new build design in works (W/ rendered video so far)

[morphious69]

to start off I built a monstrous machine (ie. looks monstrous and ugly not a huge machine) I bought my steppers and controller from stepper world long before I even knew about this site. thus I had never even heard of keling which is where my next set up is coming from for sure.

this is going to be my second machine. I got most of the ideas for it from ads believe it or not that you get by subscribing to yet2 and nasa tech briefs.

here is the first video (on you tube)

YouTube- mill design bigger

YouTube- mill design bigger

if you look back a bit on my site you will see another design which is how I made the z axis of my current machine.

also at some point I will start a page for CNC on my main web site: www.borgsteamfactory.com

I am going to approach things in a way I think are a bit different than most people. I will sell plans in the future as well as some sort of kit but I think the difference in what I plan is that I want to provide parts for those looking to build but having a problem with some part or another. so this is how I see it.

1.plans for sale on site, both hard and digital portions as G-code would be included as well as DXF files for conversion by ones own G-code generator or what ever other code might be needed. If anyone has any other file formats that should be included let me know and I will include it in the list.

2.kits for sale on site
****and these will include the plans so that the machine can be enlarged at any future time or modified if desired as well as up kept by making a stock of back up parts with the machine once you have it up and running.

3.parts in some sort of catalog based first on material then part number so you can choose what material (aluminum MDF or various plastics) both for budget allowance and for use (plastics would be good if you are planning on making an EDM)
**** also this would allow some one who bought plans and got stuck on a part, they can not make, to buy that part, and get on with their project.
*****as I stated though once the whole of the machine is finished it should not be necessary to buy parts, only raw materials.

a third aspect I would like to include is (those are anly really two parts one is documentation and the other tangible finished pieces.) a scrap section where people can obtain the raw materials either from a centrally located place or through a sort of swap and buy or maybe a combination of both. I have ran across so many raw material sources just locally speaking. from solid large pieces of aluminum and HDPE to virgin HDPE pellets and scrap and unusable aluminum or scrap MDF. and with many of these shipping would be the only cost. I figure if we made both what we find and how we found it available it should make a huge repository of stock available at an extremely affordable cost.
I will revise this post as I get time and have reread it and find any thing that needs clarification, proof work or additional information, as well as more models and video of them

[morphious69]

I see a lot of lookers but I am wondering why no replies yet? I hope I have not offended anyone.

here is a link directly to my youtube account incase anyone wants to look at anything else.

Youtube link

and a couple pics of the ugly beast I made already.



this is the z axis using the original wedge shaped design (cut the 45 degrees by using my hand ran mill and just rotating wheels at the same time ) the placement of all locations on this unit though were done using a template cut out of clear acetate printed from a laser printer. the design is made to allow for slight adjusting to get the exact movement line up. It does allow for a lot of custom tweeking that the angle design will not really allow unless some sort of change is made. another thing I learned while making this is that layering the MDF and using good clamping and gluing practices yields a lot more strength to weight ratio than just using single pieces. here are some custom parts I made for my mill using the big mill that was still totally manual.(and no DRO's)


you can see the rest of the work such as it is here.

borg steam factory's CNC page

please be kind and remember it was my first attempt. also keep in mind thus far I am still getting less than .001 of an inch of tolerances and I have used it quite a bit. materials I have milled are

aluminum,
MDF
acrylic
(RPM of spindle was 2 fast 4 travel but I was using an old pentium 75mhz then)
what ever the material of platters of Hard Drives are
mild steel
(really slow and with lots of dwelling to cut down on heat build up.)

[morphious69]

just so everyone knows it is currently taken apart but as soon as I either find the pics I took of it earlier or get a chace to put it back together I will post some pictures of it in full. I use a roto zip on it now but I originally used it with a old school multispeed dremel.

one note on the rotozip I should mention is that to keep torq down I use light and ceiling fan dimmers to run it and there is a cut off point that the switch will not even start up the motor so they are not really a good choice for speed control. they do work some what but not well enough for real machining with metals

[ger21]

Are you gluing 1/4" MDF into thicker pieces? That's what it lools like. And yes, 3 pcs of 1/4" MDF would definitely be stronger and stiffer than one piece of 3/4".

