[gio666]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr-y...ature=youtu.be

[gio666]

Controller card Planet usb for easyservos and have a uc300 I will have videos on al of them .

[gio666]

Some aluminum cut outs on Mini Raptor, using only a Hitachi router

[JohninOttawa]

unrelated question: I think I'm probably approaching the time to re-grease everything, starting to get a funny click on the X ballscrew at about the half travel point, and there's not really any debris under the table. There is no fitting on the ballscrew. Would it work to simply wipe grease on the ballscrew and let the nut take it up as it runs along, or will the wiper take everything off?

I'm also a bit paranoid about greasing the linear bearings, I keep hearing that overgreasing will kill them. how do I tell when they need TLC?

Thanks for your advice...

[SirDag]

George,

How much for the corner stand kit?
gio666 is offline
Company Representative


gio666's Avatar
Join Date
May 2008
Location
Canada
Posts
3874
Downloads
0
Uploads
0
Default Re: XZero CNC


Changed stand corner set to now use the 5050 aluminum profile, Lot easier to set up than having to drill steel tubes

XZero CNC-stand-5050-jpg XZero CNC-5050-stand-jpg XZero CNC-stand-5050-1-jpg


XZero CNC-423865_221655644590922_1732550417_n-jpg

[fsoheili]

(Double post)

[fsoheili]

I now have machined table top for machines. With profile I use now , I have not had a problem with table top bowing or twisting in the few I have done . When I used the 8020inc profile it was causing problems with twist in profile and not flat , as why I stopped machining top .

Hi, George does this mean you now have the machined aluminum top to fit my Raptor?

I haven't been able to find an aluminum angle online to easily fit my Raptor without a lot of extra work/machining.


Does anyone else on here have the non machined aluminum top/how have you mounted it down to your CNC?

This is the last thing that's keeping me from cutting with confidence on my new Raptor. Any help would be great.

[gio666]

Hi, George does this mean you now have the machined aluminum top to fit my Raptor?

I haven't been able to find an aluminum angle online to easily fit my Raptor without a lot of extra work/machining.


Does anyone else on here have the non machined aluminum top/how have you mounted it down to your CNC?

This is the last thing that's keeping me from cutting with confidence on my new Raptor. Any help would be great.

Mounting top with 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 aluminum angle works the best.
But yes, with new profile the table top are machined and sit straight and no bowing or dipping yet. Had to stop before because table tops where not sitting flat with the 8020 aluminum profile

[gio666]

What ever grease comes out of blocks or ballscrew. You just wipe rails and ballscrew clean after running it for about 10 minutes .

[pilotarix]

Hello all,

I am about to order the XZero Raptor 30x48.
I have designed a complete router in SolidWorks about the same size but I am struggling for years now to get it from paper to reality. Looking through the NA market in regard to small hobby CNC routers I think XZero has by far the best concept.
I checked some small German companies offering similar machines

Sorotec - CNC-Mills

CNC-Fr

for a similar price but none of them shipping to the US because of liability issues.

So..finally I am ready to pull the triger on one of the machines from the Raptor series. While I would like to have minimum 1 meter of work area in one direction, it needs to be the 30X48.

I will order the "Backing Plate Bars" the "Proxy Switches" the "Cable Chain" (what length?) and the Ballscrew upgrade.

But this is all I can say.

While I have no issues with technical things, I am a complete dummy, when it comes to electric and electronic. Hence I would like to find some kind of complete package for the electric/electronic, something prewired or with a really great manual. I understand that Nema 23 engines should be used. I was thinking about a Triple Beast because that is something that works reliable and is very good documented, but I am not sure if I can find this on the North American market.

Any thoughts?


Thanks Chris

PS: how long will be the delivery time (PA) , any experience ?

[JohninOttawa]

Hello Chris. Welcome to the fold! My Raptor (30 x 60) has been in operation for about 4 months, so I am still a relative newbie as well.

I can share some of my recent experience buying and setting up.

You might find the XZero customer forum a good place to start. There are specific threads on electronics and settings.

.XZero Forums

Like you, I was was looking for a turnkey solution. I ended up ordering the bulk of my hardware through George, alias XZero. My options, which might or might not be good for someone else, were as follows:

Ballscrew upgrade (I am pretty happy with the speed and accuracy so far)

Backer bars (very good idea and provide a ledge for the cable chain to boot)

Motors - servo vs stepper - I went stepper, with upgrades (see below). Depending on what you are planning to do, you might think of servos, there is a discussion on this thread.

