[grubscrew]

Ah hoi hoi!

This will be my second build, my first being a scratch built wooden chain drive machine that started out as a jgro 4 years ago as a high school project. I originally built the jgro to the book, however after pulling much of my hair out and getting less then satisfying results, the machine got put on the backburner for a few years and became another horizontal surface junk collector in the shop, go figure! fast forward to the beginning of last year, I designed a machine that would incorporate the jgro base with v bearing and a chain drive system. the machine has been up and running now for the previous year, and has produced some very nice projects, as well as some very frustrating failures.
A wooden machine build and chain drive maintenance and constant adjustment has been a real learning experience, but it came time to get serious about some projects, a new machine was inevitable.

I started purchasing parts for the new machine in mid January, and by next week should have everything required for all the finishing touches.


current parts list/ plan

2x4 FineLine Automation router with cable chain kit
Nema 34 electronics kit from CNCRP
gecko driver motherboard from CNCRP
smooth steeper from CNCRP
proximity limit switch kit from CNCRP
220v vacuum pump for a bleeder board hold down from Lighthouse ENT
19" touchscreen
2.2kw spindle from Chai
double 120mm radiator and parts for a closed coolant system
Igus cable flex wire for the spindle
too many odds and ends to list
I will have a full parts / price list at the end of the build if anyone is interested

[grubscrew]

I have surfed cnczone and learned lots the last few years but never posted much on any projects that I have done or the machine. figured now is as good as time as ever to post some of the better pieces I have done the last year.

[grubscrew]

All the madness takes place in a 11x16 insulated shod (glorified shed) so storage comes at a premium. The original plan was a wooden table, however with the temperature fluctuation and the shear bulk of a wood table that would be required to hold this machine I opted to go with a metal frame, just had to take a couple weeks and teach my self to weld first.


One delema I ran into with the table build, I learnt with the previous machine, the base can not be on wheels but I do require a way to move it out of the corner for maintenance or repairs. I don't think it will be a common occurrence having to pull the machine out of the corner, however I needed a quick and easy method to do so. the self leveling casters I see around the zone are nice, but I can not reach 2 of the 4 corners when the machine is put in its "home".
The solution I came up with is using two electric actuators in the back unreachable corners that will lower casters and lift the back feet a few cm off the floor.
I built the table with 8 adjustable feet (big washers welded to thread rod) as my wooden floor is not level and the more weight distribution the better.

for the surfaces I used half inch spruce for the bottom board, and 3/4" Baltic birch on top. both water sealed to hopefully prevent any movement.

[grubscrew]

Building the machine has actually been a quicker than expected process, even with a few hiccups I have encountered during the build.
before I started I was Looking at pictures of the machine, it looked quite dull so, well only cosmetic I painted a few of the components the same colour as the table just to give it some pop.

the TTP went together easily squaring it was a different story. I spent a good 5 hours swapping pieces, measuring, loosening, tightening, I tried using the gantry risers to pull it in place, I eventually got it close however it still doesn't show 100% square. I moved on just to see if the problem would effect the rest, and now that I have the rails on and measure them to within 1/64th of parallel to each other I am a lot less worried about the base.

I've got most of the machine built now, except for the motor drives.
IL be in a hold pattern once they are done waiting for a package with terminal strips and standoffs to show up next week for I can start the electronics cabinet.

[FineLineAuto]

Your machine looks great. Love the paint job and love the stand.

Thanks for the feedback on the TTP system. We are looking at solutions to eliminate this problem.


Nate
Fine Line Automation
Home - Fine Line Automation

[grubscrew]

Your machine looks great. Love the paint job and love the stand.

Thanks for the feedback on the TTP system. We are looking at solutions to eliminate this problem.


Nate
Fine Line Automation
Home - Fine Line Automation

Hi there Nate! Thanks for the feedback on the feedback! Haha I had a few other questions pertaining to the build. I'm currently working on motor drives, and following assembly instructions, with the large lock washer under the shoulder bolt. The pinion hits the gantry riser. I know cncrp uses 3/8x5/8 thin washers under their 34 pinions. Is that the same concept for my machine? Curious as I didn't find any extra washers. Thanks,!

