[beamsjr]

Hi, I have been reading and learning over the last year (On and Off) and I am finally beginning my build. This will actually be my second build, My first was from MDF and I was less than happy with the results.

I have decided to build my machine from 8020 using cncrouterparts rack and pinion setup. I started getting the 8020 from ebay, and just recieved my 3x3 pieces with more arriving on tuesday. I just noticed that the 1.5x1.5 pieces were the light vesion and not heavy, Not sure what Im going to do about that, I will have to see what it is like when I get it in.

I am including a picture of my planed setup, please let me know what you think. I am also planing on doing some 45's in the corners to stiffen it up.

I am excited about this build and will share my experience as much as I can.

[DIYaholic]

beamsjr,
You must really be excited about starting your build. Good luck.

You know the drill!
What size cutting area?
What controller and motors?
What spindle/router?
Planning on using a "SuperPID"?
Any & all design decisions made or under consideration are of great interest.

I am also about to embark down the build path. Some decisions have been made others are yet TBD. What I know as of now:
3' x 4' cutting area.
Mostly 80/20 base/frame. (may incorporate alum plate &/or MDF for gantry uprights, based on budget vs expense)
R&P for the X & Y axis'.
Acme for Z-Axis.
CNCRouterparts carriages.
G540 driver w/ appropriate motors.

I'm still in the design/planning phase, but will be ordering parts soon and complete the design around parts aquired and budget. I'll be watching your progress intently.

Good luck with your build. Remember to post lots of pic's!

Randy,

[beamsjr]

Hi Randy,

The cutting area will be almost 3.5 x 4.5. I really dont need it that big, A lot of my design considerations came from what parts were available from cncrouterparts and would need the least amount of modification to work. For instance, I made my Y axis 60" because I can get the 4" x 60" rails.

I currently have the Hobby CNC pro board with 4 axis and the Nema 23 305oz Motors. I am reusing them from my last build. I know most people are using Gecko drives, but the hobbyCNC setup is working really well for now. I may look into gecko's in the future if I blow up my HobbyCNC drive. I will post some pics of my controller setup in a bit.

I also have a BOSH router I think the model is 1617EVS and a K2 mount that I will be reusing from my last build. I still have to track down the company that makes the precision collets for that router. I remember looking at them quite a while ago.

I am sure at some point I will get a SuperPID, If I have enough cash towards the end of the build I may pick one up. I haven't read up on if they figured out the speed control from Mach 3 yet, If they have I just might take the plunge.

Here is a link to a video of my old CNC, I had a ton of problems with it, mostly because all the parts were cut by hand and I could never get it to cut square. YouTube - beamsjr's Channel

[RicknBeachcrest]

Here is the link to the precision collets

Collets, Nuts and Toolholders

[beamsjr]

Here is the pics of my controller, pretty standard. I added a LCD to view the voltage in the box, just to make sure I dont go messing around inside while there is current.

[DIYaholic]

beamsjr,

Cool vid of your first build. It's a shame you didn't get the performance from it after all the hard work! However, it was a learning experience.

I like the LCD on your control box. I'll have to consider including that option, if I can can fiqure out how to wire it in (electronics kind of baffles me ). Having no electronics experience I plan on opting for a more or less "plug & play" solution to the electronics.

What do plan on using your machine for?

Randy,

[beamsjr]

beamsjr,

What do plan on using your machine for?

Randy,

Thats a difficult question, I am not really sure. Hopefully one day I will be able to make some side money with it, but until then I will be using it for everything from pcb routing to sign making, just as a hobbyist, for friends and family. If I get good at it and think I can move into the market I am definitely open to opening a business, but Im not getting my hopes up... I remember reading a post about who is making money using their CNC and the posts were rather disappointing. I have the bug though, and I wont be happy until I have my own machine. Unfortunately I had to sacrifice some of my loved woodworking equipment like my table saw to save up money for this, but hopefully in the end I will be more happy with the CNC.

[beamsjr]

I went ahead and put an order in this morning for some stuff I needed...

1 x 10 Foot Parallel Port Cable
4 x CNC Motor Cable Length 12 Foot
1 x Zero Backlash Helical Shaft Coupler
2 x Rack and Pinion Drive, Nema 23 - (I already have one)
---Pinion Gear Pitch 20 Pitch (Moore Gear)
---Pivot Standard
---Pulley 20 tooth with 1/4" bore (standard)
1 x 1/2" Shaft Collar
8 x Limit Switch
6 x Extended Linear Carriage with ABEC 7 Bearings and 2 Tapped Holes for R&P
1 x 1/2" Shaft Adapter
1 x 1/2" Needle Thrust Bearing and Washers

[DonFrambach]

I went ahead and put an order in this morning for some stuff I needed...

