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Originally Posted by
Daniel233
Ok it’s my turn now and all know the drill, long time reader first time poster blah blah blah.
My background is fitting and machining I have worked on various CNC machines including center lathes, turret mills, machining centers, wire cutter and of course a router and I currently work as a contract draftsman.
5 years ago I decided to convert my lathe/mill to CNC and did so on a very tight budget, this clouded my judgement and I made a poor motor selection. In order to break through the friction of the machines slides I had to run a reduction that saw the machine having a top speed of 200mm/minute. I found it extremely slow and frustrating and proceeded to shelve the idea.
So a few years passed by and I decided that I had a perfectly good driver setup and motors going to waist when really all I needed to do was use them on a machine with less friction and lighter cutting loads. I looked at a wire cutters and sink edm’s but didn’t think they would be useful in most of what I do or would like to do.
That's when the router idea came up, I found CNC Zone and started putting ideas together. I looked at simple designs for a first machine eg. jgro and made 3d models of my own concepts which led to more complicated designs that would require manufacture on a CNC. I have been going round and round in circles and have completed several models but achieved nothing.
So I decided to get serious, make some firm decisions and finally make it happen. I put together a model that was easy to build at home with hand tools and my lathe/mill. I bought some materials and prepared to start my build. However my timing couldn’t be worse as I am in the middle of renovating my house (another long drawn out project but I won’t bore you with that one) and I have very little spare time on the weekends. Deciding nothing can stop me now I decided to build it on week nights. So this project will be a slow one I feel it will take 10-12 weeks of 1-2 hours 5 nights a week.
The machine:
Controller – Laptop running XP and Mach 3
Driver – Hobby CNC 4 Axis board (Purchased 5 years ago so different to their current board which intend to upgrade to at a later date to increase my top speed)
Motors – 3 x Unipolar 127 once/inch NEMA 23
Router – Working area 800mm x 500mm x 85mm, Timber construction, Skate bearing slides, threaded rod lead screws.
The model is 99% complete I need to extend the table 50mm add a few fasteners and limit switches but everything else is complete. I have completed drawings for the z-axis and started machining some of the parts. I have attached pictures of the model (Later I will add an E-Drawing if anyone is interested) and photos of my driver setup. I endeavour to update my log weekly and include photos. I hope my log is interesting and helps others to embark on this truly enlightening hobby.
A couple of things come to mind in no particular order.
1.The motors and drives sound awfully small for this machine also.
2. Laptops and Mach3 thru the pport don't mix.
3.What you need is the special hammer that I recently made. It works well on both machines and the operators. ![Smile](images/smilies/smile.png)
4. If you designed the mechanicals incorrectly, it must be a controls problem!!!:withstupi
5. You will be supprised at how fast you have to go in wood so as not to burn up the bits.
Good luck.
Mike
Warning: DIY CNC may cause extreme hair loss due to you pulling your hair out.