[VWSatOz]

mc looks great, all nice and solid, rigidity and accurate build off the surface grinder. I think the revs and the rigidity of the spindle might be the weak point. On bloke build a little cnc mill and use an Er16or20 extension toolholder as the basis for a spindle, ie a nice long shank with the ER collet system, and simply ran this in a couple of good ball races in a block of steel. This gives you a really rigid cutter with minimal overhang which will match the rigidity of the rest of your build. Then maybe use your router to belt-drive into a two-step multivee pulley on top, this would give you 1:1 or maybe 2:1 reduction for half that rpm for slogging cuts and Hss drills. I'm a toolmaker too and like what you have done. CNC mahines designs are so simple compared to the old manual jobs. It is the rigidity factor that must be there for chatter free cutting of steel that will be the final joy. Definition of rigidity = deflection measured between tip of of cutter and workpiece when a known force is applied between the two in any direction. The force will cause stress and yield in every member of the machine, frame, screws, guides cutter, spindle, and they all contribute to the deflection. Small mcs deflect much les than biggies! Good work!

[hedgehog23]

any word on the drawings for the rest of us

[arie kabaalstra]

Drawings?.. well just look at any professional mill, and scale it.. that's what i did.. , it's basically a scalemodel of a Bridgeport VMC 800, only with ball-rails instead of sliding guides ( So mine is better..:devious: )

at the moment i'm busy with my Controller, bought a Mini ITX motherboard, and i'm building that in the old PC case i already used to mount the drivers in.
plans are : build Mini-ITX PC, and drivers, powersupplies and relayboard into one case, screw screen to the side, and mount a console for the keyboard to get a contol-cabinet-all-in..

Furthermore, i'm working on that Dialogue-programming application, as well as working together with Bert Eding of USBCNC, for a New Gui and New functionality of the USBCNC control he developped..

There is already a Beta version out on www.usbcnc.com for EEEPC's ( the tiny laptops ) for a 1024*600 screen layout.
Also new functions appear in USBCNC like Dialogues you can easily program into NC programs, for setting dimensions in parametric NC programs for instance, or selecting tools for automatic calibration.

so.. still a lot of work goin'on.. looks like a CNC project is never really finished..

( just reminds me.. still need to place those pesky limitswitches...(nuts))

[arie kabaalstra]

Did some work on scanning routines...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JnDloaC1YQ&feature=channel_page"]YouTube - USBCNC-917K[/ame]

Enjoy!

[Spanners]

Super cool!! :rainfro:

How long did it take to scan?

[arie kabaalstra]

Super cool!! :rainfro:

How long did it take to scan?

'bout an hour .. it's quite fast 'cause it doesn't have to retract to above workpiece..

at the moment i'm working on a subroutine to measure max heigth in the process.. on each scanning line the highest z-point is stored, and a safetydistance will be added, the probe will then retract to this height at the end of that line.. if it encounters a higher point in the next line, it will automatically store that.. :idea:

[noisy]

I hope you don't mind but looking over the design of your mill, it has encouraged me to change the design of my machine. If you don't mind me asking how long are the steel rails that your X axis Linear rails are mounted to? What size is your table on that machine. I don't have mine drawn up completely yet but as soon as I do I'll post a build thread. The base for my machine is 10" wide X 27" long all steel construction.

The plans are:
X axis 36"
Y axis 12"
Z axis 20"

Thanks DJ

[arie kabaalstra]

The X-axis guides are 596 mm long, and so are the supports.
I won't mind others "Copying"my design, you're not the first to do so :stickpoke

The Table is 280 x 140 mm, and Z-axis travel is 160 mm.

[CPK_Jim]

I do have to say I have finally got threw the whole thread and am very impressed with your machine!!!! And your touch probe and software!!!! Very good work keep it up.

To bad you werent closer, I do powder coating and have to say im so impressed with your vmc that I would pc it for free just to get the chance to touch it...LOL

Jim

[hedgehog23]

what size steppers did you use? do you recommend your choice or would you have gone smaller / larger. thanks

[hesham morsy]

stepper motors from Vexta, 2.5 A, 2.2 Ohms Nema 23

[hedgehog23]

whats the torque rating on something like that?

[hesham morsy]

260 to 280

[hedgehog23]

thanks very much. im looking to build a machine of equal size and im trying to get a grasp on requirements.

[hesham morsy]

hi hedgehog23 good luck with yore build but be ware that mr arie kabaalstra is a skilled manufacturer and engineer with 15 year of experience and a Access to large machine's
and he spend nearly 4000 Euro

[hedgehog23]

i have non of those things , and dont have that kinda money.

[hedgehog23]

but i do have a friend with large equipment and lots of experience that can lend a hand when i need it.

thanks for the info

[arie kabaalstra]

hi hedgehog23 good luck with yore build but be ware that mr arie kabaalstra is a skilled manufacturer and engineer with 15 year of experience and a Access to large machine's
and he spend nearly 4000 Euro

as for now, i don't have access to that equipement anymore, i've been working as an engineer in the past 1½ years, and only recently i started working for a very small company.

i work there as designer/programmer/engineer/toolmaker, we do have a Fadal VMC 15, but because of the old-fasioned control on that machine i don't intend to make any part for myself on that machine, not until we retrofit it to USBCNC...

Retrofitting machines and building custom CNC machines is our "Core-Business"

as far as the Beagle1 VMC2814 is concerned,this afternoon i bought some MDF, to make a machine casing with sliding doors.

i will also start on making a Console, that will be attached to the machine, with the screen and Keyboard on it.

[bad bearings]

This is a nice machine--though the advantage of the x-axis suspension is unclear. I had also noticed that friction and screws are the only means to keep the rails and axes square. If things drift in the future you might consider using some dowel pins. Steel does not damp vibration well. You may wish to look into some passive damping schemes if chatter becomes a problem.

Good luck

[cheetahcnc]

Wow, just got through the 25 pages of your exceptional thread! Over two years of fine CNC in the making, in just a few hours. Thanks for the details provided on crafting CNC from cold rolled to silicon chips.

Jim