Hi Guys,

I spent a few days designing and building this machine. It's original purpose was to be used as a pen plotter. I am designing some motion control electronics and software (for personal use) and needed something more than spinning stepper motors to visualize the accuracy of those. So, I spent a day designing a simple and small bed mill style 3 axis machine. It is small, the table size is 8-1/2" x 11" and the Z axis travel is around 3 -1/2".

It took most of two days to build it and, for once, most of the materials I had laying around the shop so I didn't have to spend much to build it. In fact, I spent more on sealer and paint, than the rest of the machine (keeping in mind I am not counting the original costs of the "scraps" used to build it).

It is primarily constructed from MDF, with 8020 extrusions for the ways. Saddles are backed wth UHMW pads. Lead screws are SS 1/4-20 threaded rod - hand picked at the hardware store for straightness. Nuts are Acetal, and mounting hardware is 1/8" aluminum angle. The tiny motors are cute little Nema 17 motors - I suspect they should have enough guts to move a pen, but you just never know :)

During construction, I realized I built it a bit "heavy" for a pen plotter, so I thought I might as well plan to try it for some light milling (I do some PCB drilling etc.). I have a much larger CNC Router, so I have no "dreams" of this machine being a "heavy cutter". Anyway, I have a pnuematic pencil grinder that is about 5/8" in diameter, so I bored the hole in the headstock to accomodate that as a spindle (when I am not using it as a plotter). Don't know if it will work for milling / drilling, but you just never know, sometimes life throws you a little surprise.

I just thought I would share with you the little machine and to show you that there are other machine configurations besides the oh-so-typical gantry type. Hope you enjoy or perhaps even get some inspiration or ideas.

Chris

Way cool! Are the UHMW pads bought to fit the 8020 or did you mill these yourself? How well does it slide. I have heard pros and cons on plastic bearings.

Good job.

RipperSoftware

Way cool! Are the UHMW pads bought to fit the 8020 or did you mill these yourself? How well does it slide. I have heard pros and cons on plastic bearings.

Good job.

RipperSoftware

I had some UHMW on hand, so I just milled up the pads. Most of them are very similar in size/shape to the 8020 pads. I would have used theirs if I had them on hand.

There is nothing wrong at all with using UHMW on aluminum extrusions - it is a very slippery interface between the two materials. It is very tolerant of dust and chips - perhaps not so tolerant of solvents etc. For dry cutting machines such as routers and PCB milling/drilling, it is a very good combination.

Don't know what others have said or told you, so I don't know what they are saying is bad about it. Frankly, for a dry cutting machine, like a router or PCB mill, I would take aluminum/UHMW over the "Gas pipe and bearings" combination. I mean let's face it, gas pipe is about as accurate as a baseball bat :-)

Chris

Chris....that's a nice looking little machine...congratulations.....

Looks very pro, job well done. Looks like some of that is cast, you do the casting yourself?

Looks pretty cool, Very well done.

Hi,

Do you have any plans of the machine. The machine is cool. Could you share the plans with us???

Thank you,

Zoltan

Very nicely done..I like uhmw on 8020 myself, my experience follows yours, easy accurate, slippery, bearing. Try a little silicone spray for really free moving. Really much better than the pipe bearing setup which I have used and have partially relaced with uhmw/8020.
Thank you for the ideas.
Carl

Looks very pro, job well done. Looks like some of that is cast, you do the casting yourself?

Sorry no castings here, this machine is made from MDF. Remember, it's original design purpose is that of a pen plotter.

Chris

Hi,

Do you have any plans of the machine. The machine is cool. Could you share the plans with us???

Thank you,

Zoltan

I don't know yet. Sometimes these things have a funny way of turning around from a "hey, here are some free plans and have fun building it" into a nightmare of:

Why did you do it that way...
I want to use (insert thing here) instead of (insert thing here)
Can you re-draw the machine in metric for me
Can you tell me where to purchase the brackets
I don't like the colors, can I paint it a different color?

Sorry to sound so nasty about it, experience shows me that often times a good gesture can turn into "freebie hunting feeding frenzy" that ends up being work rather than fun.

I don't know, I will think about it.

Chris

Very nicely done..I like uhmw on 8020 myself, my experience follows yours, easy accurate, slippery, bearing. Try a little silicone spray for really free moving. Really much better than the pipe bearing setup which I have used and have partially relaced with uhmw/8020.
Thank you for the ideas.
Carl

Yes, the silicone spray is "magical"!

I don't mind using the "pipe and bearing" method, as long as Gas pipe isn't used :rolleyes:

I don't know yet. Sometimes these things have a funny way of turning around from a "hey, here are some free plans and have fun building it" into a nightmare of:

Why did you do it that way...
I want to use (insert thing here) instead of (insert thing here)
Can you re-draw the machine in metric for me
Can you tell me where to purchase the brackets
I don't like the colors, can I paint it a different color?

Sorry to sound so nasty about it, experience shows me that often times a good gesture can turn into "freebie hunting feeding frenzy" that ends up being work rather than fun.

