Hi,

I built this router last year, before I had a good look through this website. It has 25" x 25" x 4" cutting capacity. In this picture it is set up for MDF, but it was designed to cut 3/4" aluminum plate. I haven't tried 3/4" yet, but have cut 1/2" without a problem (in 1/8" deep passes) using 1/4" dia endmill bits. The Z slide is a Parker-Daedal linear slide I picked up on eBay for a song, so I can't take credit for building that part, but the rest is mine.

Steve

That really is one of the best looking machines I have seen. My compliments to your craftmanship! And with coolant too, truly beautiful. Chris

Steveald,
It's a magneficent router with the Dr. Zeuss sticker an' all! It looks extremely rigid!

Klox

Nice! Looks like a solid machine, I especially like the dust extraction shroud. In the photo, it looks as though the MDF is not clamped down, do you have some sort of vacuum clamping system set up?

SUPERB!

Kong, the MDF is clamped on the back two corners, hidden in the photo. I allowed for the possibility of a vacuum clamping table in the design, but haven't had time to add it. Maybe after I get my 4x8 table running I will go back and add one.

Chris, the coolant system is a Lenox Micronizer Jr. I decided a water and oil mist would be too messy, so I picked up the Lenox unit, which just uses compressed air and 3 drops of oil per minute. Very clean, and very effective. I even use it on acrylic.

Thanks everyone for the positive comments.

Steve

Looks awesome! How much did it cost if you don't mind me asking?

Awesome looking machine. You did a really nice job on the design/construction. Looks super ridgid. Post some more pics and some details.


Hey...Let's see that thing cutting some alum.

Cold Fusion, it's hard to say what it cost, because I started gathering parts for a 4x8 table, then found I had enough spare parts to almost build the small table. I have about $5000USD spent so far, but that includes about 70% of the parts for the 4x8 table. If I had to guess I would say it cost about $2500USD. My original plan was to try to build the 4x8 for less than $7500USD, it's starting to look like both together will cost about that much. If it works out that way, then this one will have effectively cost me nothing. :) Blood, sweat and tears not included in the above. :)

Steve

I showed the picture to my wife and her respanse "Thats nice dear. What is it" After explaining it and telling her the cost, she suggested that maybe I should get a new wife also and in my mind that would't be such a bad idea. Naaaa.....maybe.....the kids....naaaa....they understand.....maybe.

Steve

Wow!!

The blood sweat & tears are evident.
Quality looking Machine.

So.. whats under the hood?
Servos or steppers?
Whose drives?
Did you buy a packedged controller or make it yourself?
Which controler software?
Im guessing ballscrews?


Thanks
Barbwire Bill

Very nice machine. Where's the 8 footer? I would like to see it too.

Eric

Hi Bill,

Steppers on this one, thinking servo for the 4x8. Centent CN0162 microstepping drives, IMS IP806 75V 6A power supply for X and Y, Power One 24V 4A for Z. ATX computer power supply to provide 5V to the drives. The enclosure is an old 4U rackmount server case completely gutted. Software and signal generator from Flashcut CNC. Thompson 5/8 .2" pitch ballscrews directly coupled to motor shafts. Bosch variable speed router (I think it's 2HP, but it might be 1.75, I have a Porter Cable 3.25HP variable speed for the 4x8)
The 4x8 is still in design stage, but I have Thompson 1" dia x 124" fully supported rails for X, NB 20mm x 63" linear rails (like THK) for Y and THK 12mm x 12" rails for Z. The gantry is 8"x3"x 1/2" wall structural aluminum channel 66" long. 5/8" .2" pitch ballscrew for Z timing belt drive for X and Y much like Dean's Axxus table, but with the belt above the frame rather than below. I'll try to post some drawings soon.

Steve

Steve

Thanks for the info
You say your thinking servos for the 4x8
Did you check out the post "My new cheap servos"
Thosse servos should get you to 125 IPM feedrate.


I also want to use the timming belt drive.
Design pics would be great
Thanks again

Bill

Hi,

I have finally started to cut some parts and do some assembly on my 4x8 router. Here are some pictures.

