[MRM RCModels]

Have you contacted A2Z?

They would probably give you a great deal, they make several tooling plates already.

http://tinyurl.com/pngalu

Jeff...

I've had my eye on that one for the longest time. The reasons I didn't go with it was the plate size was smaller than the table and it's made out of regular 6061. It's worth a shot though.

[jalessi]

MRM RCModels,

Since they are already setup to make tooling plates it would not take them much more time to do larger sizes.

There prices are super also.

Its worth a shot, most likely they would like the business.

Jeff...

[MRM RCModels]

Just got off the phone with A2Z. Unless we order 50-100 of them they aren't interested.

They do offer a tooling plate of their own for the X3 that is regular 6061 at 20 x 6 x 5/8 for $99.00. I can't use it because my Y travel is considerably bigger than this, but some of you may find it useful. CLICK HERE. It does have a t-slot channel made for the sherline 4th axis tailstock built-in, along with mounting holes for the rotary table.

The plate I designed is thicker, bigger, MIC6, has more tapped holes, uses helicoil inserts, and includes indexing holes. Needless to say I made this one to "my" specs so of course I'm bias .

[Teyber12]

Had to take a month long business trip . Good thing is that I had a lot of time to think about future projects. Namely: a tooling plate and 4th axis attachment (pics attached).

The tooling plate should be done by Tuesday. The material is MIC6 tooling plate which is pricey but it could also be made out normal 6061. Just not as pretty or stable. The threaded holes use helicoil inserts for durability. this one does not have indexing holes but future sets will. Anyone interested in buying one? It's much larger than the the X3's XY travels so I had to farm out the work. If I order 10 the machining costs go way down.

Kelvin

im interested, but im confused how does the x gib work afterwards? does this just clamp on top of the table?

sorry and thanks

[MRM RCModels]

im interested, but im confused how does the x gib work afterwards? does this just clamp on top of the table?

sorry and thanks

It just clamps onto the top of the table.

I know guys I still have to upload pictures. Work has been crazy lately.

[escott76]

im interested, but im confused how does the x gib work afterwards? does this just clamp on top of the table?

sorry and thanks

It is a tooling plate, it's purpose is to provide an easy system for clamping and alignment on the top of the table. It is not a replacement for the table, it supplants what is already there.

[ViperTX]

Kevin, so how much should I send you? $237 or ?

Thanks,
Paul

[MRM RCModels]

ViperTX,

I haven't got the 5 confirmations for the $237.00 price, so it will be $250 each+shipping. Send payment to klverrett"at"yahoo.com. When PayPal confirms the transfer, I'll order material and get my machinist on it right away. Expect 1 week for material transit and 1 week for machining.

Would you like indexing holes? If so, what diameter?

__________________________________________________ _______________

The tooling plate is installed and works phenomenally (figure 1). My machine has a max travel of 14 x 6.5in, but the biggest part I could previously profile was 10 x 4in. How is that? The T-slots are in the middle of the table and a large part the of the left and right table ends are pocketed for coolant channeling, thus reducing the clamp-able area. My tooling plate expands the clamp-able area to > 17.5 x 9.5in. With the addition of fixtures, one could considerably increase the rate of production/part. The AL stock clamped on the table is 17.5 x 9.5in (figure 2). This would not be possible with the stock table. Of course I can't profile the stock, but I can machine within my cutting area by adding a few indexing holes. Again, not imaginable using the stock T-slot table.

I decided not to add indexing holes because it is working out so well without them. Probably won't be taking it off the table a whole lot either. If indexing holes were present, coolant would sit stagnant in the T-slots under the table and possibly begin to fester :nono:. I've ordered 3/8in set screws to keep coolant/swarf out of all of the unused holes .

I plan to make a slew of 90 degree fixtures that bolt to the table and serve the same function as the indexing holes seen HERE.

Let me know if anymore of you guys are interested.

[Starleper1]

nice work.

[MRM RCModels]

The Z Axis bellow has been bothering me for some time. It would bulge out whenever the Z axis moved in the negative direction. Someone off the zone used my design but went with another alternative because of it.

Here's my solution (figure 1). It's a small section of jacketed 12ga copper wire left over from my garage upgrade. Two of these were inserted through the bellow which divided it into three sections (figures 2 & 3). They are held in place by a small bead of hot glue. The wire threads through the bellows and grips the sides of the Z Axis dovetails (figures 4 & 5). This mod took only one hour and the bulge is gone. When removing the bellow, just unbend the ends and it comes right off. Man I love the quick, easy, and effective mods.

Hope this helps

Kelvin

[devincox]

Outstanding thread. thank you.

[Teyber12]

hey any updates on the lathe? is it gunna be cnc'd? id love to see what you have made with it

[MRM RCModels]

hey any updates on the lathe? is it going to be cnc'd? id love to see what you have made with it

The lathe has been dormant since I bought it. I have the CAD files drawn up for a kick a$$ bolt on kit which uses double Roton nuts on both axis. The lathe will be cnc'd, but I'm spending most of my time making an all Al 60" x 35" router. Just need to wait until the X3 is free. It's been running 5-8 hours a day for the past week :wee:.

[Enraged]

I may have missed it in the thread, but what is your work envelope on the cnc x3?

[Starleper1]

The lathe has been dormant since I bought it. I have the CAD files drawn up for a kick a$$ bolt on kit which uses double Roton nuts on both axis. The lathe will be cnc'd, but I'm spending most of my time making an all Al 60" x 35" router. Just need to wait until the X3 is free. It's been running 5-8 hours a day for the past week :wee:.

Making mulah I hope.

[MRM RCModels]

I may have missed it in the thread, but what is your work envelope on the cnc x3?

that's question has two answers;

My max travel is 13 x 6.5, BUT my max cutting area is 12 x 6. I say this because my mods do extend the travel quite a bit, but they don't extend the gibs (which actually hold the table on) so at the extremes you have to go really slow to cut down on the chatter. I just experienced this with a 11 x 6 part.

[MRM RCModels]

Making mulah I hope.

Lol! You'd think so by now

[MRM RCModels]

Outstanding thread. thank you.

Thanks & You're welcome

Sorry to have missed you
_____________________________________________

I have started making parts for my mold manufacturing router after 2 years to tweaking the X3. Here's a shot of my first two parts. Both are 11.5" x 4.5" x 1.5", so they came close to maxing out my cutting travel. Little bit of chatter can be seen on the edges but that is to be expected. Looks like I'll have to tighten the gibs a bit before the next set of parts. Tolerances are +/-0.003in which isn't bad for a home brew.

[tauntdesigns]

Looking good!

[ViperTX]

Kevin and what is a mold manufacturing router? You are building a mold for?

Thanks,
Paul