[morphious69]

it is 1/4 or something very close to it and yes the skin in between seems to make the difference. so the stronger the bonding agent the more rigid the board will be. also it seems that any sort of material properties are added in and are exponential, but only in one way due to it being a sort of grain much like natural wood.
I am looking toward possibly using this fact to create something out of thin layers of aluminum and MDF. the aluminum is 1/8", and MDF is the 1/4. The aluminum will go on the out side with two layers of 1/4". This is to give the edges of the cut part resistance to being deformed while the inner MDF will thicken it, and make it harder for it to collapse on either side.
Best way I can figure to do this is to do a layer of the thinnest liquid that will penetrate the MDF to give a better material to bond to and stop the MDF from being a flake where the other bonding agent stops, since it is probably going to be epoxy, and that will not penetrate the fibers of the MDF, but it will bond nicely to any chemical normally used to penetrate soft wood to make it harder.
Of course in the future I would rather use a sort of solid aluminum structure that is cut with relief of some sort to allow strength while being as light as possible.
Best way I can think of at this point is a sort of mold that is suspended in a firebrick cavity and a couple heat guns used to strip paint with a bit of restriction on their airflow. They get up to 1000 degrees when a bit of constriction on the opening is made it increases the heat level too. so with the combined effort it should be able to get around 1300 or maybe a bit more, and enough of that high temp in volume of air to melt aluminum as it requires only 1220 degrees to melt, and some alloys only need a bit less, or more. All using just electricity and it should be fairly efficient unlike the typical kiln.

[ger21]

laminating epoxy like West System or similar will penetrate plenty into the MDF. It'll actually bond better to the MDF than to the aluminum. Weat Systems sells an aluminum prep solution for a better epoxy bond to the aluminum. You could also tap one sheet of aluminum, and use countersunk screws from the other side to sandwich it together. Bond the screws with epoxy as well, so they never move, and you'll have a rigid panel that can't delaminate.

[morphious69]

I will definitely look into that. Thank you!

[CarveOne]

Originally Posted by ger21 laminating epoxy like West System or similar will penetrate plenty into the MDF. It'll actually bond better to the MDF than to the aluminum. Weat Systems sells an aluminum prep solution for a better epoxy bond to the aluminum. You could also tap one sheet of aluminum, and use countersunk screws from the other side to sandwich it together. Bond the screws with epoxy as well, so they never move, and you'll have a rigid panel that can't delaminate.

You can also get a much better bond to aluminum by scratching it up really well with 80 grit sand paper. An orbital sander makes quick work of it.

CarveOne

[FandZ]

Originally Posted by CarveOne You can also get a much better bond to aluminum by scratching it up really well with 80 grit sand paper. An orbital sander makes quick work of it. CarveOne

If the weather holds, I'll be doing just that this weekend on the table top I'm building.

[morphious69]

Originally Posted by CarveOne You can also get a much better bond to aluminum by scratching it up really well with 80 grit sand paper. An orbital sander makes quick work of it. CarveOne

yes I was aware of making more surface to make contact with to get a better hold what would be ideal would be to have micro perforations that are slightly smaller at the aperture so the epoxy would go in and spread out while still liquid and believe me I think like this because all of this is leading up to a device that uses a method of extruding material in some fashion onto a surface and then in layers to make solid objects. a bit like reprap but with just about any substance and in much smaller sizes.

I am glad you mentioned it though so that any one else that is possibly following this design and build would not miss it either through lack of knowing or being in a hurry and forgetting. (heck seeing this might just keep me from forgetting HA HA

[morphious69]

Originally Posted by FandZ If the weather holds, I'll be doing just that this weekend on the table top I'm building.

you have a log or are you going to take pictures should you get the chance? I would definitely be interested in seeing. I have a sheet of aluminum that I am considering making a table top from and maybe using a bender to make a sort of flat box so I can seal it up and mount a recycling system for a coolant flooding system. I will try and post some renders of it as soon as I can.

[CarveOne]

Originally Posted by morphious69 yes I was aware of making more surface to make contact with to get a better hold what would be ideal would be to have micro perforations that are slightly smaller at the aperture so the epoxy would go in and spread out while still liquid and believe me I think like this because all of this is leading up to a device that uses a method of extruding material in some fashion onto a surface and then in layers to make solid objects. a bit like reprap but with just about any substance and in much smaller sizes. I am glad you mentioned it though so that any one else that is possibly following this design and build would not miss it either through lack of knowing or being in a hurry and forgetting. (heck seeing this might just keep me from forgetting HA HA

It also has another purpose. The best way to hide a scratch is to put a million scratches right beside it. Using 150 grit sand paper will give a nice even finish on aluminum plate and sheet material after scratching it while bending it or just to eliminate the extruded or plain aluminum look.

It looks even nicer when sprayed with candy color paint. Then engrave lettering on it to expose new aluminum.

CarveOne