hi,

i would like to thank everyone on this forum for their help and knowledge.

so i have decided to post my pics of my buildup, i am now ready for the barrage of missle fire and have raised my protective sheilds. hence your words cant hurt me :cool:

anyway all in fun , i would like some input on errors in my misjudgment ect and will keep posting pics. thanks again

tim

PS I AM HAVING GEARING CONCEPT TROUBLE WILL POST PIC

i have a quick question when referring to another persons machine is it ok to use the picture they provided on the furum?

Hi Tim,
Looks like a great start you have on your machine! :)

Several others are using chain drive systems with good results as well.
Most pictures are posted here for public use, but you could ask the member if you are concerned.

Keep up the fine work. I'll look forward to following your progress as you post more information & photos.

thanks i'll post more pics tonight, if u noticed i did your liear rail :wee:

thanks for all the post and buildup pictures you gave

well heres somemore pics of my

homebrew bearing blocks (pipe with bearing inside)

homemade motor mount on bandsaw

little more of project finished

everything i build is from a drill press,bandsaw,plasma cutter, welder

thanks for the input everyone

looks like it will come together all right. What motors are you going to drive it with? I take it you are single driving all axis? Keep up the good work!

if u noticed i did your rail
thanks for all the post and buildup pictures you gave
Yes, I noticed, glad they helped you. :cool:

Nice work on those rails, adjusters, & bearings!

Your photos & posts are sure to inspire others to begin their creations.

well it moves yippppiiieeee:wee:

i am on cloud nine

still tweaking and getting ideas through my head.

i got it set up and i tell it to move one inch and wamo one inch but when i tell it to move one step it move .0040 of an inch and at 1000 steps per inch then it should be .001 right??? i still have alot of things to do so i fugure it will work out

i have a different idea for tensioning

istead of useing the spring where i did like some have i am thinking of using another sprocket on the gantry that will put tension down to remove slack and tenion that way the chaing will be tensioned but not streched to do so i will include a pic of explanantion, again any input is sweet thanks again

tim

here is the pic of adjust that would put tension on chain downward and the spring involved would allow contant tension of slack in chain without stetching chain excessivlely

what do ya think??

here is the pic of adjust that would put tension on chain downward
what do ya think??
The existing tensioner should suit the purpose. Lengthing the chain & shortening the threaded rod might allow an increase in you useable table space.
Addition of the sprocket, bolt, & spring would also seem to work as an alternative tensioner.

I am really diggin' the suitcase, by the way. That is killer!

the case was 2 dollars at the local junk store, the had like 30 of the so i bought a couple more for shop tools, felt kinda like the unabomber building it but it functions and has a door :) the case was 2 dollars the fans 2 a piece and the supply for the fans 5 dollars and the switch ect came to like 2-3 bucks it moves alot of air with it shut

thanks for looking

timmyb

hey messab the motors are the from the xylotex kit 497 oz i kept pricing stuff separetly and with shipping even on ebay used came to more so i bought the kit:p

:cheers: Hey, not complaining or critiquing, just noticing. I have to say I got a kick out of it. My chain drive setup is encased in a spare circuit breaker box I found at the scrap yard. Cheap is great, free is better. I still give it A+

Haha, messab. Good one.

im sorry i was typing to fast, thanks for lookin at my machine, any input from anyone would be greatly appreciated. again i am sorry i miss typed your name


timmyb

sorry about miss typing your name, i am stocked about the interest in my build, thanks for replying and any input will always be appreciated

timmyb

:cheers: Hey, not complaining or critiquing, just noticing. I have to say I got a kick out of it. My chain drive setup is encased in a spare circuit breaker box I found at the scrap yard. Cheap is great, free is better. I still give it A+

your chain drive is encased?

could you post me a pic i am sorta concerend about getting my shirt caught in the chain or actually all the nosy people at my shop :)

:cheers: No, I meant to say the drives and everything are encased. My chains are out in the breeze. I haven't gotten caught up in it yet, of course, it would take a hell of a lot of speed to rapid the machine fast enough to snag any clothing. I can get upwards of 500 IPM, but I usually cut around 20-40 IPM with my torch. A plasma would be double the speed, but that is still not much of an industrial accident waiting to happen. Mcmaster-Carr sells a chain encaser. Another option would be some 4x4 16 ga square tube with one side cut out. I might eventually encase mine, but I really don't worry about it that much.:p

[QUOTE=timmyb199;201005]here is the pic of adjust that would put tension on chain downward and the spring involved would allow contant tension of slack in chain without stetching chain excessivlely



Your chain idea will work but the problem is it will take a certain amount of tension to keep chain tight lets say 200 lbs so regardless what method is used the chain will sill need 200 lbs of tension in the chain, as far as stretching the chain you would probably break it before it stretch much and if the chain gets longer it will be from wear not stretching . Number 35 chain has working load of about 500 lbs and breaking point of 2,400 lbs.

