[TangentAudio]

The Ork is definitely a cool project. That guy is seriously resourceful. For those who haven't seen it, check it out:

cnc mill The ORK - YouTube

[TangentAudio]

Tonight I was working under the influence of cold meds:wee:, so I figured I was only qualified to clean the body filler out of the mounting holes. Fairly miserable job, but I'm going to be trying to pick off the center of one or more of these holes for the slotting operation, so they need to be reasonably clean.


Attachment 209578

[TangentAudio]

Some supplies from McMaster, and a few toys from Shars. The granite square is about what I expected - doesn't seem like utter crap, but it's a bit rough around the edges of the hole, and the wooden case is of middling quality per usual. It does come with an inspection certificate, but who knows if that's legit. It'll be fine for my uses, though.

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Checking out my new machinist jacks. Unfortunately The 246 blocks I ordered seem to be lost somewhere in the black hole of USPS, so I may be doing something like this with three jacks and then holding it down with step clamps.
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Unfortunately because of the height of the casting, I can't indicate the center of the mounting holes; there's just not enough height to fit my DTI in the spindle. So I tried turning down a slip fit plug for one of the holes, with a spot drill hit in the center. Doesn't work out as well as I'd hoped for the center finder, since the very sharp point of the finder hits first, and it's not very repeatable. Maybe I'll try a deeper hole so the point doesn't hit, and it rests on the taper of the cone instead.
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[WOTDesigns]

The plug idea works great if you use the center drill then follow it up with a little bit smaller drill through or at least deeper . The tip can go into the whole and the cone will pick up the edges made by the center drill. I've done this on a few occasions and it's plenty accurate

I'm loving your thread bud. Keep the pics coming. I know how how much work it can be to stop and click, but it sure as hell is interesting for the rest of us.

I have pics and videos of so many projects that I just haven't gotten around to uploading toy youtube or have and haven't edited. It's a pain.

Brian
WOT Designs

[TangentAudio]

WOT, thanks for the encouragement and the tips on the center finder. I will try a through-drill on the next one I make and see how well it works.

So my 246 blocks showed up today. This is my first time seeing them in person, they're serious chunks of metal - upwards of 10lbs each.

I worked out clamping the casting to the table and machined the mounting flanges flat. Used a 5/8" ball end mill, and took very light full DOC, 0.010" passes at around 8ipm. Getting through all of the paint and filler was messy and stinky, and probably will kill me.
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Here's the setup I used. 246 block on left, trued to Y axis and mounted to the table with a long bolt in a T nut. The two 123 blocks hanging off of it are basically just big flat nuts to hold the long bolts going into the casting, with the tops of some step clamps to hold it. Jacked up and leveled with 3 machinist jacks, and clamped down on the right with a strap clamp on a 246 and a 123.
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Surface finish is OK, but not perfect. Certainly more than adequate for a washer/bolt head bearing surface. Way better than body filler.
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Also got my order from Tormach with the standard manual length drawbar, and I couldn't resist picking up the combo wrench/brass hammer.
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[TangentAudio]

Started out Saturday morning taking the X3 head off to take a look. Comparatively impressed at the quality of the machining here, makes the Tormach head look pretty rough and tumble by comparison. The main thing of note is that 35mm round boss that comes out of the Z slide. I had seen this in the Grizzly exploded diagram, but this was the first I've seen of it in person. It seemed like a good design feature, allowing the head to rotate about that point to get the tram in. This seemed like a good idea, so I decided to incorporate it into the transplant.

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Lots of little things to take care of... Next up was making another attempt at the center finder helper. This time I put a hole all the way through, as WOTDesigns and I were discussing earlier. Much improved!

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Next up, turn four plugs out of 1215 steel, which will fill the old bolt holes. Had to do some cleanup on the holes with a rotary tool spinning one of the nice old grinders that I inherited from my late grandfather. He was a tool and die man, but he passed away back in the late 1980s when I was only 13, so I never got to learn any of the trade from him. Still feels good to put gramp's tools to work, though.
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Little bit of G code to mill in some counterbores for the heads of the plugs. Always a nice feeling when parts mate like they should. Can't say they were all so clean, but it didn't take much wrangling to get them to fit.
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So that pretty much wrapped up Saturday. Slow and steady, but it's progress.

