[Coogrrr]

what if i take the air drive out of a small air grinder attach a pulley at top and an electric motor?? good cheap spindle?? its rated for 22k rpm and goood lateral forces....

Thoughts???

Coog

[radcnc]

I see you got this drilling done, how much did it cost you? And where did you get it done or who did it.
PS Great job, your machine looks really cool. I am at the parts gathering stage, building the same machine for myself.

[Coogrrr]

FINALLY!!!!!

I am able to get things calmed down. I have not had much time on the machine but I now own all the parts to make a fine control setup (joystick and buttons) and I will start into this soon.

Also, I have a small machine of all Ally and brass and such that I am going to build the machine looks to cost me around 200 in parts not counting electronics. I am thinking I may produce a bunch and sell them as I can. Cut area 12x12x2 is the goal with an eye toward super accurate extremely high SPI count.

Coog

[joecnc2006]

and design on pendant?

[sonicwonder2000]

David,

GREAT thread! I learned oodles and am now considering a build in metal like yours. One concern of mine was getting everything lined up and accurate to a few thousandths of an inch. You mentioned how you did this is an earlier post, but try as I might, I am at a loss to understand what it is you actually did to line everything up?

I can weld together a frame, but I doubt it will have thousands of an inch tolerance. If I bolt rails down directly to this structure, everything will be out of whack from the get-go. Can you elaborate a bit on your alignment process - the mechanical items you put into your build to allow for adjustment, and the actual procedure ou used to line it all up? Thanks again for this awesome thread!

[Coogrrr]

David,

GREAT thread! I learned oodles and am now considering a build in metal like yours. One concern of mine was getting everything lined up and accurate to a few thousandths of an inch. You mentioned how you did this is an earlier post, but try as I might, I am at a loss to understand what it is you actually did to line everything up?

I can weld together a frame, but I doubt it will have thousands of an inch tolerance. If I bolt rails down directly to this structure, everything will be out of whack from the get-go. Can you elaborate a bit on your alignment process - the mechanical items you put into your build to allow for adjustment, and the actual procedure ou used to line it all up? Thanks again for this awesome thread!

For each machine there will be a different way to align the machine. On mine I was not worried whether or not the steel frame was totally true to the thousandths as the rails we bolted into a nearly square bolt pattern with respect to each corner. This way I could adjust them when it was time to square up this part. So just for the X rails what I did was to place a measuring device that went from one corner to the opposite corner. that was short by 4 inches. I mounted a caliper to the end of this so that it could open up the rest of the distance to finish the measurement. I open the caliper to get a reading of (for example. 2.534") and recorded this. Then I switched corners and made it match. This took a few tries due to pulling in or pushing out the opposing corners changed the original measurement. I just kept moving from corner to opposite corners until they we equal or within a thousands over the course of the entire length of the X rail set. This was acceptable for me as I work mostly with wood and being off .001 for every 48" was as accurate as I would need and I am betting MUCH more accurate than most expensive "custom hand crafted" wood shops could do. PLUS wood expands and contracts much more than that .001 of the distance of 48" from the nature of its makeup.

Hope this helps?

Coog

[Coogrrr]

For each machine there will be a different way to align the machine. On mine I was not worried whether or not the steel frame was totally true to the thousandths as the rails we bolted into a nearly square bolt pattern with respect to each corner. This way I could adjust them when it was time to square up this part. So just for the X rails what I did was to place a measuring device that went from one corner to the opposite corner. that was short by 4 inches. I mounted a caliper to the end of this so that it could open up the rest of the distance to finish the measurement. I open the caliper to get a reading of (for example. 2.534") and recorded this. Then I switched corners and made it match. This took a few tries due to pulling in or pushing out the opposing corners changed the original measurement. I just kept moving from corner to opposite corners until they we equal or within a thousands over the course of the entire length of the X rail set. This was acceptable for me as I work mostly with wood and being off .001 for every 48" was as accurate as I would need and I am betting MUCH more accurate than most expensive "custom hand crafted" wood shops could do. PLUS wood expands and contracts much more than that .001 of the distance of 48" from the nature of its makeup.

Hope this helps?

Coog

As an after thought you could make a threaded rod frame that was an X in a square. [x] kinda. each length could be adjustable so that when you set this onto your rails you could screw or unscrew the device and measure the distances this would hold your rails perfect then you bolt them down to the frame once square (take readins during bolting as the bolts will pull it around a little) The added benefit is that this could be adapted to square up anything it could fit on. and you would have an easier way to measure and adjust.

Coog

[Coogrrr]

Garage is clean I am ready and I will post post post!

