Aluminium Gantry Router

[Schuimpge]

Weekend finished..Many things done besides watching F1.

Had set a target of getting the Z-axis done. This is a relatively simple axis to do, small in size, but involved a lot of tapping, drilling and continuous building up and then taking it apart again. Still not done, at least 24 more holes to drill and tap, but let's just say that I'm done with drilling and tapping for a couple of days....lol..

So, I set out with the rails last week already and started searching for some spacers to get everything lined up properly.
Biggest challenge was to make a motor mount that would be strong, stable and of course perfectly straight.

That was solved by using a 8x8 aluminium corner bracket. Really dislike sawing aluminium, but that was start of business on Saturday morning, followed by cutting 2 spacers to size for the carriages to get the router-holder level with the ball-screw nut.



Lining up all the parts, nothing cut, drilled or tapped yet. The corner bracket will give me 1 more motor mount.
Used two L-shaped pieces of aluminium to support the corner bracket. This would then also give me ample depth to use 30mm screws to fix the motor. The 1 screw holding it into the back-plate is tapped all the way through into the corner-bracket again.
The ball-screw bearing block with 4 screws is also tapped into that corner-bracket so it makes for a very strong structure.

On Saturday evening I had a basic setup ready. The motor connected and properly level with the screw.
So some testing was of course necessary and fun. Connected an Arduino Mega and driver, power-supply.
Used a simple sketch to let the motor run. Had to play a bit with the Driver switches to get the right steps and amperage.
But it's moving! Very nice to hear that sound of the motor pulling and pushing that block.




Next I had to connect the router plate to the gantry side, which filled my Sunday.


And finally, afternoon, I had it rolling on the Y-axis.


Put the electronics on the back, hooked up the laptop again and its moving up and down.
Feels great to finally see something moving thats driven by a motor! And boy, that motor is strong! Tried to hold it down while having the motor pull it up.. no way!



The reason for the "drop-down" plate to fix the router: That plate is just as wide as the spindle bracket I ordered. The wide plate behind it is able to drop to just above the Gantry's rail-carriages, so I have both a wide Y-axis carriage for stability and the maximum use of the cutting bed between the X-rails.

So next week's first job is to drill and tap 4 more bolts into the plate that slides on the top Y-rail. Then 20 bolts to secure the linear rails of the Z.
Slides very smooth, no play and no binding on both Z and Y.
Next week finish the Z and start with the Y. Still need to add a 1mm spacer on the right side of the Y to level it with the cutting bed.

Cheers,
Luc

[pirate323i]

[Schuimpge]

Video of that first movement...: It's Alive!

Cheers,
Luc

[Schuimpge]

I mentioned earlier on the top half of the Z-axis that I might cut it off, turns out after this weekend's work that it's exactly sized up for mounting the motor and ball-screw. Very happy with that, bit of luck is all you need every now and then!

Cheers,
Luc

[fretman_2]

Looking great!!!!

[Schuimpge]

Started measuring and checking for the Y-axis yesterday evening.
Turns out that it will be a relatively easy job. The bearing blocks have bolt-holes that line up perfectly with the extrusion channels.
So the only thing I need to do for the ball-screw to be mounted is drill 6 holes through the steel plate and and then bolt it on with T-nuts.
Makes for a happy man here, no difficult measuring and drilling and checking.
Even better, there's only 0.5mm space between the Ball-nut bracket and the Z-axis carriage, so that will be easy to drill and mount as well, and last but not least, with the Z-axis in the highest position, it's just clear of where the bolts have to go into that bracket.


Test-fit for the Y-axis ball-screw


Test-fit for fixed bearing block T-nuts and bolts.


That ruler is 0.52mm thick.. leaves no gap at at all...
Only problem now, I need that ruler...lol..


While planning for the motor-mounting, I decided to move the table around.
Makes much more sense like this, space-wise. The Y-axis motor will sit at the end of the gantry on the right side, while the 2 X-axis motors will sit at the front of the router. Control panel and box will be at the front right side under the window or under the table itself...shortest cable lengths that way.

So Saturday will see that Y-axis done first so that I can measure the 4 bolts out that fix the Z-carriage to it. After that I can do all the left-over work on the Z-axis in one shot and then fix it 'permanently'...(I hope)...

Cheers,
Luc

[Schuimpge]

Not much done, but heavy rain yesterday so nice evening in the shop.
Got 4 holes drilled on the Y-axis and low and behold, all square and straight.
Tonight fix 2 more holes and Saturday mark off the block to hold the Z-axis.
Saturday should see the Y-axis moving, then get working on the 2 X-axis.

Cheers,
Luc

[Schuimpge]

Finished the Y-Axis Screw yesterday. Got it lined up pretty well I think, but need to confirm that once it's connected to the Z-Axis carriage.
What's good is that the block that goes around the Ball-Nut, sticks out slightly compared to the ball-nut and that makes for a perfect flush fit. No need for spacers and I can keep my precious little ruler..!


Both sides now bolted to the Gantry.


Perfect flush fit.. I can move the Z-Axis back and forth and there's no hitting nor scraping against the ball-nut block.


That's as good a 90' to the table as I could wish for..very happy with that...

Cheers,
Luc

[fretman_2]

Wow...that did turn out good where your Z is 90 degrees to your table. Mine's also 90 degrees in the area I checked it, but I haven't checked it out in all areas of the table yet.

Finished the Y-Axis Screw yesterday. Got it lined up pretty well I think, but need to confirm that once it's connected to the Z-Axis carriage.
What's good is that the block that goes around the Ball-Nut, sticks out slightly compared to the ball-nut and that makes for a perfect flush fit. No need for spacers and I can keep my precious little ruler..!


