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Sounds like the above folks have covered the most common causes. I too had similar problems. In my case I was either moving too fast, too much weight on the Z axis, and once forgot to fully tighten...

I've yet to add a 4th axis as I keep busy with perfecting my CAD/CAM and general setup skills. Also I've yet to have a serious need for a 4th axis.

I'm sure I'll set one up eventually but most...

Fredworrell,

Wow thanks for reminding me about this post. It's been almost a year since I've updated.

Well the good news is the machine is up and running and making buckets of sawdust. Actually...

CNC Router parts for sure. My machine is a clone of those kits that I started building before CNCRP started selling kits.

Personally one of the largest benefits to these style of machines is how...

Excellent! Thanks for the heads up smdysmf!

Hello Zone,

I love my Gecko G540 but I have a quandary. Currently all 4 ports (Z,X,Y,A) are all in use as my A axis is slaved to my X axis and I want to add a 4th axis / rotary table. [link in my...

Lee was spot on, I reversed both the X & A axis in Mach3 and problem was resolved!

John,

I got my 1/8" bit and others + ER20 collets from Maritool. Good prices good quality from what I can tell.

Thanks I was just thinking that my x-axis was flipped. Tonight I will try switching them (X&A)

Hey thanks! I'm just glad it works half as good as it seems to.

OK more basic shapes with a 1/8" bit. Amazing cut quality w/ the new spindle!


Also sorry for the noise. I would put a sound track to it but if you're a geek like I am you enjoy hearing the hum...

Not sure how I managed to create a negative / reverse of the part I quickly fab'd up in CAD. As always, tweaking is needed......

Still a fair test run. Quite happy with the result! :D

First...

First spin up on the new 2.2KW water cooled chinese spindle motor. It makes a bit more noise than I had expected but no where near what a wood router would make. Also I wouldn't be surprised if it...

Jkountz,

Thanks! Yes, I was pretty impressed with the rather basic measurements I was seeing. Next time I take some measurements I would like to whip up some g.code to run the machine through it's...

I decided to do some basic accuracy testing last night. Needless to say I was very impressed. Repeatability measurements were in the 0.001"-0.005" range. :cool:

Here's a video: X axis testing -...

Yay! so the larger HF pond pump seems to be doing the trick.

https://picasaweb.google.com/108589479593868061291/RobotCoolantVFDWork14?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Yep tried to raise the pump as much as I could to see if that would help but due to hose & pwr cord length I couldn't get it more than 10" higher. Oh well, I'm going to stop by HarborFreight and pick...

Thanks /bin/Buddha!
- - -

Looks like the water cooling rig isn't working quite as well as I had hoped. Came back today and fired up the pump again and it's not pumping :mad:

Either the Water...

Happy New Years Zone! :cheers:

Updates on my progress (best summarized with photos for now):

Spindle & VFD = obtained.

Mounted spindle, ran cooling and power cables.

Dropped some conduit...

Looking great!

The organization in your shop is amazing. God bless the Swiss and their attention to detail! =)

jsantos,

Thanks!
Actually the spindle arrived last night and I can't wait to install it! Buying from Solar.Jean (on eBay) was a good experience. It arrived much sooner than expected and the...

I was eager to try the CAM settings that were looking so promising before the bit slipped. So I cleaned up the collet on my cheap trim router and tried again.

YAY! First part made on the machine...

Well with the 2.2kw spindle en-route I guess I should order a ER20 collet kit.

Any suggestions for a good deal?
This looks good on paper: Royal ER-20 ER Collet Set, Ultra-Precision, High Grade...

Euro 3D,

That is good to hear. I was rather worried about ordering a chinese spindle due to all the different vendors and various reviews. So far the order with Solar.Jean has gone well as he...

I almost forgot to mention, in light of tonight's failure of my 'ghetto spindle' I finally purchased a proper 2.2KW spindle from Solar.Jean on E-Bay [ this one ].

Hopefully it won't be junk or...

An update is well overdue. Besides the general demands of life I've been busy learning CAD/CAM (MeshCAM). I'm pretty happy with the progress so far. Sadly & no surprise I'm quite disappointed with my...

Thanks Peter! I just sent you a PM.

So far MeshCAM is looking worlds better than my previous attempts at CAM software. I'm still sorting out some issues. I would be more frustrated but this is...

Damn! Looks like the G-code I generated is over 500 lines. So I just purchased Mach3. Too bad it appears that the license needs to be generated by a human on their end (according to the delivery...

Jsantos,

Thanks for the offer, I just might take you up on it. I've been playing with MeshCAM tonight and so far so good.

Right now I'm just hooking up the shopvac in preparation for cutting...

Thanks for the response John. I will check out Meshcam this weekend.

Stl. files were also giving me a headache. I've been using Alibre CAD primarily for the past year to get a feel for CAD...

Anyone care to share what CAD/CAM combo they are using? I've been toying around with various pieces of CAD & CAM software. So far I'm doing ok with CAD but CAM is causing me to go bald.

Aspire...