



I decided to use some spacers from steel tube. I'll put a few more in and use them to clamp the in between pieces. Cats were interested...



Any comments / ideas welcome.