Desktop Steel

[gregoose]

Mistakes were made. After witnessing a friend build a 3D printer and a few google searches, I was inspired to build a cnc router. My urge to jump into the project resulted in some impulse buys on ebay that I am not to proud of. Not having a large budget, I decided to work with what I had and see if I could see it through to a functional machine and maybe learn something along the way. I can say, I already have dreams for a second machine, plasma cutter. On to the details...

Goals: routing hardwoods, plastics, acrylics, and learning.
(edit)Footprint: 28" x 18" and approx. 24" tall.

Impulse buys:
Fully supported linear rail pairs SBR12 650mm, 440mm, 200mm (the mistake was 12mm rails instead of 16mm, after hours on ebay, late into the night, not paying attention...ya know)
Nema 23 Steppers 23HS8430 from RATTM 3A, 270in/0z, 3.5mH. Came with 24VDC, 15A power supply and the dreaded TB6560 4 axis driver board (TB6560-4v3 red board)
ACME lead screws 1/2-10 1start with delrin anti-backlash nuts from IMService (later upgraded to 1/2-10 5start)
About $100 in steel from local supplier.
$60 in fasteners from Mcmaster ( whose warehouse I just discovered is about 20 mins from my work)

Base frame is 2" x 1" x 1/8" rectangular tube steel.
Top frame to support waste board is 1" square tube 16ga i believe.
All plates are 3/16" plate steel.

I have been continually torn between welding pieces together for rigidity and bolting together to be more modular and ease of maintenance.

Any feedback on design is greatly appreciated. I was already contemplating welding some angle to the gantry uprights for more rigidity. Gantry rail support is 2" square tube steel, 1/8" wall.

Going to try to post some pics... and I'll try and post some of what I have constructed so far.





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[gregoose]

This is the old version that I originally started building, missing base frame/sub frame and used a 2" x 3/16" plate steel for the gantry rail support. Most of my pics will show that one. Im still in the process of constructing the tube for the gantry rail support, cutting, drilling and tapping.

[gregoose]

A few pics of the build so far...

[gregoose]

[papp101]

Looking great!

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[gregoose]

Looking great!

Thanks papp! Its getting close now! I should mention that it has been about a year and a half since i began sketching it out on paper.

[gregoose]

Just yesterday I had it connected to mach3, and im getting up to 200ipm on X and Y. The Z motor wont turn at all. I suspect the TB6560 board. The motor turns when connected to the X or Y outputs. I have been looking at the KL-4030 driver from automation technologies, and if I win the lotto, a gecko g540. But the budget is gone so even the KL seems out of reach right now. Its a 4-axis board and both Z and A are not producing outputs.

[papp101]

I bought a g540. I winced at the price. When I hooked it up, it was worth every penny and I can use it for other machines in the future. Just sayin. Looking great, I've wanted to build a 4'*4' at about a similar strength of what you're creating here, and I also love to weld so I like he approach!

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[gregoose]

I may have to take a side job or two, just have to see if I have the will power to wait till I have enough saved. So far, the machine feels very stout with a few exceptions, the Z car seems to want to rotate fore and aft around the gantry rails, hence the upgrade to the square tubing. I figured spacing the rails further apart would help. The other exception would be the gantry uprights, seem to sway a little. I love the fact that if I need, I can always just weld some gussets or angle to stiffen things up!

[papp101]

I agree! A piece of square tubing on the outside will strengthen those plates right up!

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[gregoose]

Ordered a single KL-4030 today. The tb6560 has connections for attaching a driver for a fifth axis. Figured I'd give it try until I can afford a couple more. I like the idea of the Ethernet Smooth Stepper. If anyone has any opinions about them, I'd love to hear them, pro or con.

Been looking at these:

Warp9 ESS Product Details

Automation Technologies SmoothStepper Ethernet Motion Control Board for Mach 3 Stepper Motor | Stepper Motor Driver | CNC Router | Laser Machine | 3D Printers For Sale

[pippin88]

LinuxCNC is free, then you can use the money save to buy good drivers.

[gregoose]

LinuxCNC is free, then you can use the money save to buy good drivers.

That's a very good point I hadn't thought of. So far I only have the trial version of mach 3. I'll have to do some research on LinuxCNC. My computer right now is running Vista, which needed a plugin to run mach3. Do you know if the smooth stepper BOB's work with LinuxCNC?

[pippin88]

They do not.

Mesanet do hardware step generation. The 5i25 and 7i76 combo is popular and very well featured.

[gregoose]

Quick update, this is a slow build, so updates aren't too frequent. Working full time and going to school at the same time.

Anyway, I gave up on that tb6560 altogether, right now I just received some KL-4030 drivers from automation technology. Ebay router bracket installed and temporarily, an old porter cable router which still needs a power cable.

[gregoose]

First test run, roadrunner drawing.

Excuse the kids yelling in the background. They're always clinging to me everywhere I go...

[papp101]

Nicely done! That's the first I've seen the ballpoint pen trick using this spring to account for preload. Wicked sweet.

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[gregoose]

Nicely done! That's the first I've seen the ballpoint pen trick using this spring to account for preload. Wicked sweet.

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Thanks! I saw someone else do it on YouTube so I can't take credit. Just pulled the pen apart and I put the spring on top instead. Works like a dream! There's about 3/16" of travel up and down for the pen this way, maybe a quarter inch. Glad you like it, hopefully more to come!

[gregoose]

Ok, so I'm 99% sure this is a backlash issue on my horizontal axis "X", just looking for confirmation. This is a test drawing of a V-carve made with F-engrave. If anyone can confirm this, it would be greatly appreciated. About midway through the drawing after completing the rope around the edge, it doesn't line back up.

[papp101]

Interesting. Draw another circle with a dot or small square in the middle so we can see that more plainly.

Do you have backlash comp turned on? Assuming you are using mach3.

Try measuring your backlash by starting zeroed against your dial indicator, travelling away a few inches in one direction. Then back to zero then write down the number. Do the same in the other direction and let us know what you get!

Or maybe you already have these numbers? At a glance, it seems yes you can axis has play on change of direction.

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