CarveOne's Work Table CNC Router Build

[CarveOne]

Ok, last post for today. My apologies for the fuzzy photos. I just couldn't get the camera still enough in macro or normal mode.

The flanges are very close to square with the rail but I can tweak this into alignment after the 3/8" thick bearing mounts are installed.

Now I need to get serious about working on the work table again and install the X axis rails.

CarveOne

[widgitmaster]

Did someone say "WidgitMaster"

That is too long for my shop CarveOne !

Widgit

[CarveOne]

Did someone say "WidgitMaster"

That is too long for my shop CarveOne !

Widgit

Hi widgitmaster,

I wondered if you would see that comment. It would be a real mess if the drill snagged the steel and started swirling that six foot piece of steel around in these tight confines. I stayed on the left side of the mill just in case it tried to and clamped it really tight. The setup worked really well though.

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

While checking parts fit this evening I put the ACME rod extension together with a DumpsterCNC coupler and a left over piece if 1/2-10 one start rod to see how it looks. To the right of the bearing will be a 3/4" OD x 7/8" long collar with 1/2" ID and two opposing set screws. If I feel the need to add a pair of thrust washers on each side of the bearing at a later time I can trim the collar by the amount of space that the thrust washers occupy and shim one of the bearing plates accordingly. The ACME rod will be fixed to the shaft extension by a roll pin or shear pin.

This assembly rolls very nicely. With this and the cncrouterparts.com carriages there will be a lot less drag on the steppers than with my first machine build.

While at the local Fastenal today I found a 1"H x 2"W x 0.1" wall x 72" steel box tube and decided that I have a use for it in my design, and maybe for two more. Guess where?

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

CarveOne....thanks for posting your build..what router motor are you planning on using? And what feed rates are you anticipating , say in 3/4" plywood?

My apologies cnccutter,

I must have been mostly asleep at the keyboard when I wrote my first reply that was unrelated to your question.

I have a Ryobi 1.5hp new-refurbished router for this machine that will have to do until I can get something better. My Z axis design will have the ability to swap out the router mount easily so that the router can be any size needed for a particular special project.

A spindle is out of the question unless I try to homebuild one from a salvaged motor and a home machined spindle. I'm not expecting to attempt that anytime soon.

CarveOne

[Khalid]

very good progress.. I am watching with interest... *****

[CarveOne]

Thanks Khalid, I hope it will be up to your standards when it is finished. Then I will try to do something useful with it.

Once I get all the X and Y axis parts made and the 1" x 2" box tube cut to length and notched on each end it will start to take shape quickly over one weekend. I'll be making the bearing plates this weekend. Visiting family will be here also, so that will slow down my CNC build work somewhat.

Update:
I picked up a second 1" x 2" box tube yesterday, and will pick up a third one before this weekend when it arrives at the Fastenal store. This completes the steel material needed to complete the build, unless I change the gantry risers design to make it look better than just a stack of box tubes.

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

It was warm enough last evening to spend a little time on the lathe making four collars for the lead screw extensions. One is still in the lathe chuck. These will have two 8-32 set screws installed in them after drilling the holes. I'll make the remaining four of the 8 needed this weekend.

CarveOne

[Khalid]

CarveOne.. If you can please highlight the parts in your drawing that you have made or available with you...This will give us the idea how much work is completed

You are going very well..Hope the machine will soon running

[CarveOne]

That's a good idea Khalid, but most of the small parts I have made so far were not shown in any of the drawings I have posted so far. I have been working on an end view drawing of the X axis bearing assembly so that I can see how the clearances will work out. It still doesn't show a side view so far. I will post what I have drawn so far.

The 1" x 2" steel box tube I bought recently will be used for stiffening the vertically mounted 1/4" x 4" x 72" X axis and Y axis rails between the support rods instead of depending on the extra support rods that I had described in earlier posts. I was surprised at how easily the wide steel rail material bends.

Edit: What I'll do this weekend is to clear off the work table and place all of the parts I have made on the table and take a photo of all of it at one time. There isn't as much done as I would like due to cold weather slowing me down.

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

By Khalid's request here are the parts I have on hand now.

The 10 all-thread support rods and spacers are already machined and mounted along each side of the table.

At the rear of the photos are the parts for the gantry rail, which should be about 55" wide since adding the 1" x 2" box tube stiffener. 1" x 4" rail, angle brackets for each end, and 1/2-10 5 start ACME rod. (Needs to be cut to length)

Along each side of the table are the X axis rail parts. 1" x 4" rail, angle brackets for each end, 1" x 2" box tube and 1/2-10 5 start ACME rod.

Up front in the photos are the standard hardware, the 1" x 3" precision ground steel Y axis rail, Gecko G203V drives, anti-backlash nuts, some couplers, ACME rod extensions, extra support rods, table feet, Linear carriages, and some of the collars for the extensions.

I'll do as much as I can on it this weekend but I have visiting family and a couple of friends coming by also. It would be nice if I could get all of the machining completed for the ACME rod extensions and cut the metal for the bearing and stepper plates as a minimum.

I still have to machine the bearing plates and stepper motor plates, and make the gantry support parts. The X axis will be assembled first, the Y axis second, and the Z axis will be completed last.

CarveOne

[Khalid]

wow.... Thats very good to see those parts... Thanks for sharing..Now I am able to see the real progress you having on...

This time you are working really fast..You are breaking my record

[CarveOne]

Khalid,

Did you see the sunrise photo that I posted for you on page 2 post #37 of this build log? I thought you might like it.

