My 8020 router build

[RicknBeachcrest]

It's been a while since I have posted anything here. I have been working on a variety of CNC related items as time permits. Seems building one of these machines is never a straight path.

I've come to the conclusion that a lot of what I will be using this machine for will be kind of one-offs (or maybe two). So I have made myself a spoil-board that can be easily mounted to the table surface using the toggle clamps and T-slots in the table's surface. I will put T-nuts in the spoil-board, when and where needed. And I will be using the hold-downs, that I show here, to hold the work to the router. I use a 10-32 socket cap screw to attach the hold-down to the T-nut in the spoil-board.

It takes about 3 1/2 minutes to make one hold-down.

Here is a short video clip of the making of this hold-down.


Rick

[RicknBeachcrest]

Here are some pictures of the hold-downs (in action)

[RicknBeachcrest]

This has been something I have been putting off for a while. My problem was finding a probe (tool) that was none-conductive that I could use to turn the trim pot (potentiometer). The holes in the G540 are very small (as is the trim pot), so I didn't have a clue what size of tool I was looking for.

I emailed GeckoDrive and Marcus replied
"What revision of the G540 do you have? If this is a model other than the newer REV8 you can remove the cover to see the trimpots while adjusting them. The trimpots are on each individual G250 drive inside and you can verify that you are making good contact with them with the cover removed."

I sent the version and received the following reply in a day or so.
"You can remove the cover by prying it apart. The drive is held together by tension alone, so it is not difficult to take it apart."

And that is what I did. If you ever wanted to see the inside of a G540, I took a couple of pictures. With the cover removed and the BOB separated from the drives, I was able to customize a tool that would fit the trim pots. I used a GC part number 9440 tool that I cut off the slotted end to the square section. I used a fine file to reduce the square end to .055" square, give or take a thou. It fit real nice, thou I still was not able to get it into the trim pot with the cover on, so I trimmed the motors with the cover off. In the picture you can see the tool in one of the trim pots.

Another suggestion is to leave the motor connected to the screw. You can really hear when you get the motor tuned just right.

It was well worth the hassle and I'm glad this doesn't need to be done often.
Rick

[RicknBeachcrest]

I'm almost finished with the vac system. I tested it out today and it worked great. The dust shoe needs to be re-made from HDMW plastic (right now it is MDF). I used Senna's idea of neoprene for the skirt. This worked out very well. Thanks Steve. I Googled neoprene and found a local supplier. They had a surprisingly good selection, considering this is not a large city. So for six bucks, I got a 18" by 3'. This should keep me in skirts for a while.

I cut a circular slot .130" by .125" deep on the bottom of the dust shoe to mount the skirt in. Using multiple 1" lengths of wire, I pinched the skirt in the slot. It can now be easily removed, if needed, and holds very well.

I cut a recess in the top dust shoe to pocket the spindle mount. The top half of the dust shoe is bolted to the bottom spindle mount with three bolts (10-32). The bottom dust shoe has a channel to direct the vacuum to inside the skirt.
Currently the two halves of the dust shoe are being held together with a pair of small squeeze clamps. I plan on using some rare earth magnets in the final version. I based the design of this dust shoe on Senna's. Again, thanks Steve.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy_cn...tml#post850146

It's getting late so I'll post the rest of the vac system later.
Rick

[Senna]

Hey Rick...

It looks like you successfully worked around that lower bracket issue...! By Jove... I believe you have yourself a really nice vacuum tunnel dust shoe!

At some point I'll actually get around to re-making mine out of HDMW... I'm still using my MDF test design...!!!

Steve

[RicknBeachcrest]

Steve,
Do you have any suggestions for placement and the number of magnets to hold the two halves of the dust shoe together?

I got a 10 pack of rare earth magnets from Harbor Freight that I was planning on using. I don't want to put too few and also no too many.
Thanks.
Rick

PS. It is really nice not having to sit and follow the bit around with the shop vac. I think I could get used to that.

[RicknBeachcrest]

Since my space for the router is extremely small, one of my requirements for the system was that it would have to be minimally intrusive. Another requirement was that removing the collected debris should be easy and not necessitate the detachment of vacuum hoses. The vac system is mounted to the rear wall of the room. Both the separator (Oneida Dust Deputy) and the Shop Vac (I used the Shop Vac from Lowes, mentioned in a previous post) are attached to the wall. Since they are mounted on the wall, very close to the router, the total hose length is about 5'. The hose diameter is 1.5". I wired an extension cord with a switch (mounted on the router bench). This makes turning the vacuum on and off real easy.

