[pete from TN]

Hey guys....
Just found this thread thanks to Bob Warfields interesting blog. MAN IS THAT MACHINE beautiful!! I would LOVE to be able to make my own mill like that. The idea of this EG is just too cool for words... I would assume it is VERY HEAVY and rigid as well due to it's component materials. I am a professional custom High end cabinet builder by trade and I use epoxy a lot for it's rapid curing and high strength. Some of the exotic woods we use are also too dense for typical yellow glues and need something that will stick like gangbusters while not necessarily penetrating too much. Epoxy comes in handy for this a lot. That base for the bench mill is BEAUTIFUL!! It looks so professional... Kudos to whoever built that beauty. I have a RF45 style Lathemaster mill now cnc'd and I could surely see a significantly larger machine made from EG type castings built with a counterbalanced millhead and full cnc.... Would be awesome!!! Keep up the information guys, I am listening.... peace

[veteq]

Hey Pete,

A few rendering of the machine i dream off.
its my own design, very small machine (table is 110 x 140 mm )
complete machine fits in a box off 360 x 360 x 380 mm.

Regards,

Roy

[matttargett4]

Veteq,

Is there any chance you could let us know the size of the basalt, quartz sand and filler sand particles please?

Matt

[pete from TN]

I really like this idea and look forward to hearing about the successes of the formulations these guys come up with in making a quality milling machine base. Very very interesting. Peace

Pete

[Mavyryk]

We have a formulation that is a bit more specific than epoxy / granite that we use in a couple of our systems.....see attached. We call it PetraCast.

The IronMan PCX takes our IronMan XE with "supersized" frame components and apply our PetraCast process to those oversized frame components and our AVS125 ATC system, to deliver a gantry style router that is better equipped to handle non-ferrous metal processing. It is also great for those that demand extreme precision for other materials like carbon fiber and graphite. It also provides the additional rigidity / damping to allow our UltraDrive rotary nut servo positioning system to run @ 1,800 IPM rapid / 1,200 IPM cut speeds. (vs 1,500/900 in a standard IronMan XE)

Both IronMan run @ .5G acceleration, which combined with those high-speed IPM #s further reduces cut time....and provides for even sharper edges courtesy of more precise velocity changes. Depending on the complexity of your cuts, time can be reduces by as much as 30-40%...or more.

Our Spartan Mill applies the PetraCast process to a normalized steel frame to encase the entire system, including our Avenger AVS200 ATC system. The Spartan hits 1,750 rapids / 1,000 cuts at a nice to have 1G acceleration!

Don't mean for this to sound like too much of an advertisement....but did want to show some specs to give folks an idea of what a "cast" frame can enable if matched up with different positioning mechanics. As with everything, it all boils down to implementation though! :-)

We're obviously huge fans of "stone cast" systems....and love to see what others are doing with this as well.

Here is our site if you want to check it out for some inspiration Blurry Customs

[RomanLini]

Beautiful renderings! Do you have photos of the actual machines? They look very nicely designed and implemented.

[Mavyryk]

Thanks. We try for a blend of beauty, practicality, and performance.

The motor and encoder/scale images are real pictures taken from shipped IronMan XE systems.

The PCX and Spartan are renderings.

Stay tuned for real pictures in the coming months.

[RomanLini]

Excellent! Please post when you have more info.

[RotarySMP]

How about this one?

http://www.model-engineer.co.uk/foru...p?th=51617&p=5