This is the right endplate for the gantry, with bearings for the X belt drive pulley and idlers installed. It's 16" W x 17.5" H x 0.5" plate aluminum, cut on my 2x2 table.

This is the plate to hold the X belt drive pulley and idler shafts in place.

The last two parts assembled and Thomson SPB-16-OPN pillow blocks installed. The shafts are just pieces of aluminum rod used to line the plates up, I need to get real shafts turned. The stand-offs are 5/16 hex couplers.

8x3 structural channel, heavy wall, for the gantry cross-member. The milled pocket on the endplate was an afterthought, but made it very easy to hold the channel in place while drilling the mounting holes. I cut the channel rough on a bandsaw, then used a 2" long 1/2" straight flute bit to shave the ends square and to length. I had to flip it over and turn it end for end on my table, machining it in 4 operations because it's too long for my table and too thick for my router bit.

The gantry basically assembled, the left endplate still needs to be cut to shape, but all the holes, pockets, slots, etc... are machined.
It went together with a little remachining required to make the endplates sit square(ish) to the channel. Looking straight on, the endplates are toed in slightly, the bottoms are 0.03" closer together than the tops, but the Thomson bearings allow that with no ill-effect. Looking straight down, the endplates are parallel, but not quite square to the channel. A 0.02" shim between the front right pillow block and the right endplate, and between the back left pillow block and the left endplate will put the gantry crossmember 90 deg. to the X axis rails.

Yes, that is my living room, married folk should probably do this sort of thing elsewhere. :)

Merry Christmas everyone,
Steve

I missed one :)

This is the reduction unit for the Y axis belt drive. That's not the motor I'm going to use, and the shaft is just there to see how things lined up.

Wow, you don't hang around, that is some fine work. I think this one deserves a thread of it's own!:D

I see your first machine is sitting in your LR too. :)

Eric

Impressive work!

I was wondering what the gearing ratio is for your timing belt drive is? Also, where are you going to get your 8+’ linear rails from?

Thanks,
--bb99

I am going to start with 9:1 (two stages of 3:1). The design allows for changing the pulleys to achieve anything from 4:1 up to 16:1. I purchased a bunch of stuff on eBay last year, Thomson fully supported 1" linear shafts 124" long were in the package, along with 63" NB linear rails (like THK). I'm a little nervous about the NB rails because of the extremely tight installation tolerances. Hopefully, I'll just take my time and it will all work out. I will be placing the 8"x3" channel on a Gerber router table, milling a flat surface and drilling mounting holes. I think I'll have to invest in a dial indicator for when I bolt the rails down.

Steve

Steve

Good looking work.
The C-Channel should be plenty strong
Thanks for all the posts, very informative
Bet having the 2 x 2 to make parts with is great

Have you decided what gear reduction you are going with?
What is the pitch of your timing belt?
What is your planned servomotor RPM (for max feedrate)?
What Cad system did you design this in?

I hope I’m not asking too many questions.
Its just that your gantry design is very close to what I want build.

Thanks again for all the posts & info

Merry Christmas to all

Bill

Steveald

Can you tell me where you got the gear and pulley CAD files from? Also, I’m new to the whole CAD thing and was wondering how you “wrapped” the timing belts in your CAD drawing?

--bb99

I got the pulley cad files from http://www.sdp-si.com however, they were just 2D. I had to do a lot of tweaking and extruding in AutoCAD to make the 3D solids that are in my picture.
The belt around the pulleys was made by drawing circles the pitch diameter of the pulleys, offsetting in either direction by half the thickness of the belt, then drawing lines between each pulley, snapping to tangent. I then trimmed the circles to the lines, and created a region from it all that represents the cross-section of the belt. Then I extruded the region to create the 3D solid of the belt. A fair bit of work :) My older drawings of belts included the teeth, but I have grown lazy :)
Most manufacturers that I have come across on the web include cad files somewhere on their site, but I haven't come across any decent 3D solids, so I create my own using the 2D files I find.

Nice work! Thanks for the information. I like putting this level of detail in my drawings since it has helped me find several design flaws.

--bb99

The use of channel alum is a great idea, easy to obtain in a great range of sizes.

