I’m downsizing my shop so my beloved Saturn needs a new home. I installed Nema 34 steppers and a 2.1 Kw spindle from CNC Router Parts, and welded up a 2” square tubing base.
Located in San Diego.
Type: Posts; User: sybilsurf
I’m downsizing my shop so my beloved Saturn needs a new home. I installed Nema 34 steppers and a 2.1 Kw spindle from CNC Router Parts, and welded up a 2” square tubing base.
Located in San Diego.
Actually, I think I found the problem! I have a USB MPG, and if I unplug it everything seems fine now. Maybe there was something with the routing of the wiring of the USB cable and the Laptop power...
Unfortunately there are no restore points...I guess the default condition is "off" with Windows.
Still looking for ideas...
I've been very happily running Mach 3 on my Saturn router for almost a year. I have a windows laptop running smoothstepper with a CNCRouterparts control.
I made the mistake of unhooking the laptop...
Those spacers look great, Nate.
Ward
Acra knee mill....never lets me down!
If you click on the soft keys "current E-pac" and then "data book" you open up a PDF of the technology along with typical feed rates for each E-pac...I refer to it all the time to see if all is good....
Very ambitious project, following with great interest!
PS: can you tell us what you plan to cut, and what exactly is under wraps in the background? Concept car? Boat? HPV?
Ward
Dave, I was worried first that there were so many holes I couldn't reach with the router. And then I realized that those holes don't matter! You just need to screw the spoilboard in the cutting area....
Dave, I just used two layers of the 60 X 60 and a third layer for the cutting area. This way the 48 X 48 area is sort of hi-lighted.
I used every screw and used the oversized holes and washer...
Oops, sorry, for some reason I thought the pinion was also aluminum....and I was imagining.....now I feel better about it:)
Ward
You might want to use a magnet to narrow it down between the rack (steel) or the pinion (aluminum) but it looks like something to address right away.
Don't forget that your spindle will be way in front of your Z...you should model it in just to make sure you can reach where you need to reach.
Me too on the spacers.
Ward in San Diego
Regarding the R&P drives. Everyone seems to use the same eccentric pivot, which seems to me way over complex. If I was starting from scratch I'd look to make it much simpler. Seems like a nylon...
Also, make sure that you run at 100% if you're running Mach 3....I was trying to run at 200% and that's when I got jerky. Upped the program feeds and it was butter smooth again.
Ward
Very nice! Is the Z servo the same size as the other three? Or maybe an optical illusion?
It will be interesting if you get more speed out of it...although 600 ipm rapids are plenty fast enough...
Interesting....here in San Diego 5 X 5 is about half the cost per square foot as the 4 X 8 stuff....I pay about $32 or so for 3/4", but a 4 X 8 sheet is $64.
Redcedar, I had the same dilemma. You could use 60 X 60 plywood as a base since plywood IS available...it is actually cheaper than the 4 X 8 sheets.
However I did notice that the work envelope...
FYI:
I'm not sure the Z range of the CNCRP machines, but my Saturn from Fineline Automation has about 10".
Ward
Craig, I'm a new Saturn 4 X 4 owner and I look forward to seeing your build as well!
Ward
San Diego
Nice machine! I'm jealous of your welds.
Is that a drip pan underneath? What will you be cutting?
Ward
Nice logo. FYI I believe that the cheap home center aluminum is most likely 6063 alloy, which isn't as nice to machine as 6061.
I had some inconsistent parts and I found out that I could twist one of the pinion gears and rack the gantry on that one side. Then I found that the set screw I hadn't used loc tite on had fallen...
Curious, is Free Form Air superior to Corian? There are a few hobby CNC guys on RCgroups who router molds for carbon over foam wings with it.
Or are you casting over a plug?
Ward
Nate, I would say that you have created a NEW class of machine between the existing hobby class and the industrial class of router. And made in America!
All these changes will definitely enhance...
Dave, Nate,
I think it was a Mach 3 mistake on my part. I had posted with a feed rate of 200 and I was using 150 %.
I posted at 400 and it is QUITE happy now running at 100%!
Thanks a lot...
David, I agree that it's not a Saturn problem, but it could be a CRP issue...I'll take a look at the tool path and see how long the line segments are. I'm still learning V-carve Pro...not sure how...
I tried upping the Z axis motor speed to 250 and 300 ipm.
No good. I still get noticeable stutter in the other axis movement, and some shake above 200 inches per minute on a 3D cut.
Any ideas? ...
David, is that on Z as well? My settings are 600/50 for X and Y but 200/30 for Z.
I'm thinking that it might be as simple as hitting the max on Z...if I'm trying to do a 3D pass at 400 ipm and...