Both sides now bolted to the Gantry.


Perfect flush fit.. I can move the Z-Axis back and forth and there's no hitting nor scraping against the ball-nut block.


That's as good a 90' to the table as I could wish for..very happy with that...

Cheers,
Luc

[Schuimpge]

Hello Fretman,

thanks for the comment, happy as well with that 90'... don't know yet how the rest of the table will be. There's some problem areas.
But at least, it's making straight lines on X and Y, so hopefully Z will be solved with shimming the bed and planing it ones all axes are working.

Took apart the whole Z-axis to finish it. Counted the screws and came to a whopping 110 screws!
Of those, for 74 screws I tapped the holes and there's about 150 holes I drilled..

Result: A super strong Z-axis connected to the Y and it's not moving anywhere no matter where I push.
tomorrow do the motor mount for Y and then can get started on the double X-axis screws.



Cheers,
Luc

[Schuimpge]

Did quite some work over the weekend again. Had a busy day yesterday, so anyone who happily checked for the weekly update, my apologies..lol.

But here it is, a moving Y-axis:

Got some cable-trays from the scrap bin as well. Just did a quick test-fitting to get the ideas coming and picked up 25 meter of shielded single core speaker cable to start pulling cables to the front of the machine. Decided on the speaker cable as it's properly shielded and even though it's only 1 colour, it beats having 4 cables in one shield when it comes to noise and heat buildup. Just have to be careful labelling it properly.

Overall very happy with how solid it feels. As said before, I just can't move anything even the tiniest bit. All tight, zero play. But once the motor starts up, it just slides effortless.. Amazing stuff.


Cable Chain.


Motor Plate fitted. Turned out to be a very simple job.


The other side.. getting faster and better in fitting the motors. This one lines up almost 100% straight.
Any play is then taken out by the flexible coupler to avoid damage to bearings, screw and motor.


The advantage of Linear Round rails over HiWin rails....lol.. It's so easy to just un-screw one side, do some adjustments and lower it again.
Almost like jacking up a car to change a wheel..lol

That's about it.
Cheers,
Luc

[A_Camera]

Both sides now bolted to the Gantry.

Interesting to see you are progressing. Two proposals from me if it is not too late, on how to improve your machine...

1. Make a new Z spindle plate, the one in the picture is going to be too flimsy. You need to extend it as much as you can, up to the top of the pate it is sandwiched on. You also need to add more screws to the "sandwich" to increase the rigidity of it.
2. Throw away those flexible couplers. They are made for 3D printers, but are a joke on CNC, not working very well and causing back lash and vibrations. Replace them with lovejoy couplers which are made for the forces. It will reduce noise, vibration and improve your precision and work quality once you start milling.

[Schuimpge]

Hello A_Camera...thanks for your reply, much appreciated.
Fully understand the points you make.
The couplers came with the screws, ordered Oldham style for now, see how that will hold up.
It actually surprised me how flimsy they felt, but good for what I need at the moment to test it.
For the plate, understand and will sure look to find a bigger plate soon. Initially this plate will be ok to test and learn, and with luck it will allow me to even cut a new plate with very slow and low passes on a bigger piece of Alu.
Good thing is that it's only a couple of screws to take it off and replace

Kind regards,
Luc

[Schuimpge]

Coming back on the couplers: 8mm x 10mm CNC Flexible Jaw Spider Plum Coupling Shaft Coupler D 25mm L30MM | eBay
Those are on the way. See how they do.

Cheers,
Luc

[A_Camera]

Coming back on the couplers: 8mm x 10mm CNC Flexible Jaw Spider Plum Coupling Shaft Coupler D 25mm L30MM | eBay
Those are on the way. See how they do.

Cheers,
Luc

Yes, that is exactly the type I have replaced my flexible couplers with and I bought mine from the same seller.

[fretman_2]

Cool...I need to see if they have 1/4" to 1/2" couplers...tnx,

Coming back on the couplers: 8mm x 10mm CNC Flexible Jaw Spider Plum Coupling Shaft Coupler D 25mm L30MM | eBay
Those are on the way. See how they do.

Cheers,
Luc

[fretman_2]

Will the 6.35mmX12mm couplers fit a 1/2"-10 5 start lead screw?? 1/2" is exactly 12.7mm.

Tnx,

Coming back on the couplers: 8mm x 10mm CNC Flexible Jaw Spider Plum Coupling Shaft Coupler D 25mm L30MM | eBay
Those are on the way. See how they do.

Cheers,
Luc

[A_Camera]

Will the 6.35mmX12mm couplers fit a 1/2"-10 5 start lead screw?? 1/2" is exactly 12.7mm.

Tnx,

No. 12.7mm is not 12mm, it is a lot more. Better to get one with the right dimension. Why even consider something with wrong dimension when the right one is available?

6 35 x 12 7 mm 1 4" x 1 2" Flexible Jaw Shaft Coupling CNC AC DC Motor Coupler | eBay

[fretman_2]

I absolutely agree!! I didn't know how much it opened up...but now that I think about it...if it opened up from 12 to 12.7mm it would likely be off center when rotating.

No. 12.7mm is not 12mm, it is a lot more. Better to get one with the right dimension. Why even consider something with wrong dimension when the right one is available?

6 35 x 12 7 mm 1 4" x 1 2" Flexible Jaw Shaft Coupling CNC AC DC Motor Coupler | eBay

[Schuimpge]

You guys having a nice tea-party here without telling me!?

Got 1 side on the X-axis screw done. Heck of a job, filled my Saturday
Pictures on Monday

Cheers
Luc