Unless damaged should be perfectly streight too.

Hi,

I'm waiting for parts to be shipped,so I've been reduced to building covers. It's probably a good thing, otherwise I may never get around to building them. I used 0.060 aluminum and 3/4" angle riveted with countersunk rivets and JB Weld to fill in the rivet holes. I broke a tap in the endplate :( I need to learn to be more patient I guess. I'm going to paint the covers with black "wrinkle paint" if I can source it. Does anyone know the stuff I mean? What it's actually called, and where to get it?

I found another of those Z slides like on my 2x2, but the price is kind of high for me, really tempting though. It's at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2584039168&category=1267&rd=1 if anyone wants to look, my 2x2 has an identical slide except it's 0.2" pitch, not metric, and doesn't have the encoder. They are a VERY nice unit. I think what I'll do is use my 2x2 and my original parts to build a Z slide, then put the Parker unit on my 4x8 and the homebuilt on the 2x2. (Unless I break down and buy the other Parker unit :) )

Thanks again for all the feedback, I really appreciate it.

Have a Happy New Year,

Steve

I think you're talking about the "hammered" paint? Made by Hammerite in the UK. I don't know where to find it in the US or Canada. Rustoleum makes a hammered paint that I think is the same thing (I'm painting my machine with it) that you can get at Home Depot or Lowes here in the states.

http://www.hammerite.com/webapp/wcs/stores/HAMUK/ICIPaints/servlet/ProductDisplayCmd?productId=255006&storeId=10102&catalogId=1&langId=-1&siteName=HMUK

http://www.rustoleum.com/Product.asp?ddf=73&frm_product_id=21&SBL=1

Gerry

Thanks Gerry,

I'll look into it, I knew there would be someone out there that knew what I was on about :) I only wish I had found this site long ago.

Happy New Year,

Steve

Hi Steve,

If you are looking for true "wrinkle finish" paint check out the sporting goods people that sell stuff for gun smiths. Wrinkle finish actually shrinks, causing the paint to wrinkle leaving raised bumps- uses heat if I remember right. Folks like to use it on gun stocks and such. Hammerite or hammertone that I have used is actually a paint made from 2 or more viscocities that leave a multicolored finish. Either looks nice but there definately is a difference.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO PAINT ALUMINUM make sure you prepare it correctly. Check with the paint shops (auto) that do this most often. They start by cleaning the metal with alchohol and/or wax strippers and then etch it with an acid. Its real easy to make paint flake off of aluminum. At the very least wipe the aluminum down with white vinager before priming. The folks who sell the gun smithing supplies sell a primer that you can use for just about
any top coat you want to use. Pretty good insurance for a lasting finish.

Good luck with this and hey, nice job on the machine! -Doug

sites:

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/Store/Search.aspx

and

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=1119&title=ALUMA-HYDE

regards... -Doug

Thanks for the heads-up on prepping the aluminum. I was going to use an acid-wash and aluminum primer like we use at the sign shop I work at. I was thinking wrinkle paint because of its toughness and its ability to hide imperfections (just in case :) ), but I'm starting to think it might collect dust too much. I might go with powder coating, as I can fit it in with an order we have going out soon. Decisions, decisions...

Thanks again,

Steve

That powder coating sounds interesting, does it need specialist equipment to do it right?

I think I'd choose powdercoat over paint every time. Depending on the cost I guess. Only thing I'd be concerned about would be the thickness of the powdercoat, would it affect assembly at all?

Gerry

Wrinkled paint and hammered paint are both available at Canadian Tire and Home Depot.

Happy New Year!

To be honest, I don't know how powder coating is done. I just know it is a very durable finish. I'm only planning on doing the covers I built, so it won't affect assembly. I was going to leave everything raw aluminum, but the covers have filler over the rivets and in some repaired holes so I wanted to hide that :)

Steve

We used to experiment with power coating at school.

The principles are the metal is pre heated and a dust of a special power is sprayed onto the metal.
Commercial machines do this electro staticly so that you coat all surfaces in the one go.

