2nd build - For a friend

[1Jumper10]

Weather permitting we'll paint the base tomorrow. I'm also going to fill the frame with sand to add mass.

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It was too humid for painting yesterday so i spent the day doing final preparations. I masked off the epoxy because the shiny black surface looks too good to cover up. But much of it will be under the frame and not visible anyway when its assembled. I am going to mount an E stop switch in tbe end of the frame and i wanted to fill the frame with sand. But i didnt want the switch to live in a sand box so i made 4 internal dams that kept the sand sealed in the frame and made a 6" space at the end of each tube. I ran my wires and filled the frame. Using a chainfall i tilted the frame up first in one direction, then the other. The short end tubes had small ~1" holes that i funneled in the sand. I sealed these holes with spray foam when they were full. In total, I was able to add 150 lbs of sand. When the sand was done i did the final surface prep and applied some more primer to some bare spots.

The chosen color is New Holland blue. I think the contrast with the aluminum is going to look really nice. It should be nice enough tomorrow to paint.

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Today was paint day. First thing I did was call the machine shop to see if the gantry risers were ready. I wanted to paint them at the same time. But they werent done yet Decided to go ahead with the painting anyway because the weather was perfect. It turned out pretty well. The color looks a lot lighter in the pics than it does in person. painted but still masked offunmasking.

When the painting was all done i checked my phone and saw i had a voicemail. It was the machine shop. The gantry risers were done.

[1Jumper10]

Went to the machine shop this morning and picked up the gantry riser parts. I was driving home and noticed they had drilled some holes in the wrong spot. Not sure how that happened but they got the critical parts right and the holes are easy enough to re-drill. That, and I dont have another 2 weeks to wait for more parts.

With the base all done and painted I was eager to set the frame on it. With some sleepy, reluctant helpers I dropped the frame carefully on the base. I checked for a gap between the extrusion and the epoxy and I was surprised to see a thin, even gap on all sides??? After some careful checking I determined that it was the epoxy meniscus at the anchors that wasnt allowing the frame to sit flat on the epoxy. I had thought that it wouldn't interfere because the corner of the extrusion was rounded and thought that would clear it. Obviously it didnt. I corrected the problem and re-set the frame. Much better. Almost perfect contact everywhere. I had to open up all but a couple anchor holes before I could get a screw started in the T-nut. After bolting the frame at all 12 anchor points I called it a day.

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Couple more pics. Its finally starting to look more like a CNC machine.

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Today I ordered the ClearPath servo motors, the Pro motor mounts from CNC Routerparts and the gear rack from Moore Gear.

Got to take a couple days away from the project for a trip to DC.

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I got the servo's, power supply, and the motor mounts from CNC Router parts. The ClearPath SDSK servo's are a thing of beauty! Cant wait to get them running. I also got the gantry riser parts from the machine shop. I mocked up the risers and did a test fit of the motor mount. I was greatly disappointed. I modeled the risers off of my router which uses the same CNCRP motor mounts but with NEMA 23 steppers. The NEMA 34 drive uses a different drive ratio and I didn't have enough clearance for the larger drive pulley. So I spent the next couple days working on a re-design. I got a workable design figured out and got it over to the machine shop. I had 3 bearing blocks on each riser but I had to forgo the middle one so I'm back down to 2. I mounted the linear rails on the Y axis and cut the rails to length for the X and mounted the top one before I ran out of screws. I ordered the hardware I needed and started on making the power and data cables for the servo's. I'd better make some good progress this week. I feel like I'm running out of time. The gear rack and hardware are supposed to arrive today.

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Still waiting on the gantry risers do-over from the machine shop.
Yesterday i cut the extrusion rail end caps and the frame tube end caps out of some cast nylon sheet. The end caps on the extrusion rail incorporates travel stops for the gantry. But i also left open the T-slots in case there was ever a need to slide in a T-nut.

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Put the E-stop switch in an end cap.

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The rail end-cap interrupts the bearing travel on the linear rail. Since the endstops guage across the end plane of the rail, and the rail is square, the endstops should provide an easy square reference point for the gantry. And also prevent the gantry from flying across my friends workshop when the servo's lose their feedback loop and run away

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Put the servo's on the mounts tonight. Tomorrow we paint the gantry risers. Then i can assemble the gantry, work on the Z axis mount and install the wiring. Need to order some cable chain.

