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Thread: Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area

  1. #21
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    Looking good!
    Btw is it a Cannondale lefty fork I see in the background? Nice!



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    Default Re: Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area

    Quote Originally Posted by Buoyen View Post
    Looking good!
    Btw is it a Cannondale lefty fork I see in the background? Nice!
    Thanks Buoyen! Yes, good eye, that is a Cannondale Rize 3! I had covered up some things back there to try and keep the sawdust off. I do enjoy riding in the warmer months here. That is, when my other hobbies aren’t taking up all my time

    Jeremy
    http://www.diycncdesign.com/


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    Default Re: Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area

    After placing the linear guide blocks on the X rails, I placed the gantry on top of them and proceeded to align everything. I spent a lot of time aligning the X axis rails. This included making sure they were parallel with each other and also that they were perpendicular to the Y axis rails on the gantry. I clamped together a few 24” squares to get the rails parallel and then placed some 1-2-3 blocks on top of them to check that the Y axis rails were perpendicular. I clamped the rails in place as I went to keep the alignment correct. Once I was happy with everything, I marked out where the linear bearings should be mounted to the gantry. I drilled the gantry and mounted the linear bearings, then installed the gantry on the rails again. I forgot to mention that I had previously found the balance point of the gantry using a thin piece of wood running the long way under the gantry. I marked that balance point on the base of the gantry on both ends and that became the center point between the two linear bearings.
    Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area-img_20161224_144138-medium-jpg

    The alignment was double and triple checked prior to bonding the rails in place with the System Three adhesive epoxy. I still have some adjustment available in the rails to make fine adjustments with a dial indicator. I had previously used a chemical etch on these pieces of bar stock, but the epoxy should be applied very soon after the etching to get a good bond. I had let too much time pass and since I am experimenting and learning here, I decided to use the “wipe down with acetone” method for this to evaluate how the bond holds up compared to the other axes where I used the etching and sanding methods.

    Jeremy
    http://www.diycncdesign.com/


  4. #24
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    Default Re: Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area

    With the gantry mounted and the rails bonded in place, I was able to fine tune the X axis rail alignment. I loosened the linear bearings on one rail and attached a dial indicator to the gantry at that same end, reading to the reference edge of the profile rail. I ran the gantry back and forth to see how far out it was across the whole range of motion. Most of the rail was within +/- 0.001” parallel to the opposite rail. Toward the end there was a 6 inch section that was out by 8-10 thousandths. I loosened those rail mounting bolts and applied some pressure on the rail by hand to bring it back to zero before re-tightening the rail. After rechecking the whole rail it still needed some minor adjustments. After a few rounds of this I am happy with the straightness. Next task will be mounting the X axis drive assemblies.

    Jeremy
    http://www.diycncdesign.com/


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    Default Re: Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area

    How did you attach the X trucks to the gantry?



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    Default Re: Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area

    Quote Originally Posted by Biggs427 View Post
    How did you attach the X trucks to the gantry?
    That's a good question. I purchased the HGW15CC blocks for that axis because they were advertised as "Top or Bottom" mounting. I intended to bolt them in from the bottom into aluminum bar stock similar to what I did with the rails. However, I cannot figure out how the blocks are intended to be mounted from the bottom. Although the threads are accessible from either top or bottom, there is not enough clearance for the bolt or screw head on the bottom side. If anyone has any insight into this, I would appreciate it. So, I ended up mounting them from the top, using M5 socket head cap screws with washers, going through the plywood base of the gantry down into the bearing blocks. In order to access the inside of the base of the gantry, I had to remove the top piece of plywood (that was already glued on). I used a chisel and worked around the seams to pop it off. I will screw it back in place, rather than glue, but I'm not sure how that may affect the strength of the torsion box. I will have to come up with a better design for that area. I like the way your bearing blocks are accessible from the top.

    Jeremy
    http://www.diycncdesign.com/


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    Default Re: Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area

    I really tried to find a good way to put the blocks under the uprights caude I didn't want to make the cnc too wide but in the end I had to make it larger 4 inches each sides to have an access to screw the blocks

    Last edited by Biggs427; 01-27-2017 at 09:03 AM.


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    Default Re: Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area

    The stepper/ball screw/support assemblies were ready to be attached to the machine. I used some K clamps across the width of the machine to use as supports to lay the assemblies on while I worked on aligning them properly.

