New Project - Tabletop router 24x48x7 HD!!

[petecul]

Hi everyone,

Last weekend I've decided to build my own router since I couldn't find one that fit within my budget and/or was not rigid enough.

I want to build something heavy duty that is gonna last and can cut aluminum almost like a knee mill and hardwood as fast as possible. Was looking at Techno and Blurry customs but they don't look very rigid.

Specs are 24 x 48 x 7 and will also have a 4th rotary axis.
3hp spindle with VFD, AC servo. All quality parts!

Objective is to get a turnkey machine under $8K CAD and have it built by the end of october. I'll put all the purchases on this forum to let you know how deep in the red my bank account will look like and see how my project progresses until the deadline fixed!


I have already made some purchase on ebay and received it today.

Z axis :LINEAR BEARING,THK HSR20, BALLSCREW, BTK2005A
X axis: 2 rails/4 blocks THK HSR25 H, LINEAR BERING, LM GUIDE,37",940mm
Y axis: 2 rails/4 blocks NSK LINEAR BEARING LS30/LM GUIDE




Near new items, items were packaged with extreme care and all this for 1418.31$ CAD!! Next week, will get quote on the 2 ballscrews missing and work on the design of the router.

Need some input from this forum
I will have a work area of 24 x 48, what are the minimum dimensions that the table need to be to allow proper part fixing? Further I plan to have vacuum table but don't think I will able to make it fit in the budget.

Also, i am planning of buying ac servo with drive, was thinking of 400w servo with 1.3N/M rated torque mounted on ballscrew with a ratio of 1:2. What this forum thinks about that, is enough, should I consider bigger?

Thanks
petecul

[Benonymous]

Your plan looks like a carbon copy of mine :-) What material are you thinking about for the frame? I'm going for RHS in around 150 x 50 x 4mm. The trick is to get the mounting surfaces for the rails flat and parallel. once you start machining rolled sections they can distort as the built in stresses are altered. The only way to avoid this is to either not machine it or to relieve the parts first then machine.

[petecul]

Hi

Here is a first draft of the router that i am building. Table still need to be design. I am still waiting for the x-y ball screw quotes. Spindle and drive quotes are on the way too.

It will be made of structural steel tube 44W 2 x 2 x 1/4, and 3/8 Steel plate 44w. At This point, the whole thing weight something like 300lbs. Will be a welded welded/bolted contruction. I've tried to think about every possible adjustment for each axis to allow fine tune them.

X = 27, y= 48.5, z=7.5


I am still looking for some control/motors (servo ac if possible other wise dc is fine too), will need a control pendant, t-slot table. Freebies are welcome !

Beginning of the next week, target is to have all components ordered for the frame (tubes, bended/laser cut parts)

Any advice about the frame are welcome.

thanks
petecul

[petecul]

Hy guys

The router will finally looks like this, built with 3 x 3 x 1/4 tubing, welded structure. Table plateform will be 4X 2x2x 1/4 on the Y axis. roughly 500lbs of rigidity!

Instead of a 3hp, I might get a 5hp spindle, waiting for quote, money will tell!!!

petecul

[harryn]

Hy guys

The router will finally looks like this, built with 3 x 3 x 1/4 tubing, welded structure. Table plateform will be 4X 2x2x 1/4 on the Y axis. roughly 500lbs of rigidity!

Instead of a 3hp, I might get a 5hp spindle, waiting for quote, money will tell!!!

petecul

Nice project. I would be tempted to skip the welding and go straight to bolt + epoxy to reduce distortion. The 1/4 in tube walls are thick enough to tap, so you can use that to simplify construction.

[petecul]

After welding, I will face, drill and tap the table on a large milling to insure parallelism of both rails for each axis.

Thanks

petecul

[petecul]

Because of the price I am considering 25 mm x 5 mm THK rolled ball screw with nut BNT2505-2.6. Nut have 0.1mm of backlash (0.004''). Should I worry about this backlash or mach 3 can do compensation without affecting quality?

Thanks
Petecul

[petecul]

Spindle is ordered, i got a 5hp. Budget is almost cut in half only for the spindle!!

Thanks
Petecul

[petecul]

I've started put together some tube and welded the head assembly.
here are few pictures

Thanks
petecul

[petecul]

Hi

I am now at the point to figure out all electrical parts that I will need to make this router functional.

Here is the link of what I found on MachMotion's website.
http://www.machmotion.com/CNC-Contro...duct_info.html

What do I need to build something similar?

input power will be 220v/1phase, I have already a VFD for a 5 hp spindle. Will need a 120v jack for computer, on/off breaker and emergency stop button. I will have 4 axis AC servo motor drive of 400w or 750w in the enclosure and the control board from Ajax CNC in there too.


Any tip or comments will be helpful there and much appreciated.

thanks
petecul

[widgitmaster]

A nice steel enclosure would complement your existing framework!
Hoffman makes the best steel enclosures, several sizes are always available on eBay. The Hoffman boxes have good weather stripping to keep out dust too!

Eric

[petecul]

its been a while since a i've posted any development, here it is where i am whit this project

http://picasaweb.google.ca/plduchesne/CNC#

thanks for your comments
petecul