[Corruptor]

Hello everyone,
I'm building a table mounted router lift as my "intro to CNC" project. My first step is to get the motion under manual control, and then add the drive motors and necessary electronic components. My ultimate goal is a simple lift with a DRO and a keypad for numerical entry, plus a couple of hot keys for pre-defined heights.

Attached is a first draft of the project. I'm thinking of using an acme 1/2-10 x 12" to control the lift. I'm not showing the bearing blocks for the threaded rod, the table insert plate, or the rest of the table. I'm still working on the design.

My question: will an anti backlash nut (dumpster CNC) hold a running router in place, or will I need some sort of locking mechanism to keep it from losing height? I'm worried that vibration + gravity will cause the router to "slip" and lose height as I'm cutting. The anti backlash nut seems like it should hold, but this is all new to me...

I know I don't need the accuracy provided by this type of system. I'm building a router table soon, and I thought this would be a great way to set it up. I guess it's really a convenience thing (and a healthy dose of "best toys on the block" ).

Thanks,
Jay

[Oldmanandhistoy]

My question: will an anti backlash nut (dumpster CNC) hold a running router in place, or will I need some sort of locking mechanism to keep it from losing height? I'm worried that vibration + gravity will cause the router to "slip" and lose height as I'm cutting. The anti backlash nut seems like it should hold, but this is all new to me...

Thanks,
Jay

Hi corruptor,

As long as the stepper motor you use has enough holding torque there will be no problem holding position of the spindle.

Excellent idea and would save a lot of time.

John

[Zumba]

Under manual control, it absolutely will not hold.

[Corruptor]

Under manual control, it absolutely will not hold.

Well, that's a bummer. Any ideas what I should do? I'm not locked in to any particular hardware, so there's no problem changing screw types if necessary.

[Zumba]

Don't worry. A simple solution for you to use until you get the stepper attached is to drill and tap a hole in the acme nut and use a set screw to hold the acme screw in place. Preferably one made of a soft material like brass with a plastic knob/handle (from McMaster). You don't need to tighten it down too much, just enough so that vibrations from cutting don't cause the scew to budge.

[Corruptor]

Hmm, that sounds simple enough. Thanks for the info. Now it's off to do some part shopping!

[vger]

You might get away with a fairly tight worm gear drive to the acme... may take a bunch of turns on a crank to get much movement out of the router, but wouldn't be as likely move unintentionally.

[Corruptor]

You might get away with a fairly tight worm gear drive to the acme... may take a bunch of turns on a crank to get much movement out of the router, but wouldn't be as likely move unintentionally.

Something else I didn't think of. Thank you for the suggestion. As soon as I get my hands on a slide, I'll be able to start pinning this thing down.

Speaking of slides, If I use a "wide" rail and bearing car, can I get away with one car or will the weight of the router (and the forces applied during operation) require two cars (on the same rail)?

[lgalla]

Ar you designing an inverted pin router?I would be easier to start with a plunge router.There is a thread,one Z rail.

[Corruptor]

Yeah, it would be easier to work with a regular plunge router, but where's the fun in that?

I picked up a couple of slides last week, a stepper and driver board, no I'm just waiting on my lead screw. This is really just an intro to CNC building, leaving me with a nice router table. When I finally have the room I'll be moving on to bigger and better projects.

[aspenelm]

I am interested in how this progresses. I would like to make one as well. You would need a way to zero it (not difficult with a touch height sensor or whatever they are called), and how would you zero it with a bearing on the router bit.

One idea for holding position is a electronic brake, alot of servo motors have them and usually take 24vdc to energize. You may be able to find a brake for a stepper or one that is independent from the motor.

for the dro, I have seen people bolt on one of the chinese scales to the side and use it for feedback, but I like your idea of going to preset positions with a motorized setup.

[Corruptor]

If I've done the math right, the 60oz stepper should hold keep the lead screw (1/2-10) from turning without additional brake power.

As far as the zeroing goes, I'm thinking of a simple setup at first: and Alu.or steel straight edge, a battery, an LED, and a wire with aligator clip to the router bit.

Down the road I'd like to add true surface / zeroing functions, but I've got to wait until I can leave it hooked up to a PC. My whole problem right now is that the table will be in my carport, chained to the wall. I don't want to mess with a PC setup until I can enclose the garage or otherwise move this stuff indoors.

