[ron39]

I've been working on a modified Solsylva machine for about 2.5 months now, a few hours some nights and weekends.

I finally am getting close enough to a point where it's more than just a bucket of parts - it is staring to MOVE!

I really benefited from Coogrr's pictures and videos, so I felt I should try to help out the next guy by putting up some information on my build.

Coogrr and I each took the belt-drive plans and modified them a little - I stuck closer to the original plans with the inexpensive bearings and rail setup - wood table etc. My biggest changes involved increasing the Y axis by a foot (to 4 feet for the gantry), and using 2" x 6.75" poplar on the side rails so I could place a full sheet of 5x5 baltic birch on the table and have a foot or so extend off the table under the X rails.

I initially thought of going with steel for the frame, but I had the wood on hand and after testing the deflection for the expected gantry weight of 50 lbs, and getting results under 0.004" at the center of the span and since I'm planning on cutting plywood I decided to start with the wood.

Some smaller deviations from the plans involved not using the pvc idler pullies and going with just bearings (coogrr's idea) and buying more pullies and using them as idlers (we both stumbled on that one).

I still have to put down the MDF for the Tslots, get my cables out of the way, put my electronics in a case, attach the router and tune the machine - but here's a first indication that I may some day finish.

Video of my messy shop and some initial moves:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcKtR3Ffd54

Video of running 4 simple lines of Gcode in turbocnc:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrvvPpmzIyU