had to match woods on historic broad street in charleston sc
cab parts pro is really quite a program, but like you i am looking at enroute
jim
Did a tiny bit more today, hooked up the Y-axis sensor and metal sensor tab and sorted out the length of the X-axis cable chain ready to lock down. No pics because someone left the camera at home
I also spoke to our cousin who is doing the wiring and its looking very good for the power being hooked up this weekend
Shannon.
I need to get this machine running before I mod it beyond recognition. Today I made a plate for the spindle air and power cable to exit the side of the Z-axis cover instead of on top. It will also mean the the cover can be removed without the cables still being attached to it.
Also a picture of the trench waiting patiently for the cable.
Shannon.
Todays results are in.
I ground the sharp corners off the stops for the gantry, I haven't walked into them yet, although I think that is more from the fear of a sore leg. Whats to bet someone walks into a corner and hurts themselves now
I cut the cover for the Z-axis out so it fits over the cable/air hose block, its not the neatest fit but no-one would notice.
I cut the rods for the pressure plate in half and made the second plate up. There is a bit of a trick to cutting case hardened rod in half, Luckily it is only case hardened or I wouldn't have been able to drill and tap it too.
I also removed some of the wall panels to make it easier for the electrician to install the wiring.
Shannon.
A very dumb question - I take it the pressure plate is there to stop sheet material lifting from the table while you cut?
I ask as I've not seen one before, have this problem (material lifting from the table), and was wondering how effective such a device might be.
Thanks.
I wouldn't say that is a dumb question the pressure plate is indeed to stop the material lifting, It works great on small parts as the vacuum tends to leak under the edge and the part lifts before it is cutout. The plate with the small hole in it works great on very small parts, lettering etc and also stops things catching on the pressure plate (as they sometimes do with the more open one). The small plate will not allow tool changes through it (for what should be very obvious reasons) so often the bigger one is best to use (has to be kept an eye on in case a cutout part lifts and jams ).
We get a reduced amount of tool breakage due to material grabbing when he machine is finishing the cut due to small pieces being held from moving.
The pressure plates also reduces the amount of 'notching' at the start and end of the machining path on parts when tabs aren't used.
I have made the pressure plates right away as I don't have a vacuum pump and will have to be relying on clamping for the next while at least. I am in the process of sourcing a vacuum pump.
The power goes on today...hopefully
Shannon.
So... the cable hasn't arrived for the three phase power and the electrician is in Wellington next week. It will be another week before I get the power on.
I took the T-slot alloy off the bed today, Pics below, the black stuff is quite soft but it has been machined flat before the T-slot alloy was laid. Its a pity there isn't a lot more of it supporting the alloy though. The last photo shows where some of the black stuff wasn't completely machined flat. I have drawn the bed up in CAD and I intend to cut some sheets of something solid to lay the alloy on top of. Should make the t-slots a lot stronger.
Shannon.
Hi Shannon, I don`t believe you should be disappointed with your progress so far. You have done more in a week than we would get done in six months.
The pressure plates look to be a great idea.
What about a MDF board under your T Slot table? You can machine it perfectly flat before the T Slot is put back on.
Rocket.
Hi Rocket,
I was considering MDF, but now I am thinking sign foam or Signex as its called here, might be a better option. It won't change shape with humidity and machines like butter. Any opinions??
Getting it dead flat will be a piece of cake, I just need to work out how thick to make the pieces at the back where the machine can't reach.
I 'stole' the pressure plate idea off the Multicam at work they work a treat, I only made one with a small hole for at work recently and now it gets used ALL the time... used to only have the more open one. I am not sure if anyone has tried to do a tool change with the small one on
Shannon.
Thanks for the info Shannon. I'd just never seen a system like it before, but as my experience extends only to smaller hobbyist machines I was wondering if this was just a normal piece of kit in the pro arena (hence it being a dumb question).