I don't know, I will think about it.

Chris

I agree with you people like to have alot of things handed to them, I provide dwg files for my model 2006 machine, and some people want me to diminsion everything for them. I do not mind sharing but I do not want to spend all my time doing all the detail fork for them, when they should just study the files and make the descisions them self. it really is not that hard.

for the most part most people take the ball and run with it, but there are a few that want everything, and this in itself is not good, because what if something does not work well for them and they do not know how to do a workaround for it they will be stuck and get a bad taste in their mouth about the whole thing.

joe

Joe,

Very cool, this is exactly what my girlfriend asked me to made her this Christmas. Great job.

Steven

Sorry, ment Chris in my post.

Chris, can I get a set of your drawings?

steven

Yes, redraw those plans in metric. And be quick about it. You gotta be kidding me.

Well as long as you’re you have decided to become slave labor for the ingrates of your planet, could you whip me up a set of drawings in Klingon! Qapla!

(pronounced "kap-LA!"), which is a way of wishing people "Success!"

That machine is so neat I just want one ;)

Seriously though, I think I will be somewhat inspired from this when I eventually build my own machine since I dont need any huge travels. I know I want to be able to prototype PCBs, and possibly make small stuff out of plastics or wood, and hopefully metal. Im guessing 40x20x10cm travel is more than enough for me, and I might even scale down if that makes the machine more easy/cheaper to build, more robust or much smaller.

Add to that that I dont have any real wood- or metalworking experience, no shop and not a huge collection of tools yet, and I think Ill have an interesting experience.

Well as long as you’re you have decided to become slave labor for the ingrates of your planet, could you whip me up a set of drawings in Klingon! Qapla!

(pronounced "kap-LA!"), which is a way of wishing people "Success!"


Aw shucks guys...

Heck, I just might go out and buy a copy of PRO-E and design this machine up in solids - output all the CNC files so that folks can make the components out of billet, or if they prefer, machine the mold cavities and cast their own parts. Then I could easily write all the programs to turn the lead screws and nuts and machine all the brackets too. I was thinking I could create documentation for the build in the following formats:
HTML
PDF
MS Word
Corel Ventura
MS Publisher
Printed manual (even mailed to your home free)
IPOD Doc file
Text message for every type of cell phone out there
Broadcast television presentation on 6 different networks
HPGL
DWG
DXF
HPCL

Did I miss anything :rolleyes:


(Note, all that said above was in jest)

Chris :)

Heck, and I was just hoping to be able to obtain a copy of the plans in any format, in any system on numbers (except ancient Hebrew... and I can actually translate that if I really need to). Trying to make this the least amount of work possible for Chris.

I don't need them in Klingon, or in Arabic, I don't need then read to me by EG Marshal (for those of you old enough to remember he was the voiceover for most of the nature videos we were forced to sit through in grade school).

I do not need them
in a house.
I do not need them
with a mouse.
I do not need them
here or there.
I do not need them
anywhere.
I do not need them with green eggs and ham.
Just a simple man looking for the simple plan.

Steve-I-Am

very cool job as far as plans a pic is worth a thousand words no need for plans but maybe a few pics of the drive setups

ROTFLMAO! Great Posting Steve-I-am.

That machine is so neat I just want one ;)

Seriously though, I think I will be somewhat inspired from this when I eventually build my own machine since I dont need any huge travels. I know I want to be able to prototype PCBs, and possibly make small stuff out of plastics or wood, and hopefully metal. Im guessing 40x20x10cm travel is more than enough for me, and I might even scale down if that makes the machine more easy/cheaper to build, more robust or much smaller.

Add to that that I dont have any real wood- or metalworking experience, no shop and not a huge collection of tools yet, and I think Ill have an interesting experience.

All you can do is try - the result is 50-50, either it will work or it won't work. The critical aspect along the path of the first build is to learn the skills and your limitations. Like everyone else in these forums, we ask questions about subjects that are beyond our understanding. The good part about this website is there are a LOT OF VERY HELPFUL smart folks to get you past your limitations.

Chris

ROTFLMAO! Great Posting Steve-I-am.

I agree - needed that chuckle this morning !

Chris

from the side pic almost looks like 2006 kitchen sink faucet :)

Hi,

I deeply regret for asking about plans. I apologize for it. I am sure that this site is so great today because several people decided to share to others, plans, schematics, mechanical solutions, etc. By this spirit this site, this community grew so big, and became such a great place. Personally, I am just looking to the plans, and enjoy seeing nice, creative solutions some people put in place. I do not have the tools, I do not have the materials, I do not have the money to build almost all the machines I got plans from several people from here, but as I said I like to admire their solutions and to learn from. I hope to build once a real machine from plans I got from here, but I do not know when till here the monthly average salary just cover half of the price of +1 m ball screw on ebay, and not sure if alternatively you can buy one Nema 34 stepper motor with it. I have built four machines which are not following any plan from here, just solutions, mainly because they are from scrap materials, or salvages from broken equipment, but still dream at one day when I can share here with others, the plans of my real machine, designed and built by me as a payback to those who believed in this site and shared with me.
I do not need your plans. Keep them and be happy, your machine is really very nice,and so different than other machines I have seen.

