...and try not to laugh.
Contraption 1
Let me try to describe it: As you can see, it's got more Home Depot in than NSK. A few pieces of wood and MDF form the temporary frame. I'll limp along like that until I fill my piggy bank again and buy the 80/20 aluminum frame which will be 40" x 40" x 15", gantry style.
The power supply, not shown, is a lab HP 60v/15A. The 3 axes drives are Applied Motion 3540m. The steppers are NEMA 23, +180oz from Slo-syn and Bodine. The rails are THK HSR25, 24". The screw/rail combination on X & Y are special order Thompson with Nook nuts, 27" travel, .2 pitch. Z axis is a Daedal 8" travel. The spindle is an old Precise 45K RPM that weighs a ton. Software control is Mach2 - awesome stuff.
That's it. It's my 1st attempt after about a 2 month spending and reading spree that made me end up collecting a bunch of old stuff from eBay that doesn't plug into each other. I had to use "Mr. Glue", my hammer, to help the pieces match.
Later,
Julio