At school we made a sealed box onto which we connected a vacumn cleaner the heated item was hung inside the box and power added. The vacumn cleaner was used then to blow the powder all around and eventually it stuck to all sides of the item.

Don't know why we did'nt use an air line, can only think we did'nt have one. Crude but worked.

Maybe this could be another project for us to build a powder coating machine !!

Here's an interesting link for powder coating....................Jim

http://www.hotcoatpro.com/cgi-bin/sgdynamo.exe?HTNAME=/hotcoatpro/pro_new.htm&UID=2004010113592208

And here's an inexpensive gun..

http://www.caswellplating.com/powder/powder_coat.htm?source=overture&OVRAW=powder%20coating&OVKEY=coating%20powder&OVMTC=standard

I noticed that Harbor Freight has one for $70.00

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the links, I was checking out the Caswell Plating site looking at anodizing kits a while back. I didn't even notice the powder coating stuff there.

Where in BC are you?

Steve

Hi Steve

I am struggling with figuring out if I will have enough torque to move my X axis under a load. So I can determine what transformer to buy.
I want to use a belt drive system like yours.
Here are my calculations so far.
Looks like I'll need a max of 20 amps

Here is a lead screw example using the servos I have.
“
Use a 36VDC power supply.
No-load RPM at 36VDC = 3,130
(Ke = 11.5, KRPM = 36V / Ke)
80% of no-load RPM = 2,500 RPM
Leadscrew RPM @ 120 IPM, 5TPI = 600RPM
Reduction Ratio = 2,500 RPM / 600 RPM = 4.1666:1, Use 4:1
Kt = 1.351 Ke = 15.5 in-oz / amp
Maximum continuous current = 3 Amps
Maximum continuous torque = 3A * Kt = 46.5 in-oz
Torque on leadscrew = 46.5 in-oz * 4:1 reduction = 186 in-oz
Leadscrew thrust = pi/8 * TPI * in-oz = 365 lbs
Maximum speed at full load = 2500RPM /(ratio * TPI) = 125 IPM
Maximum speed, no-load = 3,130RPM / (ratio * TPI) = 156 IPM
Power delivered to load = RPM * in-oz / 1351 = 86 Watts
Mariss
“
In my case I will be using a cog gear & timing belt
My pinion cog gear is gates part #P18-5MGT-25 PB.
The pitch diameter is 1.128" and it has 18 teeth.
The pinion cog will move 3.542 inches per revolution.
My aprox load is 150 pound gantry plus 50 pounds max of cutting force.

Say, I want to rapid at a 480 IPM federate(servo full load rpm = 2500 )
So I need to spin my cog gear at 135.5166 RPM

So I will need a gear reduction of aprox 18.5:1 (Not easy to build)
Can I reduce voltage to say 24v dc so my gear reductions become more reasonable?
If I reduce voltage what do I sacrifice?

Torque on Cog = 46.5 in-oz * 18.5:1 reduction = 857 in-oz
I don't know how to calculate the pounds of thrust available.
But my gut tells me I'm under powered.
Just comparing to Mariss's above lead screw example.
I will recalculate for a 125 IMP rapid.

Steve how do you calculate your torque at the finial cog gear?
What In/oz motors are you using for your drive?
I have looked at your post with Jeff (Home CNC) where it looks like you are limiting your voltage to obtain the RPM you want.

Any help would be appreciated
Thanks
Bill

where is a good place to buy cog wheels and short belts?

http://www.sdp-si.com/

Gerry

A truely marvellous brace of machines!

Surely you have to anodize it purple (in the bath)

Graham

Hi,

dlenox,
I bought my belts and pulleys from http://www.sdp-si.com They have thousands of parts available online, with CAD drawings. You might want to refer to them as timing belts and pulleys in your search, for better results.

Graham,
Funny you should mention that... I have been eyeing up the anodizing kit at Caswell Plating (http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/aluminum.htm?PHPSESSID=e66d2fbf383b46786b8a423b9502c7fb) but I can't use the bath as it is a paint booth :) I was thinking of anodizing small aluminum architectural signs (door numbers, names, directories etc...) but that will have to wait until I'm done building the table.

