Hello all, first would like to thank everyone who posts to this site, hopefully someday I might have enough knowledge to help someone with one of mine.

The designs set forth are far beyond crazy or rational. I understand that many things I am doing may never have been done before, due to them just not working. The scope of this project is very ambitious, and I know in my head that I should have built at least a router before starting a project like this, but I am very fortunate to have a very large metal fabrication shop with unlimited access, so I am going for it.

I am fabricating a cnc mill, I have aquired for the mill (after 13-20 revisions)

HSR45 THK blocks and rails
HSR55 THK blocks and rails
2-Steinmeyer ground ball screws, both 53" travel
various other rolled ball screws
ethernet smooth stepper, c32 board with 5 digital keling 8056 drivers
1800 oz steppers, 1200 oz steppers, 960 oz stepper
900 pound cast iron t-table (24"x42")
2hp coolant pump
Several refurbished spindle heads from a kitamura mycenter 3 (thought I would need spares, and much thanks to the gents that helped with me finding the origin!)
motorized tool changer

So, I have a lot of various motors, belt pulleys and such for spindle drive. Unlimited access to welders, any amount of metal I need, sandblaster/paint, galvanizing, cranes, 8000lb forklifts, torches...basically anything I would need to take on a project of this scope.

I have a used bridgeport and lathe that I have been using to teach myself on machining and make various mounts, bearing supports and such.

So, for the design. I plan to have 53" travel for x, 53" for y, and 20-24" for z. Plans are later for an auto loading 4th axis, large tool changer and chip conveyor. I originally was planning on something much more..conservative, but it kept growing and growing, and after some good deals, figured, I'm already this far. If anyone can spot a hole in the following, please let me know, I am continuously proceeding with the design, so I will not be offended to be told how little I know!

I know this may seem nuts, at this point why didn't I just buy a used cnc?? Well, our shop has been competing against deflationary pressures for some time, and I feel unless I automate it in the next couple of years, we soon wont be able to compete. The knowledge that I am gaining from this build will translate into specialized cnc machinery for all of our equipment, so hopefully we can double our output with the same trained employees.

I have been helped from Mike at precisionepoxy.com to have a 13k psi epoxy, when poured to 1/4" will self level to 1-2 thousands. This is the center of the design, so that once I weld all possible reinforcements, I can laminate with epoxy, and surface with a machined plate. After all the reinforcements are done to the frame, I plan on pouring concrete into all crevices and spaces to add mass and hopefully dampen any vibration. The table will move in X direction, gantry will move in Y and Z. The table I have planned at the moment is a steel 2" thick plate, attached to HSR55 truck and rails. 49"x59" plate will weight close to 1500 pounds. As for tramming the Z, I will hopefully tram with a very long pole in the tool taper of the spindle, with a dial indicator and tram to the epoxy plate poured approximately 110 inches long. I figured if I did this in all directions I could have a fairly accurate DIY machine. After tramming, I plan to attach the table, face mill flat, and machine 2" grid of holes for attachments to be plugged with plastic and only used when needed.

I have figured now with all the things I want to do, teaching myself EMC2 would be highly advantageous, especially with the other machines I have planned. I would really like to move to close loop servos, specifically delta servos due to the availability and price through Stepper Motor, Stepper Motor Driver,CNC Router, Stepper Motor Power Supply, Stepper Motor Kit, DC Servo Motor, Stepper Motor, Stepper Motor Driver, CNC Router, Stepper Motor Power Supply, Stepper Motor Kit, DC Servo Motor (but open to other ideas if available!!) That unfortunately will have to wait, would like to just run MACH 3 and just get it moving very slowly with my steppers (10-20 ipm max, I could at least machine the grid with this)

I am currently stuck on the spindle drive, because that is holding up my Z axis design, which holds up the supports for Y, which is necessary for the completion of reinforcements. I have this wonderfully tight spindle, from what I can find is capable of 15k rpm. I only need up to 8-10k, but was wondering the best way to do this? I am assuming for tool change, I need a servo drive, but just wondering the best way to do this?
For Mach I am just going to run a standard 1800 rpm 10 horse motor and gear with belts. I have found a lot of FANUC servo spindle motors, but will this work with EMC2? What would I need for a setup like this?? Secondly, there is a timing belt pulley on the spindle, wouldn't this need to be connected for tool changes? Could I somehow attach an encoder to the top of the drawbar and somehow send the analog controls to a VFD and a standard AC MOTOR?

I will probably load All the photos I have tomorrow night, and list anything critical that I haven't already. Any thoughts in the meantime?

Thanks in advance,
Zac