My build in progress. Many mods
My build in progress. Many mods
Dan,
Looks like not much left of the original machine but the bench,base casting and mill table. What did you use to make all the parts? Looks like a great build if you could post some more details on all you have done. Got a kink in my neck trying to look at the one picture.
As you can see I used the lathe headstock spindle which has a MT4 taper you can find collets on ebay they take a 1/2-13 drawbar. I achieved more possibilities with this by mounting the lathe chuck. I have a HF spindle that I can mount on the table and use the main spindle as an A/4th axis.
As far as making putting this project together. I used a craftman drill press, a magnetic drill press and a surface grinder.
great job, so what is the other milling machine you used to build it, like instructor37 said not much of the original machine left. The only thing that looks similar to my 1991 shoptask is the green vice.
This is interesting and deserves a full build blog, one photo is not enough for me.
I stayed more loyal to the form factor, taking a Patriot removing all the bondo, paint & grinding the castings more accurate to their intended shape, powder coating everything, dual balls screws gas springs, & on & on.... I even bought a Biax scraper to finish out all the bearing surfaces, almost 6 mos. I spent doing just that!! My wife thought I was nutz when I brought the surface plate, scraper, & the saddle in the house because the garage was simply too cold.
I like your angle of attack better though.
It looks like for you ways you're using linear rails bolted to a bed, is the bed the original casting or is it something new altogether? Are the vertical ways the same as the horizontal ways? How did you avoid deviations where the linear rails are bolted to the casting? Sorry got a million questions in my head...
Wormwood
I did use the original bed and put it on a surface grinder as with all surfaces I bolted rails to. All surfaces and bearing mounts were ground to .00005 in flatness. The vertical rails are designed for vertical mounting as the horizontal rails are for there intended use.
I spent 2 years finding parts on ebay and 2 winters doing all the work. It will hold .0001 accuracy full travel on all 3 axis. I still have quite a few things to do to finish but for now it is operable. With summer here I dont have the time to finish so it will be fall/winter when 100%
The rails are THK 35mm and 25mm. The ballscrews are Kuhn swiss 25mm with 5mm pitch no backlash.
LtDan,
I think we are ALL patiently waiting for your build log or something...
Now I'm not rushing you or anything but I will say it's been over a month now since your last post... :stickpoke
I'd imagine some of us may start yawning before long...:idea:
Wormwood
Attachment 368518Sorry Worm and to others interested. I work 12hr shifts and have had ot days. And its summertime haha gotta put the toys to use before winter comes. Anyway.
So lets do this overtime like when I have an extra hour couple times a week.
Here is the original Shoptask 2000 machine.Attachment 368506
I got tired of chasing the backlash and deviations and always wanted to build this thing to best it could be. So over 3 yrs I waited for deals on ebay and other sources to collect all the parts I needed.
Step 1 Tear it all apart and fill the base cast with a mixture that EWAG uses in hp cnc grinders. Seems to be crushed granite with an epoxy.
Attachment 368510 then to the surface grinder at work. The original table took a shuffle on the grinder as well. finished both to .0001
Sorry I dont have all of the detailed pics to this build but am digging up a few.
The rails that are on the bed are THK KX series 35mm width.
The rails on the table are THK SR25
The carriage plate is 7000 aluminum 1.25" thick ground as well or more like polishing it.
Here is another pic thinking about mounting plates for the screws and motors.
Attachment 368516
The Z column I made from 4130 plate welded then surface ground. Base is 1.25 thick and column is .75 thick Then filled with the epoxy mixture. The rails are THK HSR 55mm width.
All 3 ballscrews are Kuhn hybrid precision from switz I think there a little above styeinmeyer in quality. They are all 25mm diam. 5mm pitch
I used INA angular contact bearings for all supports. The bolt on type to make it easier to float in align screws.
The Headstock for the mill is the lathe headstock from the original machine setup on a grinder at work to make the base perfect with the bearing bore.
Then used the lathe spindle accompanied by 4 hp angular bearings.
Attachment 368518
At this point I got bored so started building the control cabinet.
Attachment 368520Attachment 368520
I will try to make another post tomorrow night. Thank you for the patience.
For those wondering how much the cost and why. The mechinacal parts rails, screws, motor mounts, couplings,bearings, metals misc hardware total cost was
$1300 must be patient and the parts you need will pop up. may need to cut modify.
The cnc control box and motors was $3100 wasnt much to save here unless you piece used stuff together ugh not for me when it comes to the heart of the machine.
original machine cost used $750
Total $5150
There is nothing out there that will do what this thing does for size and cost. It responds very fast, smooth, and accurate. travel is z16.5 y16.5 x 11.5 rapids of 400in/m
Worm I'll get another post up tomorrow night
repeatabilty test
https://youtu.be/B3qUYHofDYY
New spindle pulleys 6k
Holy Crap! I just realized you updated this thread! The work is outstanding, I imagine the fit & finish is just as good. I understand the cost of all the components but you refer to the sum total. Since you collected everything over two or three years it didn’t really matter. I assume you didn’t anodize the aluminum or tool black or equiv. To tread the bare metal surfaces? The epoxy & granite might be more like corian, either case epoxy with sand, alumnium, or granite/marble dust is very common & as strong as a rock.
What are the axis motors, they sound like they’re pulling a lot of current?? I assume you’re running mach3?
The one thing I really miss is being able to run the CNC manually, it becomes really a hassle without hand wheels just to surface something or make a simple cut.
Wormwood
The axis motors don't make to much noise. They are ac servo. the sound is mostly the screws. And yes eventually a pendant for now the keys work fine. When I install the motor cover for x I'll remove the motor and record for you. Thanks for the compliments. Yes bare aluminum. Yes mach3. And manually machining is way easier on a cnc than handwheels on screws is my opinion.