[klhoard]

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The odds of getting a cutter down into one of those 9 recessed bolt heads is extremely small. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it.
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Is this your first CNC?
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[LeeWay]

Most carbide router bits will cut steel with little effort. )
How do I know that?
Done it several times. Never on purpose. Plastic or brass screws may make you rest a little easier though.

[DonFrambach]

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Is this your first CNC?
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No, I have a small 15"x15" DIY router (initially made with CNCRP components) described here: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cn...ter-build.html
I also have a 20 year old 4x5 foot ShopBot PRT which is not very rigid and is not running right now.

[DonFrambach]

Just finished my first real project (photos below):
Attachment 349162 Attachment 349164

Discovered two things:
1) the dust collection with a Fein vacuum through about 10 feet of 2.5" hose is not quite adequate and
2) the router is loud enough that it could bother my neighbors

For this reason, I plan to enclose the router and use a real dust collector with 4" hose

[copythat]

I like the sign you made. Are you happy with CNCRP? I am considering one of their 4x4 or 4x8 kits.

[DonFrambach]

... Are you happy with CNCRP?

Yes! So far I'm very happy.

I am considering one of their 4x4 or 4x8 kits.

There seem to be lots of happy people with CNCRP 4x2, 4x4, and 4x8 kits. I went with the CNCRP Benchtop Pro 3x2 kit because of the direct drive ball screws on all three axis which I think creates a more robust and rigid system (with a substantially smaller cut area.)

[DonFrambach]

Moved the router to the other side of my shop and connected it to a 1.5 hp dust collector via a 4" hose. Suction is much better. Plan to build an enclosure around the router and dust collection will be part of that. The details of the enclosure still have to be worked out. Want good access to the machine, good visibility, and significant sound attenuation..

Here's what I have so far:
Attachment 351050

[copythat]

I may have missed it but who makes the table you mounted the CNC to?

[DonFrambach]

I may have missed it but who makes the table you mounted the CNC to?

The base is three "customizable work stands" from Rockler (Rockler Customizable Shop Stand | Rockler Woodworking and Hardware). Two 4'x 18" and one 4'x24". They are bolted together through 3/4" plywood for stiffness. Also have plywood sheets on the bottom and one in the middle running along the long axis for stiffness. The locking casters are also from Rockler (Router Table Stand Casters 4-Pack | Rockler Woodworking and Hardware). I'm kind of worried that they may not be strong enough. There are 8 wheels each rated at 110 lbs that I thought would be plenty but I'm going to build a heavy enclosure around the router so I wish I had used a stronger caster like this (https://www.woodcraft.com/products/3...readed-spindle) where each wheel is rated at 300 lbs.

The top is 2 layers of 3/4" MDF banded with planed down 2x2s (made from 2x4s) with a formica top.

[LeeWay]

I would not worry too much about the wheel strength above what you already have. I can tell you that you do not want it to be sitting ion the wheels while in use. Even locking castors can still swivel a bit. You may be alright with such a small machine and that many wheels, but ideally the machine should be sitting on solid feet while running.

[GigaWatt]

Great looking setup and nice work on the sign!

[DonFrambach]

Had a big delay, first a new scary noise from one of the ball nuts on the "Y" axis that required attention and then a 4 day vacation. Got to speak with both Cory and Ahren at CNCRouterParts about the noise. They were very helpful but also extremely reassuring. It turned out that one of the ball nuts needed a little more grease. However, it was made clear to me that CNCRouterParts would make the problem go away even if that meant sending me another linear actuator! Can't say enough good things about those guys.

Thought I'd get a better spoil board situation going. But before doing that, I needed to tram the spindle. The spindle appeared to be fairly well trammed when I used a square but I thought it best to do it more precisely.

First I made a flat area on a piece of MDF scrap.

Attachment 354702

I then used a contraption with two dial indicators that is used to tram small mills. Both indicators are set to 0.

Attachment 354704

By flipping the contraption 180 degrees, I could measure how out of tram the mill is. I'm glad I purchased the tramming attachment sold by CNCRouterParts because it was quite simple to set the tram within a few thousandths.

Attachment 354706

I checked the tram front to back which seemed close enough

Attachment 354708 Attachment 354712

[DonFrambach]

Got a better idea for the spoil board. I decided to use the current top mdf sheet as the bottom sheet because it already had nicely spaced and recessed holes for 5/16" bolts.

