[jckstrthmghty]

Hasn't been long since I've had my JGRO up and running but I've always known I'd be using it to build a better machine. I originally started with some test parts for Lionclaws which came out excellent but after much thought I decided Joes2006 would be the way to go.

My biggest hurdle was the length of parts for Joes was longer than the cutting capacity my JGRO. I've read that people do staged cuts but I don't have any formal experience in cncing and it took me some time to get my head around the concept. Cut2d made the task manageable and I successfully made some ribs for the y axis. All the remaining parts should be easy to calculate now that I have a understanding of the process.

I used a 1/8" 2 upwards spiral flute bit at 30ipm for these parts. 1/8" allowed me to drill holes for the sheet placement and use #8 screws for good self alignment. The parts were cut slow to limit deflection and came out much better than expected. I might want something with better accuracy than I can get with the JGRO but it's still a fine hobby build.

Don't know how long this build will take but probably not nearly as long as the JGRO. Electronics are already working and will be easy to transfer over and with the JGRO making parts is easy and far more accurate than cutting and drilling by hand. Still have to order some new parts but that's part of the fun.

Hmmm not sure what to do with the JGRO once I'm done this build. Be a shame for it to be dismantled. Maybe get the HobbyCNC package and get it running for someone else.

[jckstrthmghty]

Was feeling good about the progress I was making. Finished cutting all the ribs for the y axis, was going to move onto the skins for the torsion box when I noticed a problem while reading another build log. The vertical braces were not cut all the way though on others builds only pocketed . And what do many of us do when we make a mistake. Yup make more mistakes. I tried recutting the braces but did not take my time and did not align the sheet well and made a terrible cut. Ug.

So I've decided to move on and just keep building with what I have. If there is too much defelctioon I'll cut out some 1/4" mdf to glue over the holes I made. If that doesn't work I'll just cut a new y axis with the new build. Even with the cutouts this build should be more ridgid that my current setup and with the larger cutting area new parts should be a walk in the park. Famous last words.

If you don't think this is adequate let me know and I suck it up and recut the part taking my time for alignment.

[robe_uk]

i think once you get the skins on your y axis will do just fine:cheers:

[jckstrthmghty]

i think once you get the skins on your y axis will do just fine:cheers:

Thanks Robe. I'll give it a try. Fortunately with MDF you can make many mistakes without huge budget implications. Good thing too. My pile or poorly made parts is getting tall.

[jckstrthmghty]

Squeezed in some work this week and got the Y axis torsion box glued up. Robe was right. It's very stiff. By hand I cannot get it to deflect. With the rails attached I'm sure it only gets better.

I think I'll start on the gantry walls next since there are no multi cuts involved.

[jckstrthmghty]

Started some of the gantry pieces this weekend. Had some trouble with the JGRO and ruined a few cuts. Part of the cutting bed support jams the x-axis movement time to time. Bad things happen then. Broke a few bits too. Was rushing a few cuts and forgot to turn the router on. I did manage to cut 3 out of the 4 gantry all parts and most of the lower support torsion box.

[jckstrthmghty]

Made it to HD. Picked up the skins for the torsion box, gas pipe, threaded rod, and random fasteners. It was great that HD cut up the wodd and pipe for me. Big time and effort saver there. That allowed me to get most of the torsion box glued up. Love how this build squares itself. Seems like everyone who builds a joes2006 shows pictures of the torsion skin being clamped while gluing. Would hate to go against the grain.

Ordered a Microcarve z axis assembly. John is excellent and I'm very excited to have that part for my build.

[jckstrthmghty]

Hectic weekend. Warm weather with no chance at rain. Came down with a cold or a flu Friday night. No energy to get anything done Saturday. Still not 100% Sunday but this was my chance to get some work done. I really should've had help during assembly but I'm stubborn and tackled it alone. Many bumps, bruises, and cuts later I'm got the base assembled. Like many I made a stand out of 2x4's. A lot heavier than I anticipated. Had trouble getting the gantry to slide around the dual rails. Then had troubles rails to fit in the end plate. Normally I like to take many pictures but being sick I just wanted it done. Very happy with the progress today.

Time for bed

[jckstrthmghty]

One baby and a few extra months for good measure I've been able to get back to cutting parts for my joes2006. Here is a stack of x-rail supports. Had a few issues with jogging at 199 ipm so I slowed it down to 150 and all went well. I use a 1/4 two flute upward spiral bit cutting at 60 ipm at 0.2 depth and 12,000 rpm. At these settings there is a huge reduction in noise which allowed me to cut with a baby in the house.

I've been seriously considering a microcarve z-axis assembly. Marginally more expensive than building the joes version and very high quality. Most important already built and square. I'd just have to cut the router clamps.

Will be getting to the long torsion box pieces next. Getting exciting again.

[jckstrthmghty]

Many of us have smaller gantry CNC's that we use to build our Joes2006. I have a JGRO and most of the parts can be cut in one job. The long torsion box parts cannot. The options are reducing the parts into two pieces and gluing them together or using them as a template to use with a hand router, getting someone else to cut them for us, or as I will try to explain cutting one long part in muliple cutting jobs.

I don't have any of the real Joes2006 files at work so I'll use simple drawing I made in paint. Material thickness is 1/2" for this example. It's important that during the whole cut to maintain your x & y zero.

Step 1 - long part

Nothing to say here. Just our work file to start with

Attachment 181307

Step 2 - Setup postioning pin cuts.

I start by drawing out a box to the length I want to break the cuts into. I then add 1/8" circles to where the postioning pins are. I save this file into two seperate files named part1_cut1 and part1_cut2.

