New Machine Build Steel / aluminum CNC router design


Results 1 to 15 of 15

Thread: Steel / aluminum CNC router design

  1. #1
    Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Netherlands
    Posts
    8
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Steel / aluminum CNC router design

    Hello everyone,

    I have been working for some time now on my steel / aluminum CNC router design, and would like to hear your thoughts about it.
    My design is 'somewhat' based on a machine Boyan Silyavski made some time ago.

    I will use the machine for wood, 'soft' foam and plastics routing, but I hope I can also use it to machine aluminum with it.

    The design uses a quite stiff steel frame made from square 100 * 100 * 3 mm beams for the main frame and a two 100 * 100 * 3 's for the gantry. The Z-axis and its carriage will be made from aluminum.

    Since I own a TIG welder (and no MIG welder), I plan on using my TIG for all welding. By carefully planning and executing the welds in a certain order, I hope I can prevent excessive welding distortion. If this turns out to be a problem, I might tack the frame with my TIG, and bring the frame to work to MIG it further.

    I have designed the machine roughly, and before completely detailing everything, I will wait for the comments of you CNC-zone members That way, I (hopefully) do not have to start all detailing work all over again.
    The cooling reservoir is now quite high up on the Z-axis, I think I will change this, since I don`t like the look of it.

    I plan on using SS441 Hall effect sensors for homing, and simple NC lever switches a limit switches.

    I still need to add the spindle cooling radiator, home and limit switches, energy chains, bolts etc.

    Some facts about the design:
    - 100 * 100 * 3 mm steel beams for main frame
    - all steel members will be waterjet cut from 6 mm steel plate
    - aluminum parts for Z-axis will be 10 or 15 mm tooling plate
    - all rails are Hiwin-type 20 mm rails (1150, 800 and 300 mm)
    - dual Y-axis, X-axis and Z-axis driven by 1605 ballscrews
    - Anaheim stepper motors with integrated drives
    - Chinese 2.2 kW water cooled spindle driven by a Siemens VFD
    - rails will be leveled with self-leveling epoxy after frame is completely welded
    - the weight of the machine will be around 140 kg (according to Inventor).

    I will add to images of the design I have made in Inventor

    Please let me know what you think of the design,

    Regards,
    Reinier

    Similar Threads:
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Steel / aluminum CNC router design-cnc-machine-back-jpg   Steel / aluminum CNC router design-cnc-machine-jpg  


  2. #2
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    1523
    Downloads
    2
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Steel / aluminum CNC router design

    Looks fairly solid. What will your cutting area be?

    My only regret with my machine is not going bigger. Mine is a 1250x675mm cutting area.

    Think about sheet sizes. E.g my machine takes a quarter sheet, which makes sheet breakdown easy.



  3. #3
    Member ger21's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Shelby Township
    Posts
    35538
    Downloads
    1
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Steel / aluminum CNC router design

    I would use thicker wall tubing so you have more threads for your rail bolts.

    Gerry

    UCCNC 2017 Screenset
    [URL]http://www.thecncwoodworker.com/2017.html[/URL]

    Mach3 2010 Screenset
    [URL]http://www.thecncwoodworker.com/2010.html[/URL]

    JointCAM - CNC Dovetails & Box Joints
    [URL]http://www.g-forcecnc.com/jointcam.html[/URL]

    (Note: The opinions expressed in this post are my own and are not necessarily those of CNCzone and its management)


  4. #4
    Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Netherlands
    Posts
    8
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Steel / aluminum CNC router design

    The cutting area will be 940 x 610 mm. I should be able to place a quarter sheet on the machine, but I cannot mill it in one pass. That`s why I have the front and back of the machine open, so that I can move the sheet in the machine, if I really need to machine such a big sheet (which I do not anticipate).

    I chose these rail and ballscrew dimensions because they are standard sizes and not overly expensive. Futhermore, I will lose a lot of stiffness from the machine if I would make it much larger. The work I plan on doing with this machine should fit easily.

    Quote Originally Posted by pippin88 View Post
    Looks fairly solid. What will your cutting area be?

