My 8020 router build

[RicknBeachcrest]

Well the CNC project is winding down. I still have a couple of more things to share, but lately I have been doing a little spring cleaning. Anyone interested in 4 DB9 connectors, like the ones that connect to the Gecko G540, and some assorted DB9 connectors on some wire See the pictures below. I'll send them to you (CONUS only) for the price of postage(Priority Mail) and a little gas money to get to the Post Office, say $10.

If your interested, PM me.
Thanks.
Rick

[RicknBeachcrest]

I had been planning on making a box to put the computer into for a while now, it was just low on the priority list. The time has come. Even with the vac system for collecting dust, there is still a bit of it blowing around. I took the case off the computer and blew the dust out with some compressed air. It is surprising how much dust had accumulated inside the computer.

The design of the dust protection box is really simple and follows the same principal as what I used on the electronics enclosure. Basically a box within that pressurizes the box with clean air. The plexiglass in the front slides up and down, allowing access to the computer (the lower hole lines up with the power button on the computer). The top holes allow a place for the air pressure to go. Also the hole in the back (for the computer cables) will have foam around the cables.

The last picture shows the back after routing out the holes and rabbets. This is the kind of work I had envisioned using the router for. Nothing real exciting, but a real time saver. The rabbet for the large hole fits the filter perfectly. Doing things the old way (pre-cnc router) would have been a compromise with fitting the filter into the rabbet, since finding a guide bearing for the rabbet bit, to match the radius of the filter would not have been possible. And best of all, I didn't even need to use the CAD to draw this up. I was able to do the whole thing in CAMBAM and it only took a few minutes.


I also made the cleats that hold the filter on using the router. And cut the small square hole for the switch.

[RicknBeachcrest]

Just found these pictures of the switch hole. The pictures were taken before I sanded the fuzz off. This hole would be nowhere near as nice looking, doing it the old way (pre-cnc router).

[RicknBeachcrest]

I had a request for the wiring diagram that I had used. I went through my build log and I did not include it anywhere (I may have missed it). So I will include it here.

I take no credit for coming up with this diagram (thanks to the person who did draw it up). I seem to remember it coming from the from the SPID thread.

[RicknBeachcrest]

I got to thinking that the only thing holding the router to the table is gravity. After using the machine for several months, it has not moved a bit, but I didn't like to think of having to re-adjust it's position should it start walking across the table. This little project took maybe an hour and I think it is cheap insurance.

I cut out little L's and CA'd (glue) them to the table next to each leg. I didn't even need to use the CAD to draw them up first. Did it in CAMBAM, which has a rudimentary CAD.

Anyway here are some pictures.

[RicknBeachcrest]

Here is picture of the computer in it's new home, in a box with clean air, on a shelf. The switch on the side is for the fan in the box. It's a tight fit, but it works just fine. The vertical leg of the gantry has about 2" of clearance between it and the box.

[RicknBeachcrest]

Gotta say this CNC router sure spoils a person. Just draw it up on the CAD, run it through the CAM, send it to Mach3 and out comes the part.

I was installing a small dust collector using a Dust Deputy (another one in addition to the one on the router) in the main shop. I needed a secure way of attaching the 2" vac hose and connector to the wall.

This dust collector will be used primarily for the thickness sander. I can also attach another hose to vacuum up sawdust in other parts of the shop.

[nlancaster]

It is amazing how everything because a CNC Router project, when you have a CNC router

Looks like those came out perfect.

[RicknBeachcrest]

One thing for sure, those projects that I can use the cnc on, move to the front of the line.

Here is something I have been putting off for a while, zero clearance table saw inserts. I made up three blanks for future use.

I can feel some push sticks in my future. The old one is getting a little worn.

Rick

[RicknBeachcrest]

Well it was time to do (or re-do) the face of the electronics enclosure. The original was made from 1/8" plywood and with all the holes cut into it, was very flexible. But it served it purpose. I made a few modifications from the original to this new one.

1) I removed the manual speed control for the SPID. I only used it once (and that was just to see if it worked) All my spindle speed is controlled by Mach3 and that is set in the CAM program. All is controlled by the g-code. The pot and the manual switch were taking up real estate on the face.

2) I added another 1/4 phone plug for possible future needs. Maybe a Z plate. But I don't feel a real need for one just now.

3) I added another plug (like the one I have at the bottom, that I use for a 5volt source for possible future use.

4) I added another fuse. I put a fuse in line for the 48v dc going to the G540. So now I have a fuse for the 120v AC to the 48v power supply and one for the 120v to the 5v power supply in addition to the new one.

5) I changed the type of 1/4" phone plugs to a plastic housing type. I like these a little better than the all metal jacks.

6) I cleaned-up (in my opinion, anyway) some of the wiring from the original. On a few of the negative leads on the jacks, I originally just daisy chained them. On the revised one, I ran a wire from each jack to the negative dc buss. This made soldering much easier, since I could solder the leads on the jacks outside, then install the jack inside the enclosure and connect the wires to the appropriate spot.


The new face plate is made from 1/8" aluminum plate with 1/4 X 1/2" aluminum bar screwed to the top and sides. I figured out the placement of the holes in CAD and made a print out. Then sprayed some glue to the pages and attached to the aluminum plate. It was a little challenging cutting the holes out on my little Sherline mill, but with a couple of mdf jigs, I managed to get all the holes cut. I painted it with some spray-can black paint from the big box store.

I'm happy with it. I can press the switches now and the whole face doesn't bow in. And it looks a lot nicer too.