1 x 10 Foot Parallel Port Cable
4 x CNC Motor Cable Length 12 Foot
1 x Zero Backlash Helical Shaft Coupler
2 x Rack and Pinion Drive, Nema 23 - (I already have one)
---Pinion Gear Pitch 20 Pitch (Moore Gear)
---Pivot Standard
---Pulley 20 tooth with 1/4" bore (standard)
1 x 1/2" Shaft Collar
8 x Limit Switch
6 x Extended Linear Carriage with ABEC 7 Bearings and 2 Tapped Holes for R&P
1 x 1/2" Shaft Adapter
1 x 1/2" Needle Thrust Bearing and Washers

I see you're going to use CNCRouterParts.com motor cables. Doing that will place the resistors next to the motor. Gecko advises against that. Here's a link: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cn...40_info_-.html

I used two 6ft and one 12ft CNCRouterParts.com motor cables for few weeks. I then made custom cables with the resistors next to the G540 and found that my motors ran much cooler.

[beamsjr]

I see you're going to use CNCRouterParts.com motor cables. Doing that will place the resistors next to the motor. Gecko advises against that. Here's a link: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cn...40_info_-.html

I used two 6ft and one 12ft CNCRouterParts.com motor cables for few weeks. I then made custom cables with the resistors next to the G540 and found that my motors ran much cooler.

Are the resistors in the cables? I am most likley going to cut the ends off and use different connectors anyway. I am also using the hobby cnc board and not a gecko for now...

[DonFrambach]

Are the resistors in the cables? I am most likley going to cut the ends off and use different connectors anyway. I am also using the hobby cnc board and not a gecko for now...

Maybe there's no problem. There are no resistors in the cables. CNCRouterParts installs a resistor in the pigtail off the motor.

[beamsjr]

Maybe there's no problem. There are no resistors in the cables. CNCRouterParts installs a resistor in the pigtail off the motor.

Yeah, I plan on getting a det of these and using the connectors on it anyway.

D.Y. Engineering - 60mm Cover Kit

[beamsjr]

I got my Z axis done tonight. Not much more...

[beamsjr]

Long days at work have put a little bit of a hurting on my progress, but I have managed to get a little bit done. I finished cutting and tapping the aluminum, test fitting and I started putting in the support pieces. Somehow I forgot to order some more of the 8020 fasteners, so I am waiting for them to come in. Still need to clean out my workshop and build a base for this thing.

[beamsjr]

I am starting to get worried now that I have under designed my machine a little after seeing the 4x4 build of the fineline kit. It looks like it uses all 3x3 and 1.5x3 8020. I guess I will have to wait and see how strong it is when I get it together.

The fineline kit also has 6 legs, Do you think this is really necessary or can I get away with the 4 legs as I had planed?

[Phife]

I am starting to get worried now that I have under designed my machine a little after seeing the 4x4 build of the fineline kit. It looks like it uses all 3x3 and 1.5x3 8020. I guess I will have to wait and see how strong it is when I get it together.

The fineline kit also has 6 legs, Do you think this is really necessary or can I get away with the 4 legs as I had planed?

I would rather over design a cnc than under.. I recommend more support for your table, its going to want to sag in the middle, 6 legs and some cross supports on the table will help, or add a 5th center leg to help support the center of your table.

[ahren]

Joe,

Looking really good! Your design looks very stout, and having the sides raised instead of a larger gantry uprights is a recipe for an excellent and very stiff machine! I'll add a link to our build logs section on the site. Also, your ACME nut is on the way to you, so you should see it soon.

Lastly, not sure if you figured this out already, but carriage bolts and hex nuts can be used to fasten your steel rails to the extrusion for a stronger connection and significant cost savings over t-nuts when you get to that.

Best regards,

Ahren
CNCRouterParts

[beamsjr]

Thanks for the tip Ahren, hopefully I will recieve the screws I need to finish putting the support brackets on this week so I can move forward with the build. The rails still havnt shipped from Fineline either, So Im going to try and focus on getting the workshop cleaned out and the platform built this week.

I started playing around with the z axis getting it hooked up to mach 3, I think I have somthing crossed in the wires because when I push the page-up key the axis moves up, the I push page up again and the axis moves in the other direction. I am going to try and figure that out tonight.

[DonFrambach]

I started playing around with the z axis getting it hooked up to mach 3, I think I have somthing crossed in the wires because when I push the page-up key the axis moves up, the I push page up again and the axis moves in the other direction. I am going to try and figure that out tonight.

If you haven't figured it out already... To reverse your Z axis motor directions: click "config" tab then "homing limits" then "Z axis reversed"

[beamsjr]

If you haven't figured it out already... To reverse your Z axis motor directions: click "config" tab then "homing limits" then "Z axis reversed"

I figured out that I had the pins wrong on the connectors, Im not sure why I thought that the cables were 9 conductor cables instead of 6. Pulled out the multimeter and traced the cables out. It is now working good.

I got my workshop emptied out last night and ready to start the base. Hopefully I will find some time to build the base before I get the rest of my stuff in. I still havnt got shipping notification on my screws or rails, I am hopefull that they will ship sometime this week though.

I started assembeling the linear bearing blocks and rack and pinion mounts last night. It looks like I am missing one bearing out of the bunch, Not sure If I lost it or it just wasnt in the shipment. Im going to have to get one ordered, hopefully that wont delay the build to much.

I got an email this morning stating that the superPID V2 is almost done being tested, so hopefully it will get shipped sometime this week. It is getting exciting having everything start to come together, More pics coming soon...