I received notice from Nate this evening that my machine will ship in the morning, so it's time to start my build thread. And yes, there will be photos.
Although I've talked about it in other threads, the Saturn 2 is my 2nd machine. My present machine is an FLA 4x4 80/20 kit. It's an okay machine that has served me well over the past couple of years. I spent a lot of time tuning it, and have been generally satisfied with the results. However, I've lusted after the Saturn 2 for sometime now, and am glad I waited for the bugs to get worked out.
Sorry, but this build will not include electronics. What I currently have works fine, and will swap over to the new machine without missing a beat. Note: FWIW, I bought components and assembled the control system myself. For anyone who might be interested, I'm running the following:
PMDX 126 Bob
SmoothStepper
PMDX 107 Spindle Control
Gecko 203V Stepper Drivers
NEMA 34 Steppers (960 oz-in) - Bought from FLA
2.2KW Water Cooled Spindle with HY VFD. (An Hitachi may be in my future)
Mach4
I don't have any photos of the control boxes at the moment (I have the controller and VFD in separate Boxes). I will include some in future posts.
I've been busy while awaiting word of the shipment. The first order of business was figuring out how to get the machine to my home, and from my driveway down a moderate hill to the door to my shop. I have a utility trailer, but it's too small. It's 4' x 8' with low (about a foot) sides. I decided to make up a couple of boxes that just fit inside the trailer, and were high enough to just barely clear the top of the sides. The boxes are bolted together and each box has 9 legs. At least the weight should be distributed well. Once the pallet is put atop the boxes, my plan is to use an impact driver to screw the pallet down to the boxes. I'll then add ratchet down straps and should be on my way.
When I arrive home, I will swap my vehicle for my lawn tractor and drive the trailer down to the patio adjacent to the entry to my shop. Once there, I will use the gantry crane I just built to get the machine from the trailer to a dolly I have yet to build.
On the subject of the gantry crane, which I've talked about in other threads, I have some photos of my build. All credit for the design goes to Frank Howarth, who has a YouTube video about the crane, and included a nice drawing with dimensions. Mine isn't quite as tall. My wheels, while of the same type as Frank's, are a little smaller. I also added two extra braces on the horizontal beams. Probably overkill, but it only involved 2 extra pieces of 2 x 4 and a couple extra bolts. No big deal.
This is a photo of one of the leg assemblies. The topmost square piece with the 2 bolts running through is where he casters attach.
The same as above, except with all 4 bolts installed. Note that the bolts go through the top pad and all the way through the 2x6s under it.
This photo shows the caster being added. It is held in place by lag screws.
Here, I'm adding the vertical post.
Here, I'm securing the post to the legs with 2 bolts. The bolts go through the 2 2x6s and the post.
In this photo, I've added 45 degree bracing. All the bolts you see are through bolted.
Here, I'm adding an extension on top of a horizontal beam. The hole is where a pipe goes through for mounting a chain hoist. Yes, that's my current CNC in the background.
Here, I have the uprights on their sides tor bolting on the cross beams.
I've reached my attachment limit, so I have to move to a new post.