[metalworkz]

Hello again,
I had been struggling to save a few dollars for the electronics that I needed for this build and finally I was able to get enough together from a side job to get the things I needed. I had bought the used stepper motors on eBay about the same time I got the motion components but did not have the needed drivers, power supplies, break-out-board etc. to finish the build. I was very fortunate that another Vectric forum member offered me a C10 BOB that he could not use with his machine so that helped me tremendously. I got the electronics for the CNC router build and a DIY rotary indexer I am almost done with also.
I decided to make the driver control box from .063" aluminum along with a cover and designed it to fit my components including PEM hardware inserts for the threaded fasteners. I all fit together very well and is a very functional part of my build. I did redesign the orientation of the drivers so that the airflow through the box will be much better if I make more of the control boxes. I also added 2 outlets to the box to enable plugging the 5V BOB power supply and the Rotozip motor into. It is all fused an so far it is working well. Here are some pictures of the electronics, box drawing and the final assembled driver box.











Regards,

[gmfoster]

metalworkz,
Thanks for the info!
So, I think your'e saying I should allow more than a single weekend for this project! lol.
With the way I procrastinate, a project like this could take me well into the next century (or at least early retirement). I will take your advise and at least read his books, perhaps I will find the motivation within the pages.
Again, thanks for the insight.

We now return to our regularly scheduled metalworkz updates!

Randy,

The thing is even if you don't build it if you actually study the books you will have a very good base for machining. Dave and his son Vince can say more with few words and simple sketches than you could get out of many 2 year trade schools. The books are cheap, simple to read and require thought to understand. I can't recommend them highly enough. I actually stumbled on a lathe and bought a mill.
But what I learned reading the books is used almost every time I fire up either one of them.

Garry
PS I would still like to find time to build the Shaper...

[DIYaholic]

gmfoster,
Thanks for the motivation! Reading is fun(damental).

Now back to our regularly scheduled updates!

Randy,

[metalworkz]

Hello again,

I'm glad to see the interest in the Gingery series of books. I hardly ever see any mention of Gingery machines or the series of books, and in fact I felt that there might not be many people that knew much about them outside the Yahoo groups etc. or would even recognize the name when I posted it.

I think I worked on the wiring off and on for several weeks if not a couple of months. I know very little about electrical and electronics and I sure didn't have any extra cash so I wanted to make sure I was doing things right when setting up the driver control box, limits, and stepper motors. I found some very good videos for the wiring and I watched them as much as needed to feel like I was doing things right. Here is a link to the first video in his series on Metacafe:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/132719...ronics_step_1/

I did find some other wiring diagrams and such through Google searches and was able to use some of that information also, but the videos are very good and helpful if you haven't done the wiring for a CNC project before.
Oh, I had a small bracket for the break-out-board drawn and sent with the files to be lasered but for some reason the small bracket did not get cut. I ended up cutting a piece of aluminum stock, drilling, forming and inserting a couple of PEMnuts and standoffs I had in my toolbox on the mounting flange so I could properly mount the BOB to the box. There have been many occasions that my small Gingery hand brake has come in handy for bending small parts, and I was glad to have it for this one too.
Here are some pictures of the wiring in progress etc.











Regards,

[gmfoster]

Hello again,
I had been struggling to save a few dollars for the electronics that I needed for this build and finally I was able to get enough together from a side job to get the things I needed. I had bought the used stepper motors on eBay about the same time I got the motion components but did not have the needed drivers, power supplies, break-out-board etc. to finish the build. I was very fortunate that another Vectric forum member offered me a C10 BOB that he could not use with his machine so that helped me tremendously. I got the electronics for the CNC router build and a DIY rotary indexer I am almost done with also.
I decided to make the driver control box from .063" aluminum along with a cover and designed it to fit my components including PEM hardware inserts for the threaded fasteners. I all fit together very well and is a very functional part of my build. I did redesign the orientation of the drivers so that the airflow through the box will be much better if I make more of the control boxes. I also added 2 outlets to the box to enable plugging the 5V BOB power supply and the Rotozip motor into. It is all fused an so far it is working well. Here are some pictures of the electronics, box drawing and the final assembled driver box.



Regards,

Man thats a great looking box. What did you use to bend it up?
Thats one of the many talents I am missing is decent sheet metal skills and that is a fine looking enclosure.



