time to gather parts for new machine

[MikeyC38]

Hi Deano.
I thorughly agree with JazzCNC and Jonathan about drawing out your design with a CAD package. You can see this from my thread here http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/showth...gn-Build/page4 and it allowed me to get good advice from the guys here on the forum who have learnt the hard way! A picture tells a thousand words!! A 300 mm ballscrew does not have a thread length of 300mm - it is about 200 once you take into account the end machining to fit the bearings at either end. On my Y axis, this clearly showed up when I did the drawing. I use TurboCAD Platinum Pro 15 which I got from Paul Tracey http://paulthecad.co.uk/ at the Model Engineer exhibition some years ago for a fantastic price (very much less than retail!!). It does solid modelling which means when you draw the ballscrew, bearings etc, you can "assemble" them together just like real objects. Some of the stuff like the BF/BK bearing blocks, stepper motor couplings I got off the internet already drawn as 3d objects, so it was easy just to use them. Also as CAD is / will be part of my workflow to use the machine i.e. CAD draw object send to CAM software to produce toolpaths and tool selection then to CNC, then for me it is time well spent.

There is quite a step learning curve in using these programs (Google Sketchup is easier to get to grips with) so unless you are in a hurry, it makes you think through every stage. My mantra is "measure twice cut once" so doing the drawings etc will hopefully help me avoid some expensive mistakes.

All the best with you new project!

Mike

PS Also got my rails, ballscrews, bearings couplings from Chai at Linearmotionbearings2008 on ebay. Fantastic price and great service. Everything turned up within 10 days and was straight.