[stag53]

Hi all,

Long time reader, pretty infrequent poster... hoping to change that soon.

Just rec'd my X3 from Grizzly today. Looks like a nice little machine for the money. Came in a fully enclosed crate.

My plans (after the cosmolene cleanoff and spruce-up) are to do the CNC Fusion Deluxe kit, some motors from homeshopcnc, G203V's, 72V PS, and maybe a 3P motor with VFD. I also want to bulk up the column and extend the Y travel a bit. Lots more to come... when I can find the time in between work and life

Will post as things progress.

[stag53]

After the full teardown, way lapping, and cleanup, I got the CNCFusion ballscrews installed... lost some balls from the ballnuts, but quickly learned how to reinstall them. Good experience I suppose. Really well executed conversion kit, however I was a little surprised how they set up the X axis with the fixed end opposite the motor. Prob not such a big deal on such a short screw.

The spindle cartridge from the Grizzly mill had an undersized R8 bore and some crunchy bearings. Called Grizzly and they immediately stuck a new spindle shaft and bearings in the mail. Fantastic customer service. Now, I just have to go buy some blind bearing pullers to pull the rear bearing. Good excuse for some new tools.

I got a Hoffman enclosure from my old boss... donated thanks to an out-of-commission piece of automation. It's a 20x16x8 with a bunch of terminal blocks, relays, and wire tray, much of which will be used for this machine. Today, I will lay out and attach the G203v's, cnc4pc C11G BOB, 72V PS, relays, and power handling garb. I plan to build a cart that the enclosure and a PC/monitor will ride on. Will probably connect the motors via Amp connectors so I can use this system for the host of other machines I have brewing.

Waiting for motors from Keling. Got the 387's for X&Y and a 600 for Z. The 425's were OOS. Need to get my hands on an old PC now... Overstock has some Dell Optiplex's currently that I'm considering if nothing pops up on Craigslist.

Designing a stand/enclosure w/ chip tray & coolant system. In CAD right now; will get some steel this week and start that end of the build asap.

I'll put up more pics later today in case anyone is watching this thread

Adam S

[hoss2006]

Hey Adam,
Good luck with the new build.
Since you have it taken apart, I was wondering if you could do me a favor.
I would like to know the width of the dovetails on the base for a new project.
Doesn't have to be exact, just an idea of how far it is from one edge to the other.
Thanks for any help, Good Luck, Hoss

[SSN Vet]

Green with jeolousy here....

You're way ahead of me....

I've got all my electronic and electrical parts on order....

still haven't bought the mill yet though.... :violin:

Post away with all the pics you can....

I'm watching and taking notes....

[Crevice Reamer]

Waiting for motors from Keling. Got the 387's for X&Y and a 600 for Z.

Hey Adam: What 600 oz motor did you order? The 387s are a 65V MAX motor. You will be over volting them with a 72V PSU. Some of the 600s are 48V MAX. This might be a serious mismatch.

CR.

[Crevice Reamer]

Hey Adam,
I would like to know the width of the dovetails on the base for a new project.
Doesn't have to be exact, just an idea of how far it is from one edge to the other.
Thanks for any help, Good Luck, Hoss

Total width of dovetail saddle: 6 3/8 inches. Width of top inner dovetail (No gibb) 4 13/16 inches. Width of lower inner dovetail (Gibb removed) is 5 3/8 inches.

That's just with a ruler. I can measure it with calipers if you need it.

CR.

[stag53]

Hoss: Oh, looks like Crevice Reamer beat me to it. I've enjoyed reading about all your projects. What do you have in the works?

CR: Thanks for the heads up. The N34 motor is the 640 oz-in. The inductance is 6.8mH, so 32*sqrt(6.8) = 85.8V and 4.05V*20 ~80V as well. So, I think this one's OK.

The N23's are a different story though. I'd actually ordered the 425oz-in, but they were out of stock. Should have turned around and gotten some from homeshopcnc, but I blindly took the substitute instead. I emailed Jim @ Keling to find out if he had any comment... if this 7V overvoltage would kill them or whatnot. Worst case is I send them back. Sucks though... was hoping to get things moving soon!

Posted a couple of pics of the electronics progress. Haven't run any wire yet... just got everything laid out. Also, I got lucky and Radio Shanty was clearancing a bunch of P4 and AMD heatsinks w/ fans for $2-3 apiece!. I bought them out... the P4 ones fit best, but I only had 2, so I went with the AMD guys. Notice there's space for a 4th axis if I cut out some of that panduit!

Hey, does anyone have any suggestions for cabling for the motors. I found some shielded 16/4 @ Home Depot today for $.30 a foot. Then, I'd still need some connectors... I put together a hypothetical order on Newark for Amp connectors: total was in the $70 range for (4) connectors! What about DB9's? Will the wire in a serial cable cope with the amperage these will see? Any other bright ideas? Thanks.

