[G Man]

Hey guys I am wondering if the plans for the 7th sojurn (pardon the spelling.) Are worth the money or if I should just desighn my own router??? Another ? Do the gecko drives work the same way as the stepper drivers? do you need different software...


Thanks

Gary

[cncadmin]

Originally posted by G Man
Do the gecko drives work the same way as the stepper drivers? do you need different software...


Thanks

Gary

Yes the Gecko drives work the same as stepper drives and no you don't need deferent software.

[WOODKNACK]

Well I bet they are worth the money. But be forwarned, The guy is very tempermental! If you decide to build your own, im sure we will all help you make decisions along the way. Alot of good ideas floating around here...

[G Man]

Thanks guys



will probably send for his plans tommorro at least I will have a starting point. does anybody Know of a less expensive place to find rails and bearing like the ones Balsa man used on his router ....

Or maybe other ideas that would be as accurate with less cost

Gary

[anoel]

I built the 7th Sojurn. Johns plans are well worth the money. I learned a ton on how CNC works and The 7th is a great way to whet your appitite and learn.

[cncman]

Make your machine, it's alot funner that way

[balsaman]

I have not seen his plans but from what I have heard everyone who has bought them has been happy with the quality.

Eric

[chuckknigh]

Does he also cover the steppers, controllers, etc? Or is it just the basic structure that he covers in the plans.

He made a comment on one page about how some people could just look at the picture and figure out how to build it -- I'm one of those people...on the mechanical side. (His designs, by the way, are elegantly simple -- he's good) My concern involves the electronics more than anything else. If his plan covers this side of the construction, then I'd be interested in them as well.

I've found software that converts DXF and HPGL to GCode...this is why I'd like to stay with a standard system. So that I can output from any common CAD package, and end up with predictable results.

-- Chuck Knight

[WOODKNACK]

I think when you buy his plans it only covers that basic plan. Not sure I never bought one. But I am one of the guys that have copied his idea and built a machine from what I saw on his page. He even put a picture of it up on his page. He has since then taken it down. Must of made him look bad, becouse I did'nt buy his plans. He calls me a CNC PARROT. LOL. I have a picture of it on my site . Its under photo gallery, go check it out.
As far as the stepper motors, controllers, and software I think you will get a ton of info on that stuff here on this site... There are some very smart people here who have "been there done it." You will get a mix of differnt ideas here instead of a onesided ideas there..

[balsaman]

Nice avitar dude...

You should try and keep out of trouble..

Eric

[cncadmin]

Pauly want a cracker? LOL Look at me I'm the captain crunch guy!

[balsaman]

Yours is very cool too...sort of suits ya!



Eric

(hey we better stay on topic before the Mods move the posts.)

[WOODKNACK]

Pauly wants to build a new cnc machine............ LOL

Got my controller already to go. Just need to make the machine!
Just call me a "Motor Spinner" for now... LOL

G MAN,
Have you checked outHobby cnc He has a plan to build a machine and also sells stepper motors, the controller and power supply. Worth checking out! Also there is Stepperworld he sells complete kits. motors,controller,power supply. Balsaman is using one of his kits I believe. I have a Xylotex controller and 24 volt power supply that seems to work great!! Any questions feel free to ask away..

[chuckknigh]

I think when you buy his plans it only covers that basic plan.

Yeah, but my concern is how far his plans go. If it's only building the structure -- that looks to be easy. If it includes the electronic interfacing, that's a different story -- I've never done that end of it before.

Not sure I never bought one. But I am one of the guys that

How did you implement the electronics? Did you buy a kit, or build something yourself?

-- Chuck Knight

P.S. I was wandering Home Depot tonight, and I looked at the drawer glides. There are some "bottom" mounted drawer glides that have ball bearings and run VERY smoothly. I could not detect any slop in them. They're relatively cheap, too, at $5 a piece. Has anyone used these to provide the movement for the sliding parts? They'd surely be cheaper than purpose built slides.

