New Machine Build Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray


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    Default Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray

    Part 1 - Intro


    So the story starts with Hurricane Sandy. My basement completely filled with sea water (8 ft.) and I had around 4 feet into the garage. Cars gone. Tools gone. Took a bit of time to repair, get heat etc. I’m slowly rebuilding my tool arsenal that I had been building as I was learning woodworking. One of the losses was an old router table jointer combo. I decided I would build a nice new router table. I started by building a nice frame with mortise and tenon joinery for the main components, and dowel joinery for the cross members. I glued up an mdf top and laminated it with formica (another first). I was going to buy a nice incra fence and a nice router with a base that I could raise and lower from above the table. Those items, along with a plate for the router were going to be mighty expensive. So much so that I thought it didn’t make sense, when I could spend a bit more and build a cnc (I had watched a bunch of youtube videos from buildyourcnc.com). I began doing a couple of months of research at that point. My nice router table became a computer desk for the cnc.

    I came across a few different designs and was having trouble choosing one to go with. Cost was a big factor. There is also a factor of humidity where I am. I was leaning against an mdf based machine. I wasn’t sure what size I needed either. I wanted to use it to make clock gears at first, but then the idea of electric guitars became intriguing. I also wanted something I could quickly break down and move in the event of another flood. I would also like the option of cutting aluminium (not as a primary function, but the option would be nice).

    So I saw these as options:

    Joe’s 4x4 – great machine, too expensive

    Joe’s 2006 – mdf based, but many seemed happy with it. It is a complicated design. I didn’t have access to a cnc to cut out the parts. Having Joe cut out the parts for me and having them delivered would be more expensive for the mdf alone than my machine was to build (sans electronics). That just didn’t make sense.

    FLA 100 – I like the design. I came very close to building this one. I didn’t like having to use someone’s proprietary parts, but that isn’t a big deal. It would turn out to be considerably more expensive than my machine, but I can see building one of their other models in the future. It would also be difficult to quickly get out of my basement in the event of another flood.

    CCRP – very nice, too expensive for me to do as essentially an experiment. Again, I may consider this in the future if the cnc bug continues to bite.

    Fireball v90 or x90 – MDF based. I was actually going to buy a v90 used, but the seller repeatedly flaked out on delivering pictures and I became wary. These are slower, limited capacity (18x12 for the v90 and 18 x 18 for the x90) I couldn’t see justifying buying them new since I’d essentially be buying painted mdf, plastic, small leadscrews and linear shafts/bearings for the price. I guess you’re paying for the RnD that went into it. They have a yahoo owner’s group and people generally seem happy with them. I wound up building mine for less than a new x90 with electronics from them would cost me (and I think my electronics are better and my machine is definitely more capable). They have much more expensive aluminium based machines, but they were completely out of the price range.

    Solsylva – many wood based machines. Many people built them earlier on, but not as many seem to make them now. Pretty simple design and there are many examples of them in the wild. People seem happy and upgrade many parts of the design.

    I came across their v-bearing/aluminum based machine. 18” x 24” x 5”, easily expanded to 24x48. Both X and Y motors are on the gantry (none on the table bed) meaning I could quickly remove the gantry, break down the machine and transport it upstairs in case of a flood. The designer also claims that they are very fast (capable of over 1000 ipm on the rack axis and 600 on the leadscrew axis) with the right drivers/motors. The only thing is, I haven’t come across any build logs or videos of anyone actually using it. Building it would require cutting aluminium flat bar (another first) and getting a drill press (needed to rebuild my arsenal anyway). They are fairly complicated at first glance. I figured I would learn a lot along the way. This machine seemed like the best compromise given what I was looking for. So I bought the plans, which are extremely well laid out I may add. I decided to make a 24” x 24” inch version, with the option of expanding it to 2x3 or 2x4 later on. You can purchase the plans yourself at Solsylva CNC Plans~ Home Page. It took quite some for me to start the build after getting plans. I wanted to know what I was in for. In the pics that follow, I purposely try not to show detailed measurements because I don’t want someone to try making the machine without purchasing the plans. I have no association with them, other than using their plans to make a pretty awesome machine.

