my machines

[AdyAstley]

Zoltan,
What traction method are you using this time, as there seems to be no lead screws other than the Z axis. I can't believe that a rack and pinion would give the precision required without gearing. I am trying to build a longer machine as I want to sell wood stairways here in Costa Rica and also carve doors with the router. I was thinking of using toothed belts but am worried about backlash of course. I would have likes a ball screw but feel both sides of the gantry should have the same so two 10 feet ballscrews would cost me an arm and possibly a leg (too much money) to get here in my location.

I am currently downloading the Vcarve trail version I am guessing you used this to make these parts. The software does look good and so does your machine (pity the views are all from same side).

It looks like your appreticeship is over and now you are at least machinist. Take care

[zoltan]

Ady,

I use for this machine a rack and pinion. It makes almost 90 mm/revolution, which means at 3200 steps/revolution that I am in the range of 0.028 mm which seems almost ok for me. I will see when if it would be OK at first trial. Anyway, by design I can include without problems a gearing system made with toothed belt. Regarding Vcarve, my opinion is that it is cheap. Very cheap. Yes, the money is an issue for me due to the fact that I do not have a regular job. I setup my company but it does not produce or making money yet. This is the reason I am still struggling with cheap solutions.Two years ago I borrowed 8000 euro and I invested all of them in CNC by my company. I had a collection of stamps from my dad which I succeded to sell one year ago at 13000 euro. I paid back the loan and the interest and all remaining money I invested in CNC - tools, software, etc. My dream is to start a CNC business.

The views are from both sides.

Zoltan

[AdyAstley]

Zoltan,
You are an amazing fellow, and I am reading about Vcarve products and have downlaoded the PhotoVcarve trail. I got a strange fault when I saved the demo picture of the woman's face in .tap format for my Mach 3. It would not start and just showed the outline size of the picture instead on the whole face. The code was all there in the g-code window but no way was the machine going to run it. I will have another go later in the week but software is the hardest part even though I can draw pretty good in Autocad 2D.
I am also struggling to keep things together without my wife seeing what I have spent instead of letting her go and shop for the kids. I came up with a few ideas/reazons for making these machines so I too can make money even though I do have a full time job. My first plan was to make moulds for concrete pouring to make nice balcony struts as here in Latin America there is a massive boost in making houses with 2 or 3 floors due to cost of land etc. Also on the same subject I want to make stairs in wood that satisfy the rules and are standard for construction. The moulds for the first idea is hard as I want to make the strut around 4" dia x 30" high with a ivy or similar crawling type leaf circling up it so that it is not like any other. Drawing this for me is well beyond my capacity and for that reason it has died. The stairs idea is still active and the drawings are fairly simple in many different softwares. My Bridgeport machine is much too small for this job I feel. Today I got another brainwave to make plaster moulds so that people can decorate the house with these stick on accesories such as shells, stars, sun, moon, and cornice moulds for bringing life to a dull looking room. I really think this might work out better than making signs or paterns and due to where I live I could make moulds on the cnc in the weekends during days and my wife and kids could pour the plaster and open/clean and pack the moulds quite easily. There are so many products to stick this type of mould to a wall like No Nails or even silicone that this really does look profitable. I am telling you this because in most cases people build a machine for hobby and we need to earn money at least and the satisfaction of using the machine to provide my family will mean more than self satisfaction.

[zoltan]

Ady,

Photocarve is working for sure. I bought Photocarve from the beginning of its life and made a lot of trials & samples to learn how it works. Never had problems.

You must follow your dreams and stick with the plan. It sounds childish but it is the path of accomplishment.

Cut3D can make your molds in slices, so 30" high mold is not a problem anymore. I never tried slices but I have seen other people did. You can ask Tony or people on Vcarve forum.

I do not know to much about molds for concrete. What I have seen is that people are making molds for concrete by thermoforming process. The mold for thermoforming is made by CNC.

Zoltan

[bigbunny5]

Originally Posted by zoltan I am find myself struglling for free - junk yard or cheapest solution.

That is he Heart of Hot Rodding, Building something for Nothing . but regarding the RED and Yellow Paint, I hope you leave it like that! In all the years I've built Cars, tools Etc--- I never ever had a Paint finished Hot-Rod/ Race Car, Paint don't make em any Faster!!!! I always use the Dollar General $1 / can Spray Bombs, Best Value in paint

[Hmedich]

Great work .... keep going