I thought about the DRO, but it just adds too much $$$ to this level of project, especially considering that I'll eventually replace it with a PC. THey make a nice add-on to those scales, a remote screen w/ function buttons. Together it would be around $100, effectively doubling the cost. I'm not an electronics guru either, so I think I'm stuck eyeballing it and doing more test cuts for now.

[jallenmorris]

I've been researching making my own router lift since the ones I've found are in excess of $200 (most near $300). I'm ok with a manual lift with locking mechanism. I was thinking of 2 slides on the side with bearings and the lead screw in the middle closer to the body of the router. i would really like to see pictures of this project if it is complete by now.

[Corruptor]

I've been researching making my own router lift since the ones I've found are in excess of $200 (most near $300). I'm ok with a manual lift with locking mechanism. I was thinking of 2 slides on the side with bearings and the lead screw in the middle closer to the body of the router. i would really like to see pictures of this project if it is complete by now.

I eventually got everything mounted and hooked up to a manual driver board. Unfortunately, I changed jobs and did not get the aluminum router mount milled before I left. The plywood collar / mount (built to prove the concept) left a lot to be desired... Way too much vibration.

The stepper and board that I used worked pretty well. I bought a "Dragon Driver" board off of ebay for the ease of adding manual control switches. The stepper had enough juice to keep the router in place during my test cuts, but I never really stressed it either. As I said, too much vibration.

I'd take a picture and post it, but the unit is in storage right now. My wife and I were trying to sell our house and had to pack a lot of stuff. However, since we are taking it off the market (due to absolutely no interest), I should be able to dig it out sometime near the end of the month.

The other good news is that my new company just bought a CNC Router. I should be able to cut the aluminum collar by the end of February and bring this project back to life

Edit to add: I do have all of the component specs stashed away somewhere, along with duplicates of the slide and the lead screw. I'll try to find them later this week and post the information. My work week is pretty busy, so if you don't hear back from me shoot me a PM reminder...

[jallenmorris]

Thanks. I'll look for it later this week or next week.

I eventually got everything mounted and hooked up to a manual driver board. Unfortunately, I changed jobs and did not get the aluminum router mount milled before I left. The plywood collar / mount (built to prove the concept) left a lot to be desired... Way too much vibration.

The stepper and board that I used worked pretty well. I bought a "Dragon Driver" board off of ebay for the ease of adding manual control switches. The stepper had enough juice to keep the router in place during my test cuts, but I never really stressed it either. As I said, too much vibration.

I'd take a picture and post it, but the unit is in storage right now. My wife and I were trying to sell our house and had to pack a lot of stuff. However, since we are taking it off the market (due to absolutely no interest), I should be able to dig it out sometime near the end of the month.

The other good news is that my new company just bought a CNC Router. I should be able to cut the aluminum collar by the end of February and bring this project back to life

Edit to add: I do have all of the component specs stashed away somewhere, along with duplicates of the slide and the lead screw. I'll try to find them later this week and post the information. My work week is pretty busy, so if you don't hear back from me shoot me a PM reminder...

[jallenmorris]

As a follow up to my own post....I decided to go ahead and get this:

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/202...QuickLift.aspx

http://www.woodcraft.com/Catalog/Pro...8-184694e3430d

http://www.woodcraft.com/Catalog/Pro...6-53d13484c60e

It was expensive to get all of them but with my DeWalt router motor to put with it. It is worth every penny.

[Izrun]

I'm planning on building one of these in the next few weeks. I've been thinking about doing this for a long time and decided now is the time (wife and kid will be gone for a week so I'll have time to get started). I am completely new to CNCs so I have lots of reading to do, but I too thought this would be a good introductory project. I plan on controlling it with an Arduino with a custom control panel/LCD. So I guess I'm basically looks at this as a z-axis CNC. I'll keep everyone posted on my progress.

I got a little excited and possibly jumped the gun on my servo motor. Do you all think this (http://tinyurl.com/2cy9zvh) will be sufficient? I still need to look into recommended methods of linear slides, but as of now I'm thinking something like this (http://tinyurl.com/2bk8c7u).

Thanks,
-=Izrun