As to the second requirement. I sure wasn't going to get this done using the conventional 5 gal. bucket. I would have to build a debris collection receptacle. This would allow me to tuck it in behind the router (I have about 1/4" clearance when the gantry is all the way back). The volume of the box is just shy of a 5 gal bucket. The box can be removed and the Dust Deputy (and related hoses) stay attached to the wall.

Designing the system:
I kind of snuck-up on where I wanted to go with this vac system. The first step was getting the Dust Deputy and its debris collection receptacle working (I wasn't too sure the seal would be tight enough) and mounted. Next was seeing if a 1.5" hose would work, then would this hose work when connected to the dust collection shoe. All this time I was using my big shop vac. Next was try it with the little Shop Vac (Did I mention this Shop Vac has a 3 year warranty?) from Lowes . Each step just kept on working like I hoped it would. Go figure.

Here is a short video of the system in action.





In part 3, I will talk a little more about the debris collection receptacle. Stay tuned.

Rick

[FoxCNC1]

Finally got some pictures of the E-stop uploaded. It seems everything on CNC machines need a bracket of sorts to make it work. I had gotten a 4 foot length of alum 1 1/2" angle. I've been using this stuff for all sorts of things. When I had ordered it, I thought I would never use it all.

your machine looks great ! I like the proportions. I may borrow you leg design for mine.
I quote this pictures because I wanted to know if you used the CNC to cut the aluminium.

[FoxCNC1]

Since my space for the router is extremely small, one of my requirements for the system was that it would have to be minimally intrusive. Another requirement was that removing the collected debris should be easy and not necessitate the detachment of vacuum hoses. The vac system is mounted to the rear wall of the room. Both the separator (Oneida Dust Deputy) and the Shop Vac (I used the Shop Vac from Lowes, mentioned in a previous post) are attached to the wall. Since they are mounted on the wall, very close to the router, the total hose length is about 5'. The hose diameter is 1.5". I wired an extension cord with a switch (mounted on the router bench). This makes turning the vacuum on and off real easy.

As to the second requirement. I sure wasn't going to get this done using the conventional 5 gal. bucket. I would have to build a debris collection receptacle. This would allow me to tuck it in behind the router (I have about 1/4" clearance when the gantry is all the way back). The volume of the box is just shy of a 5 gal bucket. The box can be removed and the Dust Deputy (and related hoses) stay attached to the wall.

Designing the system:
I kind of snuck-up on where I wanted to go with this vac system. The first step was getting the Dust Deputy and its debris collection receptacle working (I wasn't too sure the seal would be tight enough) and mounted. Next was seeing if a 1.5" hose would work, then would this hose work when connected to the dust collection shoe. All this time I was using my big shop vac. Next was try it with the little Shop Vac (Did I mention this Shop Vac has a 3 year warranty?) from Lowes . Each step just kept on working like I hoped it would. Go figure.

Here is a short video of the system in action.





In part 3, I will talk a little more about the debris collection receptacle. Stay tuned.

Rick

Thank you for posting the video and linking back to my thread.
This is exactly the type of reassurance I wanted to get as I wait for my dust deputy to arrive. Your built looks very nice and well organized !!
I am using a 2.5" hose for my shoe, so I am unable to use a smaller vac like you are. I am using a new rigid 14 gal rigid that I just bought, but at least it is quieter than my order one. I do want to get a "clear" bucket for my cyclone.

[Senna]

Steve,
Do you have any suggestions for placement and the number of magnets to hold the two halves of the dust shoe together?

I got a 10 pack of rare earth magnets from Harbor Freight that I was planning on using. I don't want to put too few and also no too many.
Thanks.
Rick

PS. It is really nice not having to sit and follow the bit around with the shop vac. I think I could get used to that.

Yeah... you don't want too many... that kinda defeats the purpose of having a removable bottom. The rare earths I purchased are STRONG little suckers... so I went with only two sets... placed equidistant and directly opposite each other in the base. My typical removal action is to grab the bottom with both hands at the front and back and I torque the right side down. This breaks the attraction on the right side set of magnets first and is much easier than trying to pull the bottom straight down thus having to break the attraction of two sets of magnets.

Now having said this... I'm not certain how deeply OR even IF you clam shelled your base into the upper half. I did clam shell mine with a 1/4" recess which still allows me to torque the base out with a right to left twisting action rather than having to pull straight down. I hope that makes sense.

Now there is a another way to go that if you can't torque the base out and have to pull straight down... instead of using sets of opposing magnets in the base and upper... which has super strong attraction... go with single magnet in the two locations, either in the base OR upper and a piece of steel in the opposing part. That will reduce the capture attraction and make it easier to disengage.

