Taking the Plunge

**phillfalco** · 7th September 2009, 02:41 AM

Hi guys, ive been reading these forums for a little while trying to learn what I can about CNC. It has been an awesome read and I have already had a lot of questions answered... there will be many more i'm sure!!!

Rod has been awesome and invited me over to see morphy and many of his other creations in his shed!!!!!!!! I was walking around like a little kid drooling over all the toys and gadgets... loved it!! thanks again rod!!

Going over a lot of stuff with Rod I have finally settled on the idea that the build I would like is semi portable, can be lifted and moved by two guys and placed in my ute if needed. I want it to be the maximum size I can that will be able to fit through a standard door. I have started with a 600mm x 900mm (allowing an extra 120mm (60 per side for a rail support and gantry wall clearance). I have bought the following electronics so far; G540, 3 x 387oz Stepper Motors (24H290-35-4B) and a power supply at 8.3Amp.

I was in my Dads shed the other day and he had some galvanized "C" channel left over from a shed he built.. got me thinking I might be able to use it to form a frame/base for a CNC. Its 2mm thick, 200 High and 76mm wide. I want the build kind of light so am thinking its a compromise of strength and weight. I dont have a lot of money to spend either, so the aim will be to keep it reasonable as I have a baby due in 13 weeks and the wife is kinda protective of the funds lol!!!

Morphy is an awesome machine to look at and see in action!! I love what Rod has done. Two things that stood out immediately is the gaps that are running on both sides of the cutting bed allowing all the cut material to fall through and be funneled down to a central collection "bin".. an awesome idea. I was also impressed (along with heaps of things) with Rods system for clamping his work, much simpler, cheaper and effective than the T-slots systems I've seen. Most of the T-slot ends up under the work piece and I cant justify the expense of the material when I have seen how effective rods idea is. It looks like im on my way to trying to build a rods mini morphy .... hahaha... maybe it should be named RMM in honour of that.

I have also figured that I would like the CNC as stand-alone as possible... only needing to run one cable to power and one to the parrallel port. Would also like a small amount of storage built in to store bits and some of the clamping gear... all sounds over optimistic but fun to try.

This is how I decided to use the C Channel to allow for this.

Attachment 115653

I want panels on the front and back that will be used to fix the switches, G540 etc and hide the electronics. The side walls will hide the cavities there but I want access to them to use as storage for the clamps and other bits and pieces

Attachment 115654

Attachment 115655

I am aiming to use some of the KR series Actuators. I dont have access to any machining so think this will be the easiest way for me.. the one showing is to size for one I have found on ebay and considering buying.

Anyway... bed time.. first post and very long winded... would appreciate any feed back or suggestions... maybe the whole C Section material is a bad idea?? It is very strong material.. fairly flexible which would be a big problem if not supported/braced correctly (big no no for our application). So far I believe the side walls (10mm aluminium) will stop the C channell moving or flexing when screwed to it. The front panels when attached should stop any movement there and I will be able to put some support in the middle of the structure. I have left it empty at the moment as figuring on rods ramp and material collection idea and the hope that maybe a small compressor/pump might fit in there!!! was thinking I could even jazz it up with some small lights that can be turned on in the side panel/cavities when accessing them and looking for bits lol.

The idea is that I would be able to move the machine (with someones help, those actuators weigh heaps!!) and the laptop and should have all the main gear in this one unit.

**seafurymike** · 7th September 2009, 11:43 AM

phillfalco,

great to see you taking the plunge (doggy paddle really) given the amount of support you can get here.
Keep posting.

Q. What voltage are you looking at for the 8.3Amp supply? 48Vdc

/M

**phillfalco** · 7th September 2009, 12:43 PM

your right, a heap of support from great guys. My wife has asked a couple of times why people are helping (went to rods).. seems a heap of genuine guys which is a pretty rare thing.

The power supply is 48V and the 8.3A

**rodm** · 7th September 2009, 05:38 PM

Originally Posted by phillfalco

My wife has asked a couple of times why people are helping

The answer to that is easy - everybody is paying it forward. There are so many things to learn in a CNC project that we all need advice or a helping hand along the way. For me I need help with electroincs, others it might be design, machining or computer/software related.

**WillyInBris** · 7th September 2009, 05:58 PM

And then some like me just need Help with everything lol, I will be honest I have never met such a fantastic group of people and on a forum as well it makes me feel all warm and happy.

**John H** · 7th September 2009, 06:16 PM

I don't think you can go wrong with the "Morphy" concept in your design. I'm doing the same.

Just be careful on using a laptop to control your machine as the parallel ports on some don't provide enough voltage (or something like that) and cause all sorts of problems.

Look forward to seeing your build.

**seafurymike** · 8th September 2009, 12:31 PM

Additional to John's comments,

Especially if you use Mach 3, a laptop is not supported. To get around this issue I went with a smooth stepper, which takes the load away from the PC and places it on a dedicated device specifically made to run a machine.

/M

**GRS** · 12th September 2009, 04:13 PM

Hi PhilFalco,

I too have seen Morphy in the flesh and it is a great machine and a credit