Re: 600 by 400 Ally profile 3 axis machine
Thanks Jack
Steve,
The 4th axis needs to be finished. I have to make a bed for it to be mounted on - not sure if I am going to utilize the T slot in the table or machine something else. It was an Ebay purchase originally for another project and I am very happy with the quality. It has a 100mm four jaw self centering chuck so good for square and round stock.
It connects to the driver through a microphone plug at the back of the machine. The addition of the rotary axis meant a longer Z axis travel so I had to change the design along the way and ended up with 130mm of Z axis travel. A bit to do there yet but I'm not in a hurry.
I call it the X axis and yes it has ballscrews both sides. This makes a machine rigid compared to a single screw down the center which can be prone to racking in heavy cuts. Both are attached to 387 oz/in steppers so together they have plenty of grunt to drive the gantry. I use pulleys and belts to connect the steppers as it negates mid band resonance that you get by direct coupling a motor to the ballscrew.
cheers,
Rod
Perth, Western Australia