BuildingAfloat

[wilfy]

sorry i can't add much again, but what i will say is consider emailing the dude your getting the rails and screws off first for a price and pay outside of ebay, this way you will get a better price and while your at it get him to quote you to include and also not include the spindle.. chances are due to combined postage and a big order you may find yourself getting the spindle alot cheaper than anywhere else.. this is certainly my play when the time comes.

also i only just realised your building this machine to work on a boat.. thats just awesome in its own right.

expanding foam is also something i was considering for my build.. it's very cheap and i think it would go some way to take the ring out of the steel as it wouldnt have any air to resonate through the center of the box section

[BikerAfloat]

sorry i can't add much again, but what i will say is consider emailing the dude your getting the rails and screws off first for a price and pay outside of ebay, this way you will get a better price and while your at it get him to quote you to include and also not include the spindle.. chances are due to combined postage and a big order you may find yourself getting the spindle alot cheaper than anywhere else.. this is certainly my play when the time comes.

Good idea Wilfy, my strategey for ordering bits is based on me funding the job myself, so the spindle is my last purchase, however I am pursuing a couple of other avenues for funding - I am Bi-polar (Manic-Depressive) and it is difficult for me to be employed, hence building the machine to enable me to be self employed. The upside of my illness is the support from the Mental Health team. They beleive there may be some funds to help people like me back to work. If the funds come from there in a lump sum, then I will be looking at making them go as far as I can and that is a good strategy, Thank you for the idea.

also i only just realised your building this machine to work on a boat.. thats just awesome in its own right.

Hee Hee, Home is a 53' Narrowboat, I'll be lossing quite a bit of living area to accomdate this, but if I can keep my costs down by not having to rent a workshop, the the plan for self-employment is that bit more viable.

expanding foam is also something i was considering for my build.. it's very cheap and i think it would go some way to take the ring out of the steel as it wouldnt have any air to resonate through the center of the box section

Glad to hear I'm thinking along the same lines as someone else, makes it seem a more viable idea. Thanks again!

Cheers,
Geoff.

[Jonathan]

I notice on your design the X rails are the same length of the box seciton. I would leave about 5-10mm clearance at both ends to ensure they lie flat in case the box section is distorted at the ends.

Going by your order;

1) Bear in mind the holes in the SBR rails look like they've been drilled by an ape swinging on a pillar drill - you can sometimes even see the pencil lines which mark where the holes go, so don't expect them to be accurate. Make the frame and gantry then mount the rails to the frame by drilling and tapping one hole at a time until you have them aligned and running smoothly, then drill and tap the rest.
3) I found recently that a local shop is cheaper than getting the pulleys and belts online, plus no long delivery time and additional delivery time to send back the items they got wrong!
6) I reckon try LinuxCNC then mach3 then Planet CNC because clearly if you get on well with LinuxCNC then you've saved a lot of money compared to the other options. If not by all meant buy mach 3. Either way don't expect to learn much if anything about Linux though, since one it's installed it's just like using a program on windows.

Foam is an interesting idea, by all means try it but I don't think it would help that much with resonance. As far as I know the issue is not the 'air resonating through the centre', it's the walls of the steel box section that vibrate. To prevent resonance on the not moving parts you should add mass, or some material with good damping properties which tends to be materials made up of particles which rub against each other to dissipate the energy as heat. Sand covers both criteria, but it sounds like that's not an option.

[BikerAfloat]

I notice on your design the X rails are the same length of the box seciton. I would leave about 5-10mm clearance at both ends to ensure they lie flat in case the box section is distorted at the ends.

Was looking at that, I think I will do that as it gains me some extra working area too, for not a lot more cost.

1) Bear in mind the holes in the SBR rails look like they've been drilled by an ape swinging on a pillar drill - you can sometimes even see the pencil lines which mark where the holes go, so don't expect them to be accurate. Make the frame and gantry then mount the rails to the frame by drilling and tapping one hole at a time until you have them aligned and running smoothly, then drill and tap the rest.

Yes I thought they'd be added manulally after cutting, that is why I plan to drill to suit as you suggest!

3) I found recently that a local shop is cheaper than getting the pulleys and belts online, plus no long delivery time and additional delivery time to send back the items they got wrong!

Not sure in the wilds of Cambridgeshire will be that advanced, but I'll have a look!

6) I reckon try LinuxCNC then mach3 then Planet CNC because clearly if you get on well with LinuxCNC then you've saved a lot of money compared to the other options. If not by all meant buy mach 3. Either way don't expect to learn much if anything about Linux though, since one it's installed it's just like using a program on windows.

I like the Linux price, but it's uncharted waters! And yes I guess I'll be too busy making stuff to learn much! I'm stll very much in favour of the Planet CNC stuff as the BOB and software are less than Mach3 and I believe the USB BOB has some buffering to help with the non-realtime windows performance. Would be best to be able to try all three hands on, or at minimum get a copy of the manuals to compare features & interfaces.

Foam is an interesting idea, by all means try it but I don't think it would help that much with resonance. As far as I know the issue is not the 'air resonating through the centre', it's the walls of the steel box section that vibrate. To prevent resonance on the not moving parts you should add mass, or some material with good damping properties which tends to be materials made up of particles which rub against each other to dissipate the energy as heat. Sand covers both criteria, but it sounds like that's not an option.

[/QUOTE]

Mmmm, as Jazz has tried it without success (Thanks for that Jazz) the foam seems to be a no-no. I will have to see how the boat is when the machine is done. Sand can always be added later if I make the boxes "water tight" from the start. I guess if it is too noisy and the sand becomes a must, I can always use the router to make book cases along much of the other side of the boat. That'll give me an excuse to by more books as they are needed for ballast!

Cheers Geoff.

[TrickyCNC]

I like the Linux price, but it's uncharted waters! And yes I guess I'll be too busy making stuff to learn much!

I use linuxCNC and as Jonathon says, there is no learning involved on the linux side of things.

You can try it for free. It's very easy to install (just a wizard mouse click install ! ), and once it's installed, it's very intuitive. Linux, is basically the windows desktop, and EMC is an Icon to click on to use it ! no need to learn linux in the slightest :)

Rich

[BikerAfloat]

I use linuxCNC and as Jonathon says, there is no learning involved on the linux side of things.

You can try it for free. It's very easy to install (just a wizard mouse click install ! ), and once it's installed, it's very intuitive. Linux, is basically the windows desktop, and EMC is an Icon to click on to use it ! no need to learn linux in the slightest :)

Rich

Thanks Rich,

I'll look into it further...

As a user maybe you could answer a question for me (Mach 3 users, I have the same question for you)?

One of the jobs I wish to do with this machine is to engrave motorcycle engine cases, the reason I like the idea of the Planet CNC software is that it has a function where you can scan an un-even surface (in this case engine covers are often convex curves) and the software then allows for this in the Z travel so that the engraving (or cutting) depth remains constant over the uneven surface.

Does EMC2 (or Mach3) have a similar function?

Cheers,
Geoff.

[TrickyCNC]

not as far as I'm aware (for either).

I've seen the Vectric Aspire trial version can map text onto a 3d surface, but that's a bit pricey.

I'd have thought that was more of a Cam operation than a front end op. ?

Rich

[JAZZCNC]

expanding foam is also something i was considering for my build.. it's very cheap and i think it would go some way to take the ring out of the steel as it wouldnt have any air to resonate through the center of the box section

Doesn't work I've tried, it's not dense enough complete waste of money if you do.

By far the best thing is kiln dried sand nothing really comes near for ease of use or cost.