Roy's First Machine

[roy_okc]

After many months of lurking here, planning, scrapping plans, planning some more, seeking advice, purchasing parts, etc., I finally started on my first machine a couple months ago. I chose the basic Solsylva design that has raised side rails, but that's about the only Solsylva design element left. Due to limited space in my workshop, my bed between posts is just over 24" wide, bed length is a bit over 51" and just over 48" between posts; this will give me around 18-19" x 51" capacity. Additionally, I will have the ability to run past the end of the bed by a couple inches to allow cutting endgrain, such as for dovetails or run full sheets through sideways (indexing required obviously). I also plan on bolting on vertical and horizontal rotaries at a later point. I'll probably start out using my Hitachi router for a spindle, but plan on getting a SuperPID and dedicated router (maybe Colt) fairly soon after I get this beast running.

My primary purpose for building this is to decorate various woodworking projects, to include new cabinets throughout the house (hopefully in '12), furniture, kids furniture, toys, gifts, etc. I could also venture into some lost-foam aluminum casting projects with son-in-law. May also see what collaboration I can do with brother-in-law's former girlfriend who is an artist and frequently paints on non-traditional media. I'll be ecstatic if I make any income from this, although I currently have no plans nor expectations of doing so.

Besides wood and other soft materials, I hope this might be strong enough to do some occasional light and slow work in soft metals.

I'm building this using 80/20 15-series purchased from the 80/20 Ebay store, quite a few parts from CNCRouterParts.com, Rollon TLV43 and maybe ULV43 rails and CDW43 190 trucks for X & Y, some 15mm linear rail and trucks for Z. The base area will have storage drawers for bits, tools, and etc. I'm using dual R&P on the long axis, 1/2-10/5-start Acme on gantry, and 1/2-10/1-start on Z axis.

For electricals, I'm leaning heavily towards Ahren's new 5 axis breakout board, G251 drivers, 48v/12.5a power supply, and 380 oz-in Nema23 steppers; I believe this will be cheaper and probably easier in the long run when I add the rotaries compared to starting with a G540.

I'm hoping I can use EMC2, as I'm a long-time Linux guy; prepared to go to Mach if I can't get the quality I'm wanting.

Sorry, I don't have nice 3D renderings, just a basic diagram I did in OpenOffice. The first photo is as it was this morning, the lower framework complete (as it has been for a few weeks--life got in the way of progress). As I'm designing as I go and limited to weekend mornings and early afternoons due to heat, progress will be a bit slow; I hope to have the design finalized and much put together during a very long Independence Day weekend although I'll have to get a few more parts to completely finalize the mechanicals.


More to come...

Roy

[ger21]

If it's not too late, don't use 1 start screws on the Z axis. It'll be too slow and limit your cutting speeds when doing 3D cutting. Go with at least 2 start.

[roy_okc]

Gerry,

Thanks for the advice. I've already purchased 1-start rod and nut for my Z, so I'll probably use that for now and determine what would be better after running for a while.

I've seen many comments about 5-start allowing the router to drop to the bed when the motor is powered off. Would 1/2-8 or -10 2-start not have that problem?

Thanks again,
Roy

[roy_okc]

Made some progress yesterday and today.

Yesterday I temporarily mounted my X rails yesterday, although I haven't cut them to length yet; also mounted Rollon rails to X rails and R&P on one side.

Today I figured out how to attach my Y to my Rollon trucks. I then cut my Y gantry and temporarily mounted it. I now realize that I may have cut it too short, but I'll make it work to get started; luckily the cutoff piece is plenty long if I need to switch it out. I've figured out two possible methods to attach my Y drive to my Z unit, but that's another day.

[LikuiD]

You seem to be making progress pretty fast
If you don't mind, could you always keep us updated with pictures as well? They really help newbies like me

[Mountaincraft]

Gerry,

Thanks for the advice. I've already purchased 1-start rod and nut for my Z, so I'll probably use that for now and determine what would be better after running for a while.

I've seen many comments about 5-start allowing the router to drop to the bed when the motor is powered off. Would 1/2-8 or -10 2-start not have that problem?

Thanks again,
Roy

I use the CNC router parts system with the High Z plate, a 24" 1530 extrusion, 12" of Z travel, NEMA34 stepper, K2CNC router mount and a PC 690 router...

I use a 5 start 1/2" screw and haven't even a 'hint' of the thing gravity feeding down when power is removed... not so far anyways...

