[cjsamples]

That is probably better left to the pros here. They offer feedback on position, higher voltage, require more rpm to generate the same torque, tons of difference. But in the end, do pretty much the same job sort of. For the Servo purist, I did say "sort of".
I did notice on Kelings site the Gecko servo driver suports up to 80 volts and 20 amps. so don't throw that power supply away, you might want it for a bigger, faster, servo build one day.
Chris

[cjsamples]

Your build has got me thinking and wondering if a G0704 could be retrofitted for rails. I still need to buy a mill as I only have a router for now. It is a blast to play with and can certainly see me building a mill very shortly.
I need to look back thru your photos of how you attached your ballscrews, rails and such to see if the mill retrofit would be practical. If I could find a used mill needing work, it would be a much better venture I am sure. Damn these linear builds look sweet!!

Chris

[nateman_doo]

I cant speak highly enough about linear rails. No more backlash whatsoever, and you can probably get away with a much smaller motor because there is no resistance in the intended direction of travel.

I WILL retrofit my X2 with linear rails once this one is up and running. You will never want to touch dovetails again once you experience the joy of the linear rails. I can only imagine what they would feel like brand new instead of second hand.

[nateman_doo]

Z axis coming along well:

Just have to mount the ball screw and make a plate for the Tormach assembly.

Here is the spindle head:

The plate that will hold it I guess to be about 12" wide, by 7" tall. Two sheets of 1" thick aluminum so I can tram the head for any kind of nod or things of that nature. Thats why I have two 1" sheets for the Z axis. If I have to adjust the travel itself.

What is going to be the most fun will be the counter balance. The X2 was cake, but with this giant motor on top I can't find a center of gravity that isn't in the way.

[amishx64]

Nice work so far!

Can you share the dimensions for the Tormach mount when you get to it? I'm curious to see what the mount will be like.

[nateman_doo]

You mean the back plate of the machine? There was a pdf on their website somewhere. Its like 7x8" but its all metric. I just found 2 dowel pins in a bag of hardware, but its 3 holes per side. If i find the pdf I'll post it.

[nateman_doo]

31758 - Complete PCNC 770 spindle head - Freight Additional

Thats the head assembly. With shipping it came to around $1,400 across the country.

Still looking for the pdf.

[nateman_doo]

FOUND IT HERE

[amishx64]

Amazing. Thank you!

This thing is huge!

[nateman_doo]

Yes it is. It is quite an upgrade from an X2. Its like comparing a hacksaw to a plasma cutter.

[nateman_doo]

Just found some nice wire for the motors and home switch.
16/6 SOOW Neoprene-Jacketed Power Cable

[cjsamples]

Nice find on the wire. I have been looking for 6 conductor for my router so I can use the limit switch wiring in the cannon plugs.

Chris

[nateman_doo]

yup! has the 4 wires for the motor, and the other 2 for the switch. Even if I only use a single wire for the home switch and have it ground, figured the extra 10 cents per foot might come in handy one day.

[nateman_doo]

Happy New Year!

Back to progress:

An X2 making a Tormach (!)
not really, but I am making a small lip for the Z axis motor to fit on.

Also thought it was worth mentioning that the X2 X axis motor problem is fixed. There was a bad motor. When I took the bad motor off and held the shaft I was able to stop it by holding it. I shouldn't be able to stop a 3/8 shaft with my hand on that motor. I plugged in the spare motor and all was better. No idea why it was giving my heartache before unless I took a stupid pill and mixed them up and put the bad motor right back on.

[keebler303]

A note on wire:

Igus specializes in cable tray rated wire. They make almost any combination of conductor sizes and number you could need and they are rated for the continuous flexing found in CNC machines. I have used them for several small projects and their wire is really nice.

Their website is igus.com

Matt

[nateman_doo]

I already ordered the wire so thats already going forward, but I was looking at McMaster for their cable carriers. As much as I love McMaster, sometimes there prices don't sit well with me.

Which cable carrier did you use? I would probably need the smallest one since the cable is just over 1/2"

I designed my build to only have a single flexing cable. The Y motor is stationary, and I mounted the X motor to the middle plate instead of the top X plate itself. So the X motor only moves along the X axis instead of on my X2 where it moves both X & Y

[nateman_doo]

For some stupid reason I didn't go to bed even though I have work tomorrow. Decided to continue the motor mount:

Was it worth it? Totally. You can sort of see the small notch that was made with the X2 (as pictured in the prior picture)

The block will be bolted to the main plate as it is sitting now (obviously with the bolts going into the thick plate) The bearing block will likely get bolted to that block as well and the motor mount will be bolted to it also. That will be for another day. I am checking out for the night.

[keebler303]

I already ordered the wire so thats already going forward, but I was looking at McMaster for their cable carriers. As much as I love McMaster, sometimes there prices don't sit well with me.

Which cable carrier did you use? I would probably need the smallest one since the cable is just over 1/2"

I designed my build to only have a single flexing cable. The Y motor is stationary, and I mounted the X motor to the middle plate instead of the top X plate itself. So the X motor only moves along the X axis instead of on my X2 where it moves both X & Y

Mcmaster has excellent service and excellent inventory, but you pay a bit for it. The cable chain i have used is Igus as well. Mcmaster has lots of Igus wire and cable carrier. The first cable I bought was Igus from ebay, the rest I bought direct from them.

Matt

[nateman_doo]

I just ordered some of the cable track. Im super excited about it. Its really not a neccessary but i figured why not. I called them (the company direct) and they did all the numbers for me since i have never delt with the stuff before.

Took all of 10 minutes and about $40.00 something. For 2 sections of 18" travel. By mounting the X motor to the Y table, it saved me another section of the stuff.

[nateman_doo]

http://www.igus.com/us/pdf/s08.pdf

This is what was ordered.
08-20-048-0 2 units at 33 links ea
080-20-12PZ 2 sets.

Specifications:
Inner Height: 0.59 in.
Outer Height: 0.76 in.
Inner Width: 0.79 in.
Outer Width: 1.11 in.
Radius: 1.9 in.
Curve Height: 4.72 in

$46.04