Motor upgrade - I bought my motors from George. I went with larger NEMA 23 on the Y and Z, but NEMA 34 on the X. This was an OK decision, but I got myself into a bit of trouble with coupling sizes and adapters as it turned out the NEMA 34 shaft was bigger than any of the couplings available, and too long to fit without either cutting it down or ordering an adapter. In the end, I cut the shaft down myself, which was straightforward, and drilled out the coupling, which in retrospect should have been done on a lathe or something better than my drill press.

Drive. I have the Leadshine MX4660 with steppers (as noted above) and it has been trouble free, Purchased via George. Mach 3, likewise. You might want to consider your PC interface, as straight through serial cables have become quite rare in my area. Shops kept selling me null modem cables, swearing they were straight. There are USB options now, worth checking out.

Power supply - I bought mine through George as well, no issues there.

Cable - There are many options, I recommend you don't skimp on price point, get shielded cable right from the start and do what you can to avoid running the router power cable through the same runs as your motor or limit switch cables.

Prox switches. Good idea. One of mine has been weak (no light when tripping), but in general they work fine.

Table top - it looks like there is an aluminum option being offered again. George gave me some advice when I initially ordered, that regardless of what table I want in the end, for the first while, use something disposable as you will invariably chew into it by mistake. He was right, and because I took his advice, I haven't hurt anything but my pride as a result of my few miscalculations.

Have you thought of what spindle you will use? One item I would probably rethink if I had it all to do over, would be my spindle. I have two Hitachi M12VCs, no issue with the spindles themselves, but they are very short units, and the mounting system does not allow most bits to reach within an inch of the table top. So I really end up losing that capacity. At this point I am still doing mostly flat stuff like signs, and the centre of my 4th axis will be within reach of the spindle, but it's a consideration if you need to be able to mill from 0 to 4" on one piece.

If you decide to go the Hitachi route, one option (but this takes some wiring work) is to add a SuperPiD speed control, which will get you Mach 3 speed control and a bit slower bottom end speed. I haven't wired my kit in yet so can't say how good or bad a decision that is.

Hardware/shipping - There were some delays getting everything together. In retrospect I could have accelerated things by test-fitting and taking a closer inventory when things arrived or were picked up. Because George fabricates some stuff directly and orders in other parts (like ballscrews), we did have unexpected, sometimes lengthy periods waiting for customs, things that were supposed to arrive on one shipment but did not, etc. In my case, I could connect with George locally when needed, which was great. Still, it can take a couple of months from start to finish.

I will say that in all of my dealings with George, he's been an absolute gentleman and helpful. He knows the machines inside and out, no matter what mistake I made, he knew how I got there and the way back out.

And the design is pretty bulletproof as far as I can see. Again, as a woodworker who is a rank newbee with CNC, the challenge for me was figuring out how to automate the things woodworkers do manually. For example, I wanted to make a maple leaf motif for a gable vent, but then control surface texture such that the grain inside the leaves would take stain more deeply than the larger flat area. I needed to control my milling to within .001". It turned out to be no problem at all, once I understood the difference between having a piece flat for human work and having a piece absolutely flat when it's under a CNC.

I hope some of this is helpful. You'll no doubt get better advice from the more experienced folks here and on the other forum.

Cheers
John

[Padrino]

Hello all,

I am about to order the XZero Raptor 30x48.
I have designed a complete router in SolidWorks about the same size but I am struggling for years now to get it from paper to reality. Looking through the NA market in regard to small hobby CNC routers I think XZero has by far the best concept.
I checked some small German companies offering similar machines

Sorotec - CNC-Mills

CNC-Fr

for a similar price but none of them shipping to the US because of liability issues.

So..finally I am ready to pull the triger on one of the machines from the Raptor series. While I would like to have minimum 1 meter of work area in one direction, it needs to be the 30X48.

I will order the "Backing Plate Bars" the "Proxy Switches" the "Cable Chain" (what length?) and the Ballscrew upgrade.

But this is all I can say.

While I have no issues with technical things, I am a complete dummy, when it comes to electric and electronic. Hence I would like to find some kind of complete package for the electric/electronic, something prewired or with a really great manual. I understand that Nema 23 engines should be used. I was thinking about a Triple Beast because that is something that works reliable and is very good documented, but I am not sure if I can find this on the North American market.

Any thoughts?


Thanks Chris

PS: how long will be the delivery time (PA) , any experience ?

