[Glidergider]

The fence plans are copied from the New Yankee Work shop drawings and video. VcarvePro and Joe's 4x4 make short work of it.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccgP8TGzjGU"]YouTube - CNC Cutting of Router Fence[/ame]

[Glidergider]

What could be better then to spend Father's day with your family, doing your favorite hobby. Yup, that's what I did on my father's day. Actually, this project started well before father's day, as my two children would be out of town this weekend. So we started the project last month.

One daughter made a drawing of Ginkgo Leaves, the other designed a multi pane concept for the art, and my darling wife spent many evenings this week painting the carvings.

Today my wife and I put the final touches and framed the carving.

The first dozen pictures in this slide show are the activities in my shop with the girls, and the final product too.

What could be better then to spend Father's day with your family, doing your favorite hobby. Yup, that's what I did on my father's day. Actually, this project started well before father's day, as my two children would be out of town this week. So we started the project last month.

One daughter made a drawing of Ginkgo Leaves, the youngest designed a multi pane concept for the art, and my darling wife spent many evenings this week painting the carvings.

Today my wife and I put the final touches and framed the carving.

The first dozen pictures in this slide show are the activities in my shop with the girls, and the final product too.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidcousi ... 3132/show/

[Glidergider]

I got a bug to make a drill press table. I guess I was reading too many DIY plans for Router Tables, and I stumbled on a few for Drill Press's. Here I decided to fore-go buying Tee tracks from Rockler rather to make my own. My buddy John Miller suggested a pivoting Fence, and I liked that idea. So here I am, making the Drill Press Table.

Drawn entirely within VcarvePro and carved on my 4x4 Hybrid. Life is good.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySp0lTWMEFU"]YouTube - The making of a drill press table[/ame]

Shot entirely with a Google G1 cell phone. The lack of quality sound is the only low point of the shoot.

[voltsandbolts]

Dave,

You have been doing some awesome stuff... do you ever fire the old jgro up for old times sake?

[Glidergider]

V&B,
Sorry to say, the JGRO is no longer with me. I sold it to another RC enthusiast. I used my JGRO to cut parts for the Hybrid 4x4. That was it's last project. It cut all the parts perfectly I might add. I took the motors off the JGRO and used them on the Hybrid.

Thanks for checking in.
Dave

[voltsandbolts]

OMG! your a cannibal!!!! LOL.

Glad to hear the bones went to good use.

I see your using the G1, How do you like it. I am shopping for a new phone I think its time to come out of the dark ages
and get some sort of smart phone. I have heard good things about the G1, but I may go Crackberry do to my service provider.

[harryn]

Hi - This is probably a silly question, but here goes anyway.

I really like your router table - looks very well done.

What I don't undertand is - when do you use a router table when you have a cnc router? Perhaps another way of asking - What is it that cannot be done on the cnc system that you felt that you needed a table router.

I like tools as well, I am just curious if this was more for fun or actual planned use.

Thanks

HarryN

[Glidergider]

Roundover, roundover, roundovers, and different edge effects. The 3 Axis CNC machine can do the basic roundovers on one side, but not both sides. The manual router table does edge roundovers in your sleep. The 3 axis machine cannot do the fancy edge effects either. Cutting the basic shape on the CNC is great, then move to the manual router table to add the edges.

But your question about fun is good. Yes I had fun building the router table. I saw the plans for the micro lift mechanism, and that's what kicked me into gear to make it. Previously I had a cheapie Craftsman little router table stand. Adjusting the height to a precise height was a huge chore. So I didn't use it much.

V&B, I like the G1, but I like the iphone better. I didn't get the iphone because I have a family plan with the other guys. I heard the G1 was almost as good as the Iphone, and that's about right. The Iphone is still better. Young friends at work have the iphone and it seems graphically way faster. The Iphone has Google Earth, but the Google phone G1 doesn't. Just not enough graphic horsepower.

[robtbldr]

Just wanted to ask you a quick question about your hybrid. I know the main axis are run by acme 1/2" 10 5 start but is the z axis the same or the 1/2" 8 2 start screws? Do you use the standard finish acme or the black oxidized ones? Does the finish really matter to the function of the machine? Thanks.

[Glidergider]

You are correct about all the pitch and number of starts. Regarding the black oxide, I bought exactly the recommended parts from mcmaster.com. I think it was the cheapest 1/2, 5 start, 6 foot acme they sold. About $60 per stick. I haven't had any problems with the finish on my acme screws. Works great now, for over a year.

