Strike CNC (My first CNC router)

[Shinobiwan]

Machine was delayed for a week. Now due this Wednesday. Have attached a couple more images that I got from Strike to show the finished machine.

[routercnc]

Hi Shinobiwan,

Looks like a nice machine and I'm sure you'll have lots of fun with it! Since you're new to cnc just a few things to note:

The Z axis uses unsupported rail which is less stiff than supported rail (as per Y axis) or profile (as per X axis). Since you are machining wood and the span of unsupport rail is a modest size it will probably be good enough. But for interest did you ask how much supported Z rail would be?

The Kress has a good reputation, although like all routers is on the noisy side. The enclosure should help a bit but long machining jobs can get tiring for you and any neighbours. There are lots of threads on here showing the virtues of upgrading to spindles (either air or water cooled) so may be something to consider in the future. It would be a relatively easy upgrade in the future so nothing lost.

Any details on the control box (driver makes, stepper voltage etc)? If it contains commercial bought in units there are likely to be other users on here who can share their experiences and set ups.

Good luck with it all and welcome to CNC'ing.

[JAZZCNC]

Oh Argh Oh ah self control as never been my strong point but the medication must be working because I'm resisting.!!!!! . .:whistling:

When the urge gets too much I just think back to all those 100000's of lines the teacher gave me.??

Casper . . Write 1000's times. . . " I Must learn to keep my mouth shut". .

[Shinobiwan]

Oh Argh Oh ah self control as never been my strong point but the medication must be working because I'm resisting.!!!!! . .:whistling:

When the urge gets too much I just think back to all those 100000's of lines the teacher gave me.??

Casper . . Write 1000's times. . . " I Must learn to keep my mouth shut". .

Oh dear is it *that* bad?

I knew there were compromises made for that price but I figured for wood it'd be fine.

I'm a big boy and its a router not my first born so please don't feel any need to censor yourself.

[JAZZCNC]

Oh dear is it *that* bad?

I knew there were compromises made for that price but I figured for wood it'd be fine.

I'm a big boy and its a router not my first born so please don't feel any need to censor yourself.

Ok first I appologize, I made it sound worse than was intended.! I've got a canny knack of pointing out or saying truths "some" Dont want to hear.!! (Mainly the ones selling the machine) But seen as your ok with it then I'll point out the things I think are not Ideal.
First So to be clear for others " THIS IS JUST MY OPINION BASED ON MY KNOWLEDGE" Others will have theres' but this is mine and I've been invited to give it.!!. . .So get stuffed if you dont like it.!!:dance:

Z Axis:. . .Yes I agree with John S, Gary unsupported round rail is ok for short Z Axis. . . But this hisn't short, It's quite long.!
The over hang from bearings to tool tip looks to be a far bit creating a long-ish lever, also the front and rear plate don't look very thick. The other thing is the rear plate length and the amount of unsupported over hang from Y axis bearings, again too much without support IMO. Yes this will be ok for the little Kress but if you want to upgrade to water cooled or larger spindle then I think it will show it's weakness. . . It will certainly restrict the depth of cut(DOC) and feed rates (Fr), even in wood.

Tho it's not easy to see from the pics I get the feeling the Y Axis top gantry cross brace is just a piece of Aluminium plate with the rails bolted onto to it for support.? Say this because cant see any slots that would be present if it was wide profile.!! . . . If so then with that heigh/width gantry combo at this width of machine then it needs bracing up more IMO.
Don't like the ratio between gantry height and gantry side width, the bearing spacing hisn't very much. Yes it's driven from both sides but the height and width don't gel nice and if like I belive the gantry cross piece is just Ali plate with no bracing and just relying on the rails for support then flex will show when cutting hard or deep.!!. . Again restricting DOC & FR.

The frame under the bed hisn't supported enough with just one central support for this wide a machine IMO.

Not a major issue but not keen on them little nema23 motors spinning 25mm ballscrews, they are going to be working over time with the extra inertia of 25mm ballscrews.!

Please don't get me wrong I'm not saying the machine is rubbish because it's not, but again "IMO" It does have potential for issue's in some area's.!! And even thou you are only planning on cutting wood, there's cutting wood and then theres cutting wood with correct DOC & FR's and this is when any weak area's show them selfs.!!!

On another note I also think the bullk of the cost of this machine would have been the Cabinet enclosure.??

Like Routercnc I would be interested to know the spec of the drives control box etc.! . . . Also the price if your up for sharing.??

Hope you have good fun when it arrives and I'm sure you'll enjoy it..

[Shinobiwan]

Ok first I appologize, I made it sound worse than was intended.! I've got a canny knack of pointing out or saying truths "some" Dont want to hear.!! (Mainly the ones selling the machine) But seen as your ok with it then I'll point out the things I think are not Ideal.

No problem, I wish I'd known about this place back when I first started looking around. Nothing wrong with a frank opinion, I'd rather have that than the marketing speak!

From my limited knowledge I can see your concerns about some of the decisions taken with the construction but whether this negatively affects the parts I intend to produce will only be realised once I start cutting. I think your right that I'll have to dial back the speeds significantly. I've been told rapids of 5000mm/m are to be expected but cutting will reduce this greatly and I imagine 1500 upto possibly 2000mm/m with a 1/4" DOC in MDF will be about the limit. I'm more concerned about acceleration because I'll be doing a lot of detail work where this is more important than traverse speeds. Wondering how much things will jerk around with higher settings, probably quite a lot by the sounds of it sadly.