hey guys, been a while table is almost done, will take pics tomorrow , but a new developement has caught my eye, i have a chance to get two vertical mills for next to nothing, ill post pics , any input on these would be great the bridgeport is 3 phase so iduno what i will do there any way catcha later, i dont know much about these mills, i just know i have been looking for one the green oe is real old as is the bridgeport but they both funcion and for hobby use i would think they will surfice. but again any input at all is more than appreciated

timmyb

:banana:

I'd go with the Bridgeport. Easier to operate, parts availability, & probably upgradeable (DRO).

thanks mas

the great price is getting worse but i am told the bridgeport is used but the "mechanis" there says it sounds real good and the ways move very smoothly, i am hoping for the bridgeport

will keep everyone posted and will post more pics of the plasma tomorrow

Hobby use? Dear gawd. I would hate to see what an industrial mill looks like in your eyes, then! Congratulations on that find, if you ever need to toss out one of those "hobby" mills, give me a shout!

ok been a while and i have promised more pics so here we go, missed the bridgeport grrrrrrr i will have to keep looking, well here is and update on my plasma/router (wood is cheaper to practice cut) i figure if it will cut wood then ill be in on metal. well any input is sweet, i am not happy with my makeshift z axis and need to buy some good parts but so far i have bee very happy with everything else so far


thanks
tim

Tim
Thanks for the update.
Looks as if you'll be making sawdust pretty soon.
What control software are you using, & do you have any rapid speeds determined yet?
WT

Tim

well i cut something last night I will post it, it worked far beter than i thought it would. my z is crappy. as for rapids if motor tuning is reliable it seems to be able to go 250ipm plus without stalling. ill check today to be shure. i am using mach 3 and really like it so far, plus it was in my price range. i dont know what to use for plasma , i will be mainly building brakets ect. i thought about sheetcam and have messed around with it but find it kinda hard to use at first, i love vcarve and hope to get it soon, i have some project that could help pay for my table, but its like 500 bucks so it will probably be a while,well ill keep things posted rather readily now, i have been busy with my mechaic shop lately.what software do u use, i have coral draw 10 but i can't get cricle to show up on mach3 dxf program. i have autocad also but wow its ben a while since i used that. for plasma i would like to just say draw a circle in autocad sae it and import into mach3 if possible, anyway the bullshead is a free carving in vcarve, i used a 1/2inch 90 degree v bit, had to slow the speed down to 30 percent cause my table needs some more support, it appears my motors can stop and go and damn near shake my table apart. i plan on making a drop in grate for plasma cutting and the board thats there now just pulls out so i can use the machine more. ok will post somemore later thanks

tim

Try the tutorials for Sheetcam if you haven't allready, for plasma, it just doesn't get any better than Sheetcam for the price.
Direct dxf import into Mach 3 is very simple, but it can be sensitive about line weights and poly lines sometimes. What are you using for CAD? I recommend trying the demo for DCAD, www.dcad.com very easy to use, I use it on my torch table all day long. Very easy learning curve, too.
You also can get a Gcode converter like Aceconverter, which converts DXF to Gcode (available at www.dakeng.com for free) and open the resulting code in Mach. You will then have to modify your Gcode by hand, which is why I highly recommend Sheetcam. Once you process the part in sheetcam, I hardly ever have to modify the code. Hope this helps. PM me if you need any help with Sheetcam or your CAD

For perfect DXF export from CorelDraw (ver 12 or later) to SheetCAM that brings across all of the internal Corel objects (Circles, Ellipses, Text, etc) as true Arcs (not line segments) see:

http://www.candcnc.com/DXFToolDetails.htm

hi guys thanks for the replies, how much is sheet cam again? i have the demo loaded and have been messing with it now. the software i currently have is as follows

microsoft paint (yippie ) (nuts)

autocad 2005 (learning it but the last cad i used was in high school) :stickpoke

mach 3 (this thing rocks) IMHO :wee:

corel draw 10 (know how to use it but cant get mach3 to covert circles):withstupi


DEMOS I HAVE INSTALLED

V CARVE PRO (Really like it can't buy it yet though ):(

SHEETCAM (Trying to learn now that machine is operable will try again)

G-Code it

Vector engineer

well there ya go, now lets say i want to cut a square with plasma, what is the route you would take with what i have???

thanks guys

tim

wow d cad is cheap. thanks massajames

gonna download the demo, how do you nest your parts or do you nest?


thanks agin

Go to http://www.FourhillsDesigns.com. Commercial decorative plasma cutting using:

CorelDraw 12 ->DXFTool ->SheetCAM->Mach3

If you want to cut squares then simple CAD works fine but more decorative stuff with text and "artsy" stuff, cries out for a drawing tool like CorelDraw rather than pure CAD.

In Corel 10 use the "convert to curves" tool on internal objects like circles and text prior to export. DXF export (and PLT export) are both pretty broken in Corel 10.

Actually Corel 9 works better than 10 for using their export filters. The HPGL export in 9 to SHeetCAM works perfectly but all objects will be segmented (no arcs). We used that format for almost 3 years and the last 2 with SheetCAM.