[Jason Marsha]

Dave,

What's the fastest you have cut and at what depth without the motors stalling.

Jason

[Glidergider]

Jason,
I routinely cut at 100 ipm without stalling. Sometimes I cut at 150 ipm, but in the winter, it's not 100% reliable at higher speeds. I'm a little lazy, so I haven't tried to optimize the speed. I'm very happy at 100 ipm. I know Joe cuts routinely at 150 ipm.

Regarding the stalling question, I don't know exactly when it stalls. My jog speed is 200 ipm.
Dave

[Glidergider]

I can't believe how long it's been since I updated this thread. I'm still active with my Hybrid CNC. But for the last 4 months, I've been away from home. I really missed my CNC hobby while away. Still, I've been getting home on occasion, and I'd use that time to build my first 4th Axis. So now I have a 4 axis Hybrid. I'm just a newbie in 4th axis, but it's just as much fun as when I built my JGRO. You know building is half the fun.

This machine, I uses a 1200 in-oz stepper. Wow, that's big. And a 1:3 belt drive. This weekend was my first cutting. I shot a little piece of video to commemorate the occasion. Check it out.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnvP0vYRjyU"]YouTube- 4th axis, DIY Using Vectrc's VcarvePro[/ame]

In case you haven't heard, VcarvePro now support some limited 4th axis. It's awesome.
Take care
Dave

[maxmanbb]

hello all,

About how long on average does it take to make the jgro ?

[Glidergider]

I'd say the JGRO takes a week to build. Ordering parts, stepper motors, drivers, power supplies, Acme nuts, will take longer. Choosing these parts is a difficult decision particularly if you've never built a cnc before. Then waiting for all the parts to arrive will an eternity.

I had a great time building my JGRO. It was my second CNC. My current Hybrid is the third machine. But the JGRO is a great machine. Easy to build with just normal shop tools. I used my JGRO to cut parts for my Hybrid. I also reused all the motors and drivers for the hybrid too.

[Glidergider]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pJnLOBti0w"]YouTube- Wilskills Totem Pole Cutting.mpg[/ame]

I had some fun with the rotary last weekend. It sure is fun.
Dave

[prettyboytoys]

Hello, I intend on starting to build a JGRO machine asap. I have spent alot of time reaserching and finding suppliers.

the one thing I am having a hard time with, is the mdf board. from what I can tell, it is better to use the High density(hdf) board to build with. that beiung said. I can find a supplier for the high density stuff. can anyone point me in the right direction??

[Broken Balsa]

Hello, I intend on starting to build a JGRO machine asap. I have spent alot of time reaserching and finding suppliers.

the one thing I am having a hard time with, is the mdf board. from what I can tell, it is better to use the High density(hdf) board to build with. that beiung said. I can find a supplier for the high density stuff. can anyone point me in the right direction??

I don't know about hdf but I used mdf purchased at Home Depot for my machne and its been going strong for two years now. Just be sure you are carful when drilling edges and I would recomend you use some thin CA in the tapped hole and after letting it dry re-tap it. Make yourselve a drillng jig for drilling the edges. Its a fun project to do. I have now built 3 cnc routers. One last thing, no matter which you use seal it with Bullseye shalack for a good seal. I used durlin to hold the rails instead of mdf as shown in the plans..Broken Balsa

[prettyboytoys]

thnk you broken balsa, that helps alot. sounds like I can get started right away. the other questions i have are

1. what type of lead screw is the best ? i was thinking of using 1/2" acme

2 what are the best steppe motors to use ??


thanx

[Broken Balsa]

thnk you broken balsa, that helps alot. sounds like I can get started right away. the other questions i have are

1. what type of lead screw is the best ? i was thinking of using 1/2" acme

2 what are the best steppe motors to use ??


thanx

3-Axis SideStep CNC Stepper Motor Driver Kit -
this is what I used on my JGRO ... works well and have had no porblems with it. I used acme and durlin for all screw followers. The acme you are thinking of using is not super fast but I have had no problem with its speed. My new machine is scary its so fast but I still use the JGRO all the time. I used Gecko on the new machine and can recomend it but its spendy. You can find my build log on this page and it pretty much takes you through the build. Lots of help on the thread.... Broken Balsa