Overwhealmed Newbie Looking for advice...

[mulligan]

After doing quite a bit more reading I decided on these motors:

- RS23-500 oz/in Stepper Motor 1 ea @ $65.00 (X axis)- HomeShopCNC.com

- RHT23-260 oz/in Stepper Motor 2 ea @ $42.00 (Z and Y axis) - HomeShopCNC.com

Sound like a sound choice?

*Sorry for the hijack fj!

[ger21]

Depends on the weight of your gantry, but IMO the 260oz motor is too small for the Y axis of a 4x8 machine.

[massajamesb]

I have a (right around) 150 ozin motor driving my Y axis on a 4x4 machine.
Of course, it will do no routing, only plasma and oxyfuel.
For a good Y axis motor that should work well for routing, look here.
http://kelinginc.net/KL23H286-20-08B.pdf
I am using one of these to dual-drive my X axis, and it has some outstanding force(given the size), even at higher speeds.

[underdog]

Guys,

I'm impressed with your desire to 'know it all from the ground up', but who has time these days? I found a small 1983 vintage CNC vertical machining center with 9 X 20 X 16 travel, tool changer, full CNC control and lotsa tooling.

In the last two years it has cut plastic, aluminum, steel and chrome-moly steel with great results. When we need to do 4th axis cutting we put on our indexing spacer from Phase II and cut away. Its now for sale for 3K because I need a bigger machine since the work we are getting is getting bigger.

My vote is for getting started as soon as possible - that way the fun starts sooner. Well that's just my opinion - as I said before I'm impressed by gearheads (compliment) that can build a machine out of goatskin and spit.

[wizard]

There are an incredible number of options with respect to router machines. You really have to zero in on what you want to achieve. This discussion might help a bit but you also need to tally up what the goals are for the machine.

While I don't think it is impossible to do I would advise against a combo plasma router machine. It is not just the feed rate but a number of things that make such machines less than optimal. Just consider change over and how that would be done quickly and economically.

Also a plasma machine could be considered a good place to bite the bullet on CNC as these machines can be built cheap. You have to be careful though as somethings don't transfer well. A plasma machine can operate without any reaction forces from the tool, the difference in stiffness required to route decently can be pretty dramatic. In other words a router requires more engineering though into how the machine will handle forces involved in cutting the product.

Another option for cutting teeth on CNC is to slap together a learning machine. That is a machine built just to learn about CNC, programming and the mechanics of these machines. This path is all well and good but I would not recommend it simply because of the costs involved if you have to go out and buy materials. If the donor hardware is already there then the approach has merit. When building routers I see the small machines as a big distraction if your goal is a 4 x 8 or larger machine.

The other thing to understand is that these machines take up a lot of space and can not be moved on a regular basis. In fact at some point just work on the machine, while building, will require two people.

Dave

[Art Ransom]

I built from scrach because I couldn't find a design for my needs. Made a lot of mistakes and learned a lot. If I was to do it again I would go with the MechMate. You can get all the major (15) parts of the gantry laser cut and bent for $280 plus freight from Texas. That represents at least 25% of total build time. Build gantry first, 50% of total build time then base. Go with a completely built and tested controler. I plan on building MechMate replacement in about 6 months so I can route 4' by 8' and turn columns 24" by 12'. Modifying MechMate to handle rotational axis is no big deal.

[lovebugjunkie]

Mr Ramsom

I looked at the MechMate in the past but did not follow up as I have no metal working knowledge. Mind giving the company in Texas where you can get the parts cut and bent. Also do they weld them? I'm in the Houston area so picking them up would be an option.

thanks
george

[ilkkahy]

Hello. Im having bit same situation but my goals are quite clear. At that in stake that i seem bit retarted guy who is out of his element i tell my situation. I want to be able to control numerous servo motors and hydraulic cylinders with computer. The problem now is that i dont know where to start really.

I assume i first need some kind of card for the computer that uses the controlling unit of servo motors. What else.. linear sensor that shows the place on axis and gives information to controlling unit (or computer?)?

Is there any free software that could be used?

You can advise me like child since im really new to the subject (if someone has the energy).

Oh and i really want to build some very little learning unit as firtst project. I still would like it to have 5 axis (x, y, z and angle of the tool and also rotation of the tool like in 3d-plasma or laser cutting machine). I think i can build most mechanical parts at my workplace.