Fine Line Automation FLA-200 build questions

[the thrill]

Hey Guys,

I bought one of the FLA-200 kits from Nate and recently started assembling it. I have a question regarding aligning the X and Y axes... namely - what's a good way to do it? as far as being mounted to the 8020 extrusion, the X axis plates are within .001" over the entire length but from one plate to the other they seem to be out by a mile so the bearing carriages are tight on one end and not even touching on the other . Also, once the X is fully aligned, how do I make sure Y is perfectly perpendicular to X... and how the heck do I know X and Y are perfectly straight to the machine?! Sometimes certain things escape me and this seems to be one of those time... 12 axis mill/turn center? no problem... assembling a simple 8020 machine and i'm all thumbs it seems...

[Matt Clara]

Originally Posted by the thrill Hey Guys, I bought one of the FLA-200 kits from Nate and recently started assembling it. I have a question regarding aligning the X and Y axes... namely - what's a good way to do it? as far as being mounted to the 8020 extrusion, the X axis plates are within .001" over the entire length but from one plate to the other they seem to be out by a mile so the bearing carriages are tight on one end and not even touching on the other . Also, once the X is fully aligned, how do I make sure Y is perfectly perpendicular to X... and how the heck do I know X and Y are perfectly straight to the machine?! Sometimes certain things escape me and this seems to be one of those time... 12 axis mill/turn center? no problem... assembling a simple 8020 machine and i'm all thumbs it seems...

I've asked that question about four times now, and the only answer I've received has been from Ahren Johnson, who said I should clamp squares to the 8020 and do my best, and that after it's assembled I'll need to spend some time loosening and tightening until everything runs smoothly. I've done that with my Z axis plate and it's now running smoothly. Part of the trick is to not mount the antibacklash nut until you've got the axis sliding smoothly. Honestly, though, I'm hoping to hear some more advice here in your thread.

[the thrill]

well i've figured out that by some odd chance one of the legs on my machine is out of square so i'm going to have to go back and tweak some stuff around until i get it to line up properly. i think that is part of my problem. One thing i've found, though, is that once it's tightened, there isn't much play in the framework of the machine so i'd assume the X wouldn't be off by too much. The one thing I did do, though, is I measured one bearing block to the proper spacing off of the E drawing, squared it up, tightened it down real good and then held both bearings to the slide plate with a c clamp which, in theory, should make Y square to X... or at least I am hoping... I'm still having a binding issue because of that one out of square leg so I have some fiddling to do later when i get home....

[brtech]

One thing Nate told me is that the mounting of the legs relative to the support frame is critical - he suggested trying to get it within 1/64 if possible. Although the drawing shows the legs attached to the top X beam as an assembly, he suggested building the support frame, getting it square, and then attaching the legs to it - getting them square to the support and equal lengths support to end. Then mount the top (X) beams on the legs, get them square, ... I think you need the frame to be very square before you try to get the rails parallel to each other.

At least that's how I interpreted what he told me.

My FLA300 (4 x 4) kit second shipment is being delivered today, so I get to try all of this out this week.

Good luck - post pictures and let us know how you succeed.

I do think that Nate ought to spend some time putting together assembly instructions. It may be obvious to him how it should be assembled, but it's not so obvious to me.

[the thrill]

yea i think the one mistake i made was not squaring up the legs with the table frame before i put the X rails on. I'm square on 3 of the 4 corners but i'm out on one. i'm gonna have to loosen and adjust via large striking device...

you can't really beat the guy up for being a little slow as far as instructions go... i, like him, operate a night/weekend business and when you work full time it gets overwhelming. i'm sure he didn't think for a second he'd sell as many kits per week as he has been... I make electric guitars and pickups as a side gig and I know when I get more than one or 2 pickup orders a week it gets tough... especially when i also get refinish, refret and repair work in as well... i have a whole wall dedicated to other peoples stuff I have to get to... I think Nate has been doing a fine job considering his workload...

[Tartan5]

Hi Guys,

I have this site bookmarked:
http://www.overclock.net/case-mod-wo...ustom-cnc.html

Hopefully it give you a little more info......

Howard

[Matt Clara]

Originally Posted by Tartan5 Hi Guys, I have this site bookmarked: http://www.overclock.net/case-mod-wo...ustom-cnc.html Hopefully it give you a little more info...... Howard

Thanks! I have to say, I could not for the life of me get the .625 button heads to reach through the backlash nuts into the slots to grab the econo t-slot nuts and tighten down. I finally went and got some .75 button heads from a local fastenal. (https://home.comcast.net/~jpzavodny/IMG_4396.JPG)

[restless1]

I bought one of the Fla 200's also...took Nate a while but he was swamped..
I have since widened the table to be 65" wide(need one more piece of 3030 to finish it) and then lengthened it to 8 feet! Just drilled the rails 50 some holes on each 8 foot length of rails..
Also have a one of a kind Wolfgang engineering Z axis (7" travel)..
this is keeping me busy just doing the table....during the winter i plan on doing the control box...using hall effect switches for the limits and rare earth magnets...
then solid state relays for the spindle and vacuum system so I can stagger the turn on times and current loads...
have fun with it i sure am!!

[Matt Clara]

Originally Posted by restless1 I bought one of the Fla 200's also...took Nate a while but he was swamped.. I have since widened the table to be 65" wide(need one more piece of 3030 to finish it) and then lengthened it to 8 feet! Just drilled the rails 50 some holes on each 8 foot length of rails.. Also have a one of a kind Wolfgang engineering Z axis (7" travel).. this is keeping me busy just doing the table....during the winter i plan on doing the control box...using hall effect switches for the limits and rare earth magnets... then solid state relays for the spindle and vacuum system so I can stagger the turn on times and current loads... have fun with it i sure am!!

Very cool! Now please do tell, how do you set about making sure everything's square when you set up one of these bolt together wonder kits?

[JD68]

Is there more to this build log somewhere? Nate still in business? I have sent several inquiries to his website and got nothing back. Is he just very busy or ??

Thanks, JD

[Matt Clara]

Originally Posted by JD68 Is there more to this build log somewhere? Nate still in business? I have sent several inquiries to his website and got nothing back. Is he just very busy or ?? Thanks, JD

I think Nate is much busier than he anticipated when he started this business. He typically responds to email on the weekends. If he appears to be ignoring you, it's probably because he's hoping to get a couple more out the door before he says yes to another job. But I can't really speak for him, that's just speculation.

[szastoupil]

These questions have been asked elsewhere, but no response.

I'm guessing you guys probably have some runtime on your FLA200's by now. I'm on the fence between the FLA100 and FLA200.

I've been thinking of scaling up the FLA100 to 2.5ft x 4ft.

Will widening by 6" cause racking problems?

Bed sag?

Thanks,
Scott