Thank you,

Zoltan

from the side pic almost looks like 2006 kitchen sink faucet :)


Actually, I think it is the 2004 model :)

Chris

Chris
In all seriousness I would like to see how you did the Linear bearing. It looks as if you used MDF for the frame(?) of the bearing and some sort of insert in to the 8020 for the actual bearing surface. Did you machine the plastic piece or buy the inserts off of the 80/20 page. Not asking for drawings but a freehand sketch would be nice.

Preferably in Pen and ink
pencil
charcoal
and maybe a pastel

above sent with a :)

It seems as if it would be tough to machine the mdf close enough and yet I don't see any adjustment for your slides. (tough for me at least)

All in all a very creative arrangement and I like that you used sliders on both sides of one rail and only on one side of the other.

Neat little system, and a very creative mix of materials bought and fabricated parts.

Garry

Chris
In all seriousness I would like to see how you did the Linear bearing. It looks as if you used MDF for the frame(?) of the bearing and some sort of insert in to the 8020 for the actual bearing surface. Did you machine the plastic piece or buy the inserts off of the 80/20 page. Not asking for drawings but a freehand sketch would be nice.

Preferably in Pen and ink
pencil
charcoal
and maybe a pastel

above sent with a :)

It seems as if it would be tough to machine the mdf close enough and yet I don't see any adjustment for your slides. (tough for me at least)

All in all a very creative arrangement and I like that you used sliders on both sides of one rail and only on one side of the other.

Neat little system, and a very creative mix of materials bought and fabricated parts.

Garry


Hi Garry,

Sorry, I can't provide the drawing in pencil or charcoal, ever since the electric erasures went away, I have had to use computers :-)

The drawing below should should you how the bearing pads work out. The MDF is built up around the way - this has to be somewhat accurate - but there is a trick I will mention in a moment.

The bearing pads are machined to fit - they are also drilled -tapped for 6-32 screws. The one on the left is the MASTER way, this provides the directional control - in other words it is the one that creates the X axis of motion. The way on the right is more there to hold the table (saddle up) and to provide a place to have the side bearing pad "hook" into the 8020 so the table can't lift up. This way does not provide any directional control - so it's side-to-side fit is not important.

If I couldn't mill the pads to size, I would have made the openeing a bit wider and shimmed the pads to fit against the 8020 material. That again would be very easy to do and wouldn't require high precision on the machining of the MDF.

Here is the trick I mentioned above for yet another option...

Start by attaching the left vertical piece to the saddle (table). Then, attach the bearing pads to the piece with the screws. At this point, you now have your reference surface and you want the piece opposite this to be parallel and the proper distance away. So, attach your bearing pads to that piece, apply glue along the surface that will meet up with the saddle, place a section of 8020 tube between them - clamp VERY LIGHTLY against the tube, and tightly against the saddle. In other words you have two sets of clamps 90 degrees to each other. The ones clamping against the tube are only there to hold light presure between the pads and the tube. When the glue dries, remove the clamps, and slide the pieces apart, your will have a near perfect fit.

Hope that helps a bit.

Chris

Thanks Chris

Thats very clear and the drawing is even close to the pastel requested.
Some very usefull ideas in the clamping that will come in handy in other places as well.

Garry

Thanks Chris

Thats very clear and the drawing is even close to the pastel requested.
Some very usefull ideas in the clamping that will come in handy in other places as well.

Garry

For a minute there I thought you were pulling my leg! Then I re-read your original request and noticed that you would accept the "pastel" :)

There are other simple tricks you can do with UHMW to "Set" clearances, although they can get to be a bit crude at times but work none the less.

Chris

For a minute there I thought you were pulling my leg! Then I re-read your original request and noticed that you would accept the "pastel" :)


Chris
Sorry I should have included a :) at the pastel comment. It just struck me as fuuny how close to pastel the colors came out on my laptop. :rolleyes:



Garry

Sorry I should have included a :) at the pastel comment. It just struck me as fuuny how close to pastel the colors came out on my laptop. :rolleyes:



Garry


Garry, worry not, I saw the humor in it originally. Based on some of the other commments in this thread, it is fun to exchange these "dry, humorous" comments back and forth. Again, worry not, I knew you were jesting :)

Chris

so. ive given out a number of drawings and 'plans'... schematics, etc.. ive gotten a total of maybe 10 emails in 2 years... i always say 'sorry, but my stuff is just for fun and reference... inspiration. if you want something more step-by-step, try a google search for .....'

many people come hunting for help cuz they dont know how to use a search engine.. +s, " "s, etc...

Now, you have only yourself to blame for the metric conversion requests; you ought to do all your work in metric anyway ya lazy bum.

Your machine there would be PERFECT for me, hobby etching mainly. Maybe some small parts making. If you make plans, or instructions, or even just plain 3 views, I'd love to have a copy.