    First I determined the front-back positioning. Moving the gantry to one end of travel, and the ball nut to the same end of its travel, I aligned the center of the ball nut coupler with the center point between the X linear bearing blocks. Then I clamped the assembly in place on that end. Moving the gantry and ball nut to the other end of their travel, I aligned the ball nut coupler with the center of the linear bearing blocks and measured the extra travel available on the ball screw. I split this measurement in half to allow equal space on both ends. I readjusted the position accordingly on both ends and clamped in place again.

    To get the vertical alignment correct, I mounted the wooden piece to the ball nut coupler that would attach to the gantry. I moved one end up to the gantry, readjusting the k-clamp to set the new height, re-clamped the assembly, and then moved the ball nut and gantry back to the other end and repeated.

    With everything in place and aligned, I unclamped one end at a time, applied wood glue, and re-clamped.
    Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area-img_20170111_180706-medium-jpg

    I then repeated the whole process for the second X axis drive assembly on the other side of the machine. After the glue was dry and I reconfirmed the alignment was still correct, I glued the pieces in place that attach the ball nut couplers to the gantry.
    Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area-img_20170111_180552-medium-jpg

    Jeremy
    http://www.diycncdesign.com/


  9. #29
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    Talking Re: Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area

    Now that the machine is fully assembled, I was able to connect all the wiring, power up the machine, and drive it around a bit!

    Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area-img_20170115_205128-medium-jpg

    I didn’t mention in prior posts, but in between other steps while waiting for glue and/or epoxy to dry I worked on the electronics. I soldered together the serial connectors and resistors for the steppers, wired up the power supply, then connected everything to the Gecko G540 and an old PC. I installed Linux CNC on the PC and ran through the setup wizard. I was able to run the steppers and test everything out on the bench before they were installed on the router.

    I started the machine checkout by driving each axis back and forth manually, checking the travel to ensure the actual travel matched the commanded distance. It did not match at first and I believe had to go back and change the microstep settings. With the distance corrected, I slowly increased speed and nervously continued to drive each axis back and forth, faster and faster. I homed each axis and set up conservative soft limits so I wouldn’t accidentally run the machine off the end of an axis. Everything looked good, and I was able to get up to the maximum speed, as limited by Linux CNC, based on the conservative latency settings I had entered. This was about 12500 mm/min or about 500 ipm. I may try increasing the maximum step rate settings (lowering my conservative jitter setting), but for now this is plenty fast. Per my design calculations, it should be able to run significantly faster.

    With everything working well in manual mode, I loaded one of the sample files that came in Linux CNC and ran some test “cuts” through the air. First 2D, then some 3D profiling. That was really exciting to see the machine running around for the first time on its own! I had to call my wife out to the workshop to watch it with me, and lucky for me, she was equally excited to see it

    My first “real” test was to install a pencil in the router collet and manually draw a square on a piece of paper, using the built-in set-distance jogs. I measured the sides of the square and compared the cross corner measurements to check accuracy and squareness of the machine. The distances looked dead on, but the squareness may be out by a few thousandths. I’ll have to make some proper cuts to be able to measure it more accurately.

    Before I make any cuts, I want to install drag chains, a dust boot, the e-stop switch and perhaps some limit switches.

    Jeremy
    http://www.diycncdesign.com/


  10. #30
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    Default Re: Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area

    Nice work! Take some video of it doing its thing.



  11. #31
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    Default Re: Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area

    Thanks manofmanyhats! I will take some video soon! Today I checked the router for runout and was pleasantly surprised to see only 0.02 mm at the end of a .25" end mill at 1 inch below the stock DeWalt collet. I also determined what I needs to run through the cable chains. I hope to order the chain this week.

    Jeremy
    http://www.diycncdesign.com/


  12. #32

    Default Re: Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area

    Nice looking machine!!



  13. #33
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    Default Re: Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area

    I added a spoilboard and am just finishing up a design for a dust shoe. I hope to cut the dust shoe parts out on the machine shortly.

    I finally got around to uploading a video of the machine performing a run through the air. This was one of the example files that came pre-loaded with LinuxCNC. It is cutting a 3D profile of a penguin. I didn't change any settings or edit anything in the G-code, just ran the file as it was.