[FineLineAuto]

That would be my fault. I put in the split lock washer used on the NEMA 23 drives instead of the thin washer.. I'll get you a set right away.

[grubscrew]

That would be my fault. I put in the split lock washer used on the NEMA 23 drives instead of the thin washer.. I'll get you a set right away.

Hi there Nate, i have not been able to get ahold of you via email or pm (full) the last few days, upon carrying on assembly while waiting for washers, I've found you sent the nema 23 plate and hardware for the z axis, can you ship out the nema 34 plate and hardware, thanks

[grubscrew]

Progress has been slow the last few weeks. 60+ hour work weeks make it difficult to get much accomplished

what I have done is:
-built and installed a drawer on the table
-got all the motor drives assembled
-ordered and installed 4 80/20 brackets to secure the machine to the table
-added the spindle to take a few measurements
-found a good deal on a dell ultra small forum case computer and loaded it with mach, all required drivers, and got it working with the touch screen monitor
-built a box to house the computer

today I started to plan/assemble the cable chain. I had purchased the kit from fineline, after seeing how it would go together, I have no doubts that it wouldn't work, Im just after a more sleek look. i fabricated a piece of 1.5" aluminum angle to hold the y axis chain as well as receive the x axis chain end. just waiting for the paint to cure for it can be installed and then i will be able to start the piece for the z/y chain holders.

I should note, that I also purchased extra cable chain, as when I received the chain kit, I realized it includes just enough chain per axis to swivel, while extra chain serves no purpose as it never moves, it does make everything look neat and tidy, as well as add some extra protection for the wiring/ cables.

[streetrodlover]

Nice progress on the machine. Cant wait to see it run, Nate should be finishing my parts up soon and hopefully I will get some progress done in the next couple of weeks.

[grubscrew]

Thanks StreetRod!
progress has been slow lately, I have 3 or 4 small projects for this machine that will look like lots of progress when the all come together and actually get mounted on the machine/table
Your builds looking good! the upgraded gantry looks like a really nice design. I would of ordered it, if i knew it was available, as i can forsee the z axis working as a lever and putting some heavy twist on the 3x3 extrusion.
Now that i have the spindle mounted too, I can see how much overhang there is at the front of the machine, the upgraded gantry will take care of that and set the cutting bed further back into the unused piece of the bed. much better design.

[grubscrew]

made some process today with bolt on mounts for the cable chain and z axis gas shock.
I designed and cut them out of 1/8th mdf and mounted to ensure everything will work well. Next step will be to cut them out of a .125" aluminum.
I have never cut any aluminum with my current machine, so it will be a learning curve that I hope the machine will be up to. if not as long as I can make something usable (even out of 1/4 mdf is needed) until the new machine is up and going, so be it.
pictures!

[grubscrew]

Got a lot finished over the weekend. got the computer box mounted, cut and assembled the aluminum cable chain and gas strut pieces.

[grubscrew]

I decided to go with proximity sensors for this machine as I have not been happy with the lever type switches on my current machine, which lead me to my next problem, how to mount them. I bought the proximity switches from cncrouterparts. scrolling through their install instructions the way they show it with the switch mounted to the bumper facing the trucks would work, but I foreseen my self bending or breaking them quite easily, another problem I see was the wire shown in the instructions has a nice 90 deg connector on it, the ones I received do not, so the wire would stick even further past the bumper of the machine, it wouldn't work as the machine back will be placed against a wall.
so I came up with using the wasted space under the gantry trucks for the x axis, I made 3 mounts that will hold the sensor under the trucks using factory bolt holes with longer bolts on the gantry plate, and then cut the plates the sensor will sense and bolted them to the bumpers. for the y axis I cut plates that matched the 2 bumpers and bolted into the already tapped holes on the bumpers.
Just need to track down some 1.5" 5?15 pan head hex bolts to match the 80/20 bracket bolts, and il be able to mount them all,
for the wire on the x axis I should be able to loop it up through a few spare holes in the outer extended carriage and into the 80/20 over to the chain, keeping it fairly clean

[streetrodlover]

Any new progress on your machine?

