First CNC Build - FLA-100

[Darylb]

Hey guys,
This month i've begun my CNC build after lots of reading, lurking and a few posts on the CNC zone. I see a couple of other people starting their FLA-100 builds around this time too so i'm excited that we may be able to help each other out.

The initial acquisition phase of my build is complete. I live in western Canada so shipping and duty fees were a consideration for where I sourced my parts. Perhaps this log can help other Canadians with ideas of where to source their parts.

Due to the cost of shipping, I decided to source the aluminum extrusion and steel rails locally. It was fairly cheap to have the supplier of 80/20 cut the extrusion to length and they did it very accurately, much better than I could have down with the bandsaw I have access to.

Suppliers
FinelineAutomation.com

• Power Transfer Parts Bundle
• CNCRouterParts.com Parts Bundle
• Fastener Parts Bundle
• 3 Axis Electronics Kit
• SPDT Limit Switch (quantity 6)

Rocky Mountain Motion Controls (Vancouver, BC)
All 8020 parts and T-nuts required for FLA-100 build listed in master BOM

Metal Supermarket (Local metal store)

• 2, 2-1/2" Cold rolled steel rails by 44" length, 0.25" thickness
• 1, 6" Cold rolled steel rails by 29" length, 0.25" thickness
• 1, 4" Cold rolled steel rails by 10" length, 0.25" thickness

Ebay
A $3 E-stop

In my next post i'll begin detailing the machining process of drilling the holes into the rails.

[Darylb]

I decided to machine the CRS rails first. To accurately placed the holes, I sprayed the rails with a blue ink dye. Then I set a digital vernier caliper to the measurement I wanted and dragged it along my reference edge to "scribe" a line which I wanted the holes along. Then I did the same for the other side to create an intersection where the hole should be located.

Next I took the rail over to the drill press and drilled pilot holes with a small bit. For the rails, the hole location in the long direction is much less important than the location in the short direction (0.75" or 1.25" depending on which edge you reference). To make the distance to the long side consistent I clamped a plate to the drill press as a jig to push the part up against so I only had to align it in 1 direction each time.

After the pilot holes were drilled, I drilled the holes out to a loose fit clearance hole of 11/32. When I mount the rails to the extrusion they will have some play and I plan to align them using a dial gauge and torque them down into location.

[Stevetotheo]

Glad you got your parts! Give me a shout if you have any questions.

Steve-O

[Darylb]

Thanks Steve, will do.

I received my order from FineLineAutomation. I ordered the CNCRouterParts bundle, the 3-axis electronics kit, Fastener and Power Transfer parts kit

In addition, I began work on drilling and tapping the extrusion. So far I've completed the 4 legs and the 3, 24" pieces. Today I plan to drill the ~48" pieces so that I can begin to assemble the base. In addition, I need to pick up a parallel port card for my old WinXp computer that I plan to use to run this machine.

[Darylb]

Assembly has begun! I haven't finished fabricating all the 8020 parts or the Y-axis rail yet but I decided to start moving some of the materials from work (where i cut & tap after hours) to home so I dont have so much stuff in my office/cubicle. I thought I had all the parts for the base (FLA-110) however I forgot the 15" piece at work so i'll have to bring that home tonight so I can assemble the base.

Other than that, I have the pieces slid together but not tightened down yet. Another roadblock was the hex key size on the shaft collars. The hex key size was ~0.14 inch measured by my caliper therefore i'm assuming it is a 9/64 however I didn't have this hey key size in my set. I went out and bought one so I should be good to go on assembling the rod assembly now too.

[Darylb]

Got the base frame all assembled. I slid my steel rails in and got everything tightened down. I may not be aligned too well yet, i'll have to do some playing with that. My computer doesn't have an integrated parallel port so i'll have to buy an add-in card. I've read many add-in parallel cards cannot be forced to EPP mode which is necessary for it to play nice with the G540 and Mach therefore I ordered this card

[amishx64]

This looks good. Subscribed.

[Stevetotheo]

I demand an update sir!

Steve

[Darylb]

I will post pictures soon, progress halted while I was away during the christmas break. I was also waiting until I could get the servo's turning before I built the gantry and z-axis as I wanted to know if the torque output of the motor would be sufficient to move the gantry as the leadscrew is a bit tight at one end (due to misalignment i'm sure).

After finally getting a serial cable, i've set up my computer/Gecko G540/Mach3 and have got the servo's running. I rigged up a single servo to the X axis and it moves! Next to complete the basic mechanical build of all the axes and learn Mach3!

Lots to do...

[Darylb]

After a slow period over the Christmas break, i'm back to work on the FLA-100. I've got the Gantry assembled and now the Y-axis is installed and aligned. I needed to locate a larger allen key at work today to bolt the Z-axis linear carriages onto the CRP140 plate.

Once that is done, the next step will be to attach all the servos and see all 3-axes moves... so close!

[LarryE]

How did you layout the holes from the ends for the long rails?
Thank

[Darylb]

Are these the holes your are talking about LarryE? (see attached pic)