[TangentAudio]

Back at it on Sunday morning. My first order of business was to work out how to capture that 35mm round boss that protrudes out of the Z slide. I decided to machine in a recess to hold a .250" aluminum plate.

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Onto making the plate. Made it out chunk out of a scrap of the world's gummiest aluminum. But hey, it was free and I've done a half dozen different projects with it.

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Transfer punched the holes through onto the casting and drilled them out on my drill press. I was out of Z on the X3, so I had to do it offline. I keep finding handy things to do with 123 blocks - here, I propped up the plate using a couple of parallels, then held the transfer punch square to the plate using two 123 blocks in a corner configuration. I'm sure I didn't invent it, but it was a nice discovery.
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Here is the plate all buttoned up. Four flat head cap screws hold it down. I cursed to myself quietly because I only had imperial (10-24 1/2") FHCS in stock instead of metric. Then I got over it and got'r done. Everything on the plate subassembly sits below the plane that mates to the flat surfaces on the Z slide, as you can see in the last photo.
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Time to commit.
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I zeroed on one of the holes using my little center finder gizmo before I loc-tited the plugs in place. I figured it would be wise while it was zeroed to drill a new center in that same plug so I have the same point of reference if I want to do later work.
Attachment 210196

And here we go, really committing now. Helical boring the new X3-spaced mounting holes. 3/8" four flute carbide endmill, which was alternating taking bites of Chinese cast iron and 1215 steel. I couldn't really hear or see much difference.
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And the last CNC operation of the day, profiling an undersized version of the center hole to accept the boss on the Z slide.
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Next up, slung the four jaw onto my lathe for the first time ever, and dialed in the CNC cut bore as closely as I could. Took it out to just under 35mm with a boring bar, and then took it the rest of the way with sandpaper. This was mostly because I don't yet own a set of telescoping gages and mics, and I knew I couldn't trust halfass caliper readings, so I played it safe and did several test fits until it just slipped over the boss. Accidentally bumped the non-cutting part of a tool holder into the face when I was trying to turn in a chamfer, that's what that mess is on the face. Oops. Good thing this part is buried in the machine.
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Here are some of the sights and sounds of today...

[TangentAudio]

And now, the moment probably nobody but me had been waiting for... The test fit!
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Looking down into the top of the casting, you can see the boss on the X3 Z slide poking through the boss receptor plate. You can also see the overhang of the casting flanges. I will probably make some filler strips to pad out the Z slide so it doesn't look so goofy. Otherwise, I'm tempted to say the fit is perfect - exactly what I intended! I love it when a plan comes together.
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The left-right tramming action seems just about right - I think I should be able to dial it in without a lot of hassle, then pin it in place. I did oversize the bolt holes a little bit to give me more wiggle room in tilting it left-right. I'm really glad I decided to make the plate to accept that boss, I think I would have been in for a world of misery trying to tram it otherwise. As it is, it rotates on a point perfectly centered in the middle of the four bolts, which is exactly what you want.
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So that's where we stand for now. After a long Friday evening and two solid 8+ hour days down in the shop, I needed a break so I called it a day before I made a stupid mistake and regretted it. I removed the Tormach head, and left the X3 head jacked up on 246 blocks, though I centered the table so it wouldn't be overhanging. If you ever have to remove your X3 head and you've got an operational table, this is actually a really nice way to do it - no lifting required, and no drama.

[timewarp]

Looks great, going to sell your x3 head when you are done?

[TangentAudio]

Maybe. I keep trying to think if there's anything interesting that I can do with it, but so far no great ideas.

If I do sell it, it will probably need to be a local sale - it's at least 100lbs.

