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

[Jonathan]

holy sh** jonathan !! i guess thats what you pay the extra for... my best X axis rapid is 1500mm/min

Question: do i need to keep my axis rapid speeds the same as my Y will run at 2000mm/min ?

Indeed, I'm not regretting buying that ballscrew now - £50 well spent. I'm not sure how often that speed will be useful though...could maybe drill something really fast!

I've got all the axis' at different speeds on my milling machine, so no you don't need to keep them the same. I'm using about 1800mm/min for the X axis on my mill. It will go maybe 20% higher, but it's not reliable at that speed any more. Possibly the ACME screws are getting worn (backlash has certainly increased) but I'm not sure if that would reduce the rapids.

[blackburn mark]

cheers jonathan :)
i did a couple of cuts in alli and delrin yesterday, nowt spectacular, small pocket with a 3mm single flute,,,,, tickled me pink though to see it work.... my optimisme shot through the roof
i may just get there yet :)

[Jonathan]

Good to hear that yours is working. I've not tried a single flute cutter yet, perhaps I should. I did the bearing mounts with a 2 flute 5mm cutter using 1mm depth at 200mm/min. Took a while to cut through the 1" aluminium, however it didn't require cutting fluid which left me free to leave it running whilst I made other bits :)

I've finally bought the ER16 collet chuck and set of collets for my big brushless motor. I thought that it'd compliment a kress spindle nicely when I can afford one of those since this motor will do up to 6000rpm, and the kress from 5000 to 25000rpm.

[Meant to post this hours ago - helps if I remember to press 'post' after typing!]

[blackburn mark]

I've finally bought the ER16 collet chuck and set of collets for my big brushless motor. I thought that it'd compliment a kress spindle nicely when I can afford one of those since this motor will do up to 6000rpm, and the kress from 5000 to 25000rpm.

i cant see you having any worries with that monster!! are you going to put more bearings at the nose?
i used my 700w motor to do my test cuts(0.6mm depth) the bind with using that at low revs is the amount at which the revs drop under load, it needs factoring in.
i really need to re-work my 2000w spindle housing to fit the 43mm spindle mount (i bought a boat load of hss 5mm 2 flute of ebay to try in it, nice and cheap)
im not sure the single flute cutters are that important if you can get your revs down, youll have no worries there
my take was that with plastic the bigger the chip the less chance of melting but i am doing a lot of guesstimaiting at the moment, ill give a few diffrent cutters a try and see how i get on (delrin is pretty nice to machine)

[Jonathan]

I'm going to put one 12mm double row angular contact bearing in - same as I used on the Z axis. Do you think that'll be sufficient?

I still need to buy the ESC for this motor and a suitable power supply. 50V and lots of watts...expensive.

Were the 5mm cutters a one off? The reason I'd want to try a single flute cutter is it should clear the swarf easily. [and why isn't 'swarf' in the spell checker?]

I'll post some pictures in a bit - after the snooker!

[blackburn mark]

I'm going to put one 12mm double row angular contact bearing in - same as I used on the Z axis. Do you think that'll be sufficient?

iv put a 10mm double row a/c in my 2000w spindle but iv not used it to machine yet so i cant say for sure but as far as runout or play goes they will out perform standard bearings by a long way and as your going to get a kress at some point it would make sense to bolt a 43mm housing on the front of your brushless so you can swap them out easily and throwing a double row A/C in there while your at it wont take to much effort

my 700w with the pre-loaded(belleview washers) skate bearing gave a nice finish, i cant see them lasting to long but they are cheap and easy to change

ebay search "5mm slot drills (pk of 10) hss slotdrill uk made" £17 including postage
iv read HSS works well with delrin so i bought two lots of these

[Jonathan]

I might get those 5mm cutters, or maybe go for a pack with some different sizes.

You read my mind with the 43mm mount - I was just looking at how easily it would fit.

Lots of photos...

Gantry with Z mounted:

Z ballscrew bearing mount:

Bits left to fit + old Z and 4th axis:

Top of Z axis with stepper, 42:22 pulley:

Ballnut, can just about see the mount:

Router bits from Aldi, very cheap:

Another view of Z axis:

Finally the whole router:

[blackburn mark]

that 4th axis looks posh, what bearings ??? stainless body??? what are you going to drive it with ??? what gearing ???

for a moment there i thought you were using a hi-tec harmonic gearbox but im gessing the hi-tec box i can see has shoes int it lol

[Jonathan]

that 4th axis looks posh, what bearings ??? stainless body??? what are you going to drive it with ??? what gearing ???

for a moment there i thought you were using a hi-tec harmonic gearbox but im gessing the hi-tec box i can see has shoes int it lol

I mentioned it somewhere else on this forum...not sure which thread though.

They're a pair of L 68149/L 68110 taper roller bearings. It's all mild steel - shows the dehumidifier is working as it's ages since I machined it. I'll use a stepper motor via timing belt to drive it since there's no way I could afford a servo. Also putting a disk brake using solenoids to hold it steady whilst milling. When I want to use it as a lathe I can put the big brushless motor on it. 6000rpm at several Kw would make a nice CNC lathe. I made it mainly to use with the milling machine, but I may well use it on the router.
I've machined the shaft to fit an 80mm chuck, same as my C3 lathe, but I'll make an adapter to put a 5" chuck on it.

Using 4th axis to make 4th axis (or should that be 5th?):

Cross section, note disk break arrangement:


Mounted on mill:

looking forward to seeing it running jonathan

You're not the only one :)

get some videos up.

Will do

[blackburn mark]

I mentioned it somewhere else on this forum...not sure which thread though.

hahha!!! sorry jonathan, you did... on my build thread... it looks so much smaller on your router i thought youd built another one

im still pondering the options for my fourth axis, im leaning towards a 50:1 harmonic with a stepper... it'll only be on light duties
youve got me thinking now though.... it would be nice to be able to isolate the gearbox and run it up to lathe speeds

think ill just sit back and see how you get on with yours :)