Ordering Pro 4824

[LeeWay]

I found a nice handbook for machining from HSM.
It has some really good stuff in it. Not bloated like a lot of handbooks are. It's more of a tips and tricks for new guys. I had not seen it before. Here is the link.
HSMWorks

I have done a few more tweaks to the design.
I will also be offering a 1" extension collar that will allow the brush to go deeper for longer flute bits.
On my spindle, the collet nose is right about flush with the bottom of the 2" brush above. With the 3" brush installed, I can get about a 1" bit protrusion. An extension collar would let you get the same on a 2" brush or a 2" protrusion on the bit with the 3" brush.
It will come with it's own adjustable handle. It would be secured to the dust boot with 3 screws rather than magnets. I am using polycarbonate for the boot, so there is little chance of it ever cracking. I am not sure what material the collar will be. I am considering PVC or phenolic. I know the phenolic would be hard cutting. Still working out some of those details.
This design also allows you to set the optimal brush height to router bit height quickly with no tools.

[LeeWay]

I was able to get a little more done on the router base today. I bought some 1/2" x 8" black pipe and flanges to use as legs. That should bring it up to a comfortable height for us. I had to enlarge the holes in the flanges that mount to the 80/20, but that was cake. I will be able to bolt these legs to the table and level it all out easily. I will have to add some gussets to the ends of the desk. It is solid front to back. I used a solid oak panel door for the ends. 1.5" thick oak top. There is not much end play, but it is enough to matter. I really need the extra container storage that this setup will provide underneath. We have them all over the place in two shops and can never find the right one. I will remove that drawer. It was actually my light box from back in my cartooning days.
I could have lifted this onto the desk myself, but I know I would have screwed something up. Likely my back. It's in poor shape anyway.
I will get it placed on there tomorrow.
You can see the extra braces I put in there too for the table and as it turns out for an extra two legs.
Few pictures so you guys know I wasn't goofing off.

[LeeWay]

I spoke with my plastics guy this AM. He had a really bad week last week. I didn't ask for details. I let him know that I wanted to use the black paper type phenolic for the base of the table on this machine.
I also ordered some of the same in 1" thickness to use for extension collars on the dust shoes.
Some more 1/2" polycarbonate as well. I will make up a beta run of a few of these. 4 or 5 after I have tested my prototype some. Here is another image with the extension collar in place.

[LeeWay]

Well I did manage to get a little more done on the machine this evening. Got it all squared up and leveled up and tightened up. Most of the heavy lifting is done now other than the plug and play panel. I still need to secure the legs to the table. Those worked out very well for leveling the machine out.
Anyway, here is an image.

[LeeWay]

A little more progress today. It's coming together well. Still have a lot more to do before it will be ready. A little at a time will get er done.

I received one type of ring light today as well. It will be a perfect fit for the 80 mm spindle. This thing is plenty bright. I will have to get different sizes for different spindles, but the lights will be optional. I do not plan on making nearly as many sizes as Kent does. That is a lot of inventory. I will make some of the more popular sizes to keep a few in stock and then do custom size orders that will have a little lead time.


I have a pallet of plastics and phenolic coming from my Plastics guys as well. Close to 400 pounds of it. Stay tuned.

[dgage]

The machine and dust skirt are looking good. When do you think you'll be ready to accept payment for an early beta or production version?

[LeeWay]

I expect to have the machine running next week. so somewhere along in there.

What size dust port and spindle would you be looking for?

[dgage]

Sounds good. I'd be looking for a 4" port to be used on the CNCRP spindle, which I believe Cory said was 79mm.

[LeeWay]

Okay.
That will be just like mine. I should have a lot more of the details worked out by then and you will get a discount for being the first Beta tester.

[LeeWay]

The spec sheet lists the spindle nose at 80 mm, but mine does measure @ 79 mm. I think I will machine one out at 79 and see how it fits. It should fit a little better than the 80 MM hole, though it worked okay.

Spec sheet from GMT.

[LeeWay]

I did manage to get the last motor drive assembly and the cable track kit installed this evening. I didn't snap a picture yet, but will in the AM.

[LeeWay]

A little more progress this evening.
I installed the echain like it showed in the tips and tricks. I didn't really think it through though. I will install both the plug and play panel and the VFD panel on the swinging wall behind the machine. We can open that and have an 8' opening when needed. It literally is a swinging wall. 2x4 construction with insulation, OSB inside and hardy panel outside. Oh and Heavy duty hinges.

Since they will be basically behind the machine, I had to reorient the echain. This kit makes it very easy to do that. I flipped the upper bracket. Then slide the channel where it need to go. I did have to drill two holes to mount it precisely without binding, but that was easy enough. Tomorrow I hope to mount the spindle and the two panels. I have to move all those hanging wrenches.












Still have that little dust collector to plumb up, but I need to finish installing my drywall over the smoke damage first. That does require just a bit of an extra hand.

