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Thanks for showing the pictures!!
It's pretty exciting to see the machines again once they get
to their final destination...
I'm very much looking forward to seeing how everything goes!
John
"MicroCarve" A-10 machine
So I decided to get this from MicroCarve(John), as I had followed his thread on here. I am going to post my experience with this as I go so others can see from an independent view.
So far I have had exceptional communication with John. I paid for the machine and within a week I had it. Not to mention he found what he considered something that might had been a problem and let me know he was adding the aluminum bracing to it, to make sure there wouldnt be any.
Anyways he shipped it this past Saturday and I recieved it on Monday. IT was very well packed and recieved with no damage.
Now I will let you know I have skipped some pics as I was excited to get it unpacked and decided to dry fit. note that not everything is not in the exact way it will be mounted( the front panel being one)
Everything there is just sitting. No screws put in. So far nice build on it. One thing i will say, is the Z-axis assembly is silky smooth, just moving it by hand. Very nice work on it.
So skip a few more steps and I have started sealing the mdf parts. Using the recommended Zinsser(sp) spray shellac. And also have started with the first coat of primer. I will say one of the main reasons I am painting it, is just to seal the MDF.
And recieved some more goodies today. Over the weekend I picked up a Bosch Colt for the spindle.
And my mount from K-2 arrived today. Gotta say nice work on it from them. Fit like a glove.
Also ordered the precision grade collets from Think and Tinker.
And soon to be here will be the electronics. Gecko G540 package with motors from CNCrouterparts.
So the start begins.
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Thanks for showing the pictures!!
It's pretty exciting to see the machines again once they get
to their final destination...
I'm very much looking forward to seeing how everything goes!
John
John must say you are an inspiration and a breath of fresh air on this forum and not only for showcasing what this machine can do but sharing some excellent sound advice. Do you sell just the Z axis on their own at all ? that is one beautiful looking neat Z axis CHEERS!
Gee, Thanks Very Much for such kind remarks....
Yes, I do sell the Z's when I have some spares built. I only have
3 right now and 2 will go on a couple machines in progress. I sell them
for $100 each. So one's available for sale.
I'll start a new batch of them next week when materials get here.
I can't wait to see what cnctoolman does with the A-10. It's very
exciting to see it coming together....
John
Not much done today, had last JV Football game, plus its been raining all day so no good for painting.
But did recieve a package from CNCrouterparts. Gecko G540 with 380oz motors and power supply.
Will have pics of it soon.
No rush on anything....It's always far better to take it slowly
and think things through a few times.
Sometimes I spend a few days just doing nothing but looking
at things. Maybe 50% of my time making machines is just looking.
I catch a few mistakes I may have made nearly every time....
John
And here are the electronics from CNCrouterparts.com
Fast shipping from them and recieved with no damage.
Wow...that's pretty....
I still don't have one of those. Got most every other
drivers, but not a G540.
...Yet!
John
are you selling the plans microcarve? I can't find anything from a quick google search. Seems like a nice little project I can quickly cut out.
___________________________
http://jack.works
No plans yet, but that's in the works.
I need to get the important feedback from the assembling and
running of this first one first to know if any changes need to be considered.
I think the placement of all angles is correct, but I want to have that verified.
Then, I'll get further along on what a plans...or maybe a "necessary parts
only kit" could/should look like.
MDF is heavy to ship around the world and I'd like to make something
available for those that can make those simple parts themselves. Some parts
are a bit more complicated to get just right, but making whatever assemblies
someone may want/need available could solve that.
It's something I'm working on....
John
Well over the weekend here I have managed to get a few things done.
Got all the parts in primer..
Did a little test fitting again..
Then it was on to paint. The brand I prefer is Tractor Supply brand tractor and implement paint. It is some tough stuff when dry( and it takes a little longer), but it has held up beautifully on other machinery I have used it on.
I decided to go with Ford blue on this one.
Will be doing the "A-10" in white. I have to get some better white paint so I can finish that.
Here is the cleaned off rolling table I will be using for now. Good thing I had kept it, as I am now recycling it.
So I started the assembly. Started by doing the table assembly first. It went smoothly as john had labeled all the parts to where they went.
Then I assembled the gantry to the table assembly. 1 person can do this by themsleves all long as they take their time. What I did was to thread the bolts thru lightly snugging them on one side, then getting everything else lined up on the other. After that it was on to snugging up the machine.
The gantry was pretty easy, as you only tightened enough until you felt a little drag on the bearing block and then back off a little bit. It glides smoothly along the rails. A very nice fit.
Then I tightened the threaded rod torsion bars. Making sure to keep it still rolling smoothly. As I went along I checked for squarness with my precision square to make sure nothing was out.
Then I threaded the acme rod thru, adding the plastic spacer and collar on in the right places at the right time.
Then I tighted the front uprights in. Nice little idea of using a round with the threaded hole for this. It does in theory help with any little mis-alignment of holes.
And we have a basic machine now..
Now for mounting the stepper motors.
noticed I only I have the one picture of it. Will have to get more.
And I also got the z-axis assembly mounted, along with my K-2 mount and Bosch Colt.
That is as far as I am right now. Do have the steppers wired up to the G540, but I am having computer issues that I need to figure out, before I can go any further.
Here is a picture of the machine as it sits right now. Has all the stepper motors on it, just waiting to come to life. As soon as I get the computer issues fixed.
And then I also need to figure out how I want to route the wires. But that will come later.