Yea, I'm just clamping at the moment (no vacuum) and I do get the notches problem on occasion. I would've thought that when cutting a part without tabs, the pressure plate would end up dragging a part when the cut finishes. Or is that not a problem?
How much pressure does the plate need to apply? I ask as my machine is more lightweight, and probably couldn't handle something too strong, but I'd be interested to see if one would help me.
On my machine, I surfaced a sheet of plywood, and on top of that I always use a 1/8" sheet of hardboard as a spoilboard. For the areas of the table the machine can't reach, I measured the depth of the surfaced board at the relevant ends, and surfaced a small piece before moving it to the unreachable area. It's not perfect, but it stops material hanging over the ends of the surfaced board.
I think the pressure plate works best when there is vacuum, it doesn't seem to drag the parts very often. The white base of the pressure plate is nylon which helps it to slide. You could possibly use something like teflon but it might cost more. The pressure plate at work has around 1-2kg or so, its more to hold the material against the vacuum rather than doing all the holding for machining. I haven't tried it much without vacuum, but I can't see how it wouldn't help. I guess I get to try it out as soon as the power goes on (no vacuum pump yet )
I will try machining the bed spacers for the back of the machine, the hard part is knowing how thick they need to be and if they are tapered at all. I guess a long straightedge hanging off the end of the machined area should help.
Shannon.
Nothing much to update today, I have sourced the 20mm sign foam for under the T-slots and worked out what size longer screws that will be needed to hold the bed down, apart from that all quiet on the western front
Shannon.
I have prepared the bed for the sign foam today, The black stuff was held on by the stickiest glue known to man . I had to use some gentle persuasion to get it off. Luckily the glue dissolves with mineral turps so I could get most of it off giving a solid surface for the sign foam. I won't say flat surface because the bed is 5mm from the highest point to the lowest point. The last pic is with a (sorta) straight steel tube across the bed.
None of the bowing was evident in the alloy before it was lifted as the black stuff was machined flat before the alloy was screwed down. I will machine the sign foam flat all over before re-laying the alloy.
Someone somewhere said something about web etiquette and not posting multiple times in a row... I guess if no-one else is then I get to make some noise j/k
And hey if you don't like all the pictures, you don't have to look j/k
Shannon.
am watching with great interest,
jim
Do not be concerned about web etiquette Shannon.
I think we are all gob - smacked with what you are doing.
Fantastic photos and commentary - thoroughly enjoying it.
Looking forward to your next instalment.
Rocket.
Went shopping today, pic shows what I got.
I'm now off surfing, its pumping out there, I am leaving the Excitech in the shed so no surfing for it It would probably try and drop in on me anyhow
More on the machine to do tonight.
Shannon.
Did a tiny bit more tonight, but left the camera at home (who on earth keeps doing that?? ). Realized that the threaded rod is the wrong pitch. I hadn't had a close enough look at the legs (being underneath) to pick that the thread pitch was wrong when buying the threaded rod. I don't think there is any of the right pitch available anyhow at the place we have an account with. I might just tap out the thread to the bigger pitch. The plates on the bottoms of the legs are about 10mm thick steel, so I think it should be alright. If it isn't I will just weld a nut onto the bottoms of the legs. I also managed to cut the threaded rod into 6 parts before I realized that the thread pitch was wrong. some nights it pays to stay home
The bottoms of the legs on my machine are very rusty where they have sat on the damp pallet when shipped. A clean up with a flapper disk on the angle grinder and a coat of paint will fix that though.
I will sort out the feet tomorrow unless something else easier gets in the way .
Shannon.
A few more pics, I have tapped the feet out for the larger pitch thread, I am not real happy with the amount of metal remaining so I will weld some half nuts onto the bottom of the feet. There is also quite a bit of rust on the feet that is visible in the photos.
One very good level sitting on the machine there.
Also I have mapped the bed and I will cut the bottom of the sign foam to fit the bed and will require less to machine off the top to get it level. The reason for this will become clearer later
Shannon.