    Long read, but stay tuned for the actual build log. I guess I’ll add the subsequent parts as comments.

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    Last edited by manofmanyhats; 09-10-2013 at 09:36 PM.


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    Part 2

    Build a table for it. I had steel/mdf shelving in the basement before the flood. I kept the steel and reused it to make a very sturdy 4’ square table with 2x4s and an mdf top. Ordered the aluminum and steel I would need, and bought a blade capable of cutting non-ferrous metals. I picked up a cheap drill press as well.

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-h3ice9hh-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-svesud7h-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-anpfpnlh-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-6fryfooh-jpg



    I printed up correctly sized layouts of the gantry sides and z-plate and taped them to the piece of aluminium plate they would be cut from. Then went to cutting on the miter saw.

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-yybd7cch-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-ymo2srwh-jpg

    And drilled them

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-9rcz8thh-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-goekuf1h-jpg



    Long day and my dog got tired of waiting for me and hearing all the noise

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-sby5t02h-jpg



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    Part 3

    At this point, I forgot to take pictures. I cut the 4 inch aluminium C channel to 30 inches. Carefully drilled and tapped holes that corresponded to those in the gantry sides. I used threaded rod, nuts and washers to connect them and cut the rod with a hacksaw.

    I also took steel 1/8th inch angle, cut it to size and drilled holes in it, and corresponding holes (very carefully measured) in the C channel top and bottom, then connected them with screws/nuts. I was very anal about this step to make sure the tracks were parallel. This is where the bearings of the carriage plate would roll on, so they needed to be properly spaced.

    The result was the beginning of the gantry:

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-ra2iupih-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-j0rjyhhh-jpg



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    Part 4

    Bearings


    The next step involved prepping the v-bearings. These were relatively expensive buggers, but I save quite a bit on them by getting them off of ebay. They have 3/8th inch holes that I have to make offset bushing for. I did this by inserting 3/8ths aluminum round tube (after some sanding and using a drill press clamp to press them in. I then drilled out a .24 inch hole that was off center. This is done so that you can adjust the bearings as the metal rails wear with time. I precut the aluminum tube. At first I did this with the miter saw/non-ferrous blade. On my second one, I either went too fast or did not have it properly secured or both. I got serious kickback. It sounded like a gunshot (of which I’ve heard too many) it bent the aluminum rod, shredded part of it, broke teeth off the blade and gave me a sprained wrist. I had eye protection on, luckily. Things could have been much worse for me and I concede that I got very lucky. I didn’t have enough respect for what I was doing. Lesson learned. Blade ruined, ordered another off of ebay. I cut the rest of the bushings by hand with a hacksaw (15 in total x 2 cuts each = Tired arm)

    Some pictures of the broken blade, bent aluminum and the bearings.

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-azsdtarh-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-gumado9h-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-iwbteech-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-gcs2iwzh-jpg

    Pics 12-15


    The bearing would freely turn over the bolt it was on, making the offset useless. So I had to drill holes in the bolts, cut off parts of nails, stick them in the hole so a bit went passed and pressed the bearing bushings on(hard to explain, the nail head went into the aluminum bushing and held it in place. Now when I turned the bolt, the bearing did not free wheel on it, but kept its relative position, making it able to be adjusted.
    Picture of bolt with hole (just stich a bit if nail head in there and press the bearing on. I broke many bolts)

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-ech4lnrh-jpg
    Pic 16

    At this point, I was able to temporarily mount the gantry plate (upside down in the pics) and put the bearings on to get an idea of movement.

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-omdubygh-jpg
    Pic 17





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    Part 5

    I took the dog for a few extra long walks to the park to make up for me being in the basement all the time.





