Hi all,
Well, I'm kind of new around here, been lurking for months. The great machines here has inspired me to build my own. So here are the specs:
Moving gantry, 48 x 32 table
34 x 24 x 5.5 envelope, Porter-Cable 1 3/4HP router.
3 214oz/in Pac Sci Powermax II driving 1/2 10 Acme lead screws with Delrin AB nuts.
3 Embeddedtronic microstepping chopper drives running the steppers in series bipolar.
30A 30V PSU (3 10A 24VAC frame transformers, 1 per motor).
Igus Drylin W40 doubles for the X axis, rollerblade bearings and harden 1" shafts for the Y, W singles at 6" apart for the Z.
The gantry is built of 1010 and 1020 X beams from 8020, with 1/8" alum gusset plates.
Don't beat me up too much, but my camera is C*&p! Don't stare too long or you'll go blind. that said, here are some Pixs.

Here is the back of the Y axis carriage. rollerblade bearings on harden 1" shaft. No lead screw yet.

Here is the shaft mount. 1/2" PVC

The front of the Z axis. The Drylin bearings were a sample I requested 12" of W40mm, then cut down the middle and mounted 6" apart. Had to build up the height between the Z back plate and the spindle mounting plate to make room for the lead screw. used 1" x .375" flat bar.

Here is the Z axis with the router mounted.

this is the top of the Z, awaiting the stepper mount.

Here is a view of the gantry frame

Here is the PSU. a 10A transformer per axis. It's built in a old PC case. The drivers will mount on the other side by the drive bay.

I've been ordering parts for about a month, Enco and McMaster-Carr knows my shipping address well ;) I've been building for about 2 weeks now, working from the Z down. I hope to spin up my Z stepper by next weekend. More to follow!
Bill

Do the 1" y-axis shafts deflect at all? To me that seems to be the biggest problem with both the rollerblade bearing designs, and the Thompson style unsupported linear bearings.

I haven't checked with a dial indicator, but it doen't seem to. To tell the truth that was the first axis I built and if I were to start over I would use the Drylin system. It works well so I'll leave it for now.
Bill

awww. jealousy.. cant wait till i get there...

my 40" Y axis linear bearing is in the mail... now i just need another zillion dollars of high end linear components, and ill be set.

keep te pics comming!

"40" Y", your building a brute! Can't wait to see it :)
Bill

radio-op sorta.. i want a 36x36x8

i want the 8" to be sorta "reconfigurable" so i can add more axis later..

i got a sweet deal on an NSK 36" double wide with 2 bearings.


$50+20shipping


i hate shipping charges...

Adjustable Z, sound interesting. Are you planning for a 4th axis? (Thats what I'm lusting after)
Great deal on the bearings, I hear you on those shipping charges! I wish there was a mega warehouse with all kinds of goodies right next door, maby I my next life!

i got a sweet deal on an NSK 36" double wide with 2 bearings.

Man, I thought I got a good deal last week on my 19" THK's. $41 +$9 shipping. Nice catch ;)

there are these 11.5inch 2 rails and 2 bearings THK rails that keep being up. apparently someone has a bunch of them. i will prolly get these for a Z axis.. having all these nice components will make the machine go together so much better than trying to use rollerblade crap

Bill..
Great machine...I'm partial to those trapezoidal plates on the gantry columns.....gives a nice appearance plus the rigidity....Ooo...want a machine like yours!

P.S. where did you get your three power transformers nicely nestled in the CPU case?

Bloy, the transformers came from Alltronics, about $10 apeice if I remember right. 10A +-12 center tapped secondary. Was going to go with a toriodal but wanted to cut costs. I'm not sure if there will be interaction between the cores as close as they are, I tried to space them as much a possible. So I'll let you know how it turns out once I finish up the wiring.
Got more progress to post in the next few days.
Bill

Congrats Bill,

Tell us? how long do you figger you've spent on your beast and does your wife still talk to you ;-)

Seriously I'm amazed at the degree of stick-to-it-ness shown by the people in this group, not to mention the sheer volume of talent (yourself included).

Here in Canada, it not only the shipping charges... we also have to pay to have the customs paperwork processed... and GST (taxes) on top of that.

Thanks Gary. I've been building for about 2-3 weeks so far, but add a few months of reading the great threads here and that monster thread on R-C Groups, that one really fired me up; its all your fault Balsaman;) and your site is great! You really put alot of good info into it, thank you!
As for my wife, she's used to my hanging out in my shop; she's a robot widow!
Bill

Thanks Gary. I've been building for about 2-3 weeks so far, but add a few months of reading the great threads here and that monster thread on R-C Groups, that one really fired me up; its all your fault Balsaman;) and your site is great! You really put alot of good info into it, thank you!
As for my wife, she's used to my hanging out in my shop; she's a robot widow!
Bill