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    Default loady builds a cnc machine

    hi all.

    i've been about here for a while, but don't post too often so i had better re-introduce myself. my name is colin. mechanical engineer during the day, car racer/make stuff/get into trouble the rest of the time.

    i bought an industrial hobbies mill and cnc conversion from aaron a few years back. since i have a bridgeport also i took my time putting it together... how long ago did he sell the biz?... that's time taking. recently i decided i had better finish it, or sell it.... so finish it i will.

    here's the setup stuffed into the corner of my shop



    i built the enclosure out of wood and laminated it with fiberglass and white gel coat. was going to do a sheetmetal enclosure, but hear tales of big noise and vibration. the doors are not hung yet, but they are wood also with plexi windows so i can see my machine crash.

    the control box off to the left is below:


    the control panel has 2 campbel breakout boards and relay panel as well as the gekos and a little plc i'm using to control all the odds and ends.

    it's a work in progress so i apologize for the messy wiring. i'll get it all sorted out pdq. if you see anything that seems fishy please point it out. i'm doing my best to not blow things up, but i'm pretty sure some magic smoke will get out.

    Similar Threads:
    Last edited by Loadedagain; 08-26-2009 at 08:28 PM.
    dad used to say... "once is ignorance. the second time you're stupid!"


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    nice work. i've often contemplated building an encloser like to house my IH mill but haven't gotten around to it yet. so far i use mist coolant and sweep the floor. for the really have heavy stuff i use my fadal 3016.



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    Your electronics can't possibly work - It's all MUCH too neat! :-)

    Regards,
    Ray L.



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    Wow that looks AWSOME! Details details! ballscrews yet? How big are those XYZ motors? Servo or steper? Im guessing servo at that size. *drools* you did an amazeing job on the electrical box! Maybe a couple of zip ties to group wires later on.

    PS: have you considered taking it off the stand and maybe puting storage ontop of the enclosure? (maybe just an inch or two custom stand made for leveling and outrigger support)



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    thanks guys.

    the servos are supplied by aaron and as he said "are big enough to seriously break sh*t!". not sure of their exact sizes. that seemed good enough for me ;-] ballscrews are rockford paieces.



    as for the wiring i've got a few hours of zap strapping ahead of me. believe it or not most of it checks out. only melted a couple dozen wires.... that's pretty good for me.

    door is zap strapped. the rest will be done later this week hopefully.



    dad used to say... "once is ignorance. the second time you're stupid!"


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    Yea definately don't tool crash with those, there won't be a tool left
    Great if you wanna use your mill as a shaper though. :P

    But yea those servos are awsome. some (smaller) mills have smaller motors driving the spindle lol.



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    Awesome!

    That's going to be nice. I'll bet the wood will absorb some of the noise too.

    Cheers,

    BW



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    Default looking for thoughts on the wood enclosure.....

    I am a professional cabinet builder so a beauty wood enclosure would be a piece of cake for me. However I was seriously concerned about the moisture problems. What was your process for the fiberglass application? Were you able to spray the eclosure with the gelcoat or is this brushed on. Forgive my ignorance but I have not done much fiberglass work. The outside could be coated with a nice poly thick coat and to match the machine if wanted but the inside would need to be sealed up pretty good. I know that the wood would certainly quell vibration and noise and some nice plexi windows in the right place would be great. Yours is looking real nice. Let's assume you build a nice tight enclosure out of some cabinet grade plywood, carefully glue and caulk the seams and then spray on some kind of heavy thick finish that is to be the seal. What would be a good product to use for this and short of fiberglassing the entire inside of the box? Of course fiberglass would only really need to be on the bottom foot or so to make it watertight. This idea is really appealing to me right now as I very much wanted to go flood coolant and build an all encompassing enclosure. I know some fellows with the tormach machines added to their enclosures with wood and some kind of coating but I cannot find a post right now. Any ideas or inspiration would be much appreciated... again nice job!!!



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    Gold Member pete from TN's Avatar
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    Default btw.....

    Nice tubing bender there, building anything interesting? rail buggy, rock crawler, powered parachute? inquiring minds wanna know!!! peace



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    hi pete.

    i built the enclosure out of 1.5 x 1.5 square, then screwed 1/2" ply to the outside. for waterproofing i first sprayed a coat of polyester resin, then one layer of matting with polyester resin. to colour it i sprayed the white gel coat. to mount windows i used a routed to "machine" 1/2" grooves. i'm going to stick plexi window in with silicone, then caulk the inside... i think it'll be pretty sealed. time will tell i suppose.

    good eye on the tubing bender. i just finished a cage so it was not put away. it's safely away now. i race cars for fun so it comes in handy when i'm twisting tube. here's "the office" in my current car:



    dad used to say... "once is ignorance. the second time you're stupid!"


