Nate's G0704

[Mad Welder]

Yeah and as Starleper1 said "they are actually improving the mills here and there" so that can only be a good thing for us.....

[691175002]

All I want to do is hold a .005" tolerance, is it really necessary to scrape these guys flat and possibly replace the gibs to do so? I don't want to do all this work and then have it warp out of whack again 6 months down the road.

Mine could definitely hold 0.005" without any mods, but fixing the gibs should only take half an hour with some wet dry sandpaper and a flat surface.

Most of these problems have an impact of less than 2 thou so you will be fine unless you go to the very ends of the table.

If you are flipping a part to machine both sides things may get harder though since most of the issues affect the Z so the error will get doubled.

[jeazor]

Nice pics, I just picked up my G0704 this week at Grizzlys Pennsylvanias warehouse. When I was in there I seen about 30 G0704's sitting there getting ready to ship out, none for stock all sold they said. I also do gunsmithing work and cant wait to get my mill up and running.
James

[Nater]

Us noobs aren't worried TOO much about holding tolerances...at this point I'll be happy when I get to cutting metal and can hold to within' .10" by hand. Now when I get around to doing CNC, I couldn't definitely see going after the gibs as..691175002..(lol, nice nick) suggested. It'd be a simple and cheap way to see if you make any headway before tackling the rest of the machine (if necessary). Shouldn't be too expensive of a part to replace if you screw it up as well.

Crazy seeing these new build threads blow up so fast, hope I can keep up with you guys - posting in mine and following everyone elses.

*edit*

Meant .01". Doh!

[DRock]

So check and sand the gibs...I will put that on my list of stuff to do. If any of you decide to scrape or improve your ways I would be very thankful if you took pictures and explained the process.

I want to learn the process so that I can possibly do it on mine, not sure if it is necessary to hold off only .005" though...

[hive8]

Nate, just wondering if you know what you are going to use for electronics and stepper or servos...

[691175002]

Don't want to hijack the thread too much, but here is a quick before and after overview of the gibs. I decided to try lapping the gibs to see if it would make a major difference.

Before and after:

Tighting that bottom gib is like jamming three nails into your ways.


I got lazy and left the back in pretty poor shape since I am going to finish the job later. I just used some 400 grit sandpaper.

It made a much bigger difference than I expected, pretty much all the error was cut in half and the machine looks like it can hold 1-1.5 thou over the table. It is much more rigid as well.

[Nater]

I just used some 400 grit sandpaper.

It made a much bigger difference than I expected, pretty much all the error was cut in half and the machine looks like it can hold 1-1.5 thou over the table. It is much more rigid as well.

What'd you use to to stay flat while you were sanding? Did you fix the gib and move the paper or fix the paper and move the gib? Devil is in the details!

I wonder if I could get away with using the coarse sanding sponge I used to grind out the rest of the sand that was on my base. It's pretty square & flat, just not rigid..

[691175002]

What'd you use to to stay flat while you were sanding? Did you fix the gib and move the paper or fix the paper and move the gib? Devil is in the details!

I wonder if I could get away with using the coarse sanding sponge I used to grind out the rest of the sand that was on my base. It's pretty square & flat, just not rigid..

I laid my sheet of sandpaper on a piece of glass and slid the gib across it. I also tried to keep the pressure even, it can be easy to overdo the edges and end up convex.

It isn't particularly critical though, the original surface is so bad that pretty much anything will improve it.

[Nater]

Nate, just wondering if you know what you are going to use for electronics and stepper or servos...

I tried attaching an Excel file I made while researching. I haven't purchased anything on the CNC section yet, as it was just preliminary, but its pretty close to what I'll end up going with I think. If I remember correctly it's laid out almost exactly like Hoss's Heavy Duty Package, but with the digital drivers. As such it has a weaker Z-axis motor I believe, but as I move along I want to work in the bigger one just cause. I have no interest in becoming an electrician too, enough on my plate, so I was glad to see quick & easy ethernet connectivity.

[Nater]

I laid my sheet of sandpaper on a piece of glass and slid the gib across it. I also tried to keep the pressure even, it can be easy to overdo the edges and end up convex.

It isn't particularly critical though, the original surface is so bad that pretty much anything will improve it.

I can dig it. Just like back in the day overclocking my Duron 600 to 1Ghz, before AMD or Intel even broke the barrier (officially). Had to lap the CPU heatsink by wet sanding on a mirror.

[hive8]

I looked over your Excel file looks pretty good, what i do on my mill is add a smoothstepper, i see more and more that i eliminates the problems of the parallel port... also i use a stronger stepper for the Z axis based on the Hoss Heavy Digital Package...