Bill,
Servos are new to me, but here is my understanding of them: (if anyone spots flaws in my thinking, PLEASE jump in and set me straight)

Servos can deliver their rated torque from 0 rpm up to their rated rpm. Their torque is rated per Amp, so for max torque you want a power supply that can deliver the motors max continuous current rating.
Servos speed is a function of voltage, (Ke = 11.5, KRPM = 36V / Ke) this means you can spin 1000 rpm for every 11.5V, up to the rated rpm (3130) at 36V. My motors spin 1000 rpm for every 68V so their Ke = 68. Less voltage will not limit your torque, only your max attainable speed.
Your max attainable speed will also be limited by your computer's max step pulse rate and your encoder resolution. In my case, I can deliver 35kHz and I have 2000 count per rev encoders, so I can only ask my motors to spin at 1050 rpm at that resolution. (A step pulse multiplier would allow more speed at the cost of resolution.) If my step pulse source and encoder setup can only attain 1050 rpm, then I would need 71.4V, any more voltage would do nothing for me.

For your situation, you need to look at the resolution of your encoders, the pulse rate of your computer setup, and whether you can sacrifice any of that resolution to gain speed.

You have already calculated torque at the pinion. Now we go from rotary motion to linear, so we need to calculate thrust. I think you can use the leadscrew example to calculate thrust at the pinion, we just need to convert 3.542 inches per revolution to 0.282 revolutions per inch (TPI). ( 1 / 3.542 ) so thrust would be:

pi / 8 * TPI * in.oz. = lbs thrust.

3.14159 / 8 * 0.282 * 857 = 94.9 lbs thrust. :(

The major problems I see in your setup are your reduction ratio being hard to implement, and your motors max current rating of 3A. I'm not sure where you came up with the 20A requirement at the beginning of your post.

My requirements are similar to yours. I want to move a 150 lb gantry with up to 50 lbs of cutting force, with addressable resolution of < 0.001" as fast as possible.
The route I am taking (all criticism / suggestions welcome and encouraged) is this:

Timing belt drive with 5mm pitch 18 tooth pinion will require 1806 oz.in. of torque at pinion to achieve 200 lbs thrust, with >20% reserve I'll use 2200 oz. in. in my calculations.

My computer hardware is limited to 35kHz step pulse rate, at 1000 steps per inch I can pulse a max of 2100 IPM so no problem there.

Dean at Axxus Technologies built a timing belt drive table that apparently works quite well and he uses 9:1 reduction, so I figured that was a good place to start. I also got the idea to use Gates GT2 belt from his design (I was originally looking at regular timing belt, but for the same strength I would have needed 2" wide belt at least and that gets pricey with 2" wide pulleys and all) Actually, I got a LOT of ideas from Dean's table, he deserves a lot of credit here.

Meanwhile back at the pinion, 2200 oz. in. / 9:1 reduction = 244.4 oz. in. required at the motor. (at this point I was still thinking steppers, at 200 steps per rev = 508 steps per inch, my 0.001" resolution still achievable with half stepping, and 250+ oz. in. easy to find in NEMA34) Now I start looking at torque-speed curves and realize I'm designing a slug and decide to investigate servos.

I had already designed and cut my motor mounts to accept NEMA34, so I searched for NEMA34 servos on eBay and found some that looked like they would work, but I was concerned about the 120V rating, as Geckos only go to 80V and Rutex 100V.
I started researching and number crunching and found that the 2000 count encoders and my computer hardware would only allow 35kHz * 60 sec / 2000 count per rev = 1050 rpm and that the motors require 68V per 1000 rpm so maximum voltage requirement for a power supply is 72V, and they are rated at 92 oz. in. per Amp so 244.4 oz. in. / 92 = 2.65 Amp requirement * 2 motors (Z will still be a stepper for various reasons, and will have a seperate power supply) = 5.3 Amps minimum.

Now for speed, the 1050 rpm at the motor / 9:1 reduction * 3.542 inch per revolution of the pinion = 413.23 IPM

I have come across a 42VAC 12A transformer that will provide 59VDC which will limit my rpm to 867 and my rapids to 340 ipm, so I'm going to use that for now, leaving room in my driver case to swap it out for a larger transformer later in case Tim Taylor pops by to visit :)

Anyways, that's where I'm at and basically how I got there.