I see another post and you used the gingerly brake.

Garry

[metalworkz]

Hello Gary,
Thanks for the compliment on the box. It was bent with an Amada CNC brake press, but I am sorry to say I did not bend the control box. I designed the box and had it laser cut, formed and hardware inserted at a precision sheetmetal shop that 2 of my sons work at nearby. I could have done it with the Gingery brake but I would need to improvise some tooling for the bending leaf as what is currently have is a full length of angle iron with some slots for clearance of perpendicular flanges. I don't think the slots are big enough, but would just make a leaf for the job from some angle iron and switch out the stock on. I did form the small BOB but that is just a simple 90º bend full length. I am a precision sheet metal worker for over 25 years so I have a lot of experience with sheetmetal. You can see the headstock and tailstock from my rotary build at the base of the machine in the second picture.
In fact I have another build in the design stage for a small X, Y CNC punch for my shop. I have not posted much info yet but it will be coming soon and there is a thread I have started here about a CNC punch build. I have several projects almost ending at the same time so I need to get those finished first before diving into a new build. I also started drawing parts for a 5th axis I intend to make but no parts started yet.

[Zygoat]

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/132719...ronics_step_1/

i would not put too much stock in those videos. he really does not know what he is doing. i would look at them to see what is connected where. but not much beyond that.

if you want you can check out a tutorial i wrote on how to solder properly.

http://www.s10planet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22612

this was written for a car forum. but the idea is the same.


if you have already been doing it. i think his method is functional just not the "right" way to do it.

[Jesse B]

That case looks excellent. I'm quite fond of the grill for the fan.

Zygoat, are you a fellow S10 owner?

[Zygoat]

Zygoat, are you a fellow S10 owner?

yesir.

[FandZ]

I have an S14, but that doesn't count.

[metalworkz]

Hi guys,
I needed to get my home switches positioned and mounted so I took a good look at the alternatives and got a good idea what was needed. I began work on the brakets to mount them and used some scrap CRS I had in the shop. Small brackets are fairly easy to layout on the metal and use tin snips to cut them to size. Scribe the hole locations and drill and tap for the mounting screws and then there was some small bends to form. You can use a bench vise to do small bends in metal and an adjustable wrench pr a rubber mallet works good to bend the flange to the correct angle. I made mine with a small amount of adjustment so I would be able to set them to the right height and tighten it up. These are pretty crude brackets but they do seem to do the job. I will try and post pictures of all 3 axis and the Home switch locations.









Regards,

[Zygoat]

i like the pink! :rainfro: dont try and tell us its red either!

[gmfoster]

Hello Gary,
Thanks for the compliment on the box. It was bent with an Amada CNC brake press, but I am sorry to say I did not bend the control box. I designed the box and had it laser cut, formed and hardware inserted at a precision sheetmetal shop that 2 of my sons work at nearby. I could have done it with the Gingery brake but I would need to improvise some tooling for the bending leaf as what is currently have is a full length of angle iron with some slots for clearance of perpendicular flanges. I don't think the slots are big enough, but would just make a leaf for the job from some angle iron and switch out the stock on. I did form the small BOB but that is just a simple 90º bend full length. I am a precision sheet metal worker for over 25 years so I have a lot of experience with sheetmetal. You can see the headstock and tailstock from my rotary build at the base of the machine in the second picture.
In fact I have another build in the design stage for a small X, Y CNC punch for my shop. I have not posted much info yet but it will be coming soon and there is a thread I have started here about a CNC punch build. I have several projects almost ending at the same time so I need to get those finished first before diving into a new build. I also started drawing parts for a 5th axis I intend to make but no parts started yet.

A bit of a topic hyjack here but is Laser work getting affordable on small scale jobs. I know you said you had an inside track here but I recently saw where someone had a CNC cut out of steel. I had assumed this was out of reach of the causal hobbyist.

