New XYZ Gantry Kit

[dfmiller]

After waiting patiently my XYZ Gantry Router Kit arrived today.


I will try to keep up a post on my progress.
The unit came well packaged and arrived in good condition.
It's specifications are
24" X
24" Y
8" Z
Got the mechanical kits only.

Other bits are as follows
2.2 KW Water cooled Spindle Keling
Control System Smooth Stepper and G540 Soigeneris
Steppers 276 Oz NEMA 23 Soigeneris
Computer Shuttle X50V2 Touch Screen 15.6"
Mach 3

First step is to make a table for it. Probably do something out of 80/20.
I will try to post lots of pictures. I have some experience with CNC but not a lot. I have a Sherline DeskCNC and a KX3. I wanted something with a working area so I saw a prototype of the XYZ system at CNC workshop last year so I figured I needed one.

Dave

[dfmiller]

It arrived in a really nicely made crate of 3/4" plywood.
It made the trip from Illinois to the B.C. intact.

My daughter helped me unload it and the heaviest piece was manageable by one but easier with two.
I guess I should add it's her machine once I get it done. It like anything for a 20 something kid. I will pay the bills and do all the work and she hopefully will have all the fun. She is taking a CNC apprenticeship at the local community college and I dragged her to the CNC workshop last year. She has some interest and I figured it would be a good learning experience for us. She is almost finished her first 8 month ( All manual machining) and about to do a 8 month work term.

The unit is very well made and I am looking forward to making some chips.
The shipping weight was 274 lbs. And as you can see it solidly constructed.


Time to figure out base for it.

Dave

[jjacstcy]

Looks nice!

[CNC Lurker]

Very good looking machine, can't wait to see it run. How much was it by the way?

Good for you, getting your daughter interested in CNCs. Was she interested in woodworking before or is this new to her?

[dfmiller]

Paul,
Yes I am looking forward to seeing it run too. ;-)
Its a couple weeks away from getting there. Base is first step.
Thanks for asking about my kid.

My daughter made her own decision on what trade she wanted. I did not argue with her choice. She does not enjoy sitting in a class or reading. She was not a stellar student in high school until she happened to take a metal fab course because she thought the teacher was hot. She says lots of girls took the course for the same reason. She enjoyed it and had a chance to do the first year apprentice for metal fab in final year of high school. This was the transformation from a kid with marks of just passing to one with marks are a really good. They have a program in our district that teaches the first year college course in high school as a way to keep kids interested. She was the only girl in the class. If I recall the class was 15 to 20 kids. She was not very motivated and found lots of reasons not to got to school before this course. She stuck it out and quickly proved she could put up with the pranks that the guys were doing. In the end I think there were only a couple kids that passed the course. She was one. :-) After high school she did not try very hard to get a job in the metal fab trade and spent a year or so doing retail clothing sales which she did well at but did not like the crap and poor wages. She took some time off and finally I had to give her a set of choices. Job, school or move out.

She of course thought about it and decided that she liked the idea of a trade but did really like the metal fab option. She signed up for a Trades Discovery course at the local Polytech. Bcit.ca. She ended up in the Trades Discovery for Women class. In the course they were exposed to all the trades offered at the school. Your standard Carpentry, Joiner, Electrician, HVAC, Welding, machining etc. The spent a short time in all. 2 to 5 days. She seemed to be having fun and quietly was eliminating options. She has helping me out in recent years doing things around the house like wiring, framing, roofing etc.

The course involved a several week job placement, she indicated that the CNC thing was interesting so I managed to arrange a job placement at a local CNC shop. It was a dream shop , high end aerospace place. Really clean and well run.

She had a great time at the shop and was treated very well. She then signed up for the CNC program at BCIT. She started it and had the misfortune of getting sick 6 weeks into the program and missed a week of school. Its a fast moving course and after some discussion with the school we decided she would withdraw and take a subsequent class. After a nice break she started back and is a couple days away from completing the first 8 month course. Yes I am a very proud Papa. He marks are good, she is very interested in school.

