After many months of reading and learning from the incredible people here at CNCZone I have begun my own build. Last month I ordered 4 NEMA23 steppers, Gecko G540 and some other parts from Ahren over at CncRouterParts.com. With a lot of research and help from CarveOne I finally decided to pattern my router after his. In fact my Z axis is his old one! Thanks again CarveOne!!!
I have decided to go with a 4x8 cutting area so I ordered up some 3x3x1/8th in steel tube for the main frame and some cold rolled 4x9x1/4in steel for the side rails. My machine is REALLY close to CarveOnes. He has been a great help with the design.
Sooooo,
To continue, I wanted a machine that I can basically cut foam with. Maybe a Joes hybrid 4x4... Then I wanted to be able to get a little more out of it and had designed a 4x6 version...
Then after much more reading and beating myself up I decided to build a 4x8. You know as well as I do that things change and I then decided to build it out of steel. I went ahead and ordered the electronics from Ahren at CNCRouterparts.com and started playing with that when it came in. Since then I have built the z axis from the parts that CarveOne sent me and then ordered the steel for the table.
I ordered the router. A Hitachi MV12
Then I ordered the parts from Ahren at CncRouterParts.com.
After the great help of CarveOne he sent me the parts I needed to build a VERY solid z axis. I also ordered the Hitachi mount from K2CNC.com
As you can see, the finished Z axis is 24lbs. VERY SOLID!!!!
In my downtime while waiting for the steel to make it to the metal shop I got the control box built. It was an old alarm panel that I cleaned up and set up to hold the G540 from Geckodrive.
Finally the steel came in on Monday 5/3/2010 from T-Fab just outside of Pittsburgh. Great guys and cant beat their prices!
You know I was excited and on Tuesday built the legs. There are 6 3x3 legs that are going to support this beast and each one has an adjuster that I had built the night before out of 3/4in bolts, nuts and washers. By the way, Gorilla glue is AWESOME for putting parts together in preperation for welding!
I had to take the side rails and drill every 10 inches to place a weldnut to hold the outside cold rolled steel rails.
After sitting down and making sure everything lined up correctly and level I decided to lay out the frame.
After getting everything straight I decided to let the sparks fly!
Got everything ground down and the table is SOLID!!!!!
I then drilled and installed the siderails. They are 4inx1/4inx9ft cold rolled steel. I forgot to order the countersink but this will all be flush here soon.
For fun I decided to see how smooth the bearings and rails were.
With a 300lb load on it (me) everything was SMOOOOTH!!!
I need to order the gear rack next and begin construction on the Y axis.
There will be more to come. I will be painting the frame here soon. I need to drill the legs to be bolted to the frame and then once that is all done I can move the table to my basement where the rest of the work will begin. I am looking forward to this project and want to thank all of you for letting me learn from you. I will keep this updated as I go and am looking forward to any comments or assistance.
Thanks Again!!!!!!!!!!
Ernie