Splints router build log

[Splint]

Hi Gang,
for quiet some time now I have been working on and off on my first router. Over the xmas break I have been working on it full time and hope to have it completed and working in the very near future.
My primary reason for building a cnc router was to be able to quickly and accurately make my own foundry patterns, and with that in mind I designed it with a reasonably large z travel (280mm) and will be using an electric die grinder with an extended "snout" to have a better ability to work in confined pockets. A secondary reason for the long z travel was to build it with the ability to use it as a starting point for a four axis and then a five axis machine at a later point in time.
It will be a servo driven system using Electrocraft E543 motors with 1024 cpr encoders and will use Rutex 2010 drives and Isel rolled ballscrews. I hope to be able to get rapids speeds of about 100ipm.
The table is 1800 long (1550mm x travel) and a bit over a meter wide (990mm y travel).
Anyway, nuff talk for now, here are some pictures of the construction of the table.

[ynneb]

I just got one word to say to you.
ABOUT TIME ! ( actually two words )

[Splint]

Thanks for the encouragement yennb....I hope you realise that in order to make space to store this machine once completed I actually had to buy a house, then once I had the house I took full advantage of the silly amounts of overtime going at work and was regularly doing 90 hour weeks so no time for building a router...
Anyway getting back to the story, the x and y axies are based around a 200 by 250 by 20mm alloy plate which has 10mm angle plate bolted to it. The angle plate will be the mounting point for v blocks which will run skate bearings, the whole assembly will roll on 3/4" chrome plated hydrolic ram bar, and there will be plates bolted to the end of the angle plates to control any spreading effectof the angle plates while in opperation.
As you can see in the picture, prior to drilling the holes in the plate I laid the angle plates in their positions and marked the holes with a texta so that if I misread the dro or the plans I would pick up the error prior to drilling holes.

[Splint]

Here are some more pictures of the construction. One of the side plates is shown, there will be a plate run across the bottom, below the table where the x axis ballnut will mount (centerally).
To the left of the side plate is the two rails which will sit in vees machined in an aluminium plate. This will be used for the z axis, which will be quiet narrow, marginally narrower than the die grinders case to allow for movement into confined spaces.
The y axis plate is mounted in the vise on the mill and has had the bolt holes drilled and tapped for the rails to be mounted in.
The other componants are the mounting brakets for the x axis v blocks, the lower section of the z axis where the snout of the die grinder locates and the side braces to assist with lateral rigidity of the side plates.

[Splint]

The electrical system is the remains of a small mig welder which I got from a guy who repares welders, he took of the wire feed, leads and gun and i got the rest with a few big caps. I put a few more turns on the secondry winding to get the desired voltage and I was in business. Allthough as far as power supplies go, this is overkill, even if I go for a full 5 axis machine and all motors are pulling maximum amps at the same time there will still be plenty in reserve. The main reason I went this way was because of the price (far less than the cost of new componants if I were to build one of my own) and the simplicity of having a working system ready to go.
The biggest issue for many Aussies is there is such limited availability of second hand cnc gear and the price of such gear is high (that's if you can even find what you want) fortunately I picked up my servos at a reasonable price when I was in Singapore at Kaichin Electronics who deal in used industrial electronics and hardware.
As mentioned earlier the servo drives are Rutex 2010s and I opted for an optoiscolated motherboard to protect the pc. Unfortunately I accidentally hooked up the power supply wires to a board reverse polarity and let the smoke out. The pc I got from a computer swap meet, it's a pentium 2 gig.

[Ken_Shea]

It is nice to get some spare time I bet, 90 hours does not leave much left, however it looks like you are making up for it now, looks great.

I hope you find time to share some close up pictures of the Rutex 2010's and associated connections. That is a ways away for me yet and I have been reading up on it to get some mental understanding but actual pictures would be a real help and time saver.

Ken

[Rodm1954]

Splint
Keep the posts coming - fantastic work.

I know what you mean about limited materials and high prices. I have been sourcing bits from Singapore as well - it seems like the best place for used gear over this side of the world.

[Splint]

The pulleys are AT5 type which is a more precision version of T5 pulleys (less backlash between the belt and pulley) the belts are synchroflex brand, not sure where they are made, possibly here in Australia. The energychain is Kabelschlepp microtrac http://www.kabelschlepp.com/miva/mer...gory_Code=CHCS Igus also has a good range of energy chain but Kabelschlepp was cheaper.

[Splint]

Here are some close ups of the Rutex system. The first image is the optoiscolated motherboard with a 2010 drive plugged in. I bench tested it like this and used the Rutex tuning software, if you follow the instructions it's pretty easy.
The next image is a closer look at the 2010 drive.
The last image is the single ended line driver. The encoder is wired to the screw terminals (pos, neg A and B) and then a network cable runs between the line driver and the 2010 drive.

[Splint]

This image shows the ballscrew which is 16mm with a 2.5 mm pitch which will be the spec for the y and z axies. The x will use a 16mm diameter with a 5mm pitch to halve the rpm of the screw to reduce the whipping effect which will be caused by its considerable length.
The ball nut, seals and housing are also shown. The housing has two grub screws in it, one at the end to lock the nut into the housing and another at the centre to tension the nut. The nut has a cut out section which has a shim device in it, once the screw is in the nut the tensioner screw is tightened until the shim bottoms out and once the nut is lubricated through the grease nipple on the nut mount it is ready for use. The shaft through the nut is a dummy shaft which remains in place until the nut is fitted to the shaft, this prevents the balls from dropping out.

[Prboz]

Hey Splint, When you said you where building your machine in your PM to me I didn't expect what I found in your log. Don't beleive in starting small hey .

Will keep uptodate of your progress, will have to go back to my humble shed and keep building my TOY.

Later

Prboz

[Prboz]

Do you have any singapore web sites for equipment?

Thanks