    Assembling the racks was the next step. I ordered them from Mcmaster-carr, with the corresponding pinion gears. They are 24”. They weren’t perfectly straight when I got them, so I had to bend them into shape. I drilled them, and drilled matching holes in 1/8th x 3/4inch steel flat bar that I cut to size. Again, measurements had to be very accurate. I tended to use a set of calipers and a razor to mark the points to be center punched for the holes.

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-5pnq3nbh-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-8fe6b5vh-jpg
    Pics 18-19


    The bearings will ride on the steel rails while the power transfer will come from 2 pinion gears moving through the rack.
    Next up was cutting and drilling 2”x3” aluminum angle to support the rack and rails. I used dowels to show where steel rod and lead screw would go. It helped me visualize things.

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-rsxtun0h-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-jskeio9h-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-hqqurhuh-jpg

    Pics 20-22


    Next came the rectangular aluminum tube. I cut 6 of them (I was wary after my previous incident so I made sure everything was clamped tight and cut slowly) I cut pieces of wood and hammered them inside for extra support. This alone took a day for me because I wanted to completely fill the blocks. There was a lot of cutting and hammering. I then drilled holes completely through to attach the aluminum angle to the blocks and to the table bed on the other side.

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-xzd8woph-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-tey9dlvh-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-hpi0a8mh-jpg

    Pic 23-25



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    Part 6


    Next step was to build the table bed. This part is wood. It works well for now, but I may upgrade it in the future. I used furniture grade plywood and 2x3s (I think) I used a forstner bit to make holes for a tee nut that attached to the end of a screw rod. That screw rod goes up through the aluminum blocks and through the aluminum channel, tying everything together.

    I used 2 coats of teak oil on the wood, and then 3 coats of poly once that dried. I wanted to guard against humidity changes as best I could. Carefully lined everything up, making sure rails are parallel and attached everything

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-dtjn9huh-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-8gvyrtph-jpg

    Pics 26-27


    I replaced one of the dowels with a 3/8th steel rod, drilled and tapped the pinion gears for set screws, and found brass plumbing stand-offs that would serve as spacers. I slid these, along with 2 bearings onto the rod, aligned, tightened set screws and now have my drive axle, with the bearings fitting perfectly into the premade recesses in the gantry sides.

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-w9ruqkph-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-8jukgcfh-jpg

    Pics 28-29






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    Part 7

    Next up, I cut a smaller C channel for the z- axis, aluminum flat bar for a motor heatsink, bearing plates and small aluminum angle for mounting brackets for the couplers. I cut more Steel angle and drilled/attached it the same way I did on the larger C channel.

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-ilvpsglh-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-sxcfbk0h-jpg
    Pics 30-31

    I attached the rest of the bearings on the gantry plate and test mounted the beginnings of my Z –axis. I used I hooks to connect the bearing plate on the z axis.

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-0hfuyevh-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-mpf8pamh-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-bwgaeirh-jpg

    Pic 32-34






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    Part 7.5

    I used dumpster cnc leadnuts (minimizes backlash) and thread clamps. I cut holes for them and drilled/tapped them and the brackets. I attached the brackets for the z axis and the gantry axis and mounted the gantry lead screw. Mounted bearings (again they fit into recesses) and gave it a test with the drill. It took me quite a few tries to get everything lined up correctly, but once I did it was rather smooth. This lead screw is an 8tpi 4 start screw, so it winds up being 2 turns per inch.





    Added the z axis bracket, leadnut, bearing and clamp. Here it is without the assembly covering it up.

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-dlcr6xdh-jpg
    Pic 35



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    Part 8

    Next up, I had to figure out how to mount a router to the z axis. I wound up using spare C channel, drilling holes in it and using hangar straps. It is actually really solid. I used a full sized Hitachi router. You can buy premade router mounts, but an aluminum one would have been over 100, and a plastic one around 50. I’ll see how this works, and might fabricate a new one once the thing is working. The whole assembly (z axis, motor, router mount and router) is quite heavy. I also added an Oldham style coupler for the z axis

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-mou7sz4h-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-mgamaxgh-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-grlwbo5h-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-7xdp1xeh-jpg

    Pics 36-39





    So aside from mounting pulleys, motors and belts, the structure of the machine is pretty much done. I added things like limit switches and an emergency stop button to the table, but don’t have pictures of all of it. Next up, I break out the soldering iron and start on the electronics. This is my second time soldering, and boy is there a lot of it.