Only down side is that they're long. 14" - 22" Not a problem for the table and gantry, but a 14" long Z axis? That's a bit ridiculous for a wood router -- I might have to turn this into something even more capable, just because I can.

[WOODKNACK]

I think if you buy a plan to build a machine. That is all you will get. I dont think he will go into electronic, etc.....

yes I bought a kit from stepperworld. I bought there sp-3/ht system. Had 3 60oz motors the controller board and a 24 volt power supply. A great starter kit. could only get 6 IPM but a good learning tool. He has other kits that are more powerful and I would suggest one of them instead of the sp-3/ht. There are other out there to. Check out my web site and look at the links..
I was just looking at those same slides at home depot. as a matter of fact I bought 2 of the 14". The problem is, what ever the cutting area is the machine has to be twice as big becouse half the slides hang out. I also took one and cut the top half so that it was only 4 inches so I could maybe use it for a z axis. It had to much play in it, got real sloppy. I am now thinking about just using a 1/2 or 5/8 ss round bar and some hardware store oillite bushings. Im still in the figuring stages right now.

[Dan]

There are some really nice plans at:

http://www.data-cut.com/router.html

I bought these plans and they are extremely nice. Part lists, assemble sequences, and good support.

[coherent]

Just for your info regarding John's web forum... This was posted on John Kleinbauer's web site today.

"04/23/03 I closed the Hardware Store CNC Conference. I don't have the time to deal with trouble makers. Rather than save me time, it has became a nuisance. My customers and friends can Email me direct like before. Thanks! "

Personally, I never bought his plans and built my own Machine from scratch from looking a various cnc routers across the web. I believe they are an excellent start to you if you're a beginner and want to avoid the initial learing curve. $30 bucks or so is well worth the hours of research, questions and trial and error and will put you quickly on path. That said however, I think if you are fairly good with woodworking or mechanical stuff, you will have no problem from scratch. I've built 3 now, all worked and all were a learning process. I'm sure most any of the folks here would be more than happy to help with any aspect of building a home machine, including design specifics and ways to overcome problems. I know I'd be more than happy to help in any way I can, as I have no problem sharing my info and experiences... and please, share what you learn with others, and remember in a year or two from now what it was like starting out and all the questions you had. Pass it on to others. The more hobby CNC'ers we can get out there the better! Web forums such as this one or one of the many set up by the cnc software developers are terrific support and learingin tools. You'll learn tons just by reading the past messages and archives.
-Marc

[G Man]

Hey ,

Guys thanks for all the great info ....

I have been very busy just got back to this thread..

My Dad wants to help me desighn my own machine. so I am going to go that way. This weekend my brother came up from Texas for Easter and I got a great Easter Basket..

24V,10V,5V reg. 10 Amp power supply plus 3 Pacific Scientific 100 oz steppers and an assortment of other motors including some unmarked dual stacks ( am investigating what they are no markings on the motors) so I am starting to get parts together..

Will probably order XYLOTEC controller. In future weeks.

Sounds like there is lots of help here. Expect lots of questions

Thanks

Gary

[ger21]

Hey Woodnack, I bought some 18 5/8"long 3/4" Stainless shafts from a guy on ebay for $15.00 each.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...2&category=633

If you email him, he'll sell you them individually for $15 each. I also bought some linear bearings on ebay for $10 each. They turn up every few weeks. For $70, I have what I need to build a very smooth and rigid z-axis. Not sure what you're budget is, but you may want to look into this. Not sure if you've seen my design, here's a pic. Not yet finished, though, but I may start building the Z-axis and gantry next week. I have 2 250oz. steppers coming tomorrow and I got my xylotex drivers last week. It will be some time before the entire machine will be finished, though, as I have a ton of projects to complete first.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/ger21/CNC/Render1.jpg

Gerry

[HomeCNC]

Ger21,

What kind of tubing are you going to use for that axis in the pic you supplied?