[CarveOne]

I'm just trippin' that this all works!

Computers are amazing machines...
:cheers:

Congratulations!!

The MDI screen is something that I haven't done much with yet. I would have responded yesterday but for my internet connection being on the fritz for the most part all evening. I tried three or four times though.

Seems to be ok this morning. Must have been a huge mother ship hovering between my dish and the Wild Blue satellite.

So, are ya going to just play with this thing or get on with machine #2??

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

Btw,

One of the first accessories you need to make is a zero setter for the Z axis. Greolt's version is easy to make and install the visual basic script in Mach3. There is a sticky link at the top of this forum page I think.

Big Tex has one that works with ger21's Mach3 screen set that has some additional features. These will give you an accurate way to easily set the Z zero point without eyeballing it.

CarveOne

[Mountaincraft]

Congratulations!!

The MDI screen is something that I haven't done much with yet. I would have responded yesterday but for my internet connection being on the fritz for the most part all evening. I tried three or four times though.

Seems to be ok this morning. Must have been a huge mother ship hovering between my dish and the Wild Blue satellite.

You have satellite internet? I feel for ya.. I used to have hughes net (formerly directway) and it 'SUCKED!'.. We finally got DSL here a couple years ago, and I never looked back.. I hear wild blue is 'better' than hughes net though..

So, are ya going to just play with this thing or get on with machine #2??

Um.. yes?

LOL.. make stuff for the machine this month.. buy the S-PID (and maybe a couple pieces of steel) next month, and start the rebuild in july.. So hopefully some time in august I can move this thing into the shop.. That'll give me about 4 months after that to enclose it and make some sort of comfortable little booth and stock up some materials before the cold hits.... then all winter... 'make stuff'..

That's the 'plan' anyways...

[CarveOne]

Um.. yes?

LOL.. make stuff for the machine this month.. buy the S-PID (and maybe a couple pieces of steel) next month, and start the rebuild in july.. So hopefully some time in august I can move this thing into the shop.. That'll give me about 4 months after that to enclose it and make some sort of comfortable little booth and stock up some materials before the cold hits.... then all winter... 'make stuff'..

That's the 'plan' anyways...

I used to design 20 layer backpanels for DSL central office equipment, yet have never had DSL service (or cable internet) anywhere I have lived. It's the price I pay for living in the country. The phone lines on my road are so noisy that distance is not the issue as much as the unacceptably bad lines. Phone company won't fix their problem. Even cell phone signals are unreliable.

I was just yanking your chain a little, lest you get too giddy over getting the machine moving. Enjoy it.

CarveOne

[ger21]

We have DSL at work, and apparently we're at the distance limit, because it absolutely blows. My cable at home is literally 100 times faster.

[louieatienza]

We have DSL at work, and apparently we're at the distance limit, because it absolutely blows. My cable at home is literally 100 times faster.

I had DSL and I am literally a mile from the phone company, and it chugs like a steam car.

I never had cable at home, but switched four years ago, and besides the better reception (the HD rabbit ears weren't cutting it) my internet connection is at leat 4 times faster! I get a lot of emails from the Fdiber optic guys at the phone company, but second hand stories are pretty iffy...

[Mountaincraft]

Went into town today, and found out that we have a plastic shop in Redding.. So I bought a 16" x 16" sheet of white 1/8" acrylic scrap to add to the two slightly larger scraps of clear I already had..

I bought a couple router bits too.. a Bosch 1/4 x 1" straight bit at lowes, and a craftsman 1/4" x 1" carbide spiral upcut bit at sears..

Brought home a few short scraps of 1x6 trex decking from a customers job, and dug out a couple 3' threaded rods from the garage, one a 3/8" and the other a 1/2"... Have half a sheet of furniture grade plywood here at home too... Also have a clear 690 router base plate that I'm not using either that was part of a bushing set.. So I can probably use that for the top..

So I think I have enough to start making my shoe...

How much space should I have inbetween the bottom of the vacuum chamber of the boot, and the top of the chamber.. is 3/8" enough?

[Mountaincraft]

You can just go to the MDI screen and type your coordinates, say you want to go to 0,0,1... you would type

G0X0Y0Z1 (substitute your own coordinates...)\
You could also hit TAB to go tjhe jog screen to slow down the jog rate, which can help too...

I entered "GOX-24Y-20.5Z0" and I got an error that said "Unkown word where urnary operation could be"

So I tried it with commas after each axis coordinate and got the same error...

[Mountaincraft]

Getting ready to try my first 'part cut' (the Y>Z carriage mount from which the dust shoe will hang)... Cutting 3/4" furniture grade plywood..

Using a 1/4" x 1" (cut depth), carbide upcut spiral bit... (has two flutes)

What parameters do I put in Cut 2D for the bit..

Feed rate=?
pass depth=?
stepover=?
plunge depth=?
machine vectors=? (climb or conventional)
Ramp plunge moves=?

I'm creating two files..first a file to cut the holes (all 13/32")
then I'm going to screw all the pieces down with washers using the new drilled holes, then load the second file to cut the outlines of the pieces..

Need to know all the settings..:drowning:

[Mountaincraft]

Also, I have two threaded rods here I can use.. one is a 3/8", the other 5/8"

There will be about 12"-13" of rod between the mount and the dust shoe that hangs from it..