You don't need all that much capture as the vacuum itself will hold the unit together during operation.

For the magnets... tight holes and either silicone or some other bonding agent that will stick... epoxy didn't hold worth a darn with the shiny surface.

Steve

[FoxCNC1]

That a good point about how strong the magnets are.

I have 4, and the thing is hard to remove. Next versions will have 3 and some sort of key milled (clam shell?)

[RicknBeachcrest]

your machine looks great ! I like the proportions. I may borrow you leg design for mine.
I quote this pictures because I wanted to know if you used the CNC to cut the aluminium.

Thanks.
No, I never tried cutting any aluminum.

[RicknBeachcrest]

The dust collection receptacle.

This part of the vac system turned out better than I had hopped. It allows the Dust Deputy and related hoses to stay in place when I remove the collection bin for emptying. I made the collection bin from 1/2" baltic birch ply with a lip all around. On the inside, I fiber-glassed the seams. I also routed a slot in the front and put a 1/8" piece of acrylic, so I could see when the bin was getting full.

On the top side (where the Dust Deputy is mounted), I put some rails (front and back) so I could just slide the bin into place. This makes it real easy to screw the bin up and into place with 6 bolts without have to hold it at the same time.


The router came in real handy for making a perfect 3" circle in the top piece of plywood. I had a 3" hole saw, but it would have made a real rough edge. The router leaves a near perfect edge. Also I used the router to make the slot and recess for the acrylic in the front. This is the type of stuff that I will be using this machine for. Not very glamorous, but very time consuming doing it the old way (without the cnc router).

As a side note, I did add a ground wire from the vacuum hoses to the ground in the outlet.

Rick

[RicknBeachcrest]

I installed 3 groups of rare earth magnets in my dust shoe. The group closest to the front is a pair of magnets. The rear two are single magnets that line up to the bolts that hold the top half of the dust shoe to the spindle bracket. This combination holds the halves together very well, but pulls apart easily. I used 30 minute epoxy to glue the magnets to the dust shoe. Before gluing, I roughed up the bottom of the magnets with some 100 grit wet/dry.


BTW, The bottom half of my dust shoe has a 1/8" X 1/8" lip around all sides but the back side.

Also you may notice that really small Allen wrench in the second picture. I was taking the top dust shoe off and on so many times and a conventional sized Allen wrench was very awkward. I went through my collection of miscellaneous Allen wrenches and found an extra. A couple of cuts with the dremal cut-off wheel and I had a customized Allen wrench that can make a complete revolution without taking it out of the socket. It sure speed this process up a bit.

[FoxCNC1]

nice

[Senna]

Looks terrific Rick...

My removable skirted base slip fits inside the fixed upper whereas yours slip fits over the fixed portion.

At some point I WILL get to machining it out of a more proper material... like HDMW. I've been saying that for about 2 years now...!

[RicknBeachcrest]

Version 2 has a larger diameter which gives a gap between it and the spindle (router). I also added a port around the entire diameter so that I get suction 360 deg., not just 25 -30 deg., like version one. In addition, I increased the diameter of the skirt and lengthened it also. I now comes down to the depth of the bit and is far enough from the bit not to get caught up.

Another improvement was cutting the holes for the magnets with the router. In version one, I just drilled them with a 3/8" fostner bit. With the tight fit that cutting them with the router allowed, the magnets are holding very well with just friction.

[RicknBeachcrest]

This has been a long overdue project, as most of mine are. It is a cover for the florescent lights in the kitchen. I wanted to make a cover patterned after an Arts & Crafts (specifically Green & Green) style. One of the details I wanted were splines that connected the corners. The corners don't come together evenly, there is about a 3/16 overrun, so the spline needed to have a little bump in it.

They turned out real nice. The only problem was I only needed four.

[RicknBeachcrest]

I've been playing around with some joints the last couple of days. Here are a couple of pictures. I am really amazed as to how good they turned out. In the CAM, I left about .005" inch between the mating surfaces, otherwise they would never go together.

On the second picture, I didn't push the joint closed all the way so you could see it more clearly.

I used a 3/32" end mill with depths of cut about .040". The material is just fir, so I was pleasantly surprised I didn't get any tear outs.

I bought the end mills from drillman1 on ebay. These are brand new and cost $3.75 ea. I bought 5 and shipping was only $2.95. And I got them in 3 days. Spindle speed was about 9K and feed rate was about 15 ipm.

[ger21]

When you buy Bridge City tools, you need to save as much as possible on bits.