[cs49230]

I've worked wood all my life. My dad had several nice tools that I used more than he did (Drill press, table saw, scroll saw, lathe, grinder). I've been on table saw since I was 8 and I've still got all ten.

Most metal work I've ever done was auto body and mechanics. So in some sense the metal work is rather new to me.

Edge Miters
Unless it is a finish miter corner, always leave a shoulder at the point on plywood it makes milling and finish much easier and safer. The inside sides have the miter at the top, I plan to cut the sides about 1/8" short for a shoulder.

The off fall piece of the miter becomes a missile from between the fence and blade. I once saw a piece of miter off fall about 3/8" to side fire out of a table saw and break a 1" thick piece of maple. Attach a piece (clamp or screw works fine) of 3/4 stock to the rip fence face about 5/8 above the table. Tilt blade and set height. Slowly nudge the fence stock into the running blade till your miter meets the points of the cut. The off fall stays loose between fence and saw (keep for glue blocks).

Finish on plywood
Depending on the grade of plywood you use, sanding hollows the surface of the softer grain (light color). Not as bad with birch or better, fir will show the grain waves through many coats of paint and sanding. On edges a nice finish can be a nightmare. But if you coat the edges with a lite coat of Bondo (auto body filler) it will sand up real nice (80 or 100 grit). Since this is a painted cabinet I will bondo all screws, nail holes, dents, joints and exposed end grains. As you work if you mar the surface, pencil a circle around the flaw makes it easier to find when you putty things up later. Wood filler shrinks as it dries requiring multiple applications. Put it on too thick it can take an hour to dry and cracks. Just mix a small amount of bondo at a time (I use an 1 1/2" putty knife and dip out a gob about 1" up the blade and mix well with about a 1/4" of hardener) on a piece of cardboard you generally only get about 2-3 minutes to use after mixing before it starts to harden. The darker your mix the faster it dries, a light pink might give you up to 5 minutes. Let it sit for about 10 minutes before sanding and milling.

Glue blocks
A good use of all the small wooden scraps and miter off falls is to glue them to inside corners. It greatly increases the strength of the joints and helps hold things square.

Well long enough break back to the drill press....

If I can't screw it down, I can always screw it up!

[cs49230]

Other day I was in Home Depot after some supplies and ran across a display with these LED Headlamps. Two for less than $10 so I grabbed them. Really makes a huge difference when trying to drop a bit into a center punch. Eliminates all the side shadows.

[cs49230]

I used a T-Nut as a saw guide for shortening the x-rail bolts. Pretty consistent at 3/8 bolt length after clean up grind. So if you try this leave a thread exposed when you cut.

My bolts came out about 1/32 shy of flush with bolt snugged (lock washer flatened) not tightened.

[vtxstar]

While making the router clamps (for the Rigid 2401), I found that hand filing to a line means that the four contact points on the router housing would be inconsistent.

After getting them close, I mounted the two back clamps (that will attach to the moving Z bar/slide) on a piece of scrap and butted them against each other.

This allowed me to 'match' the contact points much better as I was filing both sets simultaneously.

Using a hole saw to clip the contact points, as suggested in the plans, was a good move too. At least the areas to file were semi-circular and not a stitch-drilled mess.

Yeah, I know. This post is nearly worthless without a picture...maybe later.

-=Doug

[vtxstar]

2.625 inches - that's the spacing between the main sections, horizontally and vertically, of the Z axis 'truck'.

Bob shows nice pictures of using a rule, emphasizing it must be parallel and square, and in general showing how it is supposed to look.

2.625... parallel... something about those two words reminded me of something else. After getting the first three parts of the assembly bolted, drilled, and then pinned, the light came on.

When it came to locating the parallel piece, I could use one of my 1,2,3 blocks and 5 of my parallels (stacked flat - they are 0.125 thick) to make exactly 2.625 inches between the parts. Stacking it up and clamping it together gave me the distance and the alignment required.

The rest, as they say, is now history.

I had considered making two 2.625 spacer blocks from scrap but the setup tooling on hand nixxed that idea. If you do not have such items in your tool set, make two spacer blocks to save yourself the agony of moving parts.

-=Doug

[vtxstar]

I am 99.9% finished with the metal work and need to clear out some stuff to get to my table saw to start on the wood products. So what am I to do with the gantry assembly until then?

Use some scrap material from other projects to make a gantry parking jig.

It helps contains tools and dropped hardware while I fiddle and adjust the assembly until the base is ready to accept it.

Once the Z axis rail is installed, I will have to drive it up as high as possible or add a layer to extend the jig up.

Yeah, I know, the real solution is to just get the proper base built. That is, of course, next.

-=Doug

[dssaction]

Realy Nice job.were did you get your stepper and witch size you pic

[vtxstar]

Thank you for the complement!
I purchased the motors with the intent of using a Gecko G540 drive. The motors were purchased from CNCRouter parts. CNCRouterParts

I went with the 1/4' shaft motors, preterminated with current resistors for the G540. CNC Router parts makes a good argument for going with low inductance motors rather than dwelling on high torque ratings. The motors I chose are the 380 oz/in units.

Bob recommends motors greater than 275 oz/in. These should do fine and I didn't have to build the connector. I bought directly through their website.

[dssaction]

Thanks for tha information.I was lost about wich and were to get my moter.I will place he order today.And i will probaly go whit the gecko driver board also.I should get all my matel parts this week.My wood base almost done.I will try to send some picture.I am just hoping tha my métal work will turn like yours.As I am more he wood guy then he metal guy!

Keep up nice work!

[vtxstar]

The metal work does take time. I had a slight advantage with my HF Mini Mill. It allowed me to hacksaw larger stock to approx dimension and then finish cut to the desired dimension of the part.

Layout parts carefully and check them twice before cutting. A cheap digital caliper also goes a long way to helping layout.
I found some of the drawings required 4 sides to be machined. Labeling the views and the material 'A, B, C, D' helped keep which side was what.

Good luck and feel free to reach out if you need help.

-=Doug