Coog

[Coogrrr]

So as I get started again. I am open to helping others while I take on a few projects. :banana:

The first project is to finish my pendant which is going to be a little large but I think It will server my needs. I am going to mount a joystick and several buttons into a piece of HDPE or Acrylic and wire the buttons and joy to the keys of a keyboard that will slide out from under this box. I think this will allow me to use the one input (keyboard) and have several intervaces to use i.e. keyboard or joystick and buttons or a small x/y/z pendant over cat5 to the main setup this allows for a small handheld pendant tethered to a large one that is mounted on a overhead adjustable monitor arm hangin from shop roof and rotateable.

The Second project is a mini Joe cnc made of ally but useing the basic build he has designed. This will be built to do the finest of etchings or circuit boards and be super tight with extremely small movement and tolerances in the .000001 area as a goal. (wishful thinking) but can get close I think. My controller allows for 10k steps if I elect. :rainfro:

3. CNC 2 axis circular saw. I dont know if I should use a circular saw or a SERIOUS bit in a router. I want to be able to take a full sheet up to 1" thick and cut the pieces out that I want. The unit will be mounted to a wall and have a lock down system for the raw piece. I am building it without Z and going to work on an enclosure so that I can capture all the sawdust. :withstupi

I will start a new thread on each of these so we can all watch my new fire burn!!! I want to say DAMN you and Thank you to all you zoners for getting me hooked on this !!! I love it, I hate it, I love it, I.. I... Well ok I love it!!!!
:cheers:

Coog

[salter]

Coogrr,
What an enjoyable thread to read through. Love your machine. I have been lurking here since 2006 not saying anything because I haven't had the time or location to build something. Having just returned from South America and finally being back home I am excited to get started. I was spending a lot of time looking at Joe's 4x4 hybrid and the RoGr over at Lumenlabs. I must say however, that I am looking more and more into possibly making my own design. It goes back to the simple (but very hard to answer) question of do I want to go through the process of making a cheaper CNC mill to learn more to make the next one, or do I stand on the shoulders of others and hope that they hold my weight. Both Joe's design and Brainchild's design are intriguing but I really like the idea of pillowblocks on supported rails. Very similar to what you ended up with except that I will start with supported rails similar to this. 20mm Linear 55" Rail Guideway System w/2 Slide Units
Does this cost more money? Sure but I don't have to do the drilling myself or send it off to a machine shop. Over at Lumenlabs they are building a 2X4 machine that seems ridig and overbuilt, but and to me this might be a big but. He isn't supporting his rails over a 4 foot area. True I think that he is using 35mm rails which are pretty huge but I am still not convinced that there won't be some possible sagging. Anyway, only one question for tonight. What do you think you have investe into your build as is? I have about 2k I can throw at this project including mechanicals and eletronics, but excluding any software and computer. I already have Mach 3, Rhino, and AutoCad and will purchase anything else I need. However, I don't want this to rise over about 2,500 and 2k if I can help it. It's a tough question trying to decide to bite the bullet and drop 2k, but it's also just as tough to make my own trial machine for 500-1000. and then have to turn around and spend another 1700-2200 (I could hopefully buy the steppers and electronics to go with the finished machine the first time around) to get where I originally wanted to go.

Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

[coshua]

Hello Yosi,

I hope this will help you, is from Astrosin Step motors, maybe will work with yours too.

please
sonceboz 6530 R.274 data sheet

[Coogrrr]

I am announcing the unfortunate RETURN OF THE COOG!!!!! I am back on the zone and starting some more projects. I will upload some pics/info of the things I have done over the last year that I have been mostly away from the zone.

Look forward to speak to you all again!

Coog

[brihoo2k]

Great job. I just read through all the post and think its an excellent machine. Im planning on building a machine thats similar but completely different. Instead of rails for the x axis I'm planning on rollers somewhat of a plotter printer configuration only alot more beefy.

[Coogrrr]

Guys and Gals,

I have come to a turning point in life where I have to choose. I have moved on to other projects since this big beautiful machine was made. I have logged maybe 80hrs on it and it ran like a champ all the time. But alas all great things must come to and end and for this table the end is nigh!

I am going to sell my CNC table. Yes I said it but I also know that with the funds I will be able to make a smaller table top one for my electronics boards that I am now making.

I need help from everyone here on a couple items.
1. Please look through this thread and see what I built and assess the build.
2. Help me figure out what a good fair price should be.

This table will come with EVERYTHING! I am including The motors, electronics, table, router, PC, a shop vac, power and controllers all of it. This will even include the USB joystick for axis control etc.

I do not wish to take more than it is worth and will be more than fair on the price. It is not small and is a little heavy in case anyone is trying to ship it so be aware of shipping costs. The unit is located within the Portland metro area at zip code 98665 so you can use that to figure out shipping costs.

I know it is in great shape and will be uploading a video of the system jogging around so everyone can see it with all the parts in the next week. It is fast accurate to the ten thousandths and has a large x,y,z distance.

I love this forum and will be making a new thread when the small aluminum PCB-CNC is started this fall.

Thank you all once again!
Coog