Urbs Joes2006 build

[jckstrthmghty]

Hasn't been long since I've had my JGRO up and running but I've always known I'd be using it to build a better machine. I originally started with some test parts for Lionclaws which came out excellent but after much thought I decided Joes2006 would be the way to go.

My biggest hurdle was the length of parts for Joes was longer than the cutting capacity my JGRO. I've read that people do staged cuts but I don't have any formal experience in cncing and it took me some time to get my head around the concept. Cut2d made the task manageable and I successfully made some ribs for the y axis. All the remaining parts should be easy to calculate now that I have a understanding of the process.

I used a 1/8" 2 upwards spiral flute bit at 30ipm for these parts. 1/8" allowed me to drill holes for the sheet placement and use #8 screws for good self alignment. The parts were cut slow to limit deflection and came out much better than expected. I might want something with better accuracy than I can get with the JGRO but it's still a fine hobby build.

Don't know how long this build will take but probably not nearly as long as the JGRO. Electronics are already working and will be easy to transfer over and with the JGRO making parts is easy and far more accurate than cutting and drilling by hand. Still have to order some new parts but that's part of the fun.

Hmmm not sure what to do with the JGRO once I'm done this build. Be a shame for it to be dismantled. Maybe get the HobbyCNC package and get it running for someone else.

[jckstrthmghty]

Was feeling good about the progress I was making. Finished cutting all the ribs for the y axis, was going to move onto the skins for the torsion box when I noticed a problem while reading another build log. The vertical braces were not cut all the way though on others builds only pocketed . And what do many of us do when we make a mistake. Yup make more mistakes. I tried recutting the braces but did not take my time and did not align the sheet well and made a terrible cut. Ug.

So I've decided to move on and just keep building with what I have. If there is too much defelctioon I'll cut out some 1/4" mdf to glue over the holes I made. If that doesn't work I'll just cut a new y axis with the new build. Even with the cutouts this build should be more ridgid that my current setup and with the larger cutting area new parts should be a walk in the park. Famous last words.

If you don't think this is adequate let me know and I suck it up and recut the part taking my time for alignment.

[robe_uk]

i think once you get the skins on your y axis will do just fine

[jckstrthmghty]

i think once you get the skins on your y axis will do just fine

Thanks Robe. I'll give it a try. Fortunately with MDF you can make many mistakes without huge budget implications. Good thing too. My pile or poorly made parts is getting tall.

[jckstrthmghty]

Squeezed in some work this week and got the Y axis torsion box glued up. Robe was right. It's very stiff. By hand I cannot get it to deflect. With the rails attached I'm sure it only gets better.

I think I'll start on the gantry walls next since there are no multi cuts involved.

[jckstrthmghty]

Started some of the gantry pieces this weekend. Had some trouble with the JGRO and ruined a few cuts. Part of the cutting bed support jams the x-axis movement time to time. Bad things happen then. Broke a few bits too. Was rushing a few cuts and forgot to turn the router on. I did manage to cut 3 out of the 4 gantry all parts and most of the lower support torsion box.

[jckstrthmghty]

Got the final parts of the gantry cut, glued, and dry fitted. Learning a lot and pleased with how the build is going. Suppose I should add some paint.

Next will be the z axis. I'll probably modify the build here a bit and use supported thk rail.

[jckstrthmghty]

unfortunately I incurred a injury somehow during the night when sleeping and was unable to spend the weekend training. Reallys sucks but that means time to cut.

Got a fair bit done on the carriage. All dry fitted and it looks good. I'm still amazed how much faster parts get cut on the cnc. Press a button, go do other stuff, come back to well made parts.

Still have to cut some bearing plates for x and y axis. The bearing box as well. Hmm and linear bearings. Good thing I can reuse the z bearing from the jgro for the joes.

Looks like a month to a month and a half from completion.

[jckstrthmghty]

One baby and a few extra months for good measure I've been able to get back to cutting parts for my joes2006. Here is a stack of x-rail supports. Had a few issues with jogging at 199 ipm so I slowed it down to 150 and all went well. I use a 1/4 two flute upward spiral bit cutting at 60 ipm at 0.2 depth and 12,000 rpm. At these settings there is a huge reduction in noise which allowed me to cut with a baby in the house.

I've been seriously considering a microcarve z-axis assembly. Marginally more expensive than building the joes version and very high quality. Most important already built and square. I'd just have to cut the router clamps.

Will be getting to the long torsion box pieces next. Getting exciting again.

[jckstrthmghty]

When using a JGRO the biggest challenge of this project is cutting the long X torsion box braces. My JGRO has a x cutting length of 31.5" The x brace is 58.5". I had initially thought I could get a 4'x8' sheet of mdf ripped to 16" long cuts. Problem was the HD in my area only sold 4'x4' sheet. Great. Still got the 4x4 ripped into 16" sections and I butted another 16"x 24" piece to the end when it came to the second part of the cut. It all worked out and the peices look good. Just have to do it once more.

[jckstrthmghty]

Just rediscovered my x axis adds 1/16" to each cut. Most of my work it's not a big deal but when trying to fit tight fitting parts it's significant. I decided to mill off 1/16 off the face of each slot on both the long x sections and the pipe braces. Made a simple plunge cut program, set up a temporary slide fence, marked the cutting area on the fence and in to time all 32 cuts were done. Really impressed how cnc can make a repetitive task so easy. I know in the original joes2006 plans the long x brace is joined at one of the slots but I decided that it would join the pieces between the slots gluing a partially cut brace. Just waiting on the last long brace to dry so I can glue the pipe rails. Will be off to HD to get some torsion box skins cut up. Hopefully they have 4'x8' sheet in 1/4".

[harryn]

Very impressive, esp. having time to build a cnc router and have a new baby in the house.