Heavy large scale gantry mill/router/3d carving 5 axis build

[Tristar500]

Been working on the design of my latest machine. I've got a half dozen cnc machines under my belt now and with the help of others here on the forum and 2 years designing the build has started on my most ambitious project to date, a 5 axis mill.

I plan to use the machine to help in the fabrication of the sculpture that I create. Specifically

3D carving of the female form.

Here's a couple of examples of my sculptures and the general layout of the machine.

[Tristar500]

a few of the sculptures I do and will be able to scale up and down with the new machine.

[awerby]

Did you really carve those sculptures with a CNC mill? They look more like they were welded or soldered together. Do you think the aesthetic qualities they have will survive the scaling-up (or down) process intact?

Do you have a design worked out for the 5-axis mill? It's hard to see what you're planning to do from the miscellaneous pieces of steel and process shots you've shared so far.

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com

[Tristar500]

Today was a huge day for visual progress. The months of fabrication of the parts including the gantry are finally one. It'll take the next day or two to make sure the frame is plumb and the rails are properly aligned.

CNC metal mill drilling pilot holes for the brackets that hold the frame in place.

Brackets welded to cross members and opened up to .75" to receive the bolts that will hold the structure together.

Gantry is introduced to the frame for the first time. Hopefully my CAD skills and measurements are close...

A little while later the gantry is carefully lifted via a floor jack a foot or so of the floor. Step one..

a couple of hours later the gantry is getting closer to home..


Gantry finally in place. This was heavy and dangerous work. Balancing a piece of steel like this on one floor jack and then rotating in 90 degrees is a *****. Resting for a while..

Here's a shot of my now messy shop with me in the pic so you can get a feel for the size of the machine.

More as it happens...

[Tristar500]

Molds were made from a real person, then the pieces that make up the sculpture were welded together.

Sorry for the confusion..

Originally Posted by awerby Did you really carve those sculptures with a CNC mill? They look more like they were welded or soldered together. Do you think the aesthetic qualities they have will survive the scaling-up (or down) process intact? Do you have a design worked out for the 5-axis mill? It's hard to see what you're planning to do from the miscellaneous pieces of steel and process shots you've shared so far. Andrew Werby www.computersculpture.com

[Tristar500]

Today I put a jig together to align the primary THK rail along the X axis. Holes were drilled and then tapped with using lots of cutting oil and the slowest speed on my cordless drill. I set the clutch on my drill near it's lowest setting and got all the holes done without breaking a single tap.

Later the rail was placed on the frame and each socket head cap screw was installed so that they are all still loose but the heads are beneath the surface. This allows me to move the gantry back and forth to get at all the screws.

Late in the day I started positioning the X axis ball screw assembly, more on that in the next few days...

[Tristar500]

Can a man have too many clamps? NO!!

Here I am setting up the ball screw for the X axis.

Once measurements were taken it went to the CNC mill to make the mounting brackets. Everything will be roughly aligned and then shimmed to precision near the build end.

Next step: Contemplating the 5th axis.. Here in place with yet more clamps... Thinking...

[FandZ]

You don't F around do you? It's looking great. That 4th/5th axis, depending how you look at it, is going to be all business. How heavy do you think it'll wind up being?

[stangtjk]

I'm more interested in the process of making those sculptures, mostly the part about casting and pulling the molds, how about some detailed pics lol, jk .

Looks like its going to be a nice machine.

[Tristar500]

Been working on the electrical enclosure for the 4 G&L Servo drives. Got luck at the local scrap yard and scored a enclosure box for $5.00 Got all my wiring done in a couple of hours this afternoon.

Next,I took a dell desktop machine and liberated the essentials from the plastic fluff and brackets. Now it will fit nicely in my interface enclosure with it's touch screen monitor.

[Tristar500]

Now for the deep Z axis. I hit the local scrap/recycling yard this morning and purchased a couple of pieces of 1 inch thick by 5 inch pieces of 6061 T-6 aluminum. This is the primary material I will use for the Z. I started off by chopping to the length a piece of the material to mount the bearings. A chop saw with a carbide blade made the cut quickly. I'll set up the mill to true the end after rough cutting to length.

[Tristar500]

A couple of years ago I picked up a couple of THK linear rails and cassettes at the same scrapyard for $10 for the pair. I got 4 rails and 4 cassettes and some .5 inch aluminum. The rails are about 26 inches long. An hour later I had it stripped down and a "pile o' parts" on the table. Bearings were well greased as you can see and are in excellent shape. Time for some thinking..