Thread: CNC TTU Build

John,
It is coming together really well and looks great. It certainly is good to have a mill to machine your parts ... I used my Widgitmaster with a 1/8" end mill and it really took the machine to its limits, especially when milling the 20mm alum for the spindle mounts!!

I will have to come down and have a look.

Cheers,

Alan

Thanks Alan. Feel free to drop by for a cuppa next time your down this way.

Looking Great. Had a few days off to work on the house and it has come along way in that short amount of time. Can't wait to see what you will make on it.

Daniel

I haven't made much progress over the past two weekends as I've been off playing model boats and fishing.

Picked up a nice Redfin today tho.

I managed to get a few minutes in the shed this arvo. It's not much, but it is progress.

Bearing retainer plates for the ballscrew bearings.

Hi John,
You can spend more time on the finer detail as you do on the bigger items. It is the attention to detail of the these components that makes the machine.
Keep up the good work and look forward to more progress.

John,
Looking really good ... much better to spend time in the shed rather than fishing!! How I would love to have a proper milling machine rather than cutting those sort of components with a Widgitmaster and Dremmel type tool!

I will come down soon If I can organise things here.

Cheers,

Alan

I've scored an extra long weekend this weekend, so hopefully I should get some serious shed time in.

After some guidance from Rod, I put one of my ballscrews in the lathe today and sanded down the end bits where the bearings slide on. They were an extact match for size and would not slide on. Now they are a nice tight fit but can be slid on and off by hand. I'll get the other two done tomorrow.

I've discovered the scrap 10mm plate I was going to use is not very flat. It has some serious warps in it with even a 100mm x 50mm bit out by about 1mm corner to corner.

I finally got some shed time this afternoon, after doing the list of chores the wife provided.

At least I should have tomorrow and Tuesday to get some more done.

I got one rear bearing mount machined up. I was going to do the other one, but a thunderstorm has rolled in and I don't want to risk a blackout halfway through.

In the second pic you can see the tabs that held the piece in place while cutting the final shape. It is just a matter of twisting the piece out and filing off the tabs.

I still need to machine the 10mm plate that will bolt to the bearing mounts and then to the table sides.

I didn't get as far as I hoped.

I was planning to have both X Axis ball screws all mounted and the linear rails bolted on, ready to start on the gantry.

However, I finished off both front bearing/motor mounts. These took a bit longer than I expected as I had to prep the stock flat and to 10mm. They are rock solid once fitted and solved the problem of mounting them without taking the angle off.

Nice one John - adapt as you build.

I finished off the ballscrew bearing mounts and now have those and the X Axis rails mounted.

I thought I would tackle the gantry sides today, but they are too big to do on my mill. So I thought I will give them a go on my little MDF CNC.

Big mistake.

The 10mm plate wasn't flat and had about a 1mm bow in it. I tried to clamp it down flat, but about an hour into the cut, the clamp pulled out the t-slot. Of course this instantly raised the Z and resulted in one broken end mill and gouged the part. Plus the bearings in the Ozito are now buggered.

Back to the drawing board. So I guess I will need to get the sides cut professionally if I stick with the design.

Or perhaps I can make the gantry sides in two pieces and bolt them together? That way I could still do them on my mill. I'll have to give this some thought.

John,
Your build is looking so good, nice and clean and very professional.

Sorry about your MDF machine carking it and the Ozito etc. As you know I did most of my milling with a Widgitnaster and I know only too well about the breaking of end mills and the stuffing of Ozito's, although with me it was 2 x Proxxons & 2 x Ozitos ... very slow learner! Do you have a band saw? Because I cut my end plates out entirely on the bandsaw and then used a sanding table to sand the imperfections away. If the cost of professional milling is too much, you could have another trip to the Highlands and we could cut and finish the ends together. I will be around most of this week except Wednesday.

Cheers,

Alan

Hi Alan,

Thanks for the offer, but work will keep me in Canberra all week. The main problem was the bow in the 10mm plate that I was trying to machine. I have some 16mm and 21mm plate that I might look at using instead.