Which should I use? Will the 3/8" be too 'flexible' and more likely to 'hang?'
Will the 5/8" be two rigid and cause damage if it happens to hang?

[Mountaincraft]

This is soooo COOL!!!

Man.. you just lay the stuff out on the computer.. plan the order of cuts, set up your zeros, turn on the router and press 'go'..

The parts come out all fitting each other and the holes all line up perfectly to what you were wanting to mount the part to... no splinters or splits.. no wandering holes... 'perfect'..

So I've made my first vacuum mount.. already the design needs a change, but this will work initially...

Now I just gotta glue all the layers together and throw a couple coats of polyurethane on it and it's good to go..

Pictures to come...
:cheers:

[louieatienza]

I entered "GOX-24Y-20.5Z0" and I got an error that said "Unkown word where urnary operation could be"

So I tried it with commas after each axis coordinate and got the same error...

It's the number zero or zed G0, not GO....

[Mountaincraft]

LOL.. That would explain much..

BTW louie.. I cut this thing in 1/16" passes, at 80IPM feed rate and 4 IPM plunge rate..

I'm thinking I could have gone a lot faster and taken deeper cuts.. What is 'typical?'

[Mountaincraft]

Man.. This table is amazing!

On a job I'm doing.. I'm about 10 cabinets into building this guy 40+ cabinets for his clock shop..

When I go there tomorrow, I'm gonna talk the guy into stopping everything, and I'll work on some of his wife's projects for about a week or so, while I get this dust boot thing figured out and what not...

I want to cut the rest of these cabinets on the machine... Everything fits so perfect.. I can't get this perfect by hand.. certainly not this fast and hassle free...

And then there's things like drilling out the holes for shelf pins.. which I've been using a jig to do.. or pockets for the European style hinges.. more jigs.. or grooves for sliding glass panels and the like.. not to mention all the dado's and mortises, and what not...
I can just lay out one cabinet for each size in Cut 2D, then load the plywood or doors, and let 'er rip!...

[Mountaincraft]

I want to thank you guys for helping me out through this!

Especially Louie and Carve one... and Gerry too!

I'm also into home brewing beer.. and the stuff I make is pretty awesome.. I need to get some to you guys somehow...

[louieatienza]

You put in the sweat equty, so give yourself some credit too... though the reward is watching your machine work for you...

Did I miss what you cut LOL?! Don't get too ahead of yourself!

I used 5/16" rod on mine BTW... I'd go larger to orevevnt weight and suction from bending it down. I would however, make up some cam locks instead of screws/bolts/mits to hold it in place...

[Mountaincraft]

It's nothing special.. but it made me excited.. Just proved to me how easy it all is and what a great investment this can become for me.. Will make my life simpler..

The main piece will get scrapped, as I'm not happy with the idea and will go a slightly different direction... but the four smaller pieces I cut, I'll probably be ale to still use..

Still.. I got a taste of the production flow and process. and am very excited about all the possibilities..

So, after the layout and a couple test runs (with Z zero set higher so that I can make sure it all will go where it's supposed to), the first cut was to drill all the holes, which could then use to hold down the pieces without tabs...

I marked center of the work with a pencil, then set a drywall screw upside down on the mark, and then jogged the thing as close to dead center on the screw as possible.. set everything a 'zero' there.. then I left the spiral bit semi loose in the collet, and lowered the Z until it pushed into the collet, and zero'd there.. raised the router and tightened the bit and away I went!




So then I put a 2" screw in each hole to lock it all down before cutting the profiles...


So then I cut the profiles.. SWEET!


Next I loaded the last file and countersunk the holes intended for screws to attach a vertical piece on the other side...


And this is the intended piece, prior to cluing, sanding and finish..


And finally, the piece mounted on the machine as intended.. but I don't like it and will make a change tomorrow... the two holes that run through each layered piece are for the 3/8" rod...

[teamtexas]

To Zero my Z axis I install my router bit and use a scrap of paper placed on the surface of the material I'm about to cut. I use my remote keypad to jog the Z lower while I have a hold of the paper. When the Z just pins the paper I can set Z zero with a button from the remote pad. This process gets me within + or - .003.

Dan

[louieatienza]

I'm also a proponent of the "finish washer" clamps! Looks like you're doing fine!

When I need to zero out the z, I will insert my bit and tighten the collet nut, just enough that it holds the bit, but loose enogh that it will slide in/out wilth a little force. Then when I drop the z down, I just merely let the bit hit the work so that it retracts into the collet slightly. I then zero the z out and raise the bit and tighten the nut. Pretty darn accurate... I've cut mic6 this way, and have left the protective film on the back while still cutting through the metal! (doesn't happen all the time but when it does it's pretty cool!)

[Mountaincraft]

I'm also a proponent of the "finish washer" clamps! Looks like you're doing fine!

When I need to zero out the z, I will insert my bit and tighten the collet nut, just enough that it holds the bit, but loose enogh that it will slide in/out wilth a little force. Then when I drop the z down, I just merely let the bit hit the work so that it retracts into the collet slightly. I then zero the z out and raise the bit and tighten the nut. Pretty darn accurate... I've cut mic6 this way, and have left the protective film on the back while still cutting through the metal! (doesn't happen all the time but when it does it's pretty cool!)

That's exactly what I did...

I can definitely see how a remote jog would be handy for this table.. I'm walking back and forth a bunch to get a good look after 'bumping' the axis...