There is a lot more to successful plasma cutting than just hooking up an XY table and a torch but most builders don't find that out until after the fact.

Tom Caudle
www.CandCNC.com
www.FourhillsDesigns.com

.....well there ya go, now lets say i want to cut a square with plasma, what is the route you would take with what i have???

thanks guys

tim

I would either input G code with the Mach3 MDI screen, or better yet draw it in any CAD program and inport it as DXF file.

hi just used a square ass an example thanks for all the inputs i am trying sheetcam now thanks again

Dcad only does manual nesting, not automatic. Auto nesting is kinda expensive, check with Bobcad/cam on that, but be ready to spend 1000 + for nesting.
In Dcad, go to the select toolbar section, select what you want to copy. Now go over and click on copy, then click on move part in the select toobar. Place it next to the old part. You can make as many as you want this way, and also rotate and flip parts. There is also a mirror feature, if you draw half a part, and want a mirror image, you would select copy, then mirror. If you hold the cursor over each selection, it will tell you what it it.
Most of the copy functions can be achieved in Sheetcam. Oh, Sheetcam is 159.00 I believe. You can either copy, duplicate, flip, etc. in Dcad, or Sheetcam, though I recommend doing it in Sheetcam.

well life has gotten the better of me, business has been horible lately and i might have to close my doors, not real happy, anyway i found a new cad program that is free


just go to

emachineshop.com

its free and apparently is cool

let me know what u thnk

Sorry to hear that. What kind of work does your shop do?
Any progress on the cnc?

i own a mechanic shop and a small car dealership, the mechanic shop business has dropped off almost in half, i used to employ 5 guys now itd down to 2 and well should be lower, been advertising more than i ever have, and the dealership is lagging but not as bad as the mechaic shop, may have to drop the mechaic shop, well anyway enough about me

onto the table

it is almost complete i have been wanting to paint it before i posted more pics, i atleast want this thread to have a good ending, it has been wood routing great, my side projects, 48ford streetrod, 55 caddilac, and a freinds chopper have been sidlined so no metal cutting as of yet. been thinking of other business options, i did autobody for 6 years before and enjoy it more than what i am currently doing, been thinking of taking all my donuts and putting towards one grand project of my abilities and hope to open another shop, but the risk i high but the reward personally and business wise good be good. it appears in life i have found that too much of my time has been spent on profit and not necessarily happiness, i think its time to be happy again, well anyway sorry about hijacking the tread with non cnc related things, will keep on track from now forward, thanks to everyone who messaged me good luck it was a very nice surprise.

sincerely tim

I appreciate your posting the information on your table build. Looking forward to the pictures of the completed project.

I am currently building long travel sand rails. Fairly successful so far. I'm 63 years old and this is my forth try at self employment. I always seemed to try on an economic down turn. This time I did better. In short, never give up.

Personally, I enjoy the freedom.

Mike

Well it has been aong time, just wanted to say hi and will finally try to post some pics ect.
thanks again
tim

Hi Tim,

Good to have yo uaround again.

Tony

what gear ratio did you use on this table from motor to drive shaft on x and y

what gear ratio did you use on this table from motor to drive shaft on x and y

In most cases it's pretty common to find between 3:1 & 4:1 initial reduction from your stepper motor to your final drive.

Inital reduction will depend on what your final means of transfering the power to the table.

It can get confusing. I'll try to give you an example. The #'s are not exact in this example. just trying to give you an idea.

If using rack & pinion: If you use a 1" pitch diameter pinion. 1 turn of the pinion shaft is going to move your axis 3.142 inches. So if you have a 3:1 inital reduction you are going to end up with slightly more than 1" of movement for every turn of the motor shaft. In my opinion still a lot faster than necessary for a plasma table.

With using sprockets & chain You are not going to get away with a 1" pitch dia. sprocket. Just guessing here but more like 2" or larger. A 2" sprocket will give you somewhere in the neighborhod of 3 1/8" of movement for every 1 turn of the motor, using the same 3:1 inital reduction.

If you are going to use chain drive you need to see what's accessable to you in chain & sprockets. Then decide on a suitable belt or gear reduction off the motor.

Depending on material you are wanting to cut, how heavy your gantry is, how much friction is in your drive sysrem. Will somewhat determine your gearing. You will also have to keep your speeds in a range your selected steppers can realistically, start, slow down, & change directions without loosing steps

I really haven't priced chain, sprockets, bearings & the shafting to hook all of it together. I'd check all that out & weigh it against the price of rack & pinion. There will be way less friction to overcome with R&P & allow the use of smaller motors or achieve more speed, if you need speed.

You will have to decide what's best for you. There are a few workable answers to driving a table. Each have Pros & Cons.

Hope this helps.

Neil

I will check, And hey tony thatnks for the reply, kudos on the new software enhancements. I highly recomend people check into vectric software. They are the best. I got my gear ratios written down somwhere. Ill post this week. Anymore questions just ask

Tim