[louieatienza]

Gerry,

Thanks for the advice. I've already purchased 1-start rod and nut for my Z, so I'll probably use that for now and determine what would be better after running for a while.

I've seen many comments about 5-start allowing the router to drop to the bed when the motor is powered off. Would 1/2-8 or -10 2-start not have that problem?

Thanks again,
Roy

I use 1/2" 8- 8 start (1tpi effective) and have not yet had my router move when the machine is powered off. I use AB nuts from dumpsterCNC.com which fit nice and snuc to the screw. I have a 2-1/4" Bosch router and my carriage is made of 1" phenolic, with rails made of 3/4" drill rod, so it is quite heavy.

[roy_okc]

@Likuid, sorry about lack of photos. I didn't have my phone/camera out with me while I was working on it before it got too hot to work. I'll take some pictures when I next work on it, probably this weekend.

@Mountaincraft and Louieatienza, thanks for your experiences with multi-start Z rod. MC, are you using the CNCRouterParts nut?

Roy

[roy_okc]

Here are photos of the state where I left off last weekend.

I temporarily attached my 1530 X axis rails, but have not yet cut them down from the original 8'. I also attached a length of Rollon TLV-43 (bought used on Ebay) and gear rack (Moore Gear). I decided to move the Rollon to the side rather than top to hopefully cut down on stuff getting in the rails and also give a bit more Y movement.

I attached a piece of 1530 to each of the trucks, with access holes to reach the 4 bolts (ignore the 2 bolts in picture) on the Rollon truck.

I temporarily attached my 1545 gantry beam to the truck rails. I will have wide gussets on both front and back, 3" tall on one side, 1.5" tall on the other, depending on where the Acme rod ends up.

I realized though, that I need to flip my X 1530 over so that I can get an extra 3" of Y travel. This is where I realized I cut the gantry too short. Luckily, the cutoff piece is long enough, but I'm not going to cut it until I'm positive of my needed length.

Roy

[roy_okc]

July 1, 2011 updates:

I got a few hours of progress in today. Lot of tedious stuff today, drilling a couple holes, tapping several holes, figuring out how to attach stuff, etc.

I didn't have a way to attach the CNCRP pinion assembly to the Rollon trucks in their stock form. To fix that, I drilled a hole and tapped it (3/18-16) between the two end bearing holes. The bolt thread is slightly longer than the depth of the truck, but it doesn't interfere with the bearings.

To attach the pinion assembly tension spring, I drilled a hole through an economy T-nut that goes under the 1530 attached to the X rollons. I'm going to have to shave a bit off the pinion assembly's upper 45 degree corner as it contacts the 1530 long before it reaches the gear rack.

Putting the trucks back together takes some patience. Each bearing is on an eccentric shaft unmarked as to where high or low is and looking at it is not quite obvious. I marked what I thought was the high point on each bearing shaft, aligned all the bottom (denoted with the 'v' on the truck body) bearings so that they all rolled. Then installed the upper bearings and trial and much error got them so they were snug, but not overly tight, in the TLV channel. I can't feel any play with these when they are well adjusted. I did figure out that the end scrapers have a LOT of drag; I'm kind of guessing 2 to 5 pounds. I don't know if it is due to their age or if that is just how they are. I'm going to take them all off for now and when I get the beast moving under its own power test to see if having them on affects speed significantly.

I reattached my too-short gantry, attached a piece of uncut Rollon rail on top and Acme rod bearing blocks on the back. (Yes, I know the Acme nut goes between the bearing blocks, I wanted to be able to access it easy for now.) Not sure if where I'll put the rod, front or back, but I wanted to see a bit of overall progress on the gantry.

That's all for today. Hope to have more progress tomorrow.

Roy

[louieatienza]

July 1, 2011 updates:

I got a few hours of progress in today. Lot of tedious stuff today, drilling a couple holes, tapping several holes, figuring out how to attach stuff, etc.

I didn't have a way to attach the CNCRP pinion assembly to the Rollon trucks in their stock form. To fix that, I drilled a hole and tapped it (3/18-16) between the two end bearing holes. The bolt thread is slightly longer than the depth of the truck, but it doesn't interfere with the bearings.

To attach the pinion assembly tension spring, I drilled a hole through an economy T-nut that goes under the 1530 attached to the X rollons. I'm going to have to shave a bit off the pinion assembly's upper 45 degree corner as it contacts the 1530 long before it reaches the gear rack.