That's looking Really Great!...
I like that color of blue too! I can tell that's some good tough
and durable paint...
I'm thinking of getting stickers instead of carving the lettering in
the side panels next time. It's too much of a problem for me to
paint the letters. So what I may do that's worked very well in the past
is to use some 2-hour epoxy that I have on hand.
That can be colored with Testors Oil-based model paints. Not water based...
it must be the old style oil based paint. It doesn't take much to color it.
Then I'll try to fill the lettering with the dyed epoxy with a toothpick or
bamboo skewer. It'll take a few mixes as the stuff begins to get too thick
to work in about 10 minutes.....but it'll fill the lettering very well. The main
advantage is no brush needed and no overspray from a can. It takes time
but it works very well. But....stickers would solve that problem.
(BTW---If anyone tries that...do a few tests to get the feel for it first....
badly mixed epoxy isn't a pleasant thing to deal with)
Thanks for posting the pictures! Very nicely detailed....
It Really Looks Great!
John
Well its been awhile since the last update. Had to wait and get a serial cable to connect the Gecko to the computer. Loaded my Mach license and the Gecko XML files and got it cutting. I will say I am more than impressed so far with this little machine. I still need to make some fixtures for the work I am planning for it. But it is a stout little router.
Right now I have been seeing how far I might be able to push it. Without much tweaks to the motors, I have been able to cut 6061 aluminum, .060 deep at 60ipm dry with it. I think I might be able to get alittle more out of it, if I tweak everything in more.
Here is a couple of videos I have made of it cutting. hopefully they arent too crappy as I only have my camera to use for videos.
Here it is, cutting out a DB25 profile found in the Mach addons, in aluminum. 1/8" carbide endmill, .020" deep per pass, .060 deep total. Cant remember the exact feedrate.
And here is a 3d sphere profile I did real quick in my CAM system. Doing a .100" depth pass in MDF, with a 1/4" carbide ball endmill, 80 ipm. Please disregard teh end of this video. I was trying to operate everything myself.
Cute A-10 seems a brilliant machine. :-)Originally Posted by cnctoolman
Have now gotten my little jig plate made for it. Surface the spoildboard that I mounted and put in some dowel holes and screw locations using t-nuts. Then I made the jig plate out of some 1/2" Mic-6 plate I had. I will say this much, without mapping the screws, I was able to mount the jig plate to the spoilboard with the dowel pins lining up. The holes on the spoilboard was made on the machine, and the dowel holes in the jig plate on my Bridgeport.
Still have a few little things to work out on it, but it is doing nicely.
One word of caution, while I am cutting aluminum with it, I have really not tested it for accuracy while doing so. The pieces I am making, great accuracy is not required so I do not check for that. Also I have been a Tool&Diemaker for 20 yrs so, I have some experiece on how far to push a machine and to within its capabilities. I will do that late on.
I have also added another video that I made. This one I am cutting out an adapter ring out of 6061 aluminum.
that's brilliant :]
I really want to make one.. any updates on plans?
___________________________
http://jack.works
You would have to contact John on here screenname "Microcarve".
That's a Great, Great video!
Thanks Very Much for showing that!
Jack000...
There's still only one A10 and it's the one you see in the videos.
I'm very grateful to cnctoolman for showing the work he's doing
with it to see how far such a machine can pushed. It's doing better
than I'd have thought...
I'm trying to figure out how to go about making plans for it. I wanted
to see how well it'd work before I got too far with that. The holidays,
along with a bit of flu, has me several weeks behind on everything.
I'm still trying to gauge interest in plans, and some tiny, but important
little design changes are still being done. There's a few problems with a
plan-set. Some parts need to be made on a mill and need some lathe work.
Some are cut on a cnc machine. So it's getting a balance of the "hard-to-make"
parts available in some way that may work on parts that someone else made
somewhere else. It's a pretty tightly fitted machine.
But, I'm working on trying to solve all those problems.....
John
So would there be a problem with sealing this machine using an epoxy laminating resin? Would this make the MDF swell? If the laminating resin would cause problems would sealing in some other way first make the epoxy possible? Mdf seems like a great material for these small machines and I'm thinking SERIOUSLY about buying one of these partially completed ones. I'm guessing the A4 would be the next best thing to this A10. My only concerns are moisture absorbtion in the MDF and limited z travel since I would like the machine for making plugs, molds, and patterns. The plugs, molds and patterns would be for urethane, composites, small sand cast parts, etc.
Just thinking out loud but wondering if..... if epoxy would cause problems with the MDF, could thin CA glue (superglue) be brushed on to close the pores enough for a good sealing coat of epoxy?
Also, on the drilled holes.... would boring the holes a little larger for a metal sleeve with an ID the correct size for the bolt increase longevity of the machine? When building composite parts I use metal sleeves/inserts to prevent clamping pressure from crushing the part. And also reduce the chance of threads cutting the hole larger if they move. Figured that could help keep the MDF from getting compressed or the holes enlarged over time if anything works loose.
I'm new to CNC (if I get this machine it will be my first) and I'm no machinist. So many of these things are probably pointless. I've been lurking on cnczone for months reading and saving pictures of things I like. The videos in this post gave me visions of reworking domes on a few two-stroke heads and cutting o-ring grooves. If it takes a long time to do this I wouldn't mind. Being able to do it with decent accuracy is required though. It would be nice to be able to cut several different heads until the right combination is found though.
