Building a Joe 4x4 hybrid as a 2x4

[GibbonsRock]

Hello World!

After struggling with another home-built CNC machine for several months, I have officially changed alliances thanks to another CNCzoner. I am now heavily invested in a Joe 4x4 hybrid, designed and marketed by CNCzone celebrity Joe.

I was attracted to the design by it's sheer strength and mostly metal design, despite not requiring any welding. It is rumored to operate on the level of the Shopbots and Mechmates, and that's the level that I want to operate on.

Since I have no need to take this machine offroad, I really don't need it to be a 4x4.
No, seriously, I don't have the room for a 4x4 machine, so I'm building the hybrid as a 2x4 by making a couple simple changes.

In this build log, I'm going to keep things fairly general so as to encourage readers to read the 4x4 thread in it's entirety, and to protect the enterprise Joe has worked so hard to build. If you're considering this build at all, just buy the plans from Joe. They're well worth the money and will get you access to the nitty-gritty details of and support for the machine only available on his private subscriber's forum.

So let's see what I've got going already.

[GibbonsRock]

People often come up to me and ask:

"Jim? What, exactly, does $175 bucks worth of screws and bolts look like?"

Trouble is, up until very recently I was ill-prepared to properly answer that question, but as of this weekend, I can show them the pictures below.

That, my friends, is a lot of screws. Armed with this package, I can do some serious, no foolin' around level screwing. I'm clearly going to be screwing with this machine for a long time. But, it's time to quit screwing around and go get a screwdriver. Where do we keep the vodka around here anyway?

Cheers, Jim

[GibbonsRock]

I feel like I can tell the world that 8020 is the magic item that makes this machine the brute that it is. 8020inc bills itself as "The Industrial Erector Set"

It's easy to see why. These beams are perfectly straight, cut perfectly square and though they are incredibly lightweight, they are very strong- they feel like they could stop a freight train. I live near a train station, so watch the news tonight to see if that hypothesis will hold water. When paired with the special nuts that fit in their slots, it becomes apparent that one could build almost anything from this stuff, if cost was no barrier.

Actually, one element of Joe's new design that I found curious is that the suppliers of the various parts of this build have all made themselves familiar with this project. 8020 is pretty expensive stuff, but one supplier has made a lucrative business of selling scratch and dent pieces on the net for less than new, and he even posts to the Joe 4x4 thread to announce new pieces. My parts are such surplus stock, but they're almost perfect. One piece has a couple tiny blemishes, another was just scribbled on with a sharpie. Big deal.

These three beams will become the skeleton of my machine.

Cheers, Jim

[joecnc2006]

Your ready to rock and roll now, yea, the 80/20 is what it is all based from and measured off of.

Joe

[Glidergider]

Jim,
Nice writeup. You are correct about the nuts and bolts. Buying $175 worth of hardware is like Christmas in July for guys like me. Buying from boltdepo the on-line supplier saves a ton of money too over going to HomeD or Lowes too.
Dave

[GibbonsRock]

Thanks Joe! I bet a lot of lights went on for you the first time you picked up a piece of 80/20.

Anyway, well gang, if 80/20 is the industrial erector set, then Unistrut must be the industrial Tinkertoy.

Unistrut is a modular system of strong steel rails and a system of specialized connectors so the rails can be bolted together in a million ways.

I bet you've seen Unistrut before, but chances are you never noticed it. I'm not a tradesman, but I fancy myself a pretty handy guy. Despite that, I'd never even heard of Unistrut until I saw Joe's Plans. Now I realize that I'm practically surrounded by it! It's used extensively by electricians and HVAC technicians to build the framework for their work. At my office, a high-tech conference center, a lot of electronics are mounted on it. I notice it everywhere now.

Next time you go out to eat in one of those modern-decorated restaurants such as Chipotle, look up at the ceiling- many of those places plainly show the unistrut brackets holding up the ductwork and other elevated accoutrements that pass for avante-garde decor these days..

Joe designed and built the entire bed and table of his machine out of unistrut. Voila! The result is an extremely sturdy steel table made entirely of metal- and no welding was required.

I already built a table for a CNC machine, so I bought only the unistrut that I need for the actual structure of the bed of the machine. I also bought a craftsman chop saw, because there's no way I'm trying to cut that heavy steel with a hacksaw. After cutting it (and I forgot to photograph the cut parts after all the sparks flew) I was quite pleased with that decision.

Yup, that's me. Please be kind. I thought a gratuitous shot reinforcing the use of protective gear was in order. It wasn't protective enough though- see how red my neck is? That didn't come from living in the boonies!

Unistrut rails are available at the big-box home supply stores, but the connectors and accessories are harder to find. It's out there, though- the very large Brains that lurk in Joe's private forum have found various sources.

Cheers, Jim

[GibbonsRock]

Get it?

These are the steel rails that the bearings will ride on. They're headed for the drill press tonight.

Cheers, Jim

[GibbonsRock]

Hi Dave!

Thanks for popping in! I'm having as much fun with the writeup as I am with the build!

I've been referencing your build on the super secret members-only forum, as I am just starting on the bed assembly, and I like some of the alterations you made.

Cheers! -Jim

[joecnc2006]

your coming along quickly with the build, yes true, its an erector set CNC machine... LOL

But i am very happy with its performance, and you can rest assured i have many many hours on mine.

Joe

[Odeott]

Dou you just buy the 36" 8020 instead of the 72" 8020 and then you get a 2x4 instead of a 4x4

[joeybagadonuts]

Can you post a video of the train as it runs over the 8020?

JoeyB

[GibbonsRock]

Dou you just buy the 36" 8020 instead of the 72" 8020 and then you get a 2x4 instead of a 4x4

Nay: I think using a 36" piece of 80/20 would yield a 1x4 machine, which would be useful for carving small custom diving boards, perhaps for inflatable pools.

My cross beam is 48"

Happy Friday everyone! -Jim