CNC 3020 Enclosure/Upgrade

[FatFreddie]

The cable chain leads me to my next project, as I went and splashed out on a RepRapPro Ormerod. My plan, when I get the thing built is to try and print my own.

The model looks good but probably won't print too well without support (not necessarily a problem but it uses more plastic and will be tedious to remove on a large number of components). Have a look at Pimped Cable Chain by leemes - Thingiverse - it's a bit more basic than yours but I've printed out (though not used in anger) some and they print well with no support. The main difference is the large fillets on the bar over the top which brings down the unsupported width to about 5mm.

Enjoy the Ormerod build - it looks a nice printer.

[TonyD]

Nice Panel. I found some connectors on Ebay through these folks in the US, I'd be really surprised if there wasnt a cheaper and faster UK source. *www.ugracnc.com* on eBay

[Pointy]

The right angled connectors finally arrived today, and looks like no import duty.

I just need some enthusiasm to wire them up. At least they look the same, so I should be able to leave the chassis sockets in place.

In the meantime, I have been busy playing with the new RepRap Ormerod 3d Printer and have found a few practical uses for it already. I made some connectors and clips for connecting a vacuum hose into the enclosure. Here's a couple of pics...

This was inspired by my brother in law, after he asked me to cut some acrylic discs for him, what a mess! I just need to find a vaccum that doesn't sound like a jet engine now!

Other than a couple of minor bugs in the LCD firmware, everything seems to be working great.

[GEOFFREY]

Very impressive - how long did that take? G.

[Pointy]

There 5 separate parts which from memory took from 30 mins to and hour or so to print, but I think it's great than in the course of a day I could design and build these parts.

[Pointy]

While I had intended to print my own cable chain, I spotted some online while looking for something else. It was delivered yesterday and was absolutely spot on size wise, however it is non opening and there was no way my connectors would fit without taking them apart. In the end I decided to use it, and disconnected thing from the motor ends. It meant I had to redo the limit/home switch wiring, but I had never really been happy with that part anyway. So now that all the wring is done and the new cable chain fitted, we are pretty much finished.

The dust extraction was a failure but it inspired me to design and print a a proper dust shoe, which has turned out quite nice and works good. I just need some suitable skirt material. (for the shoe not me!) I'll post up some pictures tomorrow.

One other little job I would like to do is get the USB camera mounted properly, hopefully I can print something on the 3d printer, but I would like to get a piece of 4mm aluminium plate to replace the acrylic behind the spindle first.

[Pointy]

Here's a couple of pictures of the dust shoe...

From the sketchup image you can see the shoe is in two parts which I just simply glued together. I can easy just pull the shoe off when changing bits as it just clips into the arms either side.

For my PCB milling it works great as it is, but when milling acrylic you still get the odd piece flying out. I think a suitable skirt will solve that, but I don't want to use brushes, I think I would rather something clear so I can see whats going on. I also think if I wanted to be rally clever I could add some LED lights to it as well, or maybe just print it in clear PLA.

[EddyCurrent]

The dust shoe design is not bad but I would want to mount it from a part of the Z axis that did not move up and down with the spindle.
These were suggested to me for making a plastic skirt, VARIERA Drawer mat - IKEA, a circular one that just goes around the cutter would work great.
If you find a better material then please let us know with links to it.

[Pointy]

Thanks for the reply Eddy.

The spindle was the easiest place to mount as I am limited for space. It works fine for milling PCBs as I only really need it on for the actual milling run, and maybe the drilling if its a busy board. I am sure this design will get tweaked with use and I am thinking I could make some brackets that fit to the plate behind the spindle. Food for thought anyway.

Being a glutton for punishment I remade the IO board again from the latest PCB design (1.3). This was mainly because I have someone else who wants to make one, so I wanted to prove the latest design before releasing it. (I was still using v1.2 with a couple of bodged resistors) Well I am pleased to say that it all worked first time without issue, and hopefully that's the last time I mess with it.

I also managed to fix a couple of minor bugs in the USB controller firmware and just have to decide what to use the last button on the front panel for. Auto tool zero is something I use quite a bit so that might be an option. Again over time, I am so these will get tweaked.

Lastly, I have ordered a couple of bits of 4mm aluminium to replace the acrylic plate behind the spindle, and then I can try and get the camera mounted properly.

[coroander]

I've been following this thread for a while. Really great work here Les. I'm borrowing many of these ideas. One thing i wanted to do was to have doors on the front. I'm also putting a radiator for the water-cooled spindle inside the enclosure and a small air compressor (aquarium pump) in as well. This will all generate heat inside the enclosure, but i'm hoping the vacuum will pull enough air out to prevent warm air from building up. With everything inside and sealed up, noise should be minimised.

I hope to get a decent seal on the doors (made using aluminium profile and polycarbonate panels), though not sure how i'm going to do that yet. I've built a base that the enclosure (using the same aluminium profile and polycarbonate) sits on. Here is a photo of the underside. The holes hopefully will allow air to be drawn in around the radiator for spindle cooling, the air compressor and the y-axis stepper. In addition to the holes in the photo, a hole for the air compressor intake has been added and a slot that allows all the cables to run through:


I plan to use an almost identical system through the enclosure for the vacuum attachment. I will likely add a small hole on the inside connector to allow a small amount of air to be pulled out from near the top of the enclosure. That should help keep things cool inside. Hopefully i can pull air out faster with the vacuum than the air compressor is pulling it in :-)

Anyway, looking forward to seeing more of your build.