4x4'6" CNC plasma table build, Xalky...

[ajclay]

I missed that part: The z-axis is an item i bought on e-bay it's a THK linear actuator. Actually most of the parts came from e-bay, the v-rollers and track, skate bearings, linear rails and linear pillow blocks, and the pulley bearings all came from ebay. The timing pulleys and timing belts came from an online source...can't remember the name off hand, but the prices were good and shipping was really quick.

I purchased a ball screw for my Z axis off of e-bay... got a great deal to say the least...

Figured I'd just keep it clean by wiping it off during operation. That thing locked up in no time. Maybe in the first couple of hours of cutting.

I disassembled it, sonic cleaned it, and again it worked for a short amount of time till it got hard spots.

So I had to cover the ball screw completely with bellows. It's been running for a couple of years without a hick-up...

Water table or not, linear rails and ball bearings can't tolerate trash of any kind. They run with almost zero clearance.

Aj

[xalky]

Nice homemade bellows.

My motors and controls have been shipped today. I probably won't get the stuff till next week. I have ordered or have sitting on my bench just about everything i need to complete this build. The next couple of weeks should be very productive. I also have all my grounding and shielding stuff. I'm in the process of locating, on my build, all the hard limit switches. It's the little stuff that's really time consuming.

I just made my machine torch with pilot arc and its working great. Now I gotta make the torch touch off with the limit switch and torch mount. I'll probably be working on that this weekend, now that I have my torch dimensions.

[ajclay]

Nice homemade bellows.

I purchase the bellows from a company that makes them to spec. I gave them all the dimensions and application they needed to work in and they made them for me....

I can't sew a button on much less something like that...


Thanks Aj

[xalky]

I just completed my floating torch holder...man that was a lot of work for such a small thing. Right now, I'm concentrating on plasma cutting, but at some point I'd like to try some light routering with it. I believe the gantry and table are stout enough to handle it on wood and plastic.

[xalky]

I recieved my CandCNC bladerunner system on wednesday It's all hooked up and running. I'm still calibrating and fine tuning. This table is capable of some awesome acceleration. I can't say enough good things about the Bladerunner system. and I'm not even completely running yet. Following the CandCNC user manuals makes this pretty painless.

I'm having a few problems that I have to rectify with my timing belt drive. I'm having a problem keeping the timing belts from running off the idlers. I'm gonna have to make some flanges on the idlers to guide the belts and keep them inline.

[xalky]

A few more pics. I made an overhead cable support arm out of PVC pipe. It rotates freely aloowing it to move with the gantry. I had to install some semi ridgid upright cable stands to keep the wires up out of the way so they don't get tangled up as the gantry moves. I had a kite that i cannibalized to get these fiberglass rods out of it. They work well. Eventually I'm gonna go with a cable chain track for wire management but this works for now.




Heres a picture of the guides I had to make on the idlers to keep the timing belts on. Just some 1/4" fender washers drilled out to 5/16" and spaced away from the bearing with a smaller washer. Ended up being a simple fix.



Here's a picture of the torch mounted up to the floating head:



So far I've set all my home positions in Mach3 and calibrated and dialed in the table travel in x y z.

next up: setup and test DTHC module.

[xalky]

Here we go...more pictures of my new electronics cabinet:



I had to cut out the back to allow easy access for connections, but also my PC with its giant tower case wouldn't fit so I made some alterations.


It has a pullout keyboard shelf:



Heres a picture of The CandCNC control panel. All the electronics are in there, except for the PC of course.

[xalky]

I'm a little frustrated with the electronics on this table...Who am i kidding..... I'm downright disgusted right about now. I got all my motors and limits hooked up. I've spent about a week getting everything talking to each other, configuring travel speeds, Trying to get my serial port working. I'm on computer #3 now and still having problems with serial port communications for the THC. I think I just fried the THC board and my garage is a freakin mess.

If I didn't have so much time and cash into this project, I'd scrap it.

The mechanicals are the easy part...the electronics and software on the other hand are frustrating the hell outta me.

It's not like I'm a complete computer idiot either. I build all my own computers and debug them and straighten out software problems all the time.

I was so close I could taste it and then the sledgehammer of Murphy smashed up my parade.


I'm gonna contact Tom over at CandCNC to see what the hell is going on here.

Sorry Guys ,OK, I'm done venting.

[xalky]

I think I fried the thc module, when I attempted to use the internal voltage divider on the longevity. I should have ordered my system over the phone. When I ordered it online. I thought I ordered the rav01, but being a cnc noob, when it didn't come in the box, I followed the instructions for using the cnc connections and screwed it up. Tom at CandCNC took pitty on me and is sending me a new moddule and a Rav01. After pouring thru that manual at least 3 times now, I would say that I'm not such a noob anymore.
While I'm waiting for parts to come in ,I'm gonna spend some time shielding and grounding.


Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk 2

[xalky]

I had a hell of a time getting serial ports working on 3 Different computers. For me, I found that loading the smartKut drivers was the only way to get mach3 talking to my serial ports. Once I got it working on one pc I tried it on the others and all the serial ports came live in each pc using the SmartKut driver. Hell if I know why.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk 2

[xalky]

I'm still waiting on my replacement parts from CandCNC but in the meantime I'm shielding and grounding everything I can think of. I just scored some Scotch 24 tinned copper shielding tape off Ebay 1"x1000'..yes one thousand feet, for $75. I'll be shielding and grounding everything in sight :0.

[Teknition]

I think I fried the thc module, when I attempted to use the internal voltage divider on the longevity. I should have ordered my system over the phone. When I ordered it online. I thought I ordered the rav01, but being a cnc noob, when it didn't come in the box, I followed the instructions for using the cnc connections and screwed it up. Tom at CandCNC took pitty on me and is sending me a new moddule and a Rav01.

Thats one of the reasons I ordered my kit from CandCNC, outstanding support for their products even when it isnt their fault.

Brad