    Time for a break?

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-txrworxh-jpg
    Pic 40



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    Part 9

    I ordered a computer from ebay. I didn’t need anything powerful but was able to score a quadcore at a very cheap price. I needed to fix a few things, but it worked for the most part. I may actually convert it to my regular desktop and take my current desktop to use for the machine. It has a parallel port which was important for me. Aim was to use a gecko g540 controller with 3 3.5 300oz/in motors. I also wanted limit/home switches and an emergency stop. I used a 48 volt powersupply capable of 12.5 amps. I wanted to do the wiring myself, so I ordered all the parts. I got a cheap Stanley tool box that I cut apart to house everything.

    Each motor connector took 4 wires and 3 resistors in series. That plus all of the soldering for the e-stop and limit switches and front panel really added up.

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-ohhm8foh-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-r021gdsh-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-pmao03gh-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-o8c13ilh-jpg
    Pics 41-44

    Got the motors to run for the first time (Mach3). It took a few days to get my settings in the ballpark of correct.





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    Part 9.5

    Attached the motors and moved stuff – no motor tuning yet


    I managed to get the electronics into the box neatly. Now in the event of a flood, I can easily grab the box.

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-xvzvofyh-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-xeorzjqh-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-ztwje9gh-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-w1iyxphh-jpg
    Pics 45-48

    I have added holes on the other side of the box to let the air exit and installed fan guards and filters over both sides since the photo were taken.



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    Part 10


    I tied a red pen to the router and tried writing my name. It came out surprisingly well.

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-o2u6ebyh-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-ih7luudh-jpg
    Pics 49-50


    Here is a walk quick walk around of the machine and it simulating a cut. Did some cable management. It is rather loud and I get a lot of vibration from the motors at certain speeds. I’m still waiting to hear back from Gecko (supposedly good customer service, but it has been over a week). Not the best video sorry. It jogs around at over 1000 ipm on the Y, over 600 on the x and over 200 on the Z. There is no need for it to be this fast and I will slow it down. You’ll see whole thing rocking in the first cut video)





    I routed some boards and added them to the bed. This will be how I clamp down pieces. I’m still waiting for my hold-down clamps to be delivered (I probably should have just made my own). I still have to do some cable management, level the bed, get some actual bits and a few other odds and ends stuff. For now, I need to start teaching myself how to use some CAD/CAM software.



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    Part 10.5 - Fin

    Here is a video of the first cut. I vectorized (sp?) a butterfly silhouette and used V-carve to make a toolpath. It came out alright.
    WARNING: LOUD VIDEO, TURN DOWN YOUR SOUND.

    The picture isn’t very clear until around the 2:30 mark. I cut it out very slowly. I have to look up proper feed rates and such. Still have to slow down the rapids.




    And that is where I am right now. Thanks for reading. I hope this helps someone else trying to decide which machine to buy/build. I’m fairly handy and found this a real challenge at times. It just takes time and patience though. I built the actual machine over the course of 1.5 months or so with a 3 week break to drive cross country. I think that is pretty fast for this particular machine. I spent quite a few days waiting on parts (still am). I am still working out the gremlins and dialing it in. I still need to make rail covers and a few other odds/ends. It has been an interesting journey. At numerous points throughout the build I thought I completely messed up, but just thought about it and asked some questions here and it came together.

    Take Care,
    Rich

    Last edited by manofmanyhats; 09-11-2013 at 01:07 PM.


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    Nice job! I never considered the V-bearing plans because I just linked to the 24x48 plans. You machine looks more rigid than the wood and pipe versions. Mine is rigid now, but I made a lot of upgrades. http://www.cnczone.com/forums/cnc_wo...lva_build.html If I would have noticed that the V-bearing plans could be modified to 24X48 I would have probably chosen them for my build.

