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Thread: Big Ape's CRP-2448 build

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    Default Big Ape's CRP-2448 build

    After lurking on this forum since 2009, finally committed to building a cnc router.

    My wish is to be able to work with various wood, ply, mdf, as well as working with aluminum sheets... as my current passion is computer case design/build and woodworking.

    My initial worries were at the electrical/computer/software, not much into the mechanical build... i guess i felt that i was "skilled" enough to assemble the parts together...

    Majority of the parts will be from a CRP2448 kit, and i'm sourcing the extrusions and fasteners.

    Many thanks to Ahren for his help, patience and understanding of my madness... (i'm sure he thought i was crazy when i asked him if he'll take amazon gift certificates for payment... as at that time, i had about $3000 worth of it from hotel points.... hahaha)

    Planning stages:
    i'm sorry but my sketchup is basically just how i plan to assemble the base.


    was able to buy the 8 hole brackets cheap from e-bay, some had been drilled with additional holes, hence being cheaper... but it served my needs at a fraction of the cost.



    my stack of extrusions waiting for assembly.
    purchases made from 80/20 inc (ebay), and Automation4Less.
    Automation4Less provided great service and i'm pleased... they shipped the goods within 24 hours of order placement... only issue i had was that they packaged all 110 lbs of aluminum, well packed but was too heavy and it suffered one drop.

    the 1545 was damaged.


    but one call and new one was shipped immediately.

    Getting ready:
    Ahren's kit comes with all the fasteners, lag bolts and nuts... but i did have a variety of socket head screws and so, why not... i blame my 20 or so years of being in the fashion business, but i want it looking nicer... lol?


    my inventory of fasteners... some i still needed to purchase... but damn, i had a lot of screws loose...

    Boeshield lovin?

    nice wipedown and application of boeshield on the gear rack and rails...

    Of course, red is in...

    sadly, my choice of red is not the same as CRP risers... but meh... still looks nice...

    quick cleaning of the surface, it does have quite a bit of dirt/scale on it...
    wipe down with acetone, primer 2x and paint...

    looks nicer... hahaha...

    next... base assembly...

    Similar Threads:


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    Base Assembly:

    Let me state that assembling 8020 extrusions is quite easy... even for complete noobs like me. if you've played with lego, you can do this... so fear not Noobies!

    one thing to keep in mind is to plan out where and how you're going to attach the pieces together... you have to pretty much slide the cross members in advance or have the nuts placed in advance.
    while most of the assembly can be solo'd... i found that some parts, it helps a ton to have someone to assist.

    since i have assembled the upper portion of the base, installing the bottom horizontal rails was a bit challenging.
    i pretty much connected all 4 pieces, and then slid them into position with the help of an assistant.

    not sure but i think complete kit comes with pre-drilled holes to drop in the nuts later on... but i chose to source my own so...

    I opted to go with a 1515 for the lower cross member while keeping the 1530 to connect between the legs... using 8 hole bracket to fasten together.

    anywhoo, hmm... giving thumbnails a try...

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2037-jpg   Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2038-jpg   Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2039-jpg   Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2040-jpg  

    Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2046-jpg   Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2051-jpg  


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    Rails, Racks, Linear Carriage and Gantry Riser

    again, pretty much straightforward...
    i was fortunate enough to see that i did not have any issues with my X-rails... seemed straight, looked straight, was straight.

    using 5/16-18 5/8" socket screws and weld nuts, fasten nuts onto rails and slide into place.

    cuttingtooldesigner's vids were very helpful... as well as many other build logs on this forum.... thank you.

    assembly of the linear carriage, was quite simple as well... just use the fasteners that's labled as such and read the info on CRP's website.

    using clamps to hold the carriages in place helps.
    still need to see if everything is straight... i guess i was a bit anxious to get things going...

    still did not mount the strip brush mount... easily fixed... looking to see if i need a wider brush...

    and lucky me, the 3060 extrusion was just the right length...

    As for X-axis rack, i opted to use the rack available from FineLineAutomation. i liked the pre-drilled and wider rack instead of the protruding aluminum rack clamp that is provided by CRP.

    as for FineLine, well, yea, hard to get a reply... but a bit after placing the order, it arrived... i guess i'm content...

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2033-jpg   Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2035-jpg   Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2036-jpg   Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2055-jpg  

    Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2054-jpg   Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2061-jpg   Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2062-jpg   Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2064-jpg  



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    Just subscribed to your thread...

    Cheers, Christoph



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    Posting to subscribe, also have a few questions...

    How much was your 30" piece of 1530 from 8020 inc? and how much were your racks?



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    Quote Originally Posted by tjb1 View Post
    Posting to subscribe, also have a few questions...

    How much was your 30" piece of 1530 from 8020 inc? and how much were your racks?
    my 1530S (smooth versions) were purchased from Automation4Less
    they have price brackets for varying lengths and 25.01" ~ 30" is $27.20 according to their website.

    as for rails, the 2.5" x 1/4" x 60" cold rolled steel was priced at $60.00 per piece from CNCRP, comes pre-drilled...

    the gear rack for the X-Axis was purchased from FineLineAutomation but the prices are as follows:

    CNCRP 1/2" x 1/2" 20 pitch 20 degree PA 54" $40.00/pc
    FineLine rack with pre-drilled hole @ $60.00/pc

    prices from CNCRP is based on Ahren's itemized quote.



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    Quote Originally Posted by kinghong1970 View Post
    my 1530S (smooth versions) were purchased from Automation4Less
    they have price brackets for varying lengths and 25.01" ~ 30" is $27.20 according to their website.

    as for rails, the 2.5" x 1/4" x 60" cold rolled steel was priced at $60.00 per piece from CNCRP, comes pre-drilled...

    the gear rack for the X-Axis was purchased from FineLineAutomation but the prices are as follows:

    CNCRP 1/2" x 1/2" 20 pitch 20 degree PA 54" $40.00/pc
    FineLine rack with pre-drilled hole @ $60.00/pc

    prices from CNCRP is based on Ahren's itemized quote.
    Alright, thank you. I havent contacted 8020 yet but I did some price estimating with their ebay auctions and it appears they are cheaper than A4L. Hopefully that is normal price and not just an ebay scrap discount.

    I did find the rack at FLA, havent done anymore research other than McMaster-Carr but MMC only sells them in 48" lengths which wont be enough for my 4'x4' build. I am going to be basing most of my build on FLA 4'x4' kit.



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    I was concerned with FLA's lack of communication... and i did call and send couple of e-mails... but the product was shipped..

    i am really happy with CNCRP's kit... very easy to put together and well packaged... lol... well shipped? too well, Ahren sent me some extra z plate and carriages that i'm sending back to him...

    as for the extrusions, the option on e-bay seems to be factory overstock and the varying lengths that would involve cutting.

    and buying from them direct, well, when i called 8020, they told me to go through a vendor... and i recall vendor cost with cutting seemed a bit more than the A4Less... i could be wrong...

    Ebay auctions are great places to find the brackets, if you find the ones you need...



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    Im doing my table for a senior project but that kit does look nice. Going to try to make as much as I can and only buy whats needed, not quite sure how they would look on buying a kit



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    Z-Axis and Getting Ready to Move...

    Z took me a bit more time because i had to look all around the build logs here as well as some videos and images from the internet... but all in all, again, even with the lack of instructions, it went pretty simple...

    buying my own extrusions meant that i have to tap everything but meh.. not hard at all.

    dry fitting all the components, mounted the rails afterwards, again, pretty simple... so far.

    one thing i did notice is that one of my X-axis motor timing belt pulley may have been mounted in the wrong position as it pulls the belt approximately 1/8" off the larger pulley.

    now in regard to mounting the Z carriage in the upper or lower position...
    wouldn't it be more "rigid" mounting this in the lower position and closer to the y-axis? of course at a loss of some Z clearance...

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2043-jpg   Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2059-jpg   Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2063-jpg   Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2066-jpg  

    Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2067-jpg   Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2068-jpg   Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2071-jpg  


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    Looks great so far!



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    Quote Originally Posted by louieatienza View Post
    Looks great so far!
    thank you Louie,

    so far, it's been easy... getting things set right with Mach3... yea... that's gonna take a few beers...

    hahaha



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    Thumbs up

    :rainfro: Machine's looking good so far, keep it up.

    Chuck



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    Good News and Bad News...

    Bad News:
    the Nema 23 motor pulley i received was a bit different from the one pictured in CNCRP's site... it's a black metal pulley that is very small and the problem is that the set screws are so small and have no grip on the motor shaft.

    attempts to tighten it a bit more, then the hex socket gets worn out and the allen wrench just rotates freely... and i can basically pull it out with my hands.

    the shaft on the motor also seems a bit small and the shaft can be inserted only half way into the pulley bore else the belt gets pulled off the drive spindle.

    the pulley shown in cncrp site was


    but the pulley i received with the kit was as shown in the thumbnails.


    Good News:
    noticed that my z-axis was not moving up and down straight...
    not sure if this is going to affect so much when i'm dealing with items that are not very thick... but my OCD kicked in...

    before adjust:
    "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kj-b90qA8qE"]CNCRP 2448 Z Axis Before Adjustment - YouTube

    after adjust:
    "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpV2wk2m2a0"]CNCRP 2448 Z Axis After Adjustment - YouTube

    home my embed vids worked...

    Question:
    do i need to check with the dial indicator on the X and Y or will re-surfacing the spoilboard take care of any misalignments?


    thanks in advance,

    Al

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2077-jpg   Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2078-jpg   Big Ape's CRP-2448 build-_mg_2079-jpg  
    Last edited by kinghong1970; 04-07-2012 at 01:20 AM.


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    woot! got embed working!

    hmm....

    Last edited by kinghong1970; 04-07-2012 at 01:04 AM.


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    I am completely guessing here, but is there any chance that the motor mounts on the other side of that plate ? It just doesn't seem like the motor is going far enough into the plate for things to line up.



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    Quote Originally Posted by cncrr View Post
    :rainfro: Machine's looking good so far, keep it up.

    Chuck
    oh, sorry, was kinda excited over some progress...

    thanks!

    Quote Originally Posted by harryn View Post
    I am completely guessing here, but is there any chance that the motor mounts on the other side of that plate ? It just doesn't seem like the motor is going far enough into the plate for things to line up.
    hmm...
    according to the instructional vids on cncrp's website, i did mount it correctly... but notice, their vid is mounting same nema23 but the pulley has extra material at the bottom to cover and grab the shaft better.

    here's a link to where they have their vid.
    http://www.cncrouterparts.com/rack-a....html?cPath=24



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    Looks like you may need a pulley with a hub? Ahren seems to be really cool about things here, I'm sure if you addressed the situation to him he'd resolve it for you.

    Nice work on the Z calibration, but make sure it's also running true perpendicular to your table (mount the indicator to the Z, and indicate against a known good square going up and down.)

    I would also get everything as close as possible before leveling the spoilboad, since you don't want a "twist" in it...

    Machine looks great, love the color! You'll be making chips soon!



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    It looks like they have 1/4" shaft steppers in their video, and you have 3/8" shaft steppers. Hence the different pulley.

    But, the pulley you have definitely doesn't look like it will not work. Either you got the wrong pulley, or your steppers shaft is too short, imo.

    Last edited by ger21; 04-07-2012 at 08:55 AM.
    Gerry

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    Quote Originally Posted by louieatienza View Post
    Looks like you may need a pulley with a hub? Ahren seems to be really cool about things here, I'm sure if you addressed the situation to him he'd resolve it for you.

    Nice work on the Z calibration, but make sure it's also running true perpendicular to your table (mount the indicator to the Z, and indicate against a known good square going up and down.)

    I would also get everything as close as possible before leveling the spoilboad, since you don't want a "twist" in it...

    Machine looks great, love the color! You'll be making chips soon!
    yea, so far my experience dealing with him was all good... was kinda hoping that the pulley did have a hub to start with...

    is there a specific order in checking/calibrating the mechanical parts of the machine?

    Quote Originally Posted by ger21 View Post
    It looks like they have 1/4" shaft steppers in their video, and you have 3/8" shaft steppers. Hence the different pulley.

    But, the pulley you have definitely doesn't look like it will work. Either you got the wrong pulley, or your steppers shaft is too short, imo.
    you're right, their stepper in their vid does seem like 1/4" and my stepper received was indeed 3/8" stepper...

    so i guess i will have to wait till i get response from Ahren.

    [SIZE="1"]my first..."[B][COLOR="Red"]Big Ape[/COLOR][/B]" CNCRP 2448 [URL="http://www.cnczone.com/forums/cnc_wood_router_project_log/151447-big_apes_crp-2448_build.html"]Build Log[/URL][/SIZE]


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