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

[Jonathan]

ello jon,just wondering how you got on over the weekend? did you manage to get it cutting
im about to order mine from the same source .
wouldnt mind a look at the mount you made if you got that far:naughty:

No I didn't get it cutting. Went to my grandmas on Sunday so didn't get as much done as I'd hoped.

I got one mount done and started the top one. I've not got a photo of the finished mount, but you can get the general idea from here:







The extra aluminum on the side will let me fit dust extraction.

Quick video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xciLC...=youtube_gdata

[Jonathan]

Spindle is mounted and working!

Runout isn't great - 0.05mm ish.

But it seems good in all other ways. I just cut some carbon fiber with it, about 2mm thick at 450mm/min with a cheap diamond burr at 24,000rpm. It's cut well and left a decent finish.

I'll post some photos soon.

[Jonathan]

Spindle mounted + VFD:


Water cooling... crude but it works. My mum is wondering where her bucket has gone!


Closeup:


Trimming carbon fiber sheet. Having the spindle going off the end of the bed is dead useful:


I intended mounting the VFD there to be temporary, but now I'm thinking I might leave it since it saves on cable. The extra mass on the Z axis isn't much compared to what's already there. If I switch the steppers off the Z axis now drops due to gravity. Before the detent torque of the motor was sufficient to stop this.

[Jonathan]

I've finally got round to uploading the video of cutting a wind turbine blade mould, with my router, to youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Puge7MSYoZU

It's, quite a long video but I've tried to use only short clips of each stage so it's not too tedious.

I will edit this post and add some more tomorrow.

[FatFreddie]

I intended mounting the VFD there to be temporary, but now I'm thinking I might leave it since it saves on cable. The extra mass on the Z axis isn't much compared to what's already there. If I switch the steppers off the Z axis now drops due to gravity. Before the detent torque of the motor was sufficient to stop this.

I'd be more worried about the effect of vibration on the VFD.

[Jonathan]

I'd be more worried about the effect of vibration on the VFD.

Yes I thought that too. I mounted it using those foam sticky pad things which, thinking about it, should damp the vibrations a little. Another issue is dust getting into the VFD which would reduce the efficiency of the heatsink.

[FatFreddie]

Carbon fibre dust is conductive...

[Jonathan]

Carbon fibre dust is conductive...

True, and texalium which I'll machine at some point is going to be even worse. Apparently carbon fiber dust is worse than asbestos, so I will allways use the dust extraction with it anyway.

[Jonathan]

I got the steel on Wednesday. Adey Steel were very organised and helpful. They cut the steel to the lengths I specified. They did accidently not give the offcuts from cutting my steel that I requested, so I went back and got it plus they gave me some box section free of charge along with some 6mm plate to practice welding with!! I'll use some of the extra box section to make the frame stronger if required..

Since then I have used my metal bandsaw to cut the box section - it's cutting very close to square now. I'm currently drilling lots of holes in it which will be used to support the bed at different heights. I intend to motorise the bed, effectively making it an F axis, to minimise the overhang of the Z-axis for each job.

I've ordered the ballscrews for X and Y (RM2510 and RM1610) - the tracking says they should arrive in one week, so my aim is to have the frame done by then.

The basic shape of the frame is going to be the same as in post #113, with a few extra pieces to strengthen it. The front is 'missing' to allow the Z axis to protrude past it at the end of the travel. I've used 50mm and 60mm, 3mm thick box section and 120x60mm, 3.6mm rectangular in places where I wanted a bit more strength.

Here's a couple of photos:

[Jonathan]

Slow progress with the frame, I've been getting distracted making other bits - such as spindle mounts:



I've drilled most of the holes required in the frame, just got a few more to work out. I think it's best to drill them all using the milling machine ... except I can't really do that with the holes for the linear rails as I'm not confident I will be able to weld the frame parallel enough. I'm using the bed support rails to clamp the three upright pieces of the frame in place to weld, not sure about the rest...maybe some sash cramps: