Looking to pull the CNC conversion trigger

[91TSiGuy]

Thanks! I'm sure very few know what the meaning is behind that plate-- removed it from the car this past spring when I sold it after a 17 year ownership.

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[91TSiGuy]

Despite not having doors on yet, or finished with a coolant pump system, I had the urge to cut out something random with the mill. Glad I did because it shows I still have some slop to take care of in the ways or ballscrew ( oval and oversized holes, jumpy tool path) I suppose I'll try to tighten up the gibbs more and see where that goes. Any other suggestions are welcome.

Also, I tried using the haimer 3d sensor to set up my stock origin in mach 4, but everytime i started the program it didn't switch between Z heights on the tool table so it was cutting air with the first tool. I have no idea what I'm missing with that.



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[91TSiGuy]

Whipped up a computer stand today that can swivel out of some scraps I had on hand.

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[91TSiGuy]

Issues with the Haimer not setting the Z height was my fault-- didn't have tool heights active while zeroing.

Materials are on order for the doors so I hope to start them in a week or two.

In the meantime, I'm worried about using flood coolant and not having my motor wiring or limit sensors shielded from being sprayed or soaked. One part of me is thinking of using more stainless sheet metal to create covers over anything exposed. Another thought is to load up the serial connector joints for the motors with silicone and hope it waterproofs those vulnerable spots. Thoughts?

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[CS900]

I'd do both!

[91TSiGuy]

Just about done with the doors. I have a narrow strip to glue on that will overlap the middle gap, and then the top track needs to be bolted on.



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[CS900]

that looks great!

[91TSiGuy]

Doors are finished, at least until any flaws show up. I glued on an overlapping piece of plastic in the center and was hoping for a clearer glue job. That didn't happen and it looked ugly so I added the stainless flap in the front.





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[91TSiGuy]

I put together what I thought could be my flood coolant setup. The PM-45 came with a 2-3ish gallon tank and 220v pump that I thought I could repurpose. Taking that and my kids sand bucket (I haven't broken the news to her yet) and a 17 gallon storage tote, I came up with the following. The pump seems to flow quite a bit of fluid but not so much pressure. Adding the water filter seemed to choke things down so I'm not as happy with the system.



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[LeeWay]

You would probably need a lot more pressure to get past that filter. That is a high pressure household filter. No need for such a filter in the system. My new Haas Mini mill just has a screen strainer. It gets the chunks.
Something like these.
https://www.grainger.com/product/6UJ...Also_Purchased


Here is the one for the Haas.
FILTER, COOLANT ELEMENT FOR 58-3060 | Filters | Standard Coolant | Coolant Systems | Find Replacement Parts | Haas Parts | Genuine OEM Haas Automation® Parts Factory-Direct

[91TSiGuy]

I had a feeling it may be restrictive, even being 25 micron. Definitely not running the same pressure household water would be. I'll look to switch to that next.

The green bucket has holes drilled halfway up-- hoping to catch chips in there, and then the tote has grooves in the bottom that could catch more chips and sediment. I'm thinking maybe I should just pull the filter all together.

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[thecleaner]

amazing job!

[panoulisk]

Hello, very nice job on the project, I followed your thread and I would like to ask you if you could give me some insights on the procedure you followed because I am in the process of converting my zx45 to cnc. I have bought the motors, drives and breakout board and now I am planning to buy the ball screws.is it possible to send me the plans for the mounts you made and the specs/supplier of the ballscrews and end supports you used?, I know that I have to measure the dimensions of my machine but It would be very helpful if I had a point of reference to begin with . Thank you in advance

[91TSiGuy]

I have used ebay sellers for a lot of my build--the most familiar one being linearmotionbearings2008, and also miss_my_car.

For the mounts, screw locations, bearing blocks, etc. I attacked it one at a time. Knowing where the stock screws fit and then trying to tuck things even tighter if possible. Moving your table and saddle around without it attached to anything will give you ideas on what limits you can work with and how to design your mounts. Also use known flat or machined surfaces such as the table as datums to measure from to locate your screw holes, dowel locations, and other parts. I might have some cad files on the other laptop, but things are still packed away from my recent move.

Speaking of that, I luckily have a new work area for fab but it still needs a 220v sub-panel and other wiring ran--nothing I have time for in the near future. My machine was last showing some new electrical bugs I need to address too (not backing off of limit switches while homing, mach4 freezing or losing communication after seating stock with a dead blow are two examples) I also purchased a newer pump but am still not happy with the pressure output of it, although a tiny bit higher than the original Precision Matthews model.

[91TSiGuy]

So as to not think this build is dead, here is an update.

My new fab area now has a sub-panel and the machine is under power again. I began tearing it down to check on the gib and angular contact bearing adjustments after watching NYC CNC's Tormach maintenance video. I've come to discover I adjusted everything too tight and am in the process of correcting that. During that, I went down to work on it a following day to find my laptop screen pitch black even though it's powered on and appears to be running. I fear I either have a bad graphics driver or hard drive and now need to look into a more robust desktop system to leave with the machine. This will also mean another license of Mach4 to buy too (I believe--looking into the details of this).

As if that's not enough of a hurdle, I am up to 2 munchkins running/crawling around stealing every and all of my free time so the machine sits and waits.

[Balor]

Hi 91SiGuy. Take a look at the Intel NUC mini PC.

rngr1

[91TSiGuy]

Hi 91SiGuy. Take a look at the Intel NUC mini PC.

rngr1

Any particular model to check out?

I was considering a full desktop/monitor/keyboard system from Ebay, refurbed, with windows 7 for $100-150 shipped. I don't need anything too special, just robust.

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[ianagos]

I use a nuc skull canyon for my personal computer but it’s more of a kit thing.

[91TSiGuy]

So I ended up with a dedicated desktop PC after not getting the laptop to boot up again. Picked up the one in the attached pic off Ebay for a good deal I thought. It seems to run faster than my previous and current laptops and for only one program that's good enough for me. Automation technologies was able to help with the license transfer to the new system so I'm happy to not be out more money for something I can barely use these days.

Also I'm in the middle of the gib and ballscrew/nut adjustment now and while trying to remove slop in the mounted bearings, I took one apart to find they were 6002's...in other words not angular contact. Now I'll need to order the correct AC bearings and replace them in all 3 axis--in hindsight if I knew more I would have looked out for this or made my own bearing housings.

I also removed the second limit switch on each axis hoping to minimize phantom trips. Mainly I'm going to use them for homing only and then use soft limits. I could still shake and knock the switches in my hands to create erronious trips captured by mach so I added a noise filter value-- something I didn't have set previously. I think it did the trick and hopefully seating stock with a dead blow in the vise won't cause the mach to go into limbo now.

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[91TSiGuy]

I found some paired Nachi AC bearings on Ebay and ordered 2 sets at $25 each. They came with their own housings identical to my current X and Y parts but had a larger seal so I dropped them into the old bearing housings. My Z axis did have AC bearings already, I just forgot.

After reassembly, only 2 of 3 axis moved under control. The X axis appeared to physically stall out but keep showing movement on the readout. Switching the Y motor onto the X driver, the same happens so I know it's driver or wiring related. As for why I have no clue as I haven't messed with anything that should change this, just mechanical. With the motor unbolted from the table it spins free and fast with the MPI pendant. Always something it seems--I just want to make chips at home and it's easily been over a year.



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