Hi digits,
I am sitting here green with envy after reading through your thread. I’m not really qualified to say but it looks like an impressive job so far. I’m a qualified wood machinist by trade but I always wanted to be a mechanical engineer. Unfortunately I didn’t have the brains to go with my ambitions. I keep looking at X3’s and thinking should I could I and then thinking “ave a word with yourself”. Do you have qualifications or are you self taught?
Anyway I will be watching this thread with interest. Thanks for going to the trouble of posting. It’s way better than anything on the telly.
John
PS
I know its past 3a.m. but I only finished work about half an hour ago. Need some chill time before I go to bed.
Yes, it's pre-machined flat - and it's practically mirror smooth - way better than what I could achieve on my X-1, and without all the hassle!Originally Posted by rhino
The specs are on their website: http://www.metalfast.co.uk/C250.htm - to me it's quite flat enough!
Thanks for the kind words - and for replying at all - I was beginnig to think I was talking to myself!Hi digits,
I am sitting here green with envy after reading through your thread. I’m not really qualified to say but it looks like an impressive job so far. I’m a qualified wood machinist by trade but I always wanted to be a mechanical engineer. Unfortunately I didn’t have the brains to go with my ambitions. I keep looking at X3’s and thinking should I could I and then thinking “ave a word with yourself”. Do you have qualifications or are you self taught?
Anyway I will be watching this thread with interest. Thanks for going to the trouble of posting. It’s way better than anything on the telly.
John
PS
I know its past 3a.m. but I only finished work about half an hour ago. Need some chill time before I go to bed.
I'm afraid my mechanics doesn't go much past A-level physics, and to be honest, I really don't have a clue whether or not this thing is going to work. I did do a few deflection calculations for the extrusion, and made sure I had enough torque in the motors to lift the Z etc, but I might have to limit my accelerations to prevent the machine tearing itself apart!
All my metalworking and CAD knowledge is all very new, and due in large part to the great info I've found and requested on here - having been inspired by the other project builds to have a go, it only seemed right to blog my own build!
One thing I should be able to handle though is the electronics - if I manage to blow up my Geckos or my 1600W power supply, I'm going to have serious egg on my face, and quite probably minor burns and shrapnel wounds
Cheers.
Well, I haven't updated the blog in a while - I've been busy mass producing parts for my various axes. I still think it was one of my better bath-tub ideas to make all the axes practically identical in construction so that I could just make up a batch of similar parts. Even if I say so myself, my latest parts do seem to be a lot better than my first ones, and I have had several cuts of each lot of G-code to try and optimise my flow. Many thanks to the people who replied to my drilling on an X-1 thread - I now drill 9mm dia holes with just a centre-drill and a 9mm bit, saving me another couple of tool-changes to pilot-drill it.
It is however rather dull simply tending to a machine and making 3 or 4 tool changes per part - my High Tech Systems rapid changer makes the process far less tedious, but I am looking forward to building it into an ATC
I think I'm at the end of the mass-production, I now have to make up some saddle plates for the slide/screw assemblies, so after a bit of measuring, I guess it's back to the CAD.
Cheers
Well I would say just by looking at the 7 users including myself you’re not talking to yourself.
I myself will probably not be able to add anything to this thread other than encouraging words but I will certainly be watching.
John
EDIT: Btw I bought an X2 today
Sorry about the double post but just wanted to ask a quick question.
Do you know about this http://www.technobots.co.uk/index.ht...rget=d151.html and what do you think about their prices?
John
Just a little pic for you all - I couldn't resist trying to assemble part of the mill last night - here's the left half of the machine along with my X-1 for scale
Cheers.
I take it you're asking about their aluminium sheet? Forget US prices, we are going to get shafted in the UK, but you need to look at the price per kg - the shape of your metal block/sheet is unimportant if you are buying several kg.
From that link, a piece of 5x500x1000mm Al sheet is £55.93 + VAT
That is 5x500x1000 = 2,500,000 mm3 of metal - or 2.5 litres. The density of Al is about 2.7kg/l so that's 6.75kg so it is (55.93/6.75) = £8.29/kg + VAT - which isn't great.
The first lot of metal I bought came from www.metalsontheweb.co.uk - great service, but >£12.50/kg - I didn't know any better at the time!
The metal for this mill (apart from the extrusion) all comes from www.metalfast.co.uk - and costs ~ £4-7/kg + VAT - depending on type and shape - send them an email they were very quick at quoting me
Hope that helps.