[grubscrew]

WOW. Cant believe how long its been since I have updated this thread. the machine is up and running now just working on some accuracy issues. I will start the updates from where i left off, as I do have a fair amount of pictures.

Guess I will start with Electrical .

For all the components of the electrical system, I strayed away from enclosing all the components in one box and spread them out into 3 different boxes. Just to hopefully prevent any interference issues before they started. The three boxes have dc cooling fans with filters pushing into the boxes for a positive pressure system that will hopefully keep the dust out.

When I ran all the cables through the Cable tracks I found that the provided motor cables had allot of excess slack at the control box end that i couldn't leave well enough alone, it just didn't look clean. I ended up unsoldering the ends off the end of the cncrp cables, cutting to length and re soldering.

For the main power in I used a Subpannel with individual breakers for every AC component. From the panel there is a 10/4 umbilical that runs to a 4 pin twist lock wall plug.

I like to have all the controls easily accessible, so I went a tad overboard and created a control panel to mount under my touchscreen display that controls all the main components, e stop, table wheels. and spindle temp display. all the larger AC items are controlled with relays (bottom left box). I utilized the pmdx-126 relays and will control the vacuum table and dust collector from a slightly modified mach 3 screen, as well as coding it into my programs as required.

[grubscrew]

The 2.2kw spindle and vfd came from CHAI from linearmotion2008 on ebay. the quality seems pretty good. I ran igus 16g 4 conductor sheilded wire from vfd to spindle.
The only disappointment with the spindle was the electrical lug, trying to solder the 16g into the little cups was a disaster waiting to happen. I ended up drilling and installing a larger amphemol screw type plugs on the spindle as well as grounding the fourth pin to spindle body.

The spindle cooling system is mounted on a removable base underneath the router. Cooling consists of a 12v submersable pump in a cereal container cooling is a 120x240mm computer rad with push pull fans. The cooling line ran from pump to spindle and back is 3/8 with just a small amount of 1/4 at the spindle. If I did it again i would probably run 1/4 the whole way as the 3/8 takes up alot of space. I dont think i could fit another 20G wire in the y axis cable chain! For coolant im using 50/50 premix antifreeze.

The vfd is controlled using the french vfd plug in and usb 485 adapter. as well

[grubscrew]

Used 3/4 maple as the base surface on the machine cutting surface. Used 1/4" button head bolts and t nuts to mount the sheet to the table. The maple has also been slotted for t track. glued a 27x48 (cutting area) 1/2" mdf sheet on top. I will be implementing a vacuum hold down as well as the t tracks, for vacuum i will be using the Brady Vac removable sizable vacuum pluem idea as to not have to much permanent added height to the cutting surface.

That covers all the process for now. Working on the calibration problem right now ( see: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/cnc-ro...n-problem.html ) once thats wrapped up, a dust shoe is in the agenda, then surface the spoil board, tram the machine, and it will be ready for cutting.

[grubscrew]

bit of progress today, got the dust shoe cut out and installed. I am amazed at the edge quality of the acrylic even without the spoil board being surfaced or spindle trammed, its a much better quality than my last machine produced.
I went with a fixed height dust boot this time around to try and keep the weight off the z axis to keep the speeds up, Im quite fond of the free floating one that is on my old machine so it may be reworked at a later date.
**don't mind the triple stacked washers on the clamp hooks, I need to pick up some correct length hex head bolts for them.
Just have to hang some hooks for the dust collector hose, then time to surface and tram!

[grubscrew]

Ive had the machine running for a little while now, and have ran a few complex pieces (lithopanes and a 2.5d wall tile) as good tests, aside from problem with the z axis gaining + over time its been working real well the speed is crazy compared to my old machine.

One problem I came across, that appears as if it would be a problem on all the machines with this design, is on the x axis. I had excess play at the spindle bit +/- .015. What I found was the Nema 34 rack motor plate hits the z axis plate not allowing the pinion to fully engage the rack resulting in excess play. was a easy fix, just requires shaving some of the aluminum off of the mounting plate.