New member....Hi!

[Kehla]

Hello all, I don't know anyone yet but I have done a bit of reading.
I want to build a CNC rig to use at home. Why? Pass!
I am sure I will find a use for it. I built a TIG welder and that works great. Haven't used it much either but I will someday......
Kehla is my handle here, it means 'old man' in Zulu. I don't feel it....

So I am thinking of building a small unit with heavy duty drawer slides and NEMA type 23 motors. I can use 8mm Metric threaded bar for the twists and a piece of Kitchen counter top for the base....
I may cut the sides of the gantry out of some 10mm Al plate, drill and tap etc. I will need some help from you guys I am sure, and will try to help in return as I can.

Wish me luck..... Cheers.

[elwoodbeauchamp]

Hi Kehla,

Welcome to the Club.

My name is Woody (Elwood) and I'm sure you will develop quite a few solid friendships here before long. I fond the forum a few years ago, by a member, now a very dear friend. I have a history of Machinist/Tool & Die Maker for quite a few years and found the CNCZone to be a great comfort now that I am retired and no longer crankin' handles.

I spent the last years of my career building Specialized Machinery and traveling abroad to install and startup each of them. One example, a folding and socking machine to fold Side Curtain Airbag bladders (the kind in your vehicle).

Enough about the past. I know machines and machine components on the mechanical side and only some of the electrical side.

I now collect and repackage all sort of machine items and tools as well as the occasional baseball bat, tooth paste, automobile parts and assorted odds and ends, and mail or ship them to folks around the globe. I have quite a few folks here in the Zone that I send packages to quite regularly.

If you need any items from the USA, and the vendor won't accept your credit card or ship directly to you, please refer to the following link I posted and if I can be of assistance, drop me a note.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74803

Any way...Welcome!

May your Tools remain Sharp and your Finishes be Smooth!

Woody

[coolantman]

Nice to meet you Kehla. I'm pretty new to the forum as well, only a few months. I have learned a great deal just buy reading. I think its amazing how people with a drive and some knowledge can come up with some of the most exciting and realistic ideas and solutions.

Everyone is very helpful here.
I work for a chemical manufacturing company and I will be glad to help you with any question you may have regarding coolant, oils, and any other metalworking fluid issue that may come up weather it's, performance, health, and/or recommendations.

I'm sure you will learn some things even the most experienced engineers don't know.

-Coolantman
EnviroServe Chemicals, Inc.
(910) 892-1791

[Kehla]

Elwoodbeauchamp.
Thanks for your welcome. I want to build a machine that will fill teabags with something else for a patent but don't know where to start. I may come back to you later for some help with that one if its O.K. with you.....I might make my fortune yet....you never know!
I reckon a CNC will be of some use.
Cheers and thanks, Kehla

[Kehla]

Hey Coolantman,
Thanks for that. There are an amazing variety of talents and skills here. Some very bright bunnys and I have been astounded by the abilities displayed.
I hope my CNC will be "up to standard". Its not just a thing you can throw together. I have already decided that the drawer slides are not good enough for what I want and I will build mine with flat steel and aluminium blocked bearings like at www.cncrouterparts.com .
I am looking at bigger stepper motors too and want to drive them off of a nice home built PSU. (My background in in Electronics...old school analogue mostly, but some digital now......Have to keep learning.)
Thanks for the welcome.
Cheers, Kehla
(BTW its pronounced "keshla" just in case anyone was wondering.)

[elwoodbeauchamp]

Originally Posted by Kehla Elwoodbeauchamp. Thanks for your welcome. I want to build a machine that will fill teabags with something else for a patent but don't know where to start. I may come back to you later for some help with that one if its O.K. with you.....I might make my fortune yet....you never know! I reckon a CNC will be of some use. Cheers and thanks, Kehla

Hi Kehla,

Yes, you may ask me for my thoughts whenever about whatever. I was a Special Instructor in the US Navy and enjoy "Picking Brains" whenever possible.

Your machine...will it be hand operated or automated? Right off, if Hand operated, perhaps a shotgun shell reloader will give you the precise measure you desire and can be purchased for a song, compared to building a similar device. I was an avid shooter in my day, and I reloaded my own shells...a few hundred at a time, between shoots. There are various sizes and many "x" grams per load sizes of load dies. Nice size hopper to hold probably 100 - 200 tea bags worth of herb or whatever.

Well, I'll be here if needed.

Best regards,

Woody

[Kehla]

Hmmm, Automated I think.
Shotgun reloader...I have not seen one. Sounds interesting.
I know where to buy the material and of course I have the product already. I will check it out and see if I can find one to look at. Surely they would not be too hard to automate........

I am ex Navy too (South African Navy). I was a diver with demolitions training, a bit like your 'Seals'. We had an 1st world defense force in those days.....Now I am in Australia.

Cheers and thanks again.
Kehla

[cnc spook]

Hi Kehla im a new member also. you built a TIG ay! nice i would like to know more.....

[Kehla]

Hi cncspook,
I had an old stick welder and wanted to take some rust out of my car....needed something a little less violent.
I found a second hand hose and handpiece for a TIG and rented a bottle of Argon.(you can't buy them here.)
The welding side of my stick welder transformer was rectified with four huge diodes (from an electro plating company) with a finned heatsink and computer fan to keep it cool.
I used a solenoid valve with foot switch (from an old electric organ)for the argon supply and I made a high voltage starter from a neon sign transformer with a point gap system to reduce the current, and a high voltage capacitor to isolate the supply. (1nf 15000v)
I wound about 12 turns of battery charger cable around a ferrite core to superimpose the HV onto the welding cable and another foot switch to turn it on so that it is off while welding......it bites.
Its all in a aluminium box with another fan to remove the ozone generated at the points gaps....ozone eats rubber very quickly so I needed to keep it away from the rubber coated cables. The points gaps are a set of four car spark plugs set up in series and screwed into a heatsink. They share the load as the HV jumps across all four. It makes a nice rushing sound and gives out a great ultraviolet glow.
I can still use the welder as a stick type for really heavy jobs by just fitting the normal handle and leaving the argon valve closed. The high voltage starter doesnt work as well with the stick as it does with the TIG though.
It looks very complicated in there, but is really quite simple.
The whole thing cost about $250.00 (a good second hand one starts at about $850.00) I want to add some pulsing DC options later but need to use 'H bridges' (Transistor switches) and they are very costly to buy.......
I think there is quite a lot on Google if you want to have a look around.
Just enter "DIY tig welder". (the car alternator ideas are not the way to go!)
Here is a really great site. This is a lot like mine but mine does not have the pulsing set up yet.
http://www3.telus.net/public/a5a26316/TIG_Welder.html
Cheers. Kehla
Maybe this should be on another thread....called "DIY TIG" by Kehla?

[cnc spook]

mean that sounds pretty cool how did you find out how to do this ? are you a sparky of some kind ?

[Kehla]

Electronic engineering for 40 odd years and a lot of mechanical 'tool' shop experience. Never stop learning....its all out there!
Cheers, Kehla