[appicnc]

Hello Jason

Nice photos!!! was beginning to think it was all a dream, so will you soon be cutting slots in your housing lid with your new cnc router to allow for air movement??

Ed

[rjfurness@bigpo]

HI Ed,
no, its no dream and I will build machine #2. I was beginning to think the whole photo posting thing was becoming a nightmare but it is all straightened out now. I literally only have to bolt the thing together now and I will be making noise.

I think by the end of next week it will all be going. I think I could have done it in 7 days if I had purchased all the parts first.

Jason

[rjfurness@bigpo]

Hello All,
I have begun the assembly of the X-Axis. The first thing was to fit the sintered metal bushes inside the conduit clamps. I needed to crush the clamps to get a tight enough fit on the bushes so they would not slide out. The rods were then assembled to the bush assemblies and the whole lot loosely assembly to the moving table.
[IMG][/IMG]

The asse,bly was then placed upon the frame and the rods located. The saddle clamp pilot holes were then drilled and one rod was screwed into position. The second rod was then located, pilot holes drilled, then the saddle clamp drilled.
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

The slide moves freely but is certainly not linear bearing levels of freedom. It will be interesting to see how it performs when I hook up the motor and test it out later.

Jason

[rjfurness@bigpo]

Hello All,
after a hiatus due to a family weekend away and travelling for work I have been able to progress.

[IMG][/IMG]

I assembled the lead screw to the stepper using the fuel hose and clamps. I could then feed the assembly into position.

[IMG][/IMG]

I could then build up the lead nut assembly after measuring the right height. I then disassembled eveything and assembled the lead nut and block to the lead screw.

[IMG][/IMG]


I then tried it all out and the X-Axis moves beautifully and smoothly in a jog mode.

: - )

Jason

[thkoutsidthebox]

Woohoo, congrats Jason.

[rjfurness@bigpo]

Hello All,
fresh from my triumph of making something move I continued on with mounting the Y-Axis Gantry/Frame.

[IMG][/IMG]

I need to re-read a few times the instructions on the whole Y/Z mounting frame as it all gets busy here and I think parts interfere with each other if I get the sequence wrong.

Jason

[ttjarrett]

Hi Jason,

The build thread is still going strong!

I have a couple of questions with regards to your power supply, if you don't mind helping me out.

Firstly, where did you get your transformer from? I am located in Canberra and am having trouble hunting down a 10a 240vdc transformer. I am not an electronics person, and the net isn't throwing me any good places to purchase.

Also, did you use a power plug with an earth wire? If so, did you earth it out on the diver case? I am a little confused as the hobbycnc plans are for a US plug with no earth.

Hopefully your experiences may be able to help me out!

Thanks

Toby

[rjfurness@bigpo]

Hi Toby,
sorry for the lack of a response. I have had an enforced break due to travelling for work. My transformer is a totally purchased unit used to power lights on building sites. It steps down from 240 to the 42V two pin connection. I bought it from Auslec here in Orange. The firm that made it is "Burn Brite Lights" in Kilsyth Victoria.

I will post a photo later on of the side plate with all the details.

Jason

[rjfurness@bigpo]

Hello Anyone who is still interested!

I have had to have a break due to travelling a hell of a lot for work and just not being in the country.

I have continued on this morning with setting up the Y-Axis. First I made up the sub-assembly for the stepper motor mount. The plans use bolts and nuts ( I used Nyloc) to provide a standoff mount for the motor. This is so as to not intrude upon the Y-Axis travel.
[IMG][/IMG]

I then drilled out the hole in the other end of the leadscrew mount to match the diameter of leadscrew I am using. I then trial mounted all of that to ensure it would all fit.
[IMG][/IMG]

I then mounted the stepper motor, leadscrew and joined them with the fuel hose coupling and hose clamps. You can see where I have had to jigsaw out a huge chink to give clearance to the clamps.
[IMG][/IMG]
Next up was to fit the bushes to the Y-Axis Mounting plate. I then put the rod through the bushes and tried to mount it to the front of the gantry. I had to remove the gantry cross piece and sand some material off it to give clearance to the lower bushes. You may see that the top rod only has one bush on it. This is part of the design supposedly to make it easier to get the whole thing in alignment.

[IMG][/IMG]

The whole assembly is solid and ready now for me to drill out the mounting block for the leadnut to rest in.

This will have to wait as I am off travelling again tomorrow until almost the end of the month.

[rjfurness@bigpo]

Hi Toby,
here is the photo. The reasons I went with a bought unit are:

1. Not wanting to play around with 'real' voltage if I could avoid it. ( 50VAC is more than enough for me)
2. I stumbled over it when I was finding the 32V plug and asked the guy about a suitable transformer.