I take it you're asking about their aluminium sheet? Forget US prices, we are going to get shafted in the UK, but you need to look at the price per kg - the shape of your metal block/sheet is unimportant if you are buying several kg.
From that link, a piece of 5x500x1000mm Al sheet is £55.93 + VAT
That is 5x500x1000 = 2,500,000 mm3 of metal - or 2.5 litres. The density of Al is about 2.7kg/l so that's 6.75kg so it is (55.93/6.75) = £8.29/kg + VAT - which isn't great.
The first lot of metal I bought came from www.metalsontheweb.co.uk - great service, but >£12.50/kg - I didn't know any better at the time!
The metal for this mill (apart from the extrusion) all comes from www.metalfast.co.uk - and costs ~ £4-7/kg + VAT - depending on type and shape - send them an email they were very quick at quoting me
Hope that helps.
Thanks for the info; I have just started looking, will do as you say and send an email.
I do plan to do a more extensive search and if I find better will give you a shout via PM if you like and let you know?
John
Cheers - that would be good, though I'm really hoping not to need any more metal any time soon - I bought over 120kg for this project!
Never mind secret PM'sPost it for all to see
Keith
Not being secretive; just didn’t want to pollute digits thread with irrelevant information.Never mind secret PM's
John
EDIT: Edited due to mix up with members
Snot my thread I'm a hijacker lolNot being secretive; just didn’t want to pollute your thread with irrelevant information.
John
Keith
It is a fair point though it would be better to share the info - perhaps you should start a new thread in the European Clubhouse section, or hijack my 'where do you get tooling plate in the UK' thread that's already in thereNot being secretive; just didn’t want to pollute digits thread with irrelevant information.
John
EDIT: Edited due to mix up with members
Right - so who's got some pics of my build to add then?
I have considered starting a thread here in the “bench top mills” forum called something like “ X1’s, X2’s, and X3’s in the UK “ so we can all group together and share our information. Obviously any one could contribute but it would be good to share local resources; any thoughts?It is a fair point though it would be better to share the info - perhaps you should start a new thread in the European Clubhouse section, or hijack my 'where do you get tooling plate in the UK' thread that's already in there
Right - so who's got some pics of my build to add then?
As for photo’s get on with it man
John
Well, the real world - i.e. Tescos - got in the way of me making any progress tonight
I think I will have to give some serious consideration to counterbalancing the Z of my new mill. It would need about 70kg though, unless I double or tripple up the pulleys, but I seem to remember that that would multiply up the distance the counterweight would have to travel.
When I get time I'll look in the Europe clubhouse and see if there is such a thread already 23.51 = Kippers bedtimeI have considered starting a thread here in the “bench top mills” forum called something like “ X1’s, X2’s, and X3’s in the UK “ so we can all group together and share our information. Obviously any one could contribute but it would be good to share local resources; any thoughts?
As for photo’s get on with it man
John
Keith
As it happens I do plan to CNC the mill; am in this thread as I type this. http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showth...t=30385&page=4 Will have to be as and when I get the time.When I get time I'll look in the Europe clubhouse and see if there is such a thread already 23.51 = Kippers bedtime
John
Hmm, I really must update more often!
Last weekend was a long one, so I did manage to make some decent progress, despite a serious hangover on the Sunday!
I made the Y-axis saddles, the table-support bars and had a start at working out how to fit the X-axis to the Z-axis. Unfortunately, not having done the CAD properly came back to bite me in the bum
Unfortunately my X1's electronics have decided to try and electocute me by developing an earth fault, so it all ground to a halt last night, halfway through drilling the X-saddle.
I'm going to try and hot-wire my new DC-motor controller board into my X1's motor if I can find a suitable metal box to house it in today. Otherwise I guess I'll just start wiring up my Geckos and order some new parts for my X1. I will post some more pics up today.
Well, as I've said in the other thread, my X-3 motor is working with the DC eBay controller board, so I'll try connecting up the X-1 motor and hopefully I'll be back on track.
Here is one of my Y-axis plates:
Which fits on the machine like this:
I am going to have to figure a way to keep the chips out of the Y-slides and ballscrews though.
Here is the X-2 head, with the X-3 motor, and a modified X-2 belt-drive kit, which isn't going to work until I can cut some more pulleys - probably HTD pulleys for both the motor and spindle.
I am hoping to get about a 1.5:1 motor speed up with the new pulleys, which should give me close to 6,000 rpm, which should be far beter for aluminium than my X-1's 2000 rpm.
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