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Made some progress today. The gear racks and risers were painted. Installed the gear racks on the frame. Bolted the lower half of the riser on the linear bearings and assembled the top half. Set the X-axis gantry on the risers and bolted it down checking closely for any stress points. Had to relieve a hole here and there, cut a little extra clearance in a couple other places but it went together pretty well. It will still require some minor tweaking but it glides along the rails perfectly. Pics to follow:

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Pics

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Quick update: Working on the Z-axis adapter plate which mounts the Z to the linear bearings on the X axis. I got some 3/4" 6061 - T5 aluminum plate off of Ebay and its enroute. I needed some different size collets for my router to hold the end mills to work on this and they are also enroute. Everything should arrive in the next couple days and before the weekend, I should have all the mechanical parts completed.

I amd going to fit this router with the standard 2.2Kw spindle. They are a good value and easy to get and mine has been working fine for a couple years now. However, I am less then impressed with the Hyuang VFD. It works OK on my current router but I know there's got to be something better available. Iv'e done a little looking around online for 220VAC VFD's and the Sunfar (KL) E500 looks better, there is a model made by LAPOND that looks OK, Hopewind looks like a good product and I thought at one time Hitachi made a decent drive but I havent found it yet. If anyone has any input on VFD's please, post it here. Thanks.

[bd007]

Quick update: Working on the Z-axis adapter plate which mounts the Z to the linear bearings on the X axis. I got some 3/4" 6061 - T5 aluminum plate off of Ebay and its enroute. I needed some different size collets for my router to hold the end mills to work on this and they are also enroute. Everything should arrive in the next couple days and before the weekend, I should have all the mechanical parts completed.

I amd going to fit this router with the standard 2.2Kw spindle. They are a good value and easy to get and mine has been working fine for a couple years now. However, I am less then impressed with the Hyuang VFD. It works OK on my current router but I know there's got to be something better available. Iv'e done a little looking around online for 220VAC VFD's and the Sunfar (KL) E500 looks better, there is a model made by LAPOND that looks OK, Hopewind looks like a good product and I thought at one time Hitachi made a decent drive but I havent found it yet. If anyone has any input on VFD's please, post it here. Thanks.

I'm running the HITACHI WJ200-022SF with a 2.2kw air cooled Chinese spindle for almost 3 years. I also bought their potentiometer, it did not last long. I now have it controlled by Mach3 and g540 controller, this is the way to go and I'm not sure why it took me so long. I'd buy another Hitachi.

Dave

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bd007 - Did your Hitachi have an auto-tune function? And did it work?

THe Sunfar has terminals with instructions to match for a braking resistor. And I think it has an RJ45 terminal for MODBUS communication ?? Not sure and since I don't intend on implementing MODBUS its not a deal breaker if it doesn't have it.

I think the Hopewind has a software interface for setting its parameters? At least one review said the box included a USB cable. A software interface would be a big improvement over the Hyuang. Finding specific info online about these drives is difficult. BD007 thank you for your input. Anyone else...??

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Did some mock up and test fitting with the Z axis.
Drew up the hole layout in Auto Cad and cut them with my router into a piece of particle board then test fitted that on the gantry. With the mock up on the gantry i also test fitted the X axis motor mount and layed out the holes.

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I decided on the LAPOND VFD and ordered it tonight from Amazon. It had 2 reviews and both were positive and by ordering it from Amazon I feel better if there is a problem that I could get a refund. The estimated delivery date is about 30 days out so it must be coming from China. But I've ordered items with similar ship dates and they've all arrived in just a few days so I hope this does to.

The aluminum plates from Ebay arrived today. I got 2 plates since they were only $10. They are 6061 T5 alloy which is good and strong. I was hoping they weren't warped. I unpackaged them and they had a few burrs on the edges so I spent a few minutes cleaning them up with a file. When I got burrs off I checked their flatness on a laboratory grade, ground granite base. One plate had a slight warp of about .004" ~ ,008". The other plate was perfectly flat, or as near as I could tell. Both plates should work well but I'll use the flat one for the Z-axis adapter plate and the other one for the spindle bracket.

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Made some chips today. This is one of the plates i got off ebay for $10. The one in the pic is the flattest one.

I first cut a pocket to fixture the piece. Then i started with drilling pilot holes for all the holes. Some holes will get threaded, some counter bored and some just drilled to final diameter on the drill press.

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Nexti cut the pockets for the linear bearings. I used a 12mm end mill, and a .015" depth of cut with a 75% stepover. If i would have gone about 40% stepover they would have turned out slightly better. Just minor cosmetic imperfections that 5 mins with a file will correct.

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