Hope it helps,

Steve

Steve
Thanks so much for the help & education.
Looks like I need to go back to the drawing board!

Dean at Axxus Technologies is also the insperation of my endevor.
Ditto on him deserving the credit

The 20amp fiqure came from a reply to the "My Cheap servos thread "from Jeff at Home CNC, subbmited after he tested the servos I am using.
Perhps Jeff can sound in if he is following.
I could have misunderstood completly.
He has been alot of help also.


I plan on using a 400 mhz pute and getting the US Digital E2 with a 250 CPR wheel encoder.
How does a guy find the step pulse rate of his set up ?

Thanks to all
Bill

H i Steve
I live in Abbotsford. East end..................................Jim

Hi Bill,

I would double check the specs on your motors, are they the 360 oz.in. motors that Jeff is selling? If they are, then they should be OK if you build a power supply to provide them their full 20A ea.

I would go with Jeff's advice, he seems pretty knowledgeable, and I'm still a newbie in the servo area.

I use a seperate piece of hardware to generate step pulses, which is rated at 35kHz. If you are going to use a parallel port pulsing program like Mach2 I think you should get 25kHz with a 400MHz computer, check the documentation with the software.

I am going to try Mach2 on my 4x8 table when I get to that stage, it looks like it can do everything, and from what I've read on this site it's pretty solid. The screens seem a little cluttered, but I think there is a utility to design your own screens.

Steve

Hi Steve

Thanks for the reply
Yes I do have the same motors that Jeff is selling.
There were diffrent spec's published on these servos.
Jeff did do some real testing. His spec should be accurate.

I too want to try the Mach2 controller .
Perhaps a guy should start with the step pulse rate he can get to
determine his RPM and figure back from there.

Thaks again Steve for all the help
Hope I can help you & others on the forum someday.

Bill

Hi,

I have done a little more work on my table, after taking a break for a while. Actually I discovered the screen designer and macro capabilities in Mach2 and have been obsessing on that.
Here is a photo of my control panel. It will probably end up mounted an an articulated arm with a 15" LCD monitor. The switch in the middle of the top selects which accessory, the dust collector, mist coolant or nothing gets power along with the spindle. It saves me from having to remember which codes to put in the program. I need to re-print the keycaps, the ones in the picture were for Flashcut. The joystick is a microswitch unit from an arcade machine, the switches are connected to the bottom row of the keypad. I removed the keys from the bottom row which is hidden under the panel. The keypad is USB, so I have been toying with the idea of installing a compact flash card reader in the panel to load files from, and the reader and keypad could share the same cable back to the PC.

Steve

Here's another picture. I just got another Z slide like the one on my 2x2 table, only this one has 8" travel instead of 6". eBay is great for stuff like this. I machined a 6" x 6.5" x 1.75" block of aluminum to mount the slide to the bearings on the gantry. It took several hours on my 2x2 table, but I managed to reduce its weight from 7.5 lbs to 3.5 lbs. 4 lbs of aluminum makes a lot of chips :) The motor on the Z axis is a dual shaft stepper I was originally going to use with a handwheel for setting material height. I have since changed my mind, and found the extra shaft an excellent place to display antenna balls :)

Steve

Hi Steve

Very very professional looking! First class pendant.
The excitement must be building.
It is a treat to view the new posts.
The flash card reader would be a cool addition.
Did you get the Z–slide from E-bay?
How is the power transformer & drives coming along?
Do you like the Mach 2 software? Is the macro language VBA?