[IMG][/IMG]

Hope this helps

Jason

[radcliffe]

Jason,

Looking at the label on your transformer the secondary voltage is 32 and 50 volts alternating. If this is correct when you install a bridge and filter cap on the 32 volt to convert it to direct current you will be over the max voltage of the controller board input of 42 volts. When you install the bridge and filter cap your voltage will be approximate 45.2 volts. If the secondary output is 32 VDC all will be OK.

Harold

[rjfurness@bigpo]

Hi Harold,
you are exactly right. Earlier in the thread I covered this off and realised I may have a problem. The No-load voltage on the secondary is about 46V. As I am still building things I am putting off this issue until later to deal with. I will do some more precise measurements later in the build to see exactly what the input voltage is to the board. I may have to find a different power supply if this is going to be an issue.

Grateful to see someone else is still reading the thread after all of this time!

Jason

[vlmarshall]

Grateful to see someone else is still reading the thread after all of this time!

Are you kidding? I follow this thread whenever there's an update!

[rjfurness@bigpo]

Hello All,
Solsylva in Seven days is a bit far from how reality turned out, but I don't know how to edit the title!

Back at it today after more work related travel. I installed the Y-Axis leadnut block tonight.
[IMG][/IMG]

I then reinstalled the Y-Axis Drive motor. I have all motors connected up to their 2.5m leads and wired into the controller. All motors funcion correctly when being jogged.

Lo and Behold, I mnaged to move the Y-Axis using the stepper motor also.

2 Axes down, 1 to go!!

Jason

[rjfurness@bigpo]

I really, really wish I checked my typing/spelling before posting! : - )

[rjfurness@bigpo]

Hello All,
I assembled up the Z-Axis today to get the hang of how it goes together. I lost one of my bearings so I can't finally assemble it all and try to move things around just yet. I need to go on the hunt tomorrow.

[IMG][/IMG]

You can see in the picture the guide rails in the centre. The smaller diameter threaded rods are actually tension rods to hold the red wooden motor mount and the lower red wooden dremel holder in alignment.

The final assembly from here is probably less than an hours work once I get the bearing. I then have to fiddle with the alignment to get it all to move without binding. Another leadscrew, drive nut, and block assembly is required to be fitted and then we are ready to go.

I am also going to get some cable clamps/ties to tidy the wiring up before I get seriously moving. I have only jogged things slowly and when I start to go at faster speeds I want everything tied out of the way properly first.

Have a Great Day!

Jason

[rjfurness@bigpo]

Hello All,
I managed to find some bushings to use today. I will assemble the Z-Axis tomorrow night as I have now clued out how it all hangs together. Photos to follow and if I get it to move I may even post a video, we have figured out how to do that!

Jason

[rjfurness@bigpo]

Hello All,
well I have assembled the Z-Axis and it all moves freely.
[IMG][/IMG]

I need to fit the leadscrew and the mounting block and then we will have movement. I am away the next two nights so it will have to wait until the weekend.

Jason

[rjfurness@bigpo]

Hello All,
just to show my age I will give you are quote! "No.5 is Alive" Tragic child of the 8's when hair was big and music was just plain lousy!.

I attached the leadnut this morning and this is how it looks.


I have gotten a little agricultural (more than usual anyway) as I have got close as I am starting to turn my thoughts to Machine #2.

After attaching everything I was able to jog all 3 Axes satisfactorily so then it was time to have a go at the thing in auto. I was not sure how the drives would go when they were being driven automatically instead of just being jogged.

I loaded up the G-Code for cutting a Roadrunner, jogged all the Axes away from the edges, and then rezeroed them.

I remembered the old joke, ( not trying to offend anyone, but I did remember it this way! )

As the Bishop said to the actress, "Stand Back I don't know how big this thing gets!"

I clicked the cycle start and then moved the mouse straight over the emergency stop.

Well all sorts of electronic noises began and the everthing began moving around of its own accord. All sounded and looked good, there were no signs of binding or stalling. The program code took about 3 min to run and it went through effortlessly.

I have a few nuts to tighten up on the axes so things look cleaner, but now I can get on and mount a pen and start drawing some shapes before I mount my Dremel.

All in all a very pleasing morning!

Machine #2 will be about a 1300*700*? machine with a spindle based upon the frame below. Ed from over in Bathurst was kind enough to donate it as it was surplus to his needs and it saves me a lot of time. The steppers and controller I have are sufficient for this size machine

I am leaning towards using linear rails, and belt drives but I am going to pick a few peoples brains about it and read some more threads.

[IMG][/IMG]

I will finish the small one off whilst I am speccing up the bits and pieces and they are being shipped to me.

Jason

[rjfurness@bigpo]

Something went wrong in my last post and I can't see the Z-Axis picture. Here it is.

[IMG][/IMG]