[LeeWay]

I managed to get the spindle mounted today. Too much other stuff going on. Like work. I received all my plastic and phenolic order yesterday. Came on a pallet. Very nice stuff. I received my S&D fittings today to start plumbing the little DC. I think I will remove the 4" housing that came on it. It made of aluminum and has braces across the front. I am sure that is to keep big stuff from hitting the fan, but I feel it probably reduces the suction at least a little. I will make a 4" polycarbonate fitting to go on there instead. I would like to do a little two stage separator for it as well. I will make one out of a 5 gallon bucket. I have plenty of those here. My other shop still uses a dust collector that I designed and built in 2002. Still works great. Here is a link about it.
Shop Built Dust Collector

This will be basically the same thing, but much smaller.
Once the lightweight MDF is surfaced, it will only have to deal with plastics for the most part. I realized today that I need to add dust collection to our 6" x 48" belt sander.
There is a fine coat of stainless steel dust all over the router. It actually sits right beside the little DC, so should be an easy addition.

At the end of the machine where we will be walking around, there is an X+ switch that protrudes. Middle picture above. I saw another guys that used what looked like a duplicate end stop that he covered up his switch with to keep it from getting bumped and broken.
I have some aluminum angle here that is the perfect height for this.
I will make such a protector too. Just seems like a smart move.
I will get further along this weekend.

[dgage]

Nice progress. I hope I get to make some too. So far I've only been able to get the Oneida Super Dust Gorilla 5HP dust collector assembled. Pretty sure that's overkill for a single CNC but you only get one set of lungs and I don't want to waste them.

[LeeWay]

Oh Man! That is a nice one. I have always drooled over those. I may upgrade to a cyclone at some point, but it will have to live outside like my other one. That means it's own little room with a roof. It's pretty far down on my wish list yet though.

Got a little more progress done today in and around working. Hung up a couple more sheets of drywall. Mounted the two control panels. Made a couple switch guards. I powder coated them red of course. Our red is just a little brighter red than CRP's is. We get our's from Columbia coatings. It's called Super Mirror red. Nice stuff. Kinda hard to screw it up too. Thats about it so far.
I plan on bracing the desk tomorrow and securing and releveling the machine. It's in it's permanent spot right now.
I can get all the way around it to do work when needed.
I will probably run all the wiring in the Echain as well as the mains from the power panel to boxes.
Here are a few pictures.

[LeeWay]

Now about the dust shoes a bit.
I have maybe 6 or so drawn up in CAD. 4 extension collar sizes. These are the ones I THINK might be wanted the most. Basically a WAG on my part.
I have several things that I want to test out first. Mainly what kind of deflection would I see in the 3" brush? I know Kent uses a 1" brush around the dust port opening to stiffen his up some. With dust collection though, the take up air has to come from somewhere. The path of least resistance is the brush.
I am considering trying an offset brush. Two u shapes the overlap with a gap in between them. That would still stop the fast moving particles and also allow the take up air to come from somewhere other than through the bristles. For the most part anyway. I am also going to do some testing with some clear PVC vinyl stuff. Most likely cut into strips and looped at the bottom. I would have to see how that would work when it's pressed down. Also what thickness might be best if going that route. I have little doubt that it would suck better than the brush might.
Anyway, some things to think about.

[LeeWay]

It's a little late for my needs, but has anyone tried one of these dust collectors made by General International? Just curious if it has a universal motor or not like most other shop vacs. The 4" dust port is what intriqued me the most.

General International 1.5 HP 108 CFM 4 in. Portable 13 Gal. Dust Collector with Metal Dust Collection Drum-BT8008 - The Home Depot

[dgage]

For my table saw and planer I have a Jet 1200 canister dust collector that I have also hooked up to my older CNC. I don't think a 120V dust collector is going to be enough for CNC duty unless you're taking light cuts and making mostly chips and not dust. If you have a less than 3HP DC, you'll definitely need to pay attention to your feed speed, router speed, and bit to make sure you're making chips as opposed to dust. My experience is one of the reasons I went to the 5 HP vs a 3 HP I was initially considering.

[LeeWay]

Yeah, I knew this was on the small side when I ordered it. Just don't currently have enough dried in room for anything larger. I will have plenty of time to dial in the cutting parameters on the polycarbonate.
It will certainly be different than what I used before. The machine may have better rigidity. Better spindle. Probably better tools as well.
I bought a few from Lakeshore Carbide to test out and see how they work. I mainly bought them for cutting the phenolics, but picked up some to try on the PC. I was using straight flute Onsrud cutters before. Finish was okay. Not stellar by any means. I was also not doing a finish pass. I expect that to change on this machine.
If I can get it dialed in to light fluffy plastic chips leaving the tool, then the DC should have no trouble with them.

[LeeWay]

Now a question about MDF.
For a vacuum table, what thickness would be the best?
1/4", 1/2" or 3/4"?
3/4" might lay down flat easier from it's own weight, however thinner might be better suctioned down and through. I may wind up getting some of each to test out.

Now to source the light weight MDF. I am not sure I have ever seen that. Of course I don't study MDF at all. I blow right past it effortlessly. I think it may be called Ultralight. This is not available locally at Lowe's or HD. I will probably pick up some regular stuff from one of those guys while I am on the hunt from other local suppliers for the light stuff.
I may have to resign myself to using tabs initially until I can get the Vacuum system sorted out. I am running out of my supply of parts. Gotta get this machine earning it's keep.