My machine...The Big Ugly!

[strangetanks]

Well...I guess first of all I should give a few goals of my machine.

1: Actually get it done in some reasonable amount of time before another project takes over my life.

2: Well...be a big cheapo. But it looks like most people on here are like that.

3: Plan on making improvements later. Things don't have to be perfect, I can always replace parts later.

4: Be able to stick a full sheet of plywood in the thing.

Well...thats about it. I'll post some pics and my progress so far

[strangetanks]

Started out with a big ole tortion table as the frame of the machine. The skeleton is made from 3/4 OSB. Ripped it down, clamped it and ran it through the planer so everything was the same height. Then used my radial arm saw to put slots in and glued it all together with construction adhesive.

Not sure how these pics will post...so stick around for updates.

P.S. Be prepared....I don't know how people keep their shops so nice on here!!!! My shop is a chronic mess!

[strangetanks]

Hmm...looks like the pics posted alright.

I'm sort of lucky in a way. I live in Philadelphia in an area that has a lot of industrial suppliers and whatnot very close by. One of the things is a scrap big ole scrap yard about 1/4 mile away. So I've been making some regular trips recently to pick up materials.

Managed to pick up some nice 2"x3"x10' peices of aluminum tubing that will for the long rails for my cnc router.

The other thing thats close by is an auction house I go to pretty regularly for building materials. I end up picking up all sorts of weird odds and ends in the process. So I pulled out my drawer of bearings and sorted em out looking for something that might work for the rollers. Freakin things are all metric and are driving me crazy.

Oh yeah....I skipped a step. The table was skinned on one side with 1/2" plywood and 1/4" hardboard on the bottom. A layer of 1/4" hardboard was then glued over the plywood on the top to form a working surface. The entire table was then edged with black walnut.

[DEDan]

What scrap yard did you go to? I live just down the way in Delaware. I run up to Philly about 2-3 times a week for work.

[strangetanks]

Right off of 95. Richmon and sons (I think thats how its spelled). They are selling me Aluminum at 85 cents a pound right now. Scrap prices are down. You sort of have to luck out and grab things before they chop it up though.

[mlabruyere]

Looks good....

You have to do the "hollywood" photo shoot....kick all the crap in a corner and shoot away from that corner....

[strangetanks]

Well...got some parts made up here. The linear bearings that are made to travel along the aluminum tubing I picked up. The rollers are made from hard maple, I figure they would ride more quietly than aluminum rollers. Although I'll probably replace them with nylon later on when I manage to scrounge some up.

Little hard to see, but the rollers have a V groove in them that ride on the corners of the tube. I went round and round with designs and this seems to be a pretty good variation on the rollers that ride on a peice of bar stock.

[strangetanks]

Well...not like anyone is paying attention, but maybe for future generations.

I remade the V-groove rollers and added some adjustment mechanisms so I can adjust the tilt and tightness of my X-axis rollers. I also found that the maple was a little too soft so I made them from a particularly hard batch of mahogany I had laying around the shop. I'll throw up some picks soon.

I also got my roller chain and sprockets in the mail, been sorta busy making new parts to get the rest of the X up and running.

In the mean time...I ran across a local fella selling an itty bitty little CNC Spectralight CNC Turning center on Craigslist. I bought it in hopes of either taking all the parts off for my machine or getting it working for my shop. Turned out it was way too small for my stuff. Luckily, its up on ebay at the moment, looks like I'll be doubling my investment. This will probably provide the fundage for the rest of my machine. Hate being a cheap bastard, but its sort of half the fun.

[eigstein]

where did you get the walker-turner radial arm saw. i have not seen one in many years.

sincerely,

rjs

[strangetanks]

Per usual, my shop is a mess. But I picked it up a number of years ago at an auction. Of course it didn't quite look like that when I got it. I took it all apart rebuilt and repainted it. I liked it so much, about a year l managed to score a Walker Turner radial arm drill press from ebay.

[eigstein]

i have worked with both machines back in the late 40's. they were standard equipment in many cabinet shops. good luck with your cnc project and your machines.

sincerely,

rjs