[Action-KAT]

So I have been hovering on this forum for a while now trying to gain as much info as possible to build one of these wonderful toys !
well that's what I call it when I have no work for one.

I have very little funds to build but I will not be stopped, the build may take some time to complete as I'm short on funds being on 4 days for over a year now..

So anyway attached hopefully is a PDF file showing my layout design, this does keep changing as I go alone but that's how I work..

I have started building and will upload some pics of the build so far.

The cut area should be about 1050mm x 800mm x 150mm or there abouts.
Going to be cutting mainly wood in 3D hopefully and maybe some Ali.
KAT

[Action-KAT]

So here are some shots of the welding of the frame,
All has been a learning curve, first bit of welding not the neatest but does the job.
Main Steel frame is made of 2" x 1" with a few 1" x 1" supports sitting on heavy duty casters

I made the top part of the frame removable so i can pull it apart & pass it through a standard doorway if I need to, you never know.

I am trying to keep the cost as low as possible but make a solid good size router I can.

[Action-KAT]

So here are a few more shots.
The main frame took a weekend to do the bulk & finished off the following weekend.

Next Painted into primer then top coat, still needs a final coat when I'm finished messing about..

Tapped main 20mm rails to sides & bolted on.
Not sure the best way to line them horizontally to each other but seems ok.
We see how when I start mounting the gantry.
KAT

[Action-KAT]

So the next step for me was the hardest so far.
I brought a section of Ali plate 500mm x 500mm x 16mm thick.
When it arrived I think I went overboard with the size.
This is for the main sides of the gantry.
If I find it to heavy I will cut some sections out in the centre to make it lighter but still keeping the strength..
Anyway catch 22 not having a router to cut the ali plate means cutting by hand.
Had I thought a little in advance I could of made the sides out of MDF to start with then when I had it all working I cold of replaced them but cut them with the router.

Oh well I was to impatient to get things moving alone.
Out came the Jigsaw and a metal blade.
This was a long job little by little.
And when cut a lot of filing and sanding to make half decent

[Action-KAT]

So nearly up to date.
here are the latest pics been working on the gantry, again not to sure how to get the gantry sides and base and back all lined up, so just took a flyer.
First I drilled the side plates for the rail sliders, matched this on both side plates.
Bolted them to the carriages & checked they slide ok.
Next I used two clamps one top one bottom, tightened them little by little & kept measuring them until they had the same gap between them.
Now I figured that was the size to cut the next parts.
I scrounged a couple of bits of Ali sections
Base 150mm x 25mm
Top rails 75mm x 25mm
These where hollow so I had to fill them with some of the 16mm Ali off cuts from the side plates.
That worked ok I think.
So I pre drilled the sides & offered up the newly cut Ali sections.
Bolted them loosely then tightened them little by little while sliding the gantry up & down to check It wasn’t fouling up.
Again not too sure if this was the best way but seems to work, the gantry slides very smoothly very impressed with myself so far.
KAT

[beamsjr]

Very nice! I cant wait to see it finished. what type of aluminum did you use? 5052?

[Zygoat]

looks good. keep the pics coming!

[Jesse B]

Looks excellent so far! Moar pics

[Action-KAT]

Hi Beamsjr the Alloy was 6082T6, It wasn't to bad to cut with a Jigsaw just slow going kept spraying a little WD40 as I went alone,
would have cut lovely on a router if I had one handy LOL

[LazyMan]

Looking good!

That is a real nice job on the aluminum plates with that jig saw.

[DIYaholic]

Action-KAT,
Considering the size of your machine, I think the casters (even locking ones) will allow your machine to dance around a lot. You may want to find a way to secure your machine to the floor (or perhaps the wall). Just something to think about.

BTW, looks good from where I'm at. Good luck with the rest of your build.

Randy,

[Action-KAT]

Here's a few more pics after a couple of hours put in after work.
getting the rails on & a quick test of the ballscrew.

I clamped the supports for one of the ballscrews to the frame & clamped the ballnut to the cross member so I could check to see if it moved.
attached my cordless drill to the motor end and gave it a spin.
It's alomost live lol

I have a mov on my camera of it i'll try to upload it..

DIYaholic you are spot on the casters I was given so thought why waste them & as the frame is all steel & thework area is very small would mean moving the frame around alot..
I am going to put some form of stops on the bottom of the frame later so I can level the base up lifting it off the casters slightly.
Not sure how yet I was thinking alone the lines of how speed clamps work being a spring & rachat action..

[Action-KAT]

Forgot to update the build progress with all that has been needed to be done.
So here's some pics

[Action-KAT]

So I got the water cooling setup and running keeping the spindle cool.
nice little compact unit works well so far only time will tell,
not a very high flow rate but from what I read this should work fine.
just got the VFD wired and test will hook it up to my Gecko G540 and Mach later.
still got a lot of tiding of wiring and closing all the lower frame in to house the PC and bits.
Next to get Table top sorted.
done a quick test cut just 2D as I only have flat bits, just ordered a few others.
Very quiet setup the loudest thing is my Vac, will swap out for a dust extractor as soon as poss.

[Action-KAT]

Here is the second thing I cut,
still haven't put a table top on yet too eager to see what it will do.
used a 6mm end to rough out, 6mm ballnose first 3D finally 3mm ballnose to finsh.
running at about 55mm per second
15mm deep in a 21mm block.

[louieatienza]

Nice build! Awesome jigsaw work!

[Action-KAT]

Took a while to cut and even long to file and polish
but was all well worth it seeing it cutting now,

[haz_kiev]

even it's late but i like your build, actually i have similiar compononets to yours and planing to start a new build, can you tell me please what is the total weight of your gantry and what stepper motor size you used?


Thanks & regards
haz

[Action-KAT]

Hi Haz
never too late to ask questions mate especially all the help I got from this forum.

Too be honest I never got around to weighing the gantry as it is now,
I know the bits did weigh a fair amount

had to change the support rails to 45mm x 90mm profile holding the Ali sides plates,
I used much to small profile when I first built it.
there was way lot much flex when the router plunged.
other than that it is all really solid.
Even cut steel ( by mistake Clamps lol )

attched some pics showing the gantry, touch screen & some 30mm oak its cutting at the moment,
I will add a few more bits I have done lately.
one of the best additions was the auto touch off plate that many people have made
saves loads of setup time a must in my book

The motors I believe are Nema23 I think 380 oz-in
got them from cncrouterparts as a kit
they are more than able to do the job.
I can hog out solid Oak at a good 40mm per second.

Hope this has helped

[Action-KAT]

Hi Haz

here are a few more things that I have done lately
to get you motivated to get your build up and running

mainly sign-foam not a really dense grade but holds detail well
lovely too cut like hot knife through butter.

like I said earlier no problem cutting solid Oak either,

I don't think you will need to worry to much about the weight it all moves along pretty quickly,
If I was to make another one I might be tempted to try a rack n pinion system to get quick rapids ect other than that all's good in the hood !
KAT