She is not a wood worker. She in fact claims to hate working with wood. I expect she will use the machine mostly as a tool to learn more about programming etc. Saying its for here is also an excuse to buy it ;-) My theory is learning more about how the machine works will make her a better machinist. I expect that she will be making metal chips not wood in the future.

I do have a Barker PM horizontal Mill in pieces that is my next CNC project :-)


So that's the end of rave about my daughter Heather. A great kid who seems to have found her spot in life. Time will tell what happens next.

Thanks for reading
Dave

[asuratman]

Dave,
How much you spend on that machine? Did you choose your rail by yourself? Their rails good. Thanks.

[dfmiller]

Sorry I forgot to answer the question about cost.
XYZGantry.com sells mechanical kits and complete machines form what I understand. They have a request for quote form that you fill out and the offer a solution. I told then I wanted 24 x 24 x 8.
They came back with a price. I believe its was $1500.00. It might have been an introductory offer. I will be up front and report that we worked a deal on my unit. I am giving them some feedback on my unit as I understand it is one of the early units. They have encouraged me to post my progress and comments publicly. I have opinions and will share them. I have no connection to them other than getting a deal on the unit.

I looked around at other options before I bought. I would rather use the machine and not spend my time building it and scrounging things on Ebay. I don't have the patience to do that. For instance I have the experience to put together the CNC controls but chose to get a completed unit from Jeff at Soigeneris.

Yes I think their rails are very interesting. Given the size of my unit I think the rails are very very stout. Their adjustment mechanisms look very elegant etc. I will as thing progess give more details.


Dave

[CNC Lurker]

Originally Posted by dfmiller So that's the end of rave about my daughter Heather. A great kid who seems to have found her spot in life. Time will tell what happens next. Thanks for reading Dave

Well congrats, this sounds like a win-win for both of you

[dfmiller]

The main feature that makes the unit interesting is the main rails which are an aluminum extrusion with two embedded steel strips for the V groove bearing to run on. In theory they should be perfectly aligned. I have not tested this yet but expect its accurate.
Here is a picture of X axis rail with the rack mounted.


Her is the inside of the rack where the 40x120 80/20 is attached.



Here is a shot of the upper steel rail for the Vee groove bearing to roll. They have some nice covers and wiper for the bearings.

Progress report. I have a base designed and getting a quote on the material. Took a little while to figure out how to do 80/20 in Solidworks. It you grab the profiles from 3D Content Central you can use the Weldment Structural Members and it creates a cute list etc. If anyone is interested I can upload a couple of screen shots.

Thanks
Dave

[arizonavideo]

The red looks supper.

Do you think the V rails are something they make or are a stock product?

Is there a gear reduction on the X or Y?

I don't see the how they did the Z yet.

For a router the Z looks a bit tall but it is a really efficient looking machine.

[CNC Lurker]

Originally Posted by arizonavideo The red looks supper. Do you think the V rails are something they make or are a stock product? Is there a gear reduction on the X or Y? I don't see the how they did the Z yet. For a router the Z looks a bit tall but it is a really efficient looking machine.

I can't answer the other questions, but their website has this link: Integral-V Linear Guide system LINK

If they sell to individuals/DIYers and not companies only, we could see this linear guide system popping up on new builds here.

[dfmiller]

From what I read the extrusion is available for sale as a standard product. This company is a division of PBC that uses one of their products to make machines. Mine is one of the Beta machines.
I will post some pictures later on on detail on the axis.
Can give it all away in one posting. ;-) My goal is to post details on one thing at a time till I run out of interesting details to post. This project is a hobby project after all.
Y axis is conventional ball screw nut and leadscrew.
X axis is rack and pinion with a Wittenstien 10:1 planetary reduction gearbox. Based on the size of the manual it should be low backlash.
The Z axis is conventional ball screw and lead screw.