    The workbench that I have the machine sitting on is pretty wobbly when the machine starts accelerating quickly, but the the machine itself is very solid.



    Jeremy
    http://www.diycncdesign.com/


  14. #34
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    Default Re: Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area

    Are the sides flexing, or is the whole table just shaking?

    Gerry

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  15. #35
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    Default Re: Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area

    Quote Originally Posted by ger21 View Post
    Are the sides flexing, or is the whole table just shaking?
    The whole table is shaking. I suppose I should build a dedicated stand.

    Jeremy
    http://www.diycncdesign.com/


  16. #36
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    Default Re: Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area

    It's been a while since I've posted my progress here. First, I came up with an idea for workholding. I attached 2 t-tracks to the bed, outside the working area. Then I made a sled with 90 degree corners with another t-track on it. This will hopefully allow easy clamping of any size stock at any location on the bed. I plan to use a few different styles of clamps and/or stop blocks to attach to the t-tracks. It will be easier to show pics than try to describe the setup and the many options it will allow:

    Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area-img_20170223_211726-medium-jpg

    On the other end of the bed, I attached this t-track with some cam clamps, to wedge in the spoilboard for my first attempted cuts with the machine. I will eventually mount this t-track to the longer tracks, similar to the prior image.
    Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area-img_20170223_211644-medium-jpg

    While attempting my first cuts with the machine, I learned how much pulling force an upcut end mill has. I will need some clamps to hold down my spoilboards/fixtures. In addition to the material being pulled up towards the router during cutting, the wedges I used (only hand tight) vibrated loose and the stock moved during cutting.

    Switching gears, I modeled some clamps in Fusion 360, based on a few designs I had seen. Here is video I made showing the first successful project with this machine and the finished clamps that it produced! Still not having clamps for this operation, I hammered the wedges in place to get them very tight and I also used longer screws to hold the stock down better.



    Jeremy
    http://www.diycncdesign.com/


  17. #37

    Default Re: Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area

    Very cool clamping system and very cool stop animation too!!!

    Quote Originally Posted by jpvonoy View Post
    It's been a while since I've posted my progress here. First, I came up with an idea for workholding. I attached 2 t-tracks to the bed, outside the working area. Then I made a sled with 90 degree corners with another t-track on it. This will hopefully allow easy clamping of any size stock at any location on the bed. I plan to use a few different styles of clamps and/or stop blocks to attach to the t-tracks. It will be easier to show pics than try to describe the setup and the many options it will allow:

    Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area-img_20170223_211726-medium-jpg

    On the other end of the bed, I attached this t-track with some cam clamps, to wedge in the spoilboard for my first attempted cuts with the machine. I will eventually mount this t-track to the longer tracks, similar to the prior image.
    Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area-img_20170223_211644-medium-jpg

    While attempting my first cuts with the machine, I learned how much pulling force an upcut end mill has. I will need some clamps to hold down my spoilboards/fixtures. In addition to the material being pulled up towards the router during cutting, the wedges I used (only hand tight) vibrated loose and the stock moved during cutting.


    Switching gears, I modeled some clamps in Fusion 360, based on a few designs I had seen. Here is video I made showing the first successful project with this machine and the finished clamps that it produced! Still not having clamps for this operation, I hammered the wedges in place to get them very tight and I also used longer screws to hold the stock down better.





  18. #38
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    Default Re: Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area

    Quote Originally Posted by fretman_2 View Post
    Very cool clamping system and very cool stop animation too!!!
    Thanks, I had fun making that video!

    Jeremy
    http://www.diycncdesign.com/


  19. #39
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    Default Re: Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area

    Happy Pi Day! My wife is a math teacher, so we worked on this project together. I used this project to try out engraving on the new machine. I first tried a 90 degree bit and the lettering was too shallow and wide. I used a 30 degree bit for the piece you see here and it was too deep and narrow. I think a 60 degree would be ideal, but I don't have one yet. I'll order one and try it again. Also, I didn't flatten the spoil board or the stock, so the engraving depths varied over the piece. I was just in a hurry to get this done for today :-)

    Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area-cnc-pi-project-sm-jpg

    Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area-pi-day-cnc-project-sm-jpg

    Jeremy
    http://www.diycncdesign.com/


  20. #40
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    Default Re: Profile Rail Wood Frame Router, 25" x 37" x 6" working area

    I see what you did there. 😀

    Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk



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