CarveOne

[Khalid]

carve One.. You have an artist hidden in you.. Your photography skills are marvellous.. I am sorry i didn't mentioned that in my earlier post... but It is now the wallpaper of my desktop
Thanks and keep posting..
Regards

[CarveOne]

carve One.. You have an artist hidden in you.. Your photography skills are marvellous.. I am sorry i didn't mentioned that in my earlier post... but It is now the wallpaper of my desktop
Thanks and keep posting..
Regards

Thank you for the compliment. I had an idea that you would like it. I really should have taken it from the other side of the carport though. Views like this are infrequent and fleeting. One has to take advantage of them while available. I also use it as my Windows and Linux wallpaper.

Progress Update:

I finished making the collars for the extensions and installed two opposing 8-32 set screws in each one.

I cut the 1" x 2" box tubes for the X axis rails to length and notched each end so that it can be positioned over the right angle end brackets and fit flush against the 1/4" x 4" X axis rails. This just looks cleaner than cutting them short to fit between the brackets, leaving the right angle bracket completely exposed to view.

For the photo I placed two of the longer carriages on the edges of the rail in order to show how these parts will work together. I will provide sturdy stops for the carriages in case they run up against the end of travel. When installed on the work table there will be five nuts and external tooth lock washers showing on the outside of the rail. The box tube will not be visible except when looking between the rail and the table.

The five all-thread rods on each side of the table are 1" too short now that I added the 1" thick box tube. I have a choice of buying more material and cutting new all-thread support rods, or making the aluminum spacers 1" shorter. Decisions, decisions. I'll make some measurements for the mounting holes in the rail and box tube and decide which way to go with it tomorrow when the weather is expected to be 10 degrees warmer.


CarveOne

[CarveOne]

Today I started marking and drilling the two 1" x 2" box tubes and 1/4" x 4" X axis rails for the five locations of the 1/2" all-thread support rods. Amazingly enough, they actually fit together like I had planned it to instead of the way it usually turns out.

The 1-1/2" aluminum spacers are not in place in these photos because they are 2" too long now. I will get more 1/2" all-thread material tomorrow and make ten longer support rods instead of cutting the spacers to 1".

I can put all of my 175 lbs weight on the side rail and I don't feel it flex at all. With the spacers installed and everything tightened it should be even stiffer. So I think now I should remove the side rails and spray paint them to prevent rusting.

With Ahren's longer linear carriages on the rails it looks like I should end up with about 5' 2" of X axis travel. I'll need to cut 2" off of the lead screws in order to have the bearing plates aligned with the lead screw bearings.

Next thing to do is to install the leveling feet under the six table legs and add bracing to the table structure. I can't do any alignment adjustments of the X axis rails until the work table is trued up. That will have to wait until next weekend. My evenings will be dedicated to other things this week. I may be able to cut the new support rods and have them ready for the weekend work.

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

It looks like the weather will be around 70F this weekend. I hope to get some work done on the CNC machine on Sunday, but other necessities will prevent anything but minor work on Saturday evening.

This week I picked up a third 1" x 2" x 72" steel box tube (for the Y axis rail stiffener) and enough 1/2"-13 all-thread rod material to make longer X axis support rods.

While the X axis rails are removed from the work table for installing the longer support rods I hope to install the table feet, cut the longer support rods, and brace the table legs. If all of this is completed I will start making the X axis bearing support plates.

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

Ok, I got more done than I thought I would. I flipped the work table over on each side and drilled 1/2" holes in the bottom of the six legs. The drilling jig I made for drilling the X axis support rod holes was shortened and modified slightly and reused for drilling the holes in the end of the table legs. I installed the adjustable feet that I made a few weeks ago into the legs. The table top was then adjusted flat using a 4' level and 8' aluminum straight edge. These adjustments will be good enough for construction purposes. Everything will be readjusted again once the machine is running.

I cut the 10 longer X axis support rods and installed them. This time they were tightened as if they are going to be used. The spacing from side to side of the rails are the same (55-1/2") at each end of the rails but it is 1/16" shorter at mid span. No problem to correct it, as it may just be how I overtightened it. Visual inspection of the rail alignment looks very close looking at it with a known straight edge. Tomorrow I'll check it from corner to corner using the sewing thread method.

I placed a long linear carriage on the top of each rail, then placed two 72" x 1-1/2" square x 0.120" wall thickness box tubes across the carriages and placed four solid concrete building blocks on the box tubes to see how the 132 pound total weight affects the carriages. They seemed to roll smoother with the heavy weight and it takes little pressure on my little finger to move them. My gantry weight will not be nearly so heavy as the test weight. Hopefully, about half as much. Note that these hot roll steel rails are not as smooth as the cold roll steel Ahren recommends. These will have to suffice until they really become a problem.

I ordered ball bearings from VXB.com today and cut three of the 3/8" thick steel plates for the bearing mounts. I'll have to get another piece of steel for the remaining three plates that I'll need. Tomorrow I'll drill the holes in them for the 3/8" all-thread stepper mounting plate supports. I'll also cut the 1/4" aluminum stepper mounting plates and drill the 3/8" holes in them. Boring the critical bearing holes and stepper holes will all be done at the same time when the milling machine is set up for it.


CarveOne

[joecnc2006]

CarveOne, The base is coming along nicely. Look forward to seeing more.

Joe

[ahren]

CarveOne,

Looking great! It's no small task getting those two long rails adjusted parallel to each other and rolling smoothly. Thanks for the great photos too -- I may use your concrete block example the next time I get an email asking how much the carriages can hold . Keep up the good work!

Ahren
www.cncrouterparts.com