    I've been machining a lot of aluminum on mine lately.

    What was the cost of your machine not including electronics?



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    Thanks for the comment. I'd estimate around 700. This includes shipping on everything, having to buy a 36" leadscrew to only use 9" or so for my z axis (I probably should have gone another route), buying a little extra aluminum channel and aluminum bar to practice on and using mostly stainless steel hardware. Once I decided I wanted to build it, I wanted to keep my momentum up and get it done as fast as I could. I'm sure some parts could have been found cheaper and salvaged from other things, but I wanted it put together.

    I'm not sure if I would ever make the gantry axis longer than what I have. I don't notice any flex yet, but think I would modify the plans for a bigger channel if I were to go longer on that axis. The rack axis is only really limited (in my opinion) by the length of rack that you can find. Great care would need to be taken in putting it together to make sure it is straight, but it is absolutely possible. On Mcmaster, I just saw that they have 6' lengths of the rack I used. I would have to get those, more aluminum angle, .75" steel flat bar, a couple of feet of square aluminum tube, build a bigger bed and I could turn my machine into a 6'x2' machine. That would take maybe a day or 2 at the most. If i could figure out how to seamlessly join multiple racks together (which I believe can be done) I could go bigger. I just don't have a use for something that size yet, but I could definitely see upgrading my machine in the future, rather than building a different machine if the need arose.

    Quote Originally Posted by Devastator View Post
    Nice job! I never considered the V-bearing plans because I just linked to the 24x48 plans. You machine looks more rigid than the wood and pipe versions. Mine is rigid now, but I made a lot of upgrades. http://www.cnczone.com/forums/cnc_wo...lva_build.html If I would have noticed that the V-bearing plans could be modified to 24X48 I would have probably chosen them for my build.

    I've been machining a lot of aluminum on mine lately.

    What was the cost of your machine not including electronics?




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    Default Re: Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray

    So I've been using the machine for quite a while and have been enjoying it immensely. Last year I increased the size to 4'x2' with an overhang for doing joinery and bulkier pieces. I had to increase the Z axis size to do this. I also started using a uc100 because my parallel port started crapping out on me (I like the uc100 quite a bit and may just run the machine off a tablet)

    The weak point became the gantry and rails on it. I was having quite a bit of flex, most of which was due to the c channel flexing and the steel angle iron rails wearing down. I decided to experiment with a different design (albeit one that probably doesn't make a lot of sense to many here). It is still in progress. Once this is done, I will see how it performs. I will likely beef up the gantry plates to 1/2" (had some scrap 1/4 laying around, so I just used the cnc to cut it). After that, the wood table will likely be the weak point. I think it will be a simple matter to convert it to aluminum extrusion. I'm not sure if I will keel the aluminum angle or not. I'm also trying to decide on a z axis design. I have a few different mock ups done, but may just use the CNC routerparts design.

    Once all this is done, I will be left with a pretty beefy machine for wood. All the parts I replaced will essentially make up the original machine, which is quite capable itself. I think I will sell the original once I'm done with all of the upgrades

    The new gantry is 2.5"x 3.5" aluminum with a single 30 mm profile rail, 8 mm screws. Yes, it is completely unconventional to use 1 rail. But using 1 rail of this size wound up being cheaper than 2 15 mm or 20 mm rails, is easier to align, and is still orders of magnitude more capable than what it will be used for. I got the aluminum bar for $50 and free shipping at the end of last year ( thank you onlinemetals) The aluminum bar and rail are complete overkill for the current machine. I cut the aluminum bar with a miter saw, which worked surprisingly well. So here are some progress pictures of the new gantry.

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-1-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-2-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-3-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-4-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-5-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-6-jpg

    Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray-7-jpg

    I'll mock up a z plate with scrap .25 aluminum and then remake it with .5" or .75" aluminum, or possible steel plate.