Picking up a Dell Precision 360 tomorrow that will be the brains of this operation. It's also plenty capable of running CAD, CAM, and anything else I can throw at it. $180 on Ebay... a little more than I'd budgeted, but I like the idea of having CAD (that runs well) on my control PC

My new place is a rental and there's no 220 outlet (and I don't want to impose on the landlord YET), so I don't have my welders going yet... have a little inverter TIG coming though that is replacing my old beast. It will run on 110 or 220... once I get that lit up, I can weld up the cart and frame for this baby. Found an awesome little pond pump that I will run coolant from a 5G bucket under the table. Can't wait to get things going!

[hoss2006]

Total width of dovetail saddle: 6 3/8 inches. Width of top inner dovetail (No gibb) 4 13/16 inches. Width of lower inner dovetail (Gibb removed) is 5 3/8 inches.

That's just with a ruler. I can measure it with calipers if you need it.

CR.

Thanks, I was guessing 5 1/4, 5 3/8 is even worse, back to the drawing board.
Hoss

[hoss2006]

Hoss: I've enjoyed reading about all your projects. What do you have in the works?

Just putting some extra profits to use and trying out some new ideas, new to me anyway.
Hoss

[Teyber12]

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showpo...46&postcount=7

Hey!

beautiful electronics layout(or pics can't tell either way nice!

what are rough dimensions lxw for this control panel?

Thanks!

[stag53]

The box is a 20X16X8 (H-W-D) Hoffman enclosure. Everything fit pretty well... it's funny, no matter what size enclosure I get, I always wish there was more real estate after I lay it all out. Oh well, this one was a freebie from my old boss (Thanks Dave!).

Hopefully more to come soon...

Adam S

[stag53]

Hey, I got the Lovejoy couplings with my kit... horrible backlash on these things... think I will spring for something better.

Anyone use the helical couplings from CNCFusion? Are these the type that are machined/wire-cut from a cylinder? I've heard mixed reviews on this type as they are mildly compliant and are more well-suited for low-torque apps...

HomeshopCNC has some really nice disc-type, but the price is a little higher...

http://www.homeshopcnc.com/Couplings2.html

hmmmm... feedback appreciated...

[Crevice Reamer]

Hey, I got the Lovejoy couplings with my kit... horrible backlash on these things... think I will spring for something better.

Anyone use the helical couplings from CNCFusion?

I have the CNCFusion helicals. They are machined out of solid aluminum rod and have zero backlash. Some would rather have steel, but these have worked well for me.

CR.

[Crevice Reamer]

Keling has these helicals. I haven't tried them, but his stuff is usually good quality. If you don't have an Estop switch, this is a good one.

http://kelinginc.net/CNCPackage.html

CR.

[stag53]

Argh, got a message from Jim @ Keling... those motors are no good after 60V. Will return them tomorrow and get something else. Thanks for catching that before I fried 'em CR...

Minor setback... oh well, I've got a ton of other things to do before I start spinning motors.

Adam S

[Crevice Reamer]

Argh, got a message from Jim @ Keling... those motors are no good after 60V. Will return them tomorrow and get something else. Thanks for catching that before I fried 'em CR...

Minor setback... oh well, I've got a ton of other things to do before I start spinning motors.

Adam S

Adam:

Please do NOT return the 387s. They are the best motors you HAVE. You want to run all of the motors in Bipolar Parallel--Especially the Z.

Your current Z motor is a 48V motor wired BPP and will have to be wired Series to run with 72V. This is NOT going to give you very good Z performance.

Better to KEEP the 65V 387s. Swap the 72V PSU for a KL6515. Swap the 48V KL34H280-45-8A Z motor for a 65V KL34H280-55-4A.

Specify NO SUBSTITUTIONS.

Now you will have a truly optimum PSU and Stepper combo, matching 65V PSU to 65V motors. As a bonus, all of your motors will be internally wired BPP and you have the convenience of only connecting 4 wires to 4 wires.

Make sure you TALK to Keling before returning anything. Write on package label ATTN whoever you talked to.

CR.

[Teyber12]

cr- is that z axis stepper you recommend a nema 34? (4a?) if so would this work with a gecko 540?

[stag53]

Hey CR,

Thanks for the feedback.

I'm gonna follow your suggestions and get the 65V PS w/ the other N34 motor. Just read up on it and found that it also has a 12V and 5V (1A) output... which is great bc I need the 5V for my BOB and 12V for my fans. Perfect. I was gonna run seperate supplies for these guys, and now I don't have to

[Crevice Reamer]

cr- is that z axis stepper you recommend a nema 34? (4a?) if so would this work with a gecko 540?

I WISH! No It IS N34, but it's 5,5A. This is the same one I told YOU to get, but they were out of stock then.

CR.

[stag53]

Hey CR,

I'm way over-budget on this project (I kinda figured I would be). That 65V PS is more expensive, so I'm thinking about tailing back to the 48V guy and sticking with the N34 motor I have. Do you think this will be a big performance sacrifice? (top end speed)

Anyone running the Keling 387oz-in motors @ 48V care to comment?

Thanks all!

AdamS