Hey chris,
I redesigned a raptor for my personal use. Well I feel my machine is better than the one that George sells, I paid easily 3 times the price and the benefits in terms of tolerances are not that important if you are not machining parts for automotive or aerospace industry. Honestly, I would recommend buying from George. Attachment 295808Attachment 295810
Cheers
Rob

(Double post)

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

[pilotarix]

John,
thank you so much for this extensive answer, it helped me alot!
No question I will go with ball screws and the backer bars, even so I understand the difference between stepper versus servo motors, I will also go with stepper motors because it is way more simple and also sufficient for woodworking and some non ferrous metal, not mentioning the price difference.
If something needs to be adjusted, I am equipped with a metal lathe and a Grizzly g0704 Mill, so that should not be an issue.
Potentially I could do the end fitting of the ball screws, however I would prefer to buy them finished, working on ball screws is a PIA they are hardened and you have to grind the first mm.
The spindle will be a simple router first but in the long run I will probably change to a water cooled China spindle, they are very quiet.
MDF will be used in the beginning as the table surface, some holes with drive-in-nuts are perfect to secure the work piece.
If I pay over 4K for a machine I would expect some good customer service and not too much hassle with delivery. If I have to expect problems with deliveries from China I could imagine ordering these parts from more reliable sources, but I would need the exact specification to do that.
I will definitely try to go the USB route if I can find something reliable.

BTW the leaves are pretty cool.

Rob,
thanks for the pictures, pretty cool machine, clean set up, I like that .



Thanks Chris

[Padrino]

I posted those pictures which are hard to see because this is George's thread. Honestly for the hassle and price and everything else just go with Georges machine. I'm just too anal and paid a lot more money for a machine I'll likely never use the full capability of. ... it's an engineer thing.

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

[JohninOttawa]

Rob, now I'm curious. What features did you adjust and what accuracy improvements did you observe? The reason I am asking is that I am just setting up my 4th axis, it can take an encoder and so I am mulling over a servo extension from the MX4660. But maybe I am targeting a level of precision that I can't actually get to.

John

[Padrino]

I'm accurate across the entire y axis within 0.001". I can post a video on youtube later. I used the same design as George but used high precision THK linear bearing blocks and rails and Thompson precision ball screws. That and the fact that I designed the entire machine but benchmarked from old pictures I have from an older raptor.

Before anyone asks, no I am not interested in building more of these. I did it for myself and can't compete with the great value George provides his clients. More importantly I travel the world almost every week and do not have the time to devote this type of customer service.


Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

[gio666]

Hello all,

I am about to order the XZero Raptor 30x48.
I have designed a complete router in SolidWorks about the same size but I am struggling for years now to get it from paper to reality. Looking through the NA market in regard to small hobby CNC routers I think XZero has by far the best concept.
I checked some small German companies offering similar machines

Sorotec - CNC-Mills

CNC-Fr

for a similar price but none of them shipping to the US because of liability issues.

So..finally I am ready to pull the triger on one of the machines from the Raptor series. While I would like to have minimum 1 meter of work area in one direction, it needs to be the 30X48.

I will order the "Backing Plate Bars" the "Proxy Switches" the "Cable Chain" (what length?) and the Ballscrew upgrade.

But this is all I can say.

While I have no issues with technical things, I am a complete dummy, when it comes to electric and electronic. Hence I would like to find some kind of complete package for the electric/electronic, something prewired or with a really great manual. I understand that Nema 23 engines should be used. I was thinking about a Triple Beast because that is something that works reliable and is very good documented, but I am not sure if I can find this on the North American market.

Any thoughts?


Thanks Chris

PS: how long will be the delivery time (PA) , any experience ?

MX3660 or 4660 are easy to set up and run. The easyservos are also not to hard ..Easyservos come with all wiring .
Shipping leaves mostly on Fridays to buffalo NY. Then Tuesday or Wednesday it leaves after customs clears it . In PA it is the next day at your door
Prox switch I have new 2 wire sensors but they have not arrived and still stuck in USA because of labeled them wrong on customs paper.

[gio666]

I'm accurate across the entire y axis within 0.001". I can post a video on youtube later. I used the same design as George but used high precision THK linear bearing blocks and rails and Thompson precision ball screws. That and the fact that I designed the entire machine but benchmarked from old pictures I have from an older raptor.

Before anyone asks, no I am not interested in building more of these. I did it for myself and can't compete with the great value George provides his clients. More importantly I travel the world almost every week and do not have the time to devote this type of customer service.


Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

Machine frame are machined to highest tolerances . What Thompson screws you using.
I would have stuck with the SBC rails and blocks you where going to use first before

[Padrino]

Machine frame are machined to highest tolerances . What Thompson screws you using.
I would have stuck with the SBC rails and blocks you where going to use first before

Thompson metric precision Neff ball screws 25-10 on x and y and 20-5 on z

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

[gio666]

Here is a good vid on Leadshine Easyservos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMZdCcLQc4M