My Solsylva CNC Router Step-By-Step

[thkoutsidthebox]

Pic1: I re-made my other Z truck and installed it.

Pic2&3: I then moved onto my Z carriage rails and cut them, they are not attached yet, hence the tape so that I can work with them together.

Pic4: I then cut out my Z Mounting Plate and placed it loosley into position to see. Unfortunately I think my Z trucks are not symmetrical but Im going to go with them for the moment and see what happens, I may have to make the one I did today again a fourth time .

Pic5: I then went onto the drilling and cutting of the Z Mounting Plate and unfortunately this didn't go well either . Two of my holes blew out. Instead of having to completely start this part again I glued and clamped it, and I'll see tomorrow if its usable, if not then I'll make it again. I didnt use the Gorilla glue because I didn't want expansion into my drill holes.

Anyway, thats it for now. Advice on my coupler nut problem is appreciated! Bye for now.

[gmfoster]

Originally Posted by thkoutsidthebox I just e-mailed MSC for a price to get 10 of their metric coupler nuts shipped to me. But Im thinking I might be safer using the money to get them made....maybe I should just get the entire leadnut assemblies including nuts made...

How hard is it ship something like this to you with all the vats ect. If someone just bought them and sent them as a gift would that work.

Garry

[gmfoster]

Originally Posted by thkoutsidthebox Hi folks, I managed to drill out my remaining three DIY coupler nuts as shown below. Its amazing the differance a good drill bit makes. Anyway, that went well, then I started on the tapping. I tapped the side holes for M6 bolts in all three without any problems. Then I moved onto re-tapping the M8 center hole. No matter how I try I CANNOT get my M8 threaded rod to run through the first damn nut that I re-tapped. The tap runs through it no problem, but the threaded rod just wont go through from either end. It reaches the center of the four nuts and just stops solid. But the tap goes through like butter!! This is a big problem because I need four nuts so if I dont have this one I might as well have none since these are my last four. Also, I went back to my first one that I tapped the other day and tried to run the threaded rod through it but its not smooth either even though I thought it was. I tried different threaded rods with the same problems. These damn nuts are just really annoying me. Sorry for the language. Anyway, we dont have Home Depot over here and I've looked for them in the equivalent without any joy. Unless someone has any ideas my last resort is to post a Request For Quote here on the zone to have these made. Im sure they would be a really quick job for a machinist with the proper tools. Unfortunately I cant afford that for a while, thought my spending on this was done apart from the router itself..... Any ideas?

I expect that your problem may be a step where the nuts join. your tap has a taper. File a taper on one end of one of your screws and try it...

More of a chamfher than a real taper..
Garry

[Rance]

THK,

Originally Posted by thkoutsidthebox ...the threaded rod just wont go through from either end. It reaches the center of the four nuts and just stops solid... Any ideas?

Just thinking out loud here. It could be that your tap is the wrong one. Why not try tapping a piece of scrap wood with your tap and see if your rod will go into it. Make the wood as thick as your 4 nuts. This would be an EASY check.

Another possibility would be that you have a problem with thread alignment as I described earlier. But if this was the case, then your tap chasing *should* have corrected it. How difficult would it be to re-weld a set of nuts for just one coupler using the method I described earlier? You don't have to drill & tap from the side, just get them welded together to see if your rod will run all the way through all 4 of them.

Rance

[thkoutsidthebox]

Thanks for all the suggestions folks.

I will try fileing a slight taper on my rod tomorrow because Im not there at the moment, and I'll also try tapping a piece of wood and seeing if that works ok. It is possible that my tap has become a bit worn because it wasn't very expensive, I will see if I can get a better 8mm tap tomorrow also.

Im going to pull another 12hrs on Friday so hopefully I'll get everything done and then I'll just have to solve this problem. I think Im going to re-make my second Z truck again to be symmetrical as to avoid problems later on.

gmfoster, the only problem with posting stuff to Europe is for businesses who have to fill out the required Import/Export documentation. For a private individual to post something it can be put into a regular envelope with a few stamps and sent on its way. Someone has very generously offerred to see if he can get me a few M8 nuts, but Im not sure if he's ok with me to mention his name?

Failing a new tap and/or filing the end of the threaded rod the only solution is to get some nuts, or to get some made by RFQ. Im under no doubt that these nuts are available over here somewhere but I just dont know where... Im going to post a thread also to see if anyone in Europe can give me a supplier.

If I end up posting an RFQ I'd say the simplest method would be to get a 15mm or 20mm square steel bar and drill/tap an 8mm hole in the center, then drill/tap the 6mm holes on the side without them going far enough in to interfere with the central hole. I think a machinist could do 4 of these in less than half an hour and they shouldn't be too expensive.

Anyway, thats all I have for now Im afraid. Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

L8rs.

[thkoutsidthebox]

Forgot to mention, my flexible couplings were re-bored today and are being posted back tomorrow. I should have them by Monday next hopefully.

[thkoutsidthebox]

Firstly I'd like to say a sincere thanks to Buzz for arranging to send me some coupler nuts.

This evening I made a new Z truck (See post below for pics) hoping that they will be slightly more symmetrical. I also painted the part I cut the other day. Tomorrow Im not sure what I'll get done but hopefully everything I can do without the coupler nuts will be finished by tomorrow evening. (Touch wood!)

Obviously I have to scrap the Z mounting Plate now because of the changed trucks. Im going back to do a bit so I might get a new one cut out. I might cut this one from of solid wood instead of MDF to help prevent blowout like the last one.

If I get everything done tomorrow excluding the coupler nut parts, then I'll concentrate on getting the software onto my machine for running it so it is all set up and ready to roll while Im waiting for the post.

Bye for now.

[Buzz9075]

Mine is made out of OAK. So are my face plates.

[thkoutsidthebox]

Thanks buzz. I dont have any hardwood lying around right now so I think I'll try with the white deal first. If it doesn't work I'll go get some oak. I'll keep you informed.

[Buzz9075]

I cut my first one out of pine. No Good the wood did not hold to gether nice enough. It worked but was a piece of grap... Hopefully you have better luck. If you are going to get hard wood, maple or birch (or something like that) might be better as it usually has a nicer grain. I used oak as I had a lot of it around.

[thkoutsidthebox]

Thanks, I will certainly keep that in mind if (When) I go to buy some hardwood. I just really always liked the look of White Oak, and had originally intended building the entire machine from it. But I was afraid of screwing it up and wasting all that money, so went with the cheap stuff for my first try .

Im eager to get it all built (Probably over eager! ) so although common sense tells me I should plan my alterations now, I want to see something move!! Then I can go back and start making changes ...

[thkoutsidthebox]

Hi,
Today I bought some new 8mm taps (Pic1) but didn't mention it previously because I hadn't tried them yet. Well, guess what...they work...kinda! I re-tapped my DIY Coupler Nuts and they now go onto my 8mm threaded rod and run along it (Pic2), although they are not perfectly smooth.

I definately still need the proper ones, but Im hoping that if the post takes a while, then these now might let me see some life in my machine while Im waiting. Thats dependant upon my 200oz/in motors having enough torque to overcome the intermittent resistance thats still there.

Anyway, as a temporary measure hopefully they will be ok. But the first change to my machine will be their replacement. My old 8mm tap was ignominously tossed into the bin! grrr....