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looks to me your well on your way ,Originally Posted by blau_schuh
what size cutting envelope are you aiming for?
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I've been reading this site for at least a year, finally got off my behind and started buying some parts that within the next couple of months will become my first machine.
machines uses:
Initially: signs, guitar bodies, guitar necks, frames, loudspeaker enclosures.
Eventually: milling aluminum, other metals. I can't state what accuracy I want, but as "accurate as possible" .0002, .0005? without breaking the bank (i.e. $1000 ballscrews). Excuse my ignorance, it's sort of a foreign concept once we're talking thousandths of an inch.
a machine 40"x25" with 4" of z axis travel should do the trick... er .. I think.
...and, Ive seen nothing to persuade me against a gantry setup.
I may mock up the frame using wood or mdf (rather make some mistakes with el cheapo wood), however I'm most likely going to be using 8020 aluminum Tslot 40S 1"x3" and 8020 Tslot 15S 3"x3" for the final frame. Or weld up a frame out of steel. I've got a bunch of 30" and 40+" lengths, as well as some miscellaneous bits for bracing. Stuff is pretty cheap of ebay, so I can always get some more.
(3) 250 oz-in servo motors with us digital 250CPR encoders. Perhaps I should have gone with steppers for this first endevour, but these are already in my possession so...
(1) gecko G340 drive, which was going to be used just to experiment getting one axis up and running. will get a couple of gecko G320s for the other two axis.
(1) pair of 16.5" THK linear slides. I was thinking these could be used for either the z axis, or the x axis .. although this is cutting close for routing guitar bodies and medium sized signs if used for the x axis.
(1) 37.75" acme screw with delrin nut. it was pretty cheap off of ebay, I figure I can use this for the y axis for a while with decent results. I can always shorten it, and hopefully have it turned on a lathe so it wont be a waste.. worst case it's back on ebay
(1) 32.5" long .650" pitch 32.5" rolled ballscrew. figures i bid on this before i read the ballscrew basics thread. seems the pitch is a bit large, so i may have to make some adjustments. Also, ballscrews <= 32" seem to be plentiful on ebay at a decent price. 40+", the price seems to sky rocket... so maybe my y axis drops to 32 inches or so.
It seems like I'm needing to tweak my requirements by what I see on ebay. like "I wanted a 40" y axis, but Hey, here's what seems to be a good 32.5" ballscrew. I have no problems with this.
So I've got a small heap of parts, but still needed going forward:
linear rails pair for y axis
linear rails pair for x axis
x axis ballscrew
z axis ballscrew
aluminum plates for frame
2 more gecko drives
various pillow bearing blocks.
sorry for the long-winded post, Am i on the right track? or am I mixing and matching some decent stuff with junk? I don't mind paying (time and money) a reasonable amount for a quality machine.
looks to me your well on your way ,
what size cutting envelope are you aiming for?
hopefully around 30"x30". I guess it will depend on the sizes of the ballscrews I am able to get.
I have two 72" NOOK rolled ball screws .625" OD, 5-TPI with Thomson ball nuts (non preloaded) the screws have turned ends for bearings!
My prive is $140 for both sets!
send me an email if interrested! widgitmaster@widgitmaster.com
(Will cut them and re-turn ends to custom length for additional $20)
I'll be glad to get rid of them!
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