Attachment 181308

Step 3 - Seperating the cut jobs. part1_cut1

Delete the section of your part outside the box.

This step will produce 2 jobs.

1 Drilling. Set to drill all 4 holes. Positioning holes 1 will be drilled to 1" depth and positioning holes 2 will be drilled to 1/2" depth. In my case I use 1/8" endmill.
2. Profile cut the part. In this example there is a open vector which I cut outside the line.

Attachment 181309

Step 4 - part1_cut2

I open the second file part1_cut2. I delete all vectors within the box other than the positioning holes, then move all the vectors over until the second holes are on top of the first holes. I set a profile cut. No further drilling cuts is required for positioning.

Attachment 181311

Step 5 - Cutting parts

1. Run drilling part1_cut1. When complete secure the wood with screws into the first position holes. #8 counter sunk work well for me.
2. Run Profile part1_cut1
3. Remove screws and slide the wood until positioning holes 2 are on top of positioning holes 1. Screw in positoning holes 2 with the same screws.
4. Run part1_cut2 profile.

That should do it.

Comments and suggestions welcome.

[jckstrthmghty]

When using a JGRO the biggest challenge of this project is cutting the long X torsion box braces. My JGRO has a x cutting length of 31.5" The x brace is 58.5". I had initially thought I could get a 4'x8' sheet of mdf ripped to 16" long cuts. Problem was the HD in my area only sold 4'x4' sheet. Great. Still got the 4x4 ripped into 16" sections and I butted another 16"x 24" piece to the end when it came to the second part of the cut. It all worked out and the peices look good. Just have to do it once more.

[jckstrthmghty]

Got the gantry together. It'll have to come apart at least once more to attach the space plate for mounting the z-axis assembly and put in a 1/2" spacer for the top bearing in the carriage. I had to adjust the tension on the top bearing slides until there was almost not adjustment left to get out all of the play. After doing so I stood on the base of the gantry and tried to deflect the carriage. If there was I couldn't tell. A good sign. I didn't sand the rails so it's not as smooth as I'd like but the galvanizing does seem to be flattening out as I move the carriage more.

Time to build a table to put this thing on.

[jckstrthmghty]

Just rediscovered my x axis adds 1/16" to each cut. Most of my work it's not a big deal but when trying to fit tight fitting parts it's significant. I decided to mill off 1/16 off the face of each slot on both the long x sections and the pipe braces. Made a simple plunge cut program, set up a temporary slide fence, marked the cutting area on the fence and in to time all 32 cuts were done. Really impressed how cnc can make a repetitive task so easy. I know in the original joes2006 plans the long x brace is joined at one of the slots but I decided that it would join the pieces between the slots gluing a partially cut brace. Just waiting on the last long brace to dry so I can glue the pipe rails. Will be off to HD to get some torsion box skins cut up. Hopefully they have 4'x8' sheet in 1/4".

[harryn]

Very impressive, esp. having time to build a cnc router and have a new baby in the house.

[jckstrthmghty]

Very impressive, esp. having time to build a cnc router and have a new baby in the house.

Hey thanks. Without this forum this would not be possible. Even if you bought a kit there would be so many questions. CNCing is so much fun. I'm already planning my build. Funny how common that is.

[jckstrthmghty]

Got the z mounted. It is very solid. The JGRO is showing signs of wear and tear. The plate did not come out as nice as I would've liked. A new bit would help but I think the next step is to take down the JGRO to make room for the new stand.

[jckstrthmghty]

cut my first meaningful project. A sign for my little girls door. Just a simple pocket using cut2d. Plan on upgrading to vcarve pro soon.

Attachment 188054

Still have much work that needs to be done to the cnc itself. Just ordered a vfd and the spindle will follow soon. I'm not happy with the runout on the router I use and the sound is deafing in my small basement.

[jckstrthmghty]

Been a challenge to find time lately to get any work done on the build. Few days ago I thought it a productive day when I had enough time to secure my wasteboard with 2 screws. Life is interesting when you have a kid.

Nonetheless in the last two days I got some cutting done and was able to complete x axis torsion box. Very happy to be past that portion of the build. Using positioning pins I was able to recut the gantry box in preperation for the z-axis assemble from microcarve. Could've used a table saw but it's unaccessible in the shed until the snow melts a bit more.

The cutting to do list

- front plate for the gantry box, x-axis blearing plate and bearing walls (nested in one cut).
- spacer plate for the x-axis assembly
- bearing blocks for the x & y
- router mount
- dust shoe

Non cutting
- Assemble bearing slides for the x and y
- Order leadscrew for the longer x-axis
- Make table/stand
- Assemble (good times)

Bring me to painting. Ug. Not sure what I'll do here. I'll seal the edges but painting? If I have too, which might be mandatory on such a nice machine, it'll be dark grey hammered or white. Still researching painting MDF and hammered paint.

Not sure why a bag of bolts makes me happy. It just does.



Attachment 181087 Attachment 181083

[PaulRowntree]

... Life is interesting when you have a kid.
... Still researching painting MDF and hammered paint.
---Not sure why a bag of bolts makes me happy. It just does.

So true about the kid(s) and the bolts!
As to the hammered paint+MDF, I always had to seal the surface very well or the light components of the hammered paint soak in and leave the mica bits on the surface in a silverish film. I used a thick water-based polyurethane from Home Hardware to seal it, and protect it from the occasional coffee cup.

[Bri4n]

How did you cut the longer parts on the jgro been searching but can't come up with anything.