Tho it's not easy to see from the pics I get the feeling the Y Axis top gantry cross brace is just a piece of Aluminium plate with the rails bolted onto to it for support.? Say this because cant see any slots that would be present if it was wide profile.!! . . . If so then with that heigh/width gantry combo at this width of machine then it needs bracing up more IMO.
Don't like the ratio between gantry height and gantry side width, the bearing spacing hisn't very much. Yes it's driven from both sides but the height and width don't gel nice and if like I belive the gantry cross piece is just Ali plate with no bracing and just relying on the rails for support then flex will show when cutting hard or deep.!!. . Again restricting DOC & FR.

It does look like alu plate that forms the gantry but its alu extrusion. I'm not sure about the exact dimensions but it looked like about 160mm x 30mm or possibly 160x20mm.

The frame under the bed hisn't supported enough with just one central support for this wide a machine IMO.

This was a concern of mine in recent days since I started looking at some of the DIY builds on here - much more substantial beds. I can't see an easy way of bracing it more thoroughly though, especially in the direction parallel to the gantry, because the ball screws are in the way make a decent and useful cross section of bracing impossible to fit in there.

Not a major issue but not keen on them little nema23 motors spinning 25mm ballscrews, they are going to be working over time with the extra inertia of 25mm ballscrews.!

I was led to believe these are nema28 on the x and y with 4Nm rating. However when I do a good search for nema28 I get nothing. Only nema23 and 34 return useful results. Unsure now.

On another note I also think the bullk of the cost of this machine would have been the Cabinet enclosure.??

The enclosure was £600 extra so nearly an 1/8th of the price.

Like Routercnc I would be interested to know the spec of the drives control box etc.! . . . Also the price if your up for sharing.??

I feel some what stupid because I have no idea about the electronics aside from the specs I was given(these are in the original post). The machine was the first of its kind with the enclosure so I agreed to have them take some pictures for marketing purposes and got it cheaper. They're selling the same machine with hiwin rails all around (mine is only on the Y) and possibly some more upgrades including the electronics for £6999.

Hope you have good fun when it arrives and I'm sure you'll enjoy it..

I'm sure I will and thanks.

[Jonathan]

I was going to post something similar to what Jazz has just posted about this machine, but there's no point now as he's said it all really.

Hopefully the 4nm motors are these:

http://www.cnc4you.co.uk/index.php?r...&product_id=70

So strictly speaking Nema 24. They're quite promising as they have a low inductance for their size, though I've never tried them. It's such a mismatched system. Instead of going for a higher lead ballscrew for X (i.e. RM1610 like they used on Y, or RM2010) to prevent whipping they've used a 25mm ballscrew then stuck bigger motors on to try and compensate, but it will still be nowhere near the performance (especially acceleration) you could get with 3Nm motors and a smaller diameter screw. 5m/min is adequate as the machine probably isn't rigid enough to cut faster than that.

£600 sounds a lot to add for an enclosure, though the price is understandable given the use of aluminium extrusion. Why not just make it out of wood, e.g pine or if they have a big enough machine cut the enclosure out of plywood sheet? Should be much cheaper.

You could add more braces to the bed parallel to the X-axis without interfering with the ball-screws. Without that you may see the bed bend away from the tool when it plunges down. Plunging with the tool something to avoid anyway (unless it's a drill!) but not always possible.

[JAZZCNC]

It does look like alu plate that forms the gantry but its alu extrusion. I'm not sure about the exact dimensions but it looked like about 160mm x 30mm or possibly 160x20mm.

Ah ok slightly better than feared thou at this width extra bracing would be my prefered choice.

This was a concern of mine in recent days since I started looking at some of the DIY builds on here - much more substantial beds. I can't see an easy way of bracing it more thoroughly though, especially in the direction parallel to the gantry, because the ball screws are in the way make a decent and useful cross section of bracing impossible to fit in there.

I would run 2 piece's parallel with the screws close as possible, positioned vertical like the side rails. I would also change the centre one to the same position then take staggered cross supports between each. If your not sure what I mean just ask and I'll draw it for you.

The enclosure was £600 extra so nearly an 1/8th of the price.

They're selling the same machine with hiwin rails all around (mine is only on the Y) and possibly some more upgrades including the electronics for £6999.

£600 is very cheap for the enclosure like as been said but to be honest for 7K I'd want far more for my money than this machine offers. I'm self employed so know exactly how hard times are at the moment but to be honest at 7K there making VERY good profit.!!

[motoxy]

When the urge gets too much I just think back to all those 100000's of lines the teacher gave me.??

Casper . . Write 1000's times. . . " I Must learn to keep my mouth shut". .

That was a waste of time then:whistling:

[Ricardoco]

Oh Argh Oh ah self control as never been my strong point but the medication must be working because I'm resisting.!!!!! . .:whistling:

When the urge gets too much I just think back to all those 100000's of lines the teacher gave me.??

Casper . . Write 1000's times. . . " I Must learn to keep my mouth shut". .

Jazz.. I hope you never learn to keep your mouth shut. Ive read this thread and Im gutted for those people like Ant who have had such a bad time with this shiester. But i must say that is why your input into this forum is so important, "you say it like you see it" and i for 1 am greatfull for your wisdom as im sure many others are.
I got to imagine what the inside of HMP would look like as thats where i would have ended up if it were me, not that that would matter as the club would have sorted the rest out in my absence.

JAZZ please Keep your opinions comming and if it offends people then they can ignor your comments. I have to say I am so sorry for those people who have shelled out and ended up with nothing. but I personaly thank them for sharing the experience they have had at the hands of "STRIKECNC" as their experiences will make sure this guy and others like him will not trade for long... VIVA the internet, VIVA the forum, and VIVA members like JAZZ, who help in more ways than they Know.

Rick