[Don Kellogg]

No the Z Axis is a 1/2" 8, 2 start

Joe has a solid project that continues to evolve thanks to the wonder group of folks on his forum. As a life long engineer I'm impressed by the innovations that his forum continues to drive. I must say It never ceases to amazes me the things the folks on that forum come up with. If your considering Joe's CNC I highly recommend it, you will not be sorry.

[joecnc2006]

Kent has finished his machine, just needs final tweeks and dust collection.

He build a cabunate within the unistrut base which houses computer and controller system G203v's, also has magnetic limit switches, relays for router and dust collection, and another neat feature he incorporated are encoders.

[Glidergider]

Beautiful machine.

[joecnc2006]

Thought i would consolidate the pictures of completed machines so people will not have to look all over the thread for them.

you can always see them at www.joescnc.com in the gallery.

[DeWalt58]

Just an example of what can be done with Joe's 4x4 design. Just one of many modifications that can be done to a Joe's 4x4 machine!
My machine is not totaly completed as yet but its cutting parts. All made possable by Joe's 4x4 basic design. Its all made in alum...no MDF or HDPE. Thanks Joe!! for making it possable for me to build my fantastic dream machine!!

AL..............


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfqX6ZKvo88"]YouTube - The Making of Tunnel Dust Shoe Part 2[/ame]

[joecnc2006]

Great video and very nice machine, I believe we have two total Aluminum hybrids now, well they are not a true hybrid's now other than the overall design, but still a good representation of the original design.

[curtis]

do the plans have an accumulation of all the changes upgrades updates etc..
thanks

[joecnc2006]

do the plans have an accumulation of all the changes upgrades updates etc..
thanks

The plans are the basic machine, in detail, and I have a MOD section on the support forum in which people have posted their mods on their particular machine, some very nice machines have been built. This was one of the purposes of the support forum for the ones building the machine to discuss, ideas to make the machine to fit their needs.

Other here which are on that particular forum can testify to how useful the forums have been, and continue to be.

[joecnc2006]

I forgot to post a video Paul did a while back when cutting out a router mount on his standard hybrid. He also used widgetworks drag bit which i thought was cool.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZezZA_7YcTk"]YouTube - Cutting a Router Mount[/ame]

[swaggs21]

I was one of the early adopters of the Hybrid, and I can tell you the forums are phenomenal. The people make it awesome, not just the amount of knowledge and smarts on there. Many of them I would trust unconditionally, others I would just watch closely with a camera

I am about as smart as a box of rocks and that is an insult to the rocks. I was still able to build my hybrid in less than 3 months, and it continues to work hard every time I use it. I have had mine running for about a year and 4 months now, and I am still impressed every time a piece comes off of it.

[miwms1955@gmail]

Great work Joe.
God I love this stuff!!

Mike

[joecnc2006]

Great work Joe.
God I love this stuff!!

Mike

Ditto, Fun Hobby.

[sdantonio]

I should probably do the next test first before posting but:

I did my first cut today with the 4x4. The cut was a 2x2 square and a circle 2 inches diameter. Both cuts are 0.25 deep into 3/4 MDF.

Cutting bed size (which may matter in this) x=36", y=70" (so it's not really 4x4)
Results are:

square: x=2", y=1.965", z=0.25"
circle: x=2", y=1.965, z= 0.25"

Is this within the tolerance that other people are seeing with their machines?

And one else seen anything like this?

I guess the next test is to cut a 4 inch square and see in the y axis is off by .035 (as in the 2" case) or is it off by 0.070. I'm assuming for this post that it is a additive constant and not multiplicative.

Other than this small issue it cuts absolutely beautiful.

Thanks,

[Rhino3Master]

Is not there any chance to "teach" the CNC software that 1.965" in your Y-axis is actually 2" in the program, so it can do the necessary ratio changes?

[sdantonio]

Hi Rhino3master,

There probably is a way. What I found is the mount for one of my y axis leadscrew nuts had a loose screw. Tightening this up cut the error in half.

When I put the unit together initially I had a lot of trouble with this particular antibacklash nut. Every time I tightened it up the axis would freeze. The fix that Tim as dumpster recommended was to make a tap using a spare piece of acme 1/2 5 start and clean out the nut. I'm thinking now that I may have been a little overzealous in cleaning it out and will have to replace it sometime soon.

[blackbeard52]

Is not there any chance to "teach" the CNC software that 1.965" in your Y-axis is actually 2" in the program, so it can do the necessary ratio changes?

Only if it is consistently this measurement.....

[stoneyreef]

Only if it is consistently this measurement.....

You just need to change the settings in MACH to reflect this measurement and it will calculate new steps per inch and set your motor tuning so that this is taken care of.

It looks like it is a consistent thing.

[pminmo]

Is not there any chance to "teach" the CNC software that 1.965" in your Y-axis is actually 2" in the program, so it can do the necessary ratio changes?

Depending on software, yes. If the error is linear..i.e. each inch is off the same amount across the screw, you can calculate your steps per inch to the actual measured amount. If it is non linear error, you can do screw error compensation in some like MACH3.

[Rhino3Master]

Looks like there is a good way to fix such issues with Mach 3. :cheers: Thanks for the quick replies, guys, I too needed such answer as I'm just finishing my first CNC build and most likely I will use Mach 3 to adjust my steps per... one meter (I hope that such option is included in Mach 3 as it will provide a lot better result than steps per one inch). :idea:

[sdantonio]

OK, that sounds good. Lets define the term "consistent error" really carefully. I haven't gotten back to do the appropriate testing to back this up yet to see which case I have, but I believe it is case 1.

case 1

I believe this to be the the error I have and it occurs when the screw changes direction due to some slop in the AB nut (definition of backlash as I understand it). In which case, if I cut a 1" square then it will be short in the y direction by .035. If I go and then cut a 2" square, it will also be short in the y direction by .035. etc. etc. Is this what you mean by consistent? I.e. y(f) = y(i) - .035

case 2

Or do you mean I cut a 1" square and it is off by .035, a 2" square is off by .070, etc. I.e. y(f) = y(i) - y(i)*.035 where y(i) = 1, 2, 3, ...

Both are "consistent", but case 2 is nonlinear

I'm assuming the first case can be solved with the backlash adjustment in Mach3 (which I will have to go and read up on because I had completely forgot it was there until you mentioned it)?