Putting the trucks back together takes some patience. Each bearing is on an eccentric shaft unmarked as to where high or low is and looking at it is not quite obvious. I marked what I thought was the high point on each bearing shaft, aligned all the bottom (denoted with the 'v' on the truck body) bearings so that they all rolled. Then installed the upper bearings and trial and much error got them so they were snug, but not overly tight, in the TLV channel. I can't feel any play with these when they are well adjusted. I did figure out that the end scrapers have a LOT of drag; I'm kind of guessing 2 to 5 pounds. I don't know if it is due to their age or if that is just how they are. I'm going to take them all off for now and when I get the beast moving under its own power test to see if having them on affects speed significantly.

I reattached my too-short gantry, attached a piece of uncut Rollon rail on top and Acme rod bearing blocks on the back. (Yes, I know the Acme nut goes between the bearing blocks, I wanted to be able to access it easy for now.) Not sure if where I'll put the rod, front or back, but I wanted to see a bit of overall progress on the gantry.

That's all for today. Hope to have more progress tomorrow.

Roy

Roy, having used Rollon rails and trucks in my build, I can echo your observations on the sweeps. Removing them is like night and day -they can be made almost frictionless without the sweeps - though you do want something there to keep the rails clean. What I did (on my x axis) was cut them down a tad with a nail file, and wiped them down good to remove any grit. Helped a lot. Judging by the amount of grease on the ones I bought, I don't think these things had a easy life in their previous install. I haven't done so ywt, but hope to make brush sweeps for them in the future.

As for the preload... The first, thid, and fifth bearing are on eccentric adjusters. The second and fourth are stationary. The best way I've found to adjust these is to get bearing 1, 3, and 5 just slightly higher than 2 and 4. Put it into the TLV track, and there should be some play. Adjust 3 till it hits the top channel in the track with a very slight preload. There should be almost no play. Once that is good you can bring bearings 1 and 5 up. I also took a thin crescent wrench and ground it down to fit between truck and rail, this way I can set the preload without removing the truck from the rail.

You could potentially set the three adjustable bearings low, but this will affect where the truck is in relation to the rail, and might cause clearance issues.

[roy_okc]

Roy, having used Rollon rails and trucks in my build, I can echo your observations on the sweeps. Removing them is like night and day -they can be made almost frictionless without the sweeps - though you do want something there to keep the rails clean. What I did (on my x axis) was cut them down a tad with a nail file, and wiped them down good to remove any grit. Helped a lot. Judging by the amount of grease on the ones I bought, I don't think these things had a easy life in their previous install. I haven't done so ywt, but hope to make brush sweeps for them in the future.

As for the preload... The first, thid, and fifth bearing are on eccentric adjusters. The second and fourth are stationary. The best way I've found to adjust these is to get bearing 1, 3, and 5 just slightly higher than 2 and 4. Put it into the TLV track, and there should be some play. Adjust 3 till it hits the top channel in the track with a very slight preload. There should be almost no play. Once that is good you can bring bearings 1 and 5 up. I also took a thin crescent wrench and ground it down to fit between truck and rail, this way I can set the preload without removing the truck from the rail.

You could potentially set the three adjustable bearings low, but this will affect where the truck is in relation to the rail, and might cause clearance issues.

Louie,

Thanks for confirming your experience with the scrapers. Have you noticed any debris accumulating in the rails without the scrapers?

Yes, my trucks were covered with grease in the bearing area. Did you get yours from an Ebay seller in Texas, 41" long?

So far all of the bearings that I've pulled off and looked at have been on eccentric shafts. There is a possibility that I haven't encountered the non-eccentric versions as I may have first taken apart trucks from a couple ULV rails that I initially bought; will definitely look through my loose bearings today. I took the opposite approach to preloading mine, bottoming out 1, 3, and 5, then installing and adjusting 2 and 4; sure doesn't take much to go from too loose to too tight.

I cut out a notch in a piece of thin aluminum for my wrench, however, it is too thick for the TLV and I cut the notch too wide so it tends to spread and slip. I need to take a look in my assortment of cheap metric wrenches to see if I have one that size and grind it down.

Are you using single rail pieces? I'm hoping to be able to butt pieces together and extend past the 41". Alternatively, if that doesn't work well, I may purchase a long piece or two of ULV43 and cut it down. I think the ULV43 would work fine, but really like that the TLV43 truck has no way to move/rotate in its track where the ULV43 can, although with great difficulty.

Thanks,
Roy