Originally Posted by Ballistixx  This is my first post here. It is a terrific site filled with tons of info!
I see myself spending a quite a bit of time here!
I have researched a bit on my own and had the help of a fellow member of another hobby site I belong to. I have a pretty good idea of what I want and need, but I am sure some of you folks have been there done that and can possibly save me some pain, mistakes and heartache.
I am trying to build up a small cnc mini mill. Here is what I bought so far...
HF 44991 mill
Xylotex 3 axis system kit
An Economy XYZ dro kit with readout w/ 2-12" horizontal dro, 1-8" vertical
snip
I have autocad,featurecam, and am planning on using Mach 3
What do guy's think of this setup?
I am going to mount my Xylotex electronics in a metal box (the kind similar to a big index or recipe box) with two fans mounted on each side of the box. One blowing in, the other blowing out.
I am going to mount my DRO's and display using the instructional pdf from little machine shop here...
http://littlemachineshop.com/product...ProductID=2016
The thing I am not too sure of yet is mounting the steppers. I would like to keep the hand wheels on the machine still.
I was thinking of possibly buying three of these lead screws...
http://littlemachineshop.com/product...1179&category=
Using simple couplers and brackets like this...snip
Please advise me if there is better easier ways. Any pitfalls to watch out for.
Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
Jason |
Hi Jason and good luck on your new adventure. Here is my opinion for what it is worth. Not flaming anyone or anything but here goes.
Forget about the handwheels. Once you can do cnc, you will just use MDI commands to do those quick and dirty jobs.
Return the dro kit, you won't need it when you have gone cnc, and the Xylotex kit. Put the money into a better set of controls and don't look back.
Always use a breakout board.
www.candcnc.com is a great place to get them from and there are a lot of others. Or you could use the G540 which incorporates the breakoutboard and a whole bunch of other great stuff for $299
http://www.geckodrive.com/product.aspx?c=3&i=14469
As a xylotex owner, I can tell you they suffer from mid band resonance and can limit you on the rapids and even max machining speeds if doing aluminum with a small cutter.
I know nothing about that particular machine so I can't give you an opinion about it.
I use and endorse Mach3.
Be very careful when using fans to bring outside air into an electronics enclosure, they can draw in metal chips or dust. A quick and easy solution is to use filters or you can even cut up a furnace filter from one of the home centers. Not the pleated paper kind, but the floss kind.
An metal enclosure is a great idea but give yourself plenty of room to work. I did my first enclosure and thought I was all set, but then I wanted to add some relay and it was either 2 boxes or a complete reinstall into a bigger box.
Look around the zone for Hoss. he has done some wonderful things with the small mills and is a great resource for you to use.
Remember, these are just my honest opinons of what I have used or at least companies that I have used and have heard great things about these particular items.
Mike.