    Last edited by manofmanyhats; 02-21-2016 at 11:24 AM. Reason: pictures


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    Default Re: Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray

    I like the Gantry bar but do have some concerns for the one rail setup, that just looks like a pivot point to me(think sideways see-saw) . Even if the rail is 1.5 or 2" wide that is all the rigidity your Z axis will have even with a THK rail, instead of the wider position of 2 rails spaced on each end of the bar on the top and bottom 1-2 inches versus 4-5 inches. Also how long did it take to wear down your top and bottom angle iron rails on you original one? I already V'd mine before I installed the Z plate and did have to move the v bearings in 1/16" per rail to make up for the V'ing of the rails. next test will be with 3/4 angle or the hardened V rails
    .

    Last edited by keastab; 02-21-2016 at 09:48 PM.


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    Default Re: Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray

    I like the Gantry bar but do have some concerns for the one rail setup, that just looks like a pivot point to me(think sideways see-saw) . Even if the rail is 1.5 or 2" wide that is all the rigidity your Z axis will have even with a THK rail, instead of the wider position of 2 rails spaced on each end of the bar on the top and bottom 1-2 inches versus 4-5 inches. Also how long did it take to wear down your top and bottom angle iron rails on you original one? I already V'd mine before I installed the Z plate and did have to move the v bearings in 1/16" per rail to make up for the V'ing of the rails. next test will be with 3/4 angle or the hardened V rails.

    I had to adjust them after a year or so. After 2 years they got to the point where I should replace them. I used my machine quite a bit in that time.

    As far as using one rail, we'll see. This rail is rated to a static load of 70,000 newtons and a dynamic load of 43,000 newtons. That is several orders of magnitude higher than anything it will ever see. If I were using smaller rails, I wouldn't try it as it is essentially a cantilever. Worst case scenario, I add another rail on top of the beam. The z axis will have a 7 inch or so plate on it (not sure if steel or aluminum yet)

    I know of someone doing the same thing with his rail attached to 1545 extrusion by a 1/2" adapter plate. According to him, the aluminum extrusion + plate will flex well before the rail/carriage bearing ever will.

    Last edited by manofmanyhats; 02-22-2016 at 02:18 AM.


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    Default Re: Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray

    Interesting thread which I must have missed completely. Sorry to hear about the flood. Did you meet your goals of an easily removed machine, that is one you can carry out of the cellar for the next flood? It is an interesting design parameter, "has to move easily in case of a flood".



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    Default Re: Building a Solsylva V-Bearing CNC - My first Foray

    Quote Originally Posted by wizard View Post
    Interesting thread which I must have missed completely. Sorry to hear about the flood. Did you meet your goals of an easily removed machine, that is one you can carry out of the cellar for the next flood? It is an interesting design parameter, "has to move easily in case of a flood".
    Thanks. I did meet the design goal of being able to move it up to higher ground. I did it once in October when we had a flood warning due to a hurricane. It took me about 10-15 minutes to move all the parts of the CNC. Gantry + z axis first, then electronics box, the base and then computer+screen + keyboard + mouse. I wound up moving my bandsaw and homemade jointer as well as other smaller powertools (mitersaw, drills etc). Moving everything took a bit over an hour and I was exhausted. Luckily we didn't actually have a flood this time. It took me a while to move everything back and recalibrate everything. One of the reasons I'd like to run the machine off the tablet is that it will be much easier to grab that than a desktop computer.

    If I remake the base of the machine, I'm not sure I'll be able to move it out on my own, as the 2'x4' version is already very heavy as it is. Even if I just leave the base down there in a flood, I should be able to reuse the aluminum extrusion and just have to repurchase the steel plate and gear rack. I could probably replace those for less than $100 so I'm not too concerned about it. I'd rather have to spend $100 every time there is a major flood than worry about losing the entire machine if I went with a different design.

    Last edited by manofmanyhats; 02-22-2016 at 08:48 PM. Reason: grammar


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