    My only regret with my machine is not going bigger. Mine is a 1250x675mm cutting area.

    Think about sheet sizes. E.g my machine takes a quarter sheet, which makes sheet breakdown easy.




  5. #5
    Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Netherlands
    Posts
    8
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Steel / aluminum CNC router design

    Quote Originally Posted by ger21 View Post
    I would use thicker wall tubing so you have more threads for your rail bolts.
    Thanks, I will consider this. I am also looking at the option of flowdrilling, since I do not want to make the machine overly heavy



  6. #6
    Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Posts
    103
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Steel / aluminum CNC router design

    I wouldn't be to scared of tig welding it, I found it great for pulling th material the way it needed to go, dependent on what way you run the weld.



  7. #7
    Member
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    3920
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Steel / aluminum CNC router design

    Quote Originally Posted by Reinier View Post
    Thanks, I will consider this. I am also looking at the option of flowdrilling, since I do not want to make the machine overly heavy
    I'm not familiar with flowdrilling, can you explain that for us?

    As for making the machine heavy, there are advantages to being heavy and certainly a few with being light. Heavy though will help contour vibration and resonance. It is up to you obviously but I'd lean towards heavy instead of light.

    As far as the design goes there are only two things that really bother me. The gantry saddle arraignment with the ball screw on the back side doesn't inspire me. Along with the rails on the top and bottom I'd be very concerned about being able to properly machine the beam and get those two rails into alignment. The ball screw itself should be closer to the saddle too.

    As for the second item, it was already mentioned above but 3 mm is pretty thin for screw holding. This is an example of where part sizes are often dictated not by the machines structure but rather the ability to hold screws. You can always buy linear rails that are tapped and use through bolts to fasten them in place. With 3 mm stock you will barely have 2.5mm worth of screw holding capability once you counter sink or in some way debar the mounting side of the holes. Generally you want at least one diameter of thickness for the bolts you need to mount the rails. So rails mounted with 6mm bolts should be fastened to stock at least 6mm thick. Yes this is counter to your desire to control weight. There are other options including welding on stock upon which the rails will be mounted, but you then get into serious machining costs.

    When I say minimal thickness it is probably better to being yourself an allowance on top of that. The reason is the the beam may require some machining to eliminate distortion. This of course depends upon the exact meths you choose to address the problem of less that perfect materials. Epoxy leveling can greatly reduce the need for machining but might not completely eliminate it.

    Overall though it looks like you are off to a great start.



  8. #8
    Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    NL
    Posts
    419
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Steel / aluminum CNC router design

    Most of it is pretty good as far as I can see, except I find the setup for the Y-axis too complicated.

    Takes too much energy and time to get it working propperly and then it will still be less precise then the simpler setup I have used here:
    http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cn...50-router.html

    Sven http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cnc-router-table-machines/320812-aluminium-1250x1250x250-router.html


  9. #9
    Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5516
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Steel / aluminum CNC router design

    Quote Originally Posted by wizard View Post
    I'm not familiar with flowdrilling, can you explain that for us?

    As for making the machine heavy, there are advantages to being heavy and certainly a few with being light. Heavy though will help contour vibration and resonance. It is up to you obviously but I'd lean towards heavy instead of light.

    As far as the design goes there are only two things that really bother me. The gantry saddle arraignment with the ball screw on the back side doesn't inspire me. Along with the rails on the top and bottom I'd be very concerned about being able to properly machine the beam and get those two rails into alignment. The ball screw itself should be closer to the saddle too.

    As for the second item, it was already mentioned above but 3 mm is pretty thin for screw holding. This is an example of where part sizes are often dictated not by the machines structure but rather the ability to hold screws. You can always buy linear rails that are tapped and use through bolts to fasten them in place. With 3 mm stock you will barely have 2.5mm worth of screw holding capability once you counter sink or in some way debar the mounting side of the holes. Generally you want at least one diameter of thickness for the bolts you need to mount the rails. So rails mounted with 6mm bolts should be fastened to stock at least 6mm thick. Yes this is counter to your desire to control weight. There are other options including welding on stock upon which the rails will be mounted, but you then get into serious machining costs.

    When I say minimal thickness it is probably better to being yourself an allowance on top of that. The reason is the the beam may require some machining to eliminate distortion. This of course depends upon the exact meths you choose to address the problem of less that perfect materials. Epoxy leveling can greatly reduce the need for machining but might not completely eliminate it.

    Overall though it looks like you are off to a great start.
    Uses a tool, usually ceramic, that drills with friction (heat) and pushes material inward, that which could be threaded, eliminating the need for adding thickness with a plate to drill and tap.



  10. #10
    Member awerby's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Posts
    5728
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Steel / aluminum CNC router design

    The process is pretty interesting; the spot gets red hot, and is pushed inward so there's a collar that's much thicker than the wall thickness. It would make sense for a project like this. Here's a FAQ: Formdrill: F.A.Q.

    [FONT=Verdana]Andrew Werby[/FONT]
    [URL="http://www.computersculpture.com/"]Website[/URL]


  11. #11
    Member
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    3920
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Steel / aluminum CNC router design

    Thanks guys! Never heard of it as flow drilling.

    Quote Originally Posted by awerby View Post
    The process is pretty interesting; the spot gets red hot, and is pushed inward so there's a collar that's much thicker than the wall thickness. It would make sense for a project like this. Here's a FAQ: Formdrill: F.A.Q.
    It might make good sense but having never used the technique I'm not sure I'd go this route myself. I have seen the results of this technique but never on something that calls for a lot of fine workmanship.



  12. #12
    Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Netherlands
    Posts
    8
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Steel / aluminum CNC router design

    Quote Originally Posted by CaptainVee View Post
    Most of it is pretty good as far as I can see, except I find the setup for the Y-axis too complicated.

    Takes too much energy and time to get it working propperly and then it will still be less precise then the simpler setup I have used here:
    http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cn...50-router.html
    That`s a very nice looking machine!
    I am a little confused as to the comment you make. I assume it is the same comment as the first one from Wizard, and then the 'problematic' axis is what I thought people normally refer to as the X-axis (the two rails that sit on the gantry itself), not the Y-axis. Is that what you meant?
    For now, that is at least what I have modified.
    I have modified the design to something that is indeed much simpler. I originally chose the design I used to minimize the distance from the spindle centre to the bearings on the Y-axis to minimize the torsional moment on the gantry. With this new design, this distance is a little larger, but it is a much simpler construction. I do have to look into a way to fasten the bolts for the rail carriages, because they are now interfering. Since it is only a rough design, I will look into it when making the final design.
    Steel / aluminum CNC router design-cnc-machine-v2-jpg

    On the flowdrilling: it is indeed a very nice proces, but I now realized I cannot use it here. I will be leveling the rails on a slab of self-leveling epoxy, and that will melt / burn of when flowdrilling afterwards. I think it will be a bad idea to flowdrill the holes before laying the epoxy.
    I agree with you all that 3 mm is actually too thin to tap nice M6 threads, but I do not want to change to larger wall thicknesses of the main beams (my supplier sells 100 * 100 * 5 also, but it is more than 4 times the price of the 100 * 100 * 3....) Instead, I think I will weld in pieces of steel bar of e.g. 20 mm dia and 10 mm length at the bolt locations, see example below.
    Steel / aluminum CNC router design-example_stud-jpg



  13. #13
    Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5516
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Steel / aluminum CNC router design

    Quote Originally Posted by Reinier View Post
    That`s a very nice looking machine!
    I am a little confused as to the comment you make. I assume it is the same comment as the first one from Wizard, and then the 'problematic' axis is what I thought people normally refer to as the X-axis (the two rails that sit on the gantry itself), not the Y-axis. Is that what you meant?
    For now, that is at least what I have modified.
    I have modified the design to something that is indeed much simpler. I originally chose the design I used to minimize the distance from the spindle centre to the bearings on the Y-axis to minimize the torsional moment on the gantry. With this new design, this distance is a little larger, but it is a much simpler construction. I do have to look into a way to fasten the bolts for the rail carriages, because they are now interfering. Since it is only a rough design, I will look into it when making the final design.
    Steel / aluminum CNC router design-cnc-machine-v2-jpg

    On the flowdrilling: it is indeed a very nice proces, but I now realized I cannot use it here. I will be leveling the rails on a slab of self-leveling epoxy, and that will melt / burn of when flowdrilling afterwards. I think it will be a bad idea to flowdrill the holes before laying the epoxy.
    I agree with you all that 3 mm is actually too thin to tap nice M6 threads, but I do not want to change to larger wall thicknesses of the main beams (my supplier sells 100 * 100 * 5 also, but it is more than 4 times the price of the 100 * 100 * 3....) Instead, I think I will weld in pieces of steel bar of e.g. 20 mm dia and 10 mm length at the bolt locations, see example below.
    Steel / aluminum CNC router design-example_stud-jpg
    I think this current version is better. I believe the best configuration is for the ballscrew to be as close to the same plane as the linear rails as possible, which would minimize any bending forces on the screw; so in my estimation it is a stiffer configuration. I also believe it would be better to move the lower bearing blocks on the Z carriage as low as possible, even if it meant lengthening the Z carriage plate and rails somewhat.



  14. #14
    Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Netherlands
    Posts
    8
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Steel / aluminum CNC router design

    Well, it has been some time since my last post about my new machine build, so it is about time for an update

    I was able to get some very nice blasted steel beams of 100 * 100 * 3 mm for a nice price, so I didn`t hesitate long for that. The big advantage of the blasted steel is that I do not need to grind the mill scale of before being able to TIG weld on it. It worked like a charm!

    I have completed most of the welding on the frame, and am now working on getting the ballscrews mounted. I will show some pictures of the process and current state of the machine. My workshop is fairly small, so it tends to get a bit messy when I am working there, please ignore that in the pictures

    The picture below shows the anti-torsion plates that I have added to the longitudinal beams and gantry. I also added these in the lower longitudinal beams exactly below positions of the vertical beams and legs to stiffen the frame. I have welded them on a steel shaft to slide them into the beam, and then welded the plates to the beam from the outside through 8 holes that I drilled in the beams. You can also see slots in the plates on the right sides that will hold the flatbar in which the screws for the linear rails will be tapped.


    Here are 2 pictures of the base of the machine without the gantry present.
    The casters on the legs are only temporary, they help me a lot to access all sides of the machine for welding etc
    The legs are bolted onto the base, as are the bracings so that I can take it apart. (my workshop is on the 'attic' of the former garage, and otherwise I would not ever be able to get the machine out of there). Furthermore the leg-part of the machine can also be taken apart into 2 pieces, so that it will fit through the stairway.


    Below you can clearly see the 'spot'welds that fix the anti-torsion plates in the beams. Furthermore, the welds from the flatbar on the inside of the longitudinal beams can be seen. I will tap threads through the beams into these flatbars to hold the bolts for the linear rails.


    The last picture is the status as off today: the gantry is also mainly finished and I have temporarily attached the first ballscrew. I just attached it to make sure it will fit and that I do not have to weld on the frame anymore after casting the epoxy linear rails beds on the gantry and frame.


    I did not do any measurements on it yet, but the machine did get really solid and stiff. I think it will be more than fit for the purpose!

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Steel / aluminum CNC router design-cnc1-jpg   Steel / aluminum CNC router design-cnc2-jpg   Steel / aluminum CNC router design-cnc3-jpg   Steel / aluminum CNC router design-cnc4-jpg  



  15. #15
    Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    1523
    Downloads
    2
    Uploads
    0

    Default Re: Steel / aluminum CNC router design

    Your strategy for the internal bracing plates (weld onto central rod, weld to beam through small holes) is great!!!



Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  


About CNCzone.com

    We are the largest and most active discussion forum for manufacturing industry. The site is 100% free to join and use, so join today!

Follow us on


Our Brands

Steel / aluminum CNC router design

Steel / aluminum CNC router design