Please keep posting the pics and info. We are following closely

Thanks
Bill

Hi Bill,

The Z slide was on eBay. I found one when I was building my 2x2 router that has 6" of travel. This one has 8" of travel after removing the glass scale linear encoder. The ad on eBay said 6" travel, so I thought it was identical to the first one, it was a pleasant surprise to find 2" extra travel. I have changed my table frame design slightly to allow for 2" more clearance under the gantry.
I bought a toroid on eBay with 12A @ 42VAC and 4A @ 24VAC, so I am going to have 12A @ 60VDC available for X & Y motors, and 4A @ 34VDC for Z. I have a couple of 7A 450oz.in. steppers that I am going to try to use before going with servos, as I have drivers on my 2x2 that I can use and I'm trying to keep the cost of this thing from skyrocketing. Once I get it running and generating income I will upgrade to servo if it is warranted. I feel more comfortable with familiar technology at least until I get the mechanics working, then I can experiment with servos. Maybe I'll convert the 2x2 first, I don't know.
Mach2 is great, I haven't actually spun any motors with it, but I am confident that it will perform well, as I have heard nothing but good reviews about it. The screen designer and macro capabilities are fantastic, but they take some getting used to. You can do almost anything with it, if you approach it the right way (or one of the right ways.) It is VB language, although not everything in VB works with it because of the real-time nature of the pulse engine (my understanding from what I've read on the Yahoo forum.)
I skipped past Master5 (Mach2's predecessor) when I was looking for software for my 2x2 and ended up getting Flashcut, which works very well, but cost way too much compared to Mach2.

Steve

Steve

Roger on going with the steppers for now
Mach 2 having VB macro capabilities is very exciting.
I have written some VB applications. It is rewarding.
The possibilities are endless!
Thanks again for the info.

Bill

How many ounce steppers did you use on your first machine?

Hi

X and Y are 150 OzIn single stack Nema 34, Z is 120 OzIn double stack Nema 23. All are directly coupled to 5 TPI ballscrews. X and Y run on 75V 4A each, Z runs on 28V 2A.

Steve

After a few months of other pursuits, I have finally started working on my 4x8 table again. I still don't have the base designed, but I have finished the frame, and have started bolting down the vacuum table. The frame is made from 4x2x1/4 alum structural channel bolted together with 2x2x1/4 alum angle in the corners. The top is 6x2x1/8 architectural tubing with T-Slot 1020 extrusion between each tube for clamping if required. I will seal the ends of the tubes and mount ball valves to each tube and to a manifold made from 3x3x1/2 ABS reducing tees attached to a regenerative blower to provide the vacuum. Hopefully I will have a base designed and built in the next few weeks so I can mount my gantry and start the process of shimming and tweaking and fine tuning the linear motion.

Steve

That's a niffty way of making your bed, should be nice and stiff too.

Graham

These photos show the vacuum manifold completed. Now I just need to seal the ends of the 6x2 aluminum tubes, and perforate the tops (done last using the router), connect the manifold to the intake of a regenerative blower, and I'll have a vacuum hold-down table.

Steve

is there anyway you could maybe contact me and give me some info as to cost and design? ive been looking for nearly 2 years now and i love your router, best looking one ive seen anywhere, and the size seems perfect for my small condo, please let me know thanks
s_bedow@comcast.net
s_Bedow@hotmail.com

How did you bolt all the table pieces (width) together?

Thanks
Hager

How did you bolt all the table pieces (width) together?

Thanks
Hager

I've been trying to figure that out too. I'm sure its something simple that I'm going to kick myself for not figuring out...

I'm guessing that he drilled through each piece in several places along the length and used all thread to bolt it all together.
Hager

If you look at the above pic on the right in full size you can see protrusions in the tubes.

My guess is that they are bolted only on the ends. ???

Hi,
I've been away for a while.
I attached one piece of t-slot to one 6x2 tube, using #10 self tapping sm screws, repeated the process 7 times, and then mounted the 8 assemblies to the frame. One tube had 2 pieces of t-slot attached. Each piece of t-slot is only attached to one tube. I had a base built out of steel tube and attached the gantry. I was surprised at how well it slides on the gantry, I thought I would be tweaking and shimming for days, but it worked first try. There is still lots of work to be done, but it's getting closer.

SA

That is one impressive machine!! Good looking smaller one in the background too.

What type of work are you planning for the big machine? With the low-clearance, I am guessing sign work?

The clearance under the gantry is 3.5" , I am planning to use the machine primarily for sign work, 2" foam would be the thickest material.

SA