[RicknBeachcrest]

Here is a picture of the final wiring. I also took the time to draw out a wiring diagram. It all seems so clear after I finished, but I know that in a month, I won't remember much of anything about it. I wish I could say that it's because I'm old, but I suffered from CRS in my younger years also.

[Devastator]

Why the layout and manual milling of the aluminum plate when you have a working CNC? Not being critical, just curious.

[Lynn Livings]

That's a really nice job.

+1 on the CRS. After I built my CNC it was 3 yrs before I had to go back into the guts and I was shocked to find it only looked vaguely familiar!

Of course, that "round to it" never materialized to blueprint the wiring and such. So, I got to learn it all over again!

Lynn

[RicknBeachcrest]

Why the layout and manual milling of the aluminum plate when you have a working CNC? Not being critical, just curious.

Fair question.

The case has several cross members in the front that need to be worked around. So I took the original face off to expose the cross members and get an accurate measurement of their location. This kind of killed the router for the duration. I printed a couple of iterations of the layout and glued to some light card board (cereal box). Cutting out the major openings and test fitting to the front of the enclosure finally resulted in a good layout that would not interfere with the case's cross members.

To be honest, I have never tried cutting aluminum with this router. I'm sure it would work, but I didn't want to experiment with this piece of aluminum. It was about $30 delivered, so I only wanted to buy one. I felt real comfortable using the milling machine even though it would take longer.

[Devastator]

To be honest, I have never tried cutting aluminum with this router. I'm sure it would work, but I didn't want to experiment with this piece of aluminum. It was about $30 delivered, so I only wanted to buy one. I felt real comfortable using the milling machine even though it would take longer.

Understood, thank you for the honest answer. It did take me awhile to figure out what bits and feeds and speeds to use when I first started cutting aluminum. And I wasted probably $200 worth of carbide bits and aluminum before I got it dialed in. I'm sure your machine would be plenty capable of machining aluminum since it is light years better than mine. I went from using expensive three flutes bits, down to two flute, then to single flute. Single flute is all I use now since I can run it without coolant and I've got it down where I can leave the job running without standing there the whole time.

[RicknBeachcrest]

Understood, thank you for the honest answer. It did take me awhile to figure out what bits and feeds and speeds to use when I first started cutting aluminum. And I wasted probably $200 worth of carbide bits and aluminum before I got it dialed in. I'm sure your machine would be plenty capable of machining aluminum since it is light years better than mine. I went from using expensive three flutes bits, down to two flute, then to single flute. Single flute is all I use now since I can run it without coolant and I've got it down where I can leave the job running without standing there the whole time.

Thanks for the info. That confirms what I thought. I know from the milling machine that cutting wood compared to aluminum is night and day. Cutting wood is like cutting butter.

[RicknBeachcrest]

I made these push sticks a while ago. It's nice to have more than one, as I will use with the jointer and the table saw. I would always be walking to the other side of the shop to get the push stick. I traced the handle of a hand saw on to a piece of paper and scanned it, then convert to a vector, then CAD and CAM.

[RicknBeachcrest]

I saw a post on dust shoes and thought I should update my thread to how mine has been working.

In the two years that I have been using it, it has been working great. I have two skirts (for different length bits) that are made from neoprene. The neoprene is flexible enough to go over obstacles, yet firm enough to resist the force of the vacuum. The skirt is attached to the lower half of the dust shoe in a circular slot. I used short pieces of wire to pinch the neoprene in the slot and it has held in very well. The lower half of the dust shoe is held to the top half of the dust shoe with 3 rare earth magnets. Two of the magnets are aligned to the screws that attach the dust shoe to the router clamp and the third magnet mates to a magnet on the top half of the dust shoe. I find this combination of magnets is just right; it holds the bottom half of the dust shoe in place, but allows it to be removed easily. When the lower dust shoe is removed, it is easy to change bits and to set my Z zero.

[motopreserve]

Wow! I can't believe I'm at the end of this thread. What a great, and thorough read!

Really appreciate the time you have put into your build, and the detail you've included about you decisions along the way. The links have been super helpful as well, and I was so relieved to read an informative thread that didn't descend into cantankerous bickering or a treatise on over-engineering these small routers to perform like a Bridgeport

I am in the process of designing a new gantry-style, 80/20 based CNC, mostly for milling aluminum (with some carbon fiber and G10). I am in the early design stages, and have been devouring all the info I can find here (and elsewhere) to solidify my design. I am wondering about your decision to build the machine with a single screw centered beneath the bed (maybe I missed it - I've been reading this thread when time permits on/off for the past week). I have watched your "walk around" video several times, and love the simplicity of a single drive with cross-member for motion.

I had been thinking along the lines of Katran's build (linked early in this thread), and had been leaning toward the dual ballscrews and steppers running along each side of the long axis. The decision between single and dual setup seems to create a whole new set of issues to research, and many, MANY opinions about the dreaded racking etc. Just trying to decide whether the additional complexity of a dual system is necessary for the aluminum cutting I plan to do.

Any thoughts on your decision making process would be much appreciated. Kudos on a great build! I liked it so much I decided to post for the first time ever on this forum - after years of lurking!

Scott

[pippin88]

Dual system is not much more complex than single. Dual allows building a stronger machine as the table can be supported not just at the ends. Dual eliminates racking. Fears of missed steps are unfounded with a properly designed machine. I've never seen anyone who went from a single drive machine to a dual drive regret it, or think single drive is better. A lot of people, including myself, have had a much better machine by moving to dual drive.