New CNC Mill on the horizon

[fvfdrums]

Ok,

so a bit more research, how about the cold air gun approach? I have a decent compressor with plenty CFM output. If the temp is right would the aluminium cut well with a cold air system? this would remove the need for coolant.

The machine will primarily be cutting ally plate I would imagine but it will be used to cut hardwoods as well and I know of the evil wood snot you speak of when mixing wood and coolant as I have had it before on my lathe! its worse than concrete.

[fvfdrums]

Thanks for that video it looks good im going to look into it further.

In the meant time I've got the y axis moving now, it's great in one direction so with the flanged edge of the ballnut leading. However in reverse back end of lead screw leading it sounds like a wood pecker. Click click click every rotation. Any ideas? It's all greased up with lithium grease, not enough grease? Crap in the nut? Don't get it on the z axis

[fvfdrums]

Wood pecker issues seems to have been relegated to a random peck every now and again. I fill the ball nut with some more grease and ran it up and down so I'll keep going and see what happens.

My next question is about series or parallel connection of the x axis motor? Which should I do? It's a nema 34 motor with 8 wires rather than 4 as per the nema 23. I've read about the two but just want people opinion as to what's best for this machine?

Thanks

[JAZZCNC]

No brainer go with Parallel.!! . . . .In series you'll need a lots of volts for any kind of speed and torque. Parallel gives you more torque at higher Rpm.
Series is good if your not going too fast Ie: on Mill as it gives more torque lower down but soon as Rpm start to rise then torque drops rapidly.

[fvfdrums]

Cheers Dean!

[fvfdrums]

Ok so thats all three axis working now great stuff! very happy with that, just need to get the limit and home switches wired in and the spindle housing made up and then I think its on to the bed and some fine tuning of the machine.

I am thinking about getting a full sheet of material for the base of the bed and then assembling aluminium strips on top to form t slots with a wall around the outside to contain some material however it won't be very high because we still need to be able to move the bed in the future so maybe 150mm hopefully it should contain a small percentage of the shrapnel I fully expect to end up on the workshop floor!

what thickness should the base piece be.... or should I just mount them direct to the top of the steel bed.

[JAZZCNC]

I am thinking about getting a full sheet of material for the base of the bed and then assembling aluminium strips on top to form t slots with a wall around the outside to contain some material however it won't be very high because we still need to be able to move the bed in the future so maybe 150mm hopefully it should contain a small percentage of the shrapnel I fully expect to end up on the workshop floor!

Put some Thick Plastic sheet round the sides so then you can raise or lower and still contain everything. Thick along lines of bellows but all around edges.

How to have Bed.? . . .Well there's million dollar Question.!! . . . . . . So many options and not one will suit everything you do on the machine.?
What I mean by this is that you will always find that some Job won't suit how you have the Bed.?

My bed is Aluminum pieces arranged to make a T-slot but I find most the time it's covered with a Spoil board that I screw into rather than using the T-slots.?
Reason being is that 95% of my work is milling aluminium that I drill thru, Cut thru or Pocket thru which makes a bloody mess of the shiny aluminium bed.
The work piece always falls so that you can't reach the bloody T-slots or I need scaffolding to reach them for secure clamping. 90% of the time most jobs have one or two holes and if not then usually no problem making some around waste edges so screwing down is easy and quick.

On the machine's I build I find the best setup is Solid stable base board, Aluminium or Palstic if using coolant with a Matrix of tapped holes Drilled or in router case Marine Plywood with Laminate face and threaded inserts. Then a sacrificle surface on the top with Same Matrix of holes drilled for Access for clamping. The top board can be screwed into if needed, which is often the case. It can cut when profiling, pocketing or drilling and be re-surfaced when becomes too chopped up.
It can be removed easily when more accurate work is required like engraving, which often needs a very flat surface and work sticking down.

So my Vote is either Aluminium plate with matrix of holes or Marine ply with laminate surface. Both using surface board.!

[fvfdrums]

Once again thanks Dean, I will weigh up the pros and cons for what we are likely to be machining in the near future.

So I spent yesterday dismantling the z axis as I knew there were a few things I needed to take care of before I was happy to say that was done. One of them being some proper mounts for the spindle being as the ones on there were temporary polycarb ones.

I have drilled the plates for the pinch bolt just have not put the slot in it yet so I will be doing that shortly however I wanted to get all the covers made up whilst it was off the machine and easy to access.

I have also put in place the holes for the internal pipes I am putting in for the coolant / mist / blower system - more on this to come but there will be 4 small heads which will direct the air/mist relevant to the path of the cut as the machine moves around. Similar to the datron system Dean pointed out earlier in the thread. Currently waiting on some solenoid valves to turn up for this so I thought I would prep the pieces ready.

[JAZZCNC]

Francis is that a cover your putting over the spindle. If so why.? . . . . Covering the whole Z axis is a good idea as it keeps debris out of screws and rails etc but I wouldn't cover spindle as it traps in heat causng cooling/pump to work harder and potential for heat expansion.

[fvfdrums]

Thanks for the advice once again. My intention is that the top section above the spindle is going to house the "controls" for the cooling/misting system. There will be vents in the housing once finished covered with a mesh to allow air in and out but due to the "other" bits in there I wanted to try and keep it clean.

I will however keep an eye on it all and monitor the temp of the unit. I was already planning a digital temp readout on the control panel so one for the spindle is no additional problem.

Another issue encountered. These linear carriages and the infernal little ball bearings that keep falling out every time I have to remove the rails!!!!!!

So I got on the 3D printer and made some rail sections to insert in when the rails not in there. They came out pretty perfect. I'm assuming new carriages are usually shipped with something like this?

Anyway I've still had a million of the little buggers fall out. What's the best way to keep them in as your feeding the rails? Ive tried grease but they still come out its the last "2" that are hardest to fit.

Patience? - I'm all out of that and there's none on back order :p