[nateman_doo]

Just do it!

Stop thinking about it and just do it...even if it is 30 minutes a day get out there and you will be done before you know it.

I took your advise and started doing a little bit every day.

[nateman_doo]

Made leaps and bounds of progress tonight.

Finished the X axis:


Also got the Y axis ball nut taken care of. Just need to make a motor mount:

[outsider787]

Great work man!

That's some serious amount of aluminum there. Especially the table. How thick is that plate? 2"?

[cjsamples]

Can you post some photos of the spindle head assembly? This could lead to some interesting ideas. Very cool build.

Chris

[nateman_doo]

Great work man!

That's some serious amount of aluminum there. Especially the table. How thick is that plate? 2"?

Yea, the top plate is 1.5" thick slab that is 13x18, and the middle one is 12x24.

[nateman_doo]

Can you post some photos of the spindle head assembly? This could lead to some interesting ideas. Very cool build.

Chris

Next time I walk in the basement I will. The head is just sitting in my basement, that will go on 2" by 12x24 aluminum plates.

Nice to see some replies btw, its been months since any replies

I just finished bolting the Y axis to the table. Once I have a motor mount fashioned, I can start putting the table in the enclosure and start thinking about the concrete pour.

[nateman_doo]

Here are the Aluminum slabs which will act as their own table for the Z axis:


Here is a picture of the spindle assembly as requested:

[nateman_doo]

Finally finished my Y axis! Just in time to realize the world was supposed to end. Anyone dead yet? No? humm... didn't think so.

Anyway...








And I threw a 6" CNC vise on top to show the overall size:

[poordumbasstard]

Nate,

Sure looks sturdy to me, how do you move the monstrosity around during the assembly etc... ?
Is it possible to post a finished rendering of what your machine will look like.
Maybe a few more wide shots instead of the closeup's would be nice to.
Overall it looks like a tank, nice work!

PDB

[vcatalasan]

Wow this is very nice, its giving me lots of ideas for my X2 upgrade. Thanks for sharing your build.

I do have a question, how come you mounted the X rails to the bottom instead of the pillows? If you mounted the pillows to the bottom they will always be positioned under the head even if the X table moves to their outer edges?

Vic

[nateman_doo]

Nate,

Sure looks sturdy to me, how do you move the monstrosity around during the assembly etc... ?
Is it possible to post a finished rendering of what your machine will look like.
Maybe a few more wide shots instead of the closeup's would be nice to.
Overall it looks like a tank, nice work!

PDB

Its final resting place is 5 feet to the right of where it is currently sitting. I still have to bolt the lower plate to the I-beams. Then the I-beams have to be secured to the MDF, but the MDF has to be coated first.

The weight isn't impossible to move around myself, just easier with another body. The plates are as follows:
Top; 34.24 lbs
middle: 42.14 lbs
lower: 28.09 lbs

So the aluminum alone weighs 104.47 lbs (according to a density calculator) Then add the heavy steel rails, but it doesn't break my back. I am not a PT stud by any means but I pass my PT tests all the time.

There will be PLENTY of pictures, but my cad skills leave much to be desired.

[BAMCNC.COM]

Pretty sweet job there, to bad I can't see them as I didn't make it through the end of the world. Good luck.

[nateman_doo]

Wow this is very nice, its giving me lots of ideas for my X2 upgrade. Thanks for sharing your build.

I do have a question, how come you mounted the X rails to the bottom instead of the pillows? If you mounted the pillows to the bottom they will always be positioned under the head even if the X table moves to their outer edges?

Vic

Thanks! 3 reasons, first being ease of construction. Everything comes apart from the top. The second reason, is with the heavy steel rails mounted to the middle slab it adds more rigidity to the longest span of the machine. Third reason was balance. I don't do very heavy work, mostly on 12x12 slabs of material. If I am all the way at the edge, the rail would be hanging all the way over into something like a cantilever, but instead its securely fashioned to the lower plate.

There are somethings I am thinking of doing to add to the edges if I wanted to add things like a 4th axis which would put some weight on the edge, but they are still in the brain storming stage.

[FannBlade]

My mouth is watering for this build!
Very nice start can't wait to see it finished,I love these scratch builds.

[FannBlade]

My mouth is watering for this build!
Very nice start can't wait to see it finished,I love these scratch builds.

[nateman_doo]

My mouth is watering for this build!
Very nice start can't wait to see it finished,I love these scratch builds.

Thanks! You and me both. I can't wait to finally finish it. It sat for a while in my basement mocking me until I just took some advise and did a little bit a day. That little bit got more and more and before I knew it, i was working past the end of the world. Oh wait... were still here.

[FannBlade]

before I knew it, i was working past the end of the world. Oh wait... were still here.

That would suck to have a half done machine and world ended...I was just happy to still have internet when I woke up....NO internet=end of the world!

[nateman_doo]

Hurricane Sandy gave us on the east coast a taste of the end of the world. No Electricity. Without it came a loss of the second most important thing to us, Gasoline. I don't think anyone here in a forum like this is a youngster, so i am sure lots of us here would survive without the internet-did over half my life without it. Take their electric coffee pots away... and you would have some grumpy old-timers in here

[vcatalasan]

Nateman, so what is the overall travel of your table?

[nateman_doo]

18x18 is the work envelope as long as it proves stable for me. If not It may have to be shortened a bit by opening the pillow blocks. So far it seems pretty stable but I haven't been able to effectively measure any deflection in the table.