[planeflier]

Here are some pictures of my cnc router.

Table is 48" x 60" with 6" of z clearance.

[LazyMan]

Your machine looks real sweet man! Love the simplicity. I noticed your using a driven nut, what kind of speeds are you getting? Could you share some details on those ballscrews? What are the specs and where did you get them?

[mlind]

Very Nice,

Just curious what did you use for the lead screws?

[planeflier]

For the X-axis it is a driven ball nut it is a THK brand that I picked up off Ebay.

The Y-axis is a Nook ball .625 x.200.

Let me know if you guys have anymore questions.

I need to finish hooking up the eletrical and limit switches.

[LazyMan]

What are you primarly planning to make with this machine?

[planeflier]

I plan on cutting signs as well as model airplane parts.

I got it all wired last night and did some test runs and I am able to get traverse speeds of 200 IPM.

Just need to finish hooking up limit switches and clean up the wiring.

[Gir]

Looks great! What kind of motors are you driving it with?

[planeflier]

The X,Y axis are driven by servos and the Z axis is driven by a 640oz stepper. I am using geckos to drive the step motor and the servos.

[cncspear]

Good looking machine!! very nice work.

[planeflier]

Thanks everyone for the nice words. Hopefully by the weekend I will be cutting!

[planeflier]

Here are some more pictures of my router with the MDF spill board and track clamping system

Picture 2 shows dust shield and z axis.


Machine is running great still need to hook up limit switches.

[planeflier]

just an update I have been running my machine for over a year now and having a blast with it. I am toying with the idea of converting to rack and pinion setup any suggestions?

[CarveOne]

just an update I have been running my machine for over a year now and having a blast with it. I am toying with the idea of converting to rack and pinion setup any suggestions?

Yes - do it.

Check out Arbo's 8020 build in the Open Source CNC Router Design build forum for some ideas. He has installed Ahren's pinion drives on his machine and others are working on it also.

CarveOne

[planeflier]

Has anyone used the rack and pinion with servos?

Can you drive the unit with one motor and then use a shaft with a gear on the other side to keep the timing correct?

[CarveOne]

Has anyone used the rack and pinion with servos?

Can you drive the unit with one motor and then use a shaft with a gear on the other side to keep the timing correct?

The cncrouterparts.com pinion drive is for NEMA23 size motors currently, and Ahren is also working on a NEMA34 size design. I don't know if anyone is using servos on them or not. Someone probably will though.

With some effort, one could be designed into a center drive system, but it will be a challenge to drive two sides of a machine with one pinion drive.

CarveOne

[rdcd]

how many motors are you using to drive the x axis?

[planeflier]

I am currently running 1 motor per axis.

[fortyonethirty]

just an update I have been running my machine for over a year now and having a blast with it. I am toying with the idea of converting to rack and pinion setup any suggestions?

I am currently building a machine very similar to yours, and would like to know: Why are you considering rack and pinion? Aren't ball screws are the best?

Can you drive the unit with one motor and then use a shaft with a gear on the other side to keep the timing correct?

I used to work with a cnc plasma table based on a torchmate kit. It used rack and pinion driven by one stepper with two racks and two pinions connected by a shaft, it had lots of problems with binding and missed steps, I think it was mostly due to the rather sloppy construction of the torchmate kit and misalignment of the racks, any attempt to tighten up the slop resulted in too much friction and more missed steps, so we eventually disconnected the shaft and used only one side to drive the gantry.

[planeflier]

fortyonethirty,

My machines y cutting size is 48", and with a center driven ball screw I had some racking of the x axis I have solved this by using cables underneath similar to an old manual drafting table sliding T-square.

I was also hoping to increase my speed by going to the rack and pinion, but am also concerned with loosing accuracy. My x axis has a driven nut so I don’t get the whipping action that rotating ball screw gets. Current my max speed is 200 IPM. I am going to also upgrade my computer and see if I can get some speed increase by using a higher kernel.

Let me know if you have any questions during your build and I will be happy to share my experiences during my build.

Rich

[Arbo]

I'm using Ahren's R&P setup, and my top end is slightly over 700 ipm on that axis. From what I understand I could change a few settings and get more out of it, but I don't see the need as of yet.

I'm not sure I see how one motor could drive both sides of the axis, but with it set up like I have, there is no binding or other issues.