[TangentAudio]

Just a little bit of progress tonight. A couple of the filler plugs were slightly proud, so the washers backing up the socket head cap screws weren't sitting flat. Took the rotary tool with a grinder to them and got them cleaned up.

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Put most of the parts back onto the head and conducted a quick test with nearly the full weight to see how the Z behaved. Got it to stall running it too fast (>150IPM) but otherwise it seems to work. The ball screw does sound like it might be under more strain, but it's lifting the head fine.

[WOTDesigns]

Very nice progress!

Brian
WOT Designs

[TangentAudio]

Picked up some supplies while I was at the store... I am probably going to do a little more machining aesthetic cleanup on the casting, then spend some time making it look nicer with Bondo and sanding before painting it. I know if I don't do it now it will never get done. It's definitely one of the lessons I've learned with projects - never make them functional before you've done the tedious finish work.
Attachment 210570

Not sure how much time I'll be able to put into the project over the next few days with Thanksgiving coming up and while my dad is in town helping me hang sheetrock in my garage.

[Fenza CNC]

Looks like you've done a great job there mate, can't wait to see it when it's all 100% finished. Bet it'll be a great little machine and at like a 6th of the price of a complete PCNC770!

Fenza

[TangentAudio]

Thanks for the positive comments, guys! I don't think the end result is going to be quite the machine that the 770 is, I think the column and the base castings are a couple hundred pounds shy for that! Plus there are some other design flaws in the X3, though one of them relating to the Z motion I do want to take a crack at solving. I have an idea for that, though it's not fully gelled yet.

I had a little time late in the day today to get some more cosmetic cleanup done. I dialed in the center of the bore and cleaned up the diameter. They didn't leave an even amount of mating surface around the center bore, but I corrected that. Check out the spot where the casting is porous too.

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Once that was done, I faced off the rest of the bottom to level it out. I didn't have my drawbar tight enough early on and the tool accidentally pulled out. Guess that's a job for Bondo.

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I think that's all I'm going to machine, I don't want to run the risk of the casting moving around on me. The sides aren't that bad, though the filler is awfully thick. I took a first pass at levelling it out by sanding, and it's looking a bit more consistent now.

Attachment 210878


Sorry for the crappy, dark cell phone pics. My flash wasn't charged for the DSLR.

[nateman_doo]

AWESOME BUILD!!
I called Tormach after I got my head and told them that I didn't get a drawbar, and they sent me one

[TangentAudio]

Thanks, Nateman! Your 18x18 build was my original inspiration, since it's where I discovered you could buy the Tormach head.

I should have thought to call Tormach rather than just ordering the drawbar. Maybe it's for the best, otherwise I would have probably gone on a long rant about body filler.

Hoping to get back to the build this week. While I was hanging drywall Thanksgiving weekend with my dad, I managed to aggravate an old back injury (originally hurt in a bad mountain bike crash). Being on my feet on the concrete floor down in the shop hasn't been all that appealing for some reason. Damn, I sound like an old man, and I'm not even 40 yet.

[nateman_doo]

I didn't bother taking the head apart and picking at the body filler. The only part I cared about was the backside where it made contact with my plate. I thought the head was pretty decent when I got it.

Taking the time to make the head pivot slightly for tramming pays off in spades doesn't it ... I see you did that. great job all together! Took me 2 years to build mine, you had yours going in no time flat!

[TangentAudio]

This kind of sums it up. Real nice to not have to smell the Bondo stink.
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After two small batches of filler and a couple rounds of sanding. I see a few spots where I probably need to do a little more filling and then I can shoot a coat of primer onto it.
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[TangentAudio]

Pushed on and finished the filler, priming, and first coat of paint tonight.

After finishing the filler and sanding, I cleaned everything up and masked off the machined surfaces.

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Set up a really crappy paint "booth", some window fans for cross ventilation, put on the respirator mask, and got busy.
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Here it is after the primer coats.
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And here's the finish after a couple of coats. It's hard to tell but it's a slightly darker gray than the primer.
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