Rockcliff CNC Large Flying Gantry Model

[cpcapace]

Oh yes. Nick, One problem I did have with the rockliff plans were the jpegs were mostly thumnail size. It would have been nice to have larger images. I'm a pretty visual person, and images really would help.

[jhowelb]

Well, they certainly aren't interested in business, I posted here and e-mail to the addy listed on the web site.

I got zilch!

I gotta figure the product matches or else they'd support sales.
Nuts, I'll draw up my own and keep my money!

[gmfoster]

Well, they certainly aren't interested in business, I posted here and e-mail to the addy listed on the web site.

I got zilch!

I gotta figure the product matches or else they'd support sales.
Nuts, I'll draw up my own and keep my money!

Well I can't imagine what your problem is. The page is very clear for ordering and the support is about the best I have seen. I just bought my Mach license through them and with in 5 minutes of ordering I had a note from them they had received the order. They have a dedicated support group for plan buyers.

[JohnB55]

I got my key to unlock the plans in about 10 minutes. Nick has been great about answering questions and the plans are very good. He has posted updates since I bought and they are available on the group once you purchase. Others have answered questions for me from the group. I'm impressed with their service.

John

[armyliferarmy]

OK Nick, We need more photos since you've had ton's of time to run this thing through it's paces.

We need pix, specs, Lessons Learned, etc...etc....

[Don Kellogg]

Any update on this model? I'm very interested in it.

[aussie_mick]

Looked at the Website. When will the plans for the Lathe be ready. It seems like 8 months that I ahve been seeing the shortly message.

[soldier1968]

Hello all, first of all I would like to say this forum is a wealth of information for a newbie like myself. I have spent quite a bit of time so far educating myself on the subject. I purchased the Mach3 S/W and plans from Rockcliff last month and decided to build the flying gantry D-model. I really like the larger design as I will be making signs. I have a few questions regarding this design. I want to upscale it to 36" x 72", will the 270 oz in. motors work for a machine of this size? And....what is the correct way to wire the two Y-Axis motors? A driver card for each or wired in parallel? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Best Regards
Soldier1968

[skyburt]

Hi to all this is my first post. I'm in the process og building the "d" model gantry type. New to all this but I have an engineering background. Retired now with more projects on the go than I really need. No doubt I will be asking questions very soon.
skyburt

[dart19]

I am currently building the D model, modified slightly, to handle 24 x 44 inch sheets. I am using inverted steel angles and skate bearings for slides. Seems to be solid with no binding or sloop. I am also using the rockcliff contoller and power supply. My question is with dual x axis lead screw motors will wiring in parallel (sp) pull to many amps thru the x axis contoller?

[tjskcnc]

Hi All!
Let's put this question to rest. I built the flying gantry system. As a home-hobby system, it works fine. For any serious work, you will need to make modifications to suit your needs. That is 'par for the course' with any set of plans or designs that you may work with.
On the plus side, support from Rockcliff is excellent. Repeat: their support is excellent, and also very quick.
About their 4-axis drivers: I fried 2 of them before I moved up to a Gecko G540. I don't think it was Rockcliff's fault. My motors exceed the specs for the driver. They were very helpfull and are willing to check out my drivers to see if they can be repaired (for a nominal fee, of course, but it's cheaper than buying new drivers, and it wasn't their fault the drivers got fried.. I still need to send them the damaged driver boards.) Again, their support on this matter was excellent. Any questions I had they were very helpful, even on setting up the system and wiring my motors.
I uploaded some pictures of my Rockcliff Flying Gantry. You can see it has been heavily modified, but I still love the simplicity and logic of the basic design. I plan on building 2 more!
Some of the mods and info about my system:
-I used a dual ball bearing setup instead of just inserting the end of the drive-screw thru a hole in the MDF. I forget which motor company it was (Vestax?) but they had a page describ8ing the different methods of setting up your lead screws and a double bearing setup was needed to cut the amount of lead-screw whip. I originally had just a single bearing setup, but after switching to the double bearing, the improvement was highly noticeable. Thrust bearings installed all over.
-You will notice in the photos I have screws and bolts holding everything together. MDF is weak. I sought to strengthen it any way possible.
-One of my first attempts, the rails for the Y axis warped. I attached 3/4 inch square tubing to prevent that from happening again. The strips holding the steel rails are maple. After a router burnt out and tore the wood off the table, the Y axis got bent again. Like I said earlier, MDF is weak.
-I had a local metal shop weld up 2 right angle brackets so my gantry was always solid with no swaying motion due to torque and hard direction changes. If you do this, have the part built. Do not use angle iron because it is not perfectly at 90 degrees.
-The Z axis is from ModularCNC. I liked the accuracy and performance of this axis on my desktop model purchased from them (you might be able to see it in the background of one of the pictures) that I used it in this CNC model.
-You can see the 'temporary' setup of the G540 and electronics. You can also see one of the wire tracks I will be installing soon.
-Behind the Z axis is a strip of wood to eliminate some of the movement in the Z axis created from the torque of the router, especially when working with hardwoods.
-My motors:
--Z axis - Oriental @ 240 oz/inch.
--Y axis - Keling @ 495 oz/inch
-- X axis - 2 @ Keling 425 oz/inch.
--Motor mounts from Modular CNC.
-Dumpster CNC anti-backlash lead-nuts (sent one to ModularCNC and they installed it at no extra charge)
-Acme lead screws on all axis - Single Start - 10tpi
- Software: Mach3, Vectric Cut2D, Vectric PhotoVCarve, MastercamX3, Solidworks 2009.
-Router is a Ryobi1 1/2 hp. I kept burning up the smaller trim routers.

Performance - With the modifications, I am currently cutting hardwoods at 40 inches per minute (according to the Mach3 software.) I am sure I can run the machine faster, but it is not necessary. I have run rapids in excess of 100 inches per minute, but, seriously, can you safely cut wood at that speed? How many inches per minute are you routing by hand? It's not a matter of how fast the machine can run, but, rather, how fast should you be cutting the wood.

Well, that was a real mouthful! Hope that helps someone.
Bottom line: The plans are very good and very accurate but, once you have built the machine and learn how everything works together, you will probably want to make modifications to suit your needs.

[tjskcnc]

More images that did not post the first time around!