Cnc router for a Longboard shaper

[jestah]

Hi

I am a longboard skateboard shaper down in Wellington, New Zealand and I have been considering building a cnc shaper to save my health as the exposure to the sanding dust is getting me down…. I am cutting out decks made from hardwoods, foam, fiber glass and carbon fiber. I also build my molds from MDF and foam.

I would like to set up a machine that will do all the shaping and cutting out of the decks and even if possible drilling of the truck mounting holes. The largest sizes I have to cut out are 60”*20”*6”. Each deck has an outline of under 110” long and I don’t want to produce more than 1000 per year so I think I would prefer a slower more accurate machine. I also would like to keep it as cheap as possible… but don’t we all? I am willing to spend around $4000nz including software. So far I have a spare computer so that’s one cost out of the way. I would like to get the accuracy down to around 0.010” when drilling down into the decks for the holes to mount the trucks (metal parts used to connect a skateboard deck to the wheels) The outline is not so important to have accurate. For cutting molds in MDF and foam 0.010” would be good but 0.02 will be ok.

So far here is what I have come up with:

I need to build the table, the datacut plans are the right size and seem to be well liked but because I’m down in NZ I don’t want to have to ship materials that are specific to that design down because they might not be available down here. I would also consider building the long and depth axis on a moving track (is the right word gantry?) and then move the table along the 20” axis as this sounds like it will be cheaper to make very stiffer and accurate for less $$. Are there many complications to having a moving cutter and table design? I was also going to make my own nuts for the screws. Is it better to mount the screws with a little bit of tensions to help with whipping or just having the screw free at one end, but still supported by bearings, better?

The table seems easy enough to design… Touch wood. The lead screws and pitch etc is a little scary but the electronics… um… ok now I’m LOST

I’m planning on getting:

A power supply that matches the voltage needed by the steppers and can handle the total sum of each of there rated amps + a few extras just incase

A brake out board. Is this to isolate the motors from the computer?

Gecko 210 or 201 what are the advantages of the 210? And do these come as a kit set that I have to solder? I have had a look… where on earth do all the pinouts go to?

Steppers. I will work out size needed when I have more of the table designed.

I feel like I’m missing something… ?

Ok software:
I will be using solid works for my cad
And mach2/3 for my cam and control

Is that going to work?

So that’s where I’m at… a noob but soon to be an expert! Any nz builders who could spare a bit of time for a chat would be much appreciated… Or any one who wouldn’t mind a phone call from down under for that matter

Thanks
Jestah
Uglie Carnie Longboards

[TCSpooner]

Hi Jestah

I'm A Canadian Builder so I can give some advice but a phone call might be hard The Geko pin outs relate to power in and motor out stuff and one in put for the current limit resistor. I don't think Gekos come as a solder kit they are pretty sophisticated drivers and might be a bit tough to assemble by hand. If you are willing there are open source stepper drives which you can build from scratch, also you may be able to buy blank pcbs and assemble them your self. It all depends on your ambition. As far as accuracy goes that depends on how carefully you design and build your machine. You should be able to achieve the accuracy your looking for easily enough.

Cheers

[Switcher]

jestah,

Have a look at this video on the ShopSabre site, thy are cutting a board, the video might help you decide on your shop process. I'm not saying to buy a ShopSabre cnc, just the setup looks like it could help your project.


The board in the video is already formed, & the holes for the trucks have been drilled, before the cnc cuts the board to size.

http://www.shopsabre.com/files/Download/cut%20out.wmv


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