I used the router to place fifteen 5/16" holes in that top sheet. For no good reason except practice, I then surfaced that board with a 1/4" bit. I flipped the board over and cut 1/8" deep recesses in the back so that 1/4"x20 T-nuts could be inserted without their back surface touching the router bed. (1/4"x20 T-nuts fit snuggly into 5/16" holes.)

I inserted the T nuts and then attached the mdf sheet to the router bed with 5/16" steel screws.

Even though I had 15 spaced holes, I decided that 9 of them would be sufficent so I clamped what had previously been the bottom sheet to the top and cut nine 5/16" holes each with a 1/2" deep recess.

I then attached this mdf sheet to the router using 1/4"x20 fiberglass bolts purchased from Mc-Master Carr.

This solves the two major problems that I had with my first spoil board. First, it will be simple to replace just the top sheet and Second, I don't have to worry about hitting steel bolts with my cutters.

Here's a couple of photos:

Attachment 354716 Attachment 354718

I'll surface the top face tomorrow.

[DonFrambach]

Sadly, the squeaking sound coming from the ball nut on the right side "Y" axis returned even after repeated application of grease. Discussed this with Ahren last week who felt that the best solution was to swap out the linear actuator. It's going to take a few weeks for CNCRP to make another actuator and get it to me. So work with the new machine has stopped.

I appreciate previous comments about getting the router off its wheels so it doesn't shake while in use. I also noted that my shop's concrete floor is not perfectly flat so that only 6 of my 8 casters were touching the ground where I chose to place the router. Since the original casters were only rated at 110# each, this increased my concern about putting too much weight on them. I decided to go with a Footmaster caster which is rated at either 275 lbs or 550 lbs (depending upon how you read Footmaster's specs). These casters have a screw driven pad that can be driven below the caster to make a sold connection between the stand and the floor. I also went with the self contained ratchet adjustment. A little pricey but quite nice. A guess a little retail therapy was required to deal with my sadness about the failed ball nut!

It took less that 30 minutes to remove the old casters and install new ones. The machine is rock solid now and I have no concerns about overloading the casters.

A couple of pictures:

Three of the old casters next to one of the new ones:

Attachment 357372

The new casters installed and the pads adjusted to raise the machine off its wheels:

Attachment 357374

[DonFrambach]

Received the replacement linear actuator last Tuesday. Day job and family commitments prevented me from doing more than just look at the shipping box until tonight.

The box had minimal shipping damage:
Attachment 359358 Attachment 359360

The actuator was extremely well protected:
Attachment 359362

The actuator appears to be in perfect condition and came without the steel dust protectors:
Attachment 359364

I removed the protectors from the problematic actuator and they fit perfectly on the one I just received:
Attachment 359366

Won't be able to work on the router until Sunday. Hope to get back to work with the router soon!
BTW the replacement actuator came with a shipping label so that I can return the problematic one. Again, can't say enough good things about CNCRouterParts!

[MajorTendonitis]

Nice looking setup you have there . I'm going to purchace a Pro 4/4 at some point, so it's nice to hear they stand by there product .

[DonFrambach]

Finally got enough time to replace the problematic actuator. Assembling the kit the second time was much faster than the first. Good news is that the new actuator seems to be working fine. Photos show that I took the machine apart but the reassembled machine looks just like it did before! (Only difference is that the machine is now working properly.)

Attachment 360632 Attachment 360634

Did learn one thing. The uprights that I'm using to support the dust hose got in the way as I reassembled the router. When I build an enclosure to reduce the router's noise, I will only put uprights in the corners so that I have better access to the machine.

[DonFrambach]

The machine continues to work well but makes a lot of noise. None of my neighbors have complained about the noise, but I hope to construct an enclosure that will greatly reduce noise without restricting access too much. I learned from reassembling the router that even a single 2x4 upright can really get in the way. Here's what I have so far.

I built new enclosure over the previous hose mount. I initially intended to keep the old hose mount for a while but found that it was easy to simply attach the hose to a cross member in the top. (This is temporary).

Attachment 361406


Here's the enclosure with the old hose mount removed. The enclosure is intentially too tall (because wanted to make sure it wasn't too short).

Attachment 361408

I will put doors on two or three sides but they won't go all the way to the top. Not sure exactly what is best to do from here. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[klhoard]

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Would this work?
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[DonFrambach]

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Would this work?
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Very interesting! I was thinking of some kind of a hinged door but . . . Thanks!