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    Gold Member pete from TN's Avatar
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    Default HAHA nothing like a 5 liter.....

    I have had three so far... and my wife used to have a real nice Mercry Capri RS t-top.... FUN cars.... altho they WILL get you in trouble with Mr. John E. Law....

    SO inside there is a steel rectangular frame? OR is the frame at the base of the machine.... I am thinking about making something similar with furniture grade plywood from work and fiberglassing the seams everywhere and then spraying gelcoat or some other waterproof coating. Was the fiberglass supplies pricey? I think while yours is very nice, I will probably not make it full height. Perhaps about the top of the millhead at what would be normal or typical machining operation positions.... I would think that that large window at the side would be nice to be able to open and slide long pieces thru.... nice looking machine and good work man.... After all boats are made of wood and glass right!!! peace



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    no steel frame at all. i isolated it from the machine with hockey pucks... [insert crazy canadian joke now]... they are about 3/8" thicker than the plywood and are great viration isolators... looks like so:



    dad used to say... "once is ignorance. the second time you're stupid!"


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    Gold Member pete from TN's Avatar
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    Default Loady....

    AAh, so what was the 1.5x1.5 comment then? I like the idea of the isolators too. I am probably gonna put isolators on the stand and then maybe like you did under the machine too.... I am assuming that you glassed all the corners of the base of the box after that pic was taken... Nice work and good ideas there. I also like the drain in front of the machine like that for easy access and clearing... peace



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    i kinda forgot to update this thread to let you guys know i'm alive. more importantly the cnc machine is alive! i've got about 20 hours (so says the hour meter) on it now and am very pleased with the result. seems quite accurate and repeatable.

    as always i'll be happy to answer any questions and if you have some input to help me where i've done something incorrectly please do!

    so here it sits in my shop running some parts. hard to see it in there, but i promise it's there.



    see? making chips:



    and the electronics side. my rack mount pc, monitor... used to have a flat screen, but i like the crt quality and there is no advantage to flat panel in the rack type enclosure.



    i promised i would get the wiring cleaned up. here's proof!



    onward and upward!

    dad used to say... "once is ignorance. the second time you're stupid!"


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    almost forgot. i have a question for you guys!

    1) what head temperatures are you running?
    2) what type of oil?

    i am running whatever oil it came with, but plan on changing right away, and it reached 151 degrees f today. too hot as far as i'm concerned. light cutting at 1600rpm.

    dad used to say... "once is ignorance. the second time you're stupid!"


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    why do you think thats too hot? this is heavy oil thats designed to run hot and thin out when it gets warm. i run 75w-90 in my head and it works great.



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    You didn't give any time reference with your temperature, which makes a bit of a difference. It is not uncommon for any new gear box to warm up with use, and is normal. 150 deg is actually still quite cool. As the gears and bearings "run in" It should lower the temperature some.
    Give Gene or Tom a call and talk to them about the oils they use, you might be surprised ! And, don't worry about it just do it !
    Also, keep monitor on the spindle assy. At some point you will need to drop the spindle and service it with fresh lubrication. You will want to keep some good spindle grease on hand for this and may need to do it fresh after it has run for a while. That reminds me, Its been over a yr on mine and service is do !

    Don
    IH v-3 early model owner


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    Gold Member BobWarfield's Avatar
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    I'd echo the desirability of talking to IH.

    A couple things I've picked up along the way.

    First, some bearing knowledgeable folks once upon a time (sorry, links are lost in antiquity) that 160 degrees F was their max comfort zone for a bearing temp.

    Second, the much bigger issue is whether the temp is stable. As the bearings and spindle heat up, they expand, which potentially increases the interferences that create heat. You can see where there can be situations where it just gets hotter and hotter.

    Since you can measure your temps, I'd look at running your spindle and seeing if it stabilizes or just keeps climbing.

    Lastly, since you're at the top end of the speed range, the oil does matter. There used to be oil recommendations on the IH site, but I don't know if they made it to the new site or not. The old recommended oil for running at the high end a lot was:

    Mobil Velocite Oil #10
    22 ISO viscosity rating

    Cheers,

    BW



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    Gold Member pete from TN's Avatar
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    Default Loady.....

    VERY nice man, VERY nice.... Especially like the flood enclosure. I am working on my plywood enclosure inspired by your ideas as we speak. Care to share some thoughts on the doors? I am building mine a little more open sorta like the tormach machine but it will eventually have plastic on three sides... Need door ideas.... Anyways, super nice mill. Just needs a nice belt drive high speed spindle now haha...peace



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    So, perhaps in a few years when I have a place of my own, my setup will look like this.

    Jim

    No time to do it right, plenty of time to do it twice.


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