Thanks Garry

[metalworkz]

Hi Gary,
You are probably correct in your line of thought about the cost of getting parts lasered in most cases. Things have changed a little and some small shops are sometimes looking for work to fill in the gaps in production when it is slow. When I started this build I felt if there was any interest in the build plans or parts I would try and offer a set of plans and perhaps a kit or complete machine. I already have a quote for the base kit which includes the base, gantry/bridge uprights and cross supports and would be ready to assemble with hardware but I have not had time to put together the detailed plans yet.
It would provide a very sturdy foundation and the remainder of the build could either be finished with my plans or one could opt to do it completely differently and use their own design from that point. So far I have a couple of interested people. The driver control box is another good candidate to make available as a kit and could be either the bare box formed and ready to add electronics or it could be a complete assembly ready to connect to the machine, configure and run it. All of the parts that have been lasered are now readily available to be made again as all the laser programs are n place. The hardest part for me now is trying to write a detailed set of instructions. The build thread on the Vectric site is very informative and has more information and pictures than a regular set of plans so I think it will compliment and help anyone that was to try and build it. I really don't know if there is any interest in something like this except for the couple of people that have asked me. Sorry for rambling on.

Regards,

[metalworkz]

Hello,

Last night I got started on a part for a chalkboard I am making with the CNC router. This will be the top crossboard for a 3D chalkboard and the toolpaths(White Wine & Red Wine) were Vcarved with a 45º V bit. I need to cut the pockets at each end and profile the arched shape but won't be able to start on that until tomorrow. The part is longer than the travels and I am repositioning at 10.5" in the X axis.



Regards,

[gmfoster]

Hi Gary,
You are probably correct in your line of thought about the cost of getting parts lasered in most cases. Things have changed a little and some small shops are sometimes looking for work to fill in the gaps in production when it is slow. When I started this build I felt if there was any interest in the build plans or parts I would try and offer a set of plans and perhaps a kit or complete machine. I already have a quote for the base kit which includes the base, gantry/bridge uprights and cross supports and would be ready to assemble with hardware but I have not had time to put together the detailed plans yet.
It would provide a very sturdy foundation and the remainder of the build could either be finished with my plans or one could opt to do it completely differently and use their own design from that point. So far I have a couple of interested people. The driver control box is another good candidate to make available as a kit and could be either the bare box formed and ready to add electronics or it could be a complete assembly ready to connect to the machine, configure and run it. All of the parts that have been lasered are now readily available to be made again as all the laser programs are n place. The hardest part for me now is trying to write a detailed set of instructions. The build thread on the Vectric site is very informative and has more information and pictures than a regular set of plans so I think it will compliment and help anyone that was to try and build it. I really don't know if there is any interest in something like this except for the couple of people that have asked me. Sorry for rambling on.

Regards,

As in all things I suspect cost would determine the size of the market. I know that boughten boxes are crazy expensive. Anything big enough to fit a power supply and 3-4 channels is 40 and up for plastic. A few years ago some one was making and selling a sloping panel box and getting several orders and getting a price that made it profitable. It was of steel and I can't remember what forum it was on right now. the guy at cimple cnc sells a few boxes. Several use computer cases because they are so cheap...

Often the project box costs more than all the electronics enclosed in it..

I have read quite a bit of the thread you reference..
Will get it all done over time..

You do good work and document it well.

Maybe a Computer age Dave in there someplace!

[brihoo2k]

Now I've done it. Ive ordered the books from Lindsay Publications. Build a Complete Metalworking Shop from Scrap!

[metalworkz]

Now I've done it. Ive ordered the books from Lindsay Publications. Build a Complete Metalworking Shop from Scrap!

Cool! I hope you get as much from the series as I have. It has to be one of the best investments I ever made and every time I use one of the machines now it is like a dividend for all the time I spent learning and making my own machines. Good luck with all your projects!

Regards,

[metalworkz]

Hello,

Tonight I got some more work done with the top board for a chalkboard I am making on the CNC router. It is a chalkboard that is made of a lot of 3D carving with wine bottles and grapes and I made the first one on my small Syil SX3 mill. I am trying to get the 2nd one finished using the newly finished CNC router as it has much larger axis travels. I had numerous repositions with the first one I finished and I started this 2nd one with a little different strategy. Anyway here are some pictures of tonight's efforts.





Regards,

[metalworkz]

Hello,
Here is the top and bottom boards to the chalkboard assembly as they have been cut from the blanks and I routed a radius along the bottom edge of the bottom board. I will try and post a picture of the first finished assembly for reference as to what I am trying to do with these. The first one was done with my Syil SX3 mill and numerous repositionings for the 3D as well as the other toolpaths.
Take a look.