New Machine Build- 8020 Aluminum Build

[Mr.Chips]

Originally Posted by minisoft Mr chips. sorry for not being clear.. i meant that i was looking at the linear guides the other day. but couldnt tell if they had actual bearings on the inside of the block or if it had the delrin or some other plastic slide. but i took a better look at the blocks and guides and found out they did have bearings.. so that was what i was asking .. if it had bearing..lol.. thanks for the reply..

Think you mean this for "Ross" the builder.

[minisoft]

yes .. klick0 aka rose.. sorry about that

[mhmslm]

Hi Ross,

The gantry looks pretty stout alright. Did you happen to run it through the 80/20 deflection calculator to see what it comes up with? Just by looking at it it looks like you could easily put a 3 HP+ router on the Z axis when it's ready and still be well within .001" deflection.
Looks like it's going to be a really great machine when completed.

Mike M.

[minisoft]

i built one somthing like his a month or so ago and i have a 3.25 hp on mine.. i just did a pcb today and looks like a $50000 machine did it... mine is all 80/20 also.. just little different then his.. im building a new one right now. just because im bored..lol.

[klick0]

Mike, Nah, I don't even know where an 80/20 deflection calculator is... Also i'm still doing more reinforcements, so hopefully it will be even more rigid after that.

I've attached a pic of my old machine, you could see part of it in one of the other pictures. I plan to use the router it has, really my old machine can't really handle that, but I wanted a bigger router on it eheh.

Tonight I was working on the main Z axis plate, I was threading a hole and broke off the threader/die thing. I can't figure out how to back those things out, luckily it isn't necessarily a required hole, so i'll just cover it up, and hope I don't need to use it. Regardless, the plate is getting closer, and I should receive the last few parts I need by next week for that, I still need to make other parts for this, but things are moving along which is good

I did do some testing, I hooked up the Y axis, and tested my backlash. At first I thought I had about 2 hundredths of an inch in backlash, which I was devastated. I then realized that the clamp I had holding down my digital calipers was loose, and was moving back and forth, i tightened that down, and tested again. I came up with 1 thousandth of an inch or less, granted that's with no load, I did try to push on it back and forth and it didn't budge at all, so it's looking really freaking good. My old machine on the X axis had like 1/40th an inch of backlash... eheh, it was freaking horrible, so this machine is looking much better Can't wait to get the other axis on and tested. Granted the real test will be when it's hooked up to the computer, but these initial tests look very promising.

Ross

[DIY-Guy]

Originally Posted by klick0 Mike, Nah, I don't even know where an 80/20 deflection calculator is... Ross

Hi,
Here's what I found on the http://8020.net site, their "deflection calculator" download. Have fun!

http://8020.net/Design-Tools-26.asp

Sincerely,
DIY-Guy "Becoming a bit more dangerous with each new piece of knowledge!"
P.S. I have not downloaded this yet and do not currently know how to use it, but I would like to know how.

[mhmslm]

The deflection calculator is really easy to use. You just pick which 80/20 product you are testing from their drop down list, enter the distance of the unsupported span, in inches or milimeters, depending on which product it is, enter a figure for the weight which will be on the product (this can be a known quantity or a guesstimate) and click on the "Calculate Deflection" button. The program will then give you the deflection according to several senerios: 1. the weight is evenly distributed along the span; 2. the weight is centered in the middle of the span; 3. the product is standing on edge; 4. the product is laying flat.
If you are still in the design phase of your machine you can use this program to jockey the parameters around and help you decide which products to use, e.g. 1530 or 1545, where you will need bracing, how many cross pieces you will need, etc. Very useful tool.
The only thing is, when you're done you have your answers, if you're gonna use 80/20 brand! Who knows if it is the same for T-Slots, or any of the others.

Mike M.

[klick0]

Ok, it's been a while since an update has occured, busy with work has slowed me down a bit but i've been trying to get the machine done. I am much further along now, the machine actually moves around on all axis, does so with great precision so far. The biggest challenge that was accomplished since last post is the electronics box, which isn't quite done, but I posted a picture, it's a task I dreaded and now most of the hard stuff is over with it, so i'm quite happy

The only thing left to do is the limit switches, which i'm about 20% done with i'd say. I could run the machine with something, but I'm patient enough to wait till I get the limit switches done before running it. Granted I don't have a tabletop on it yet, but that's not much effort, I have all the parts needed to throw that on.

Also with my new control board, I have some digital outputs that I could use to control whether or not the spindle is turned on, which would be nice. Really the main reason I want that is during an ESTOP it will turn it off, or I would assume it does. Also the machine is much larger, and i can't lean over to turn it on before hitting the Run button for the program, so it would help out for that as well. I have no intentions of doing RPM control though, as I just use a standard router anyway...

Ross

[markus_detroy]

give us a update on your motor choices sizing where you purchased them.
what size of encoder you used etc?

some info on how you tuned your servos? for us newbies

[Micky15044]

Ross, If you get a minute please check your PM's. Thanks.