Build Thread- Joes 2006 in metric

[firlefranz]

Hi folks,

since several days a friend of mine and myself building two Joes 2006 R2 in metric size. I had to change the original plans of course since the needed MDF plates are not available in 1/2" in Germany.
Fortunately the bearings and the rods are available, so we expect no big problems in assembling the machines at the end.

I started by building the originals from the plans in plywood. It took quite a while but helped a lot by building the parts at the end.







As a next step I cut all the parts from MDF and routed everything with my router table. Since I had no 12mm bit for routing the slots for assembling all the party I had to cut the slots later with a smaller bit. I didn't want to use a scroll saw for several reasons.









At the end of day two we finished 68 parts. On router bit broke that day but everything else worked quiet well.





After sanding all the parts we could assembly the two tables and a part from the gantry.











To be continued...

Greetings
Cornelius

[ger21]

Very well done example of how to build complex structures without having a CNC machine to do it.

[Khalid]

I am agreed with Gerry.. If i was you i would never handle it with hand.. lot of patience and great hardwork..Once this build is completed and you start cutting you will never cut by hands again i bet.. CNC make us lazy..

[firlefranz]

Thank's for your reply. Here are some new pics from the second X table and the gantry.

[racedirector]

Hi there

You wouldn't have the metric version of the plans available would you? I am in Australia and we have the same problem, our MDF comes in 12, 16, 18 & 25. I would really appreciate it if I could grab a copy of yours.

Cheers
Bruce

[firlefranz]

Hi Bruce,

I can make the plans available here, but I'd like to wait till my machines are finished, just to make sure everything fits. At the moment the plans are a big unsorted collection of ai-files (Adobe Illustrator).
Do you get the steel rods also only in metric size in Australia? What about screws? In my plans I'm using the normal 33.7mm rods for the x-axis, but the length is changed to 1500mm. The bearings from the original instructions are available here in Germany.
The size of the top plate changed to 22mm, so it's possible to add some t-tracks without loosing any distance to the router bit.
Last but not least the u-bolts for the z-axis are changed to 54mm and the rods to 20mm. The HD-PE is 20mm thick. The acme rods changed to 12mm and the bearings and nuts changed respectively.

Greetings
Cornelius

[racedirector]

Hi Cornelius

No probs with waiting, I am currently in recovery mode from surgery 3 weeks ago so major structure building isn't a good idea Most if not all things here are metric although we can get strange combinations e.g M8 bolt 1" long!

The Z-axis changes won't be a problem, I plan to build the version by gully here on the forums.

I'll be watching your thread for pointers (have subscribed), always interested in what others can do.

Cheers
Bruce

[firlefranz]

Hi there,

here are some new pics of the machine. Since my last post we started to glue everything together and applied some pressure by means of some stones.




For the HD-PE parts we could use a self-made CNC router in the university but we had some problems because the 1/8" bit was to small to cut the whole way through the 20mm plate.




At the end I had to use a bandsaw and a disc sander to make the finish for all the parts.



Luckily the U-Bolts were available in the correct size here in Germany as well as the bearings. Here you can see the finished Z-axis.






The slots for the Y-bearings are all hand made but fit very well.




At the end everything could be assembled perfectly. The opening for the router is asymmetric and was not very easy to made.









Surprisingly I needed much more screws, washers and nuts than described in the plans. Meanwhile the steppers are installed. We decided to take Nema 23 steppers with 426 oz-in.
The second machine will be finished within this week. The cables for connecting everything are ordered so we will have a happy holiday...

I will upload the metric plans within the next weeks.

Greetings
Cornelius

[atwooddon]

Cornelius,

Very nice build, hope you enjoy the machine as much as I enjoy mine. Quick question, what pipes are you using on the x and y axis? Are they steel or aluminum?

Happy Holidays
Don

[firlefranz]

Hi Don,

I'm using stainless steel pipes for all three axis.

Greetings
Cornelius

[Momentz]

HI
Great build, your machine is looking fantastic, i to would be forever in your debt if you could share the plans in metric
Cheers
Chris

[racedirector]

Fantastic progress Cornelius, I commend you on your skills. I for one gave up trying to hand build a Joes and will be cutting one out on a cheap machine I am building right now.

I like the idea of using stainless pipes but in Australia stainless is a little too expensive.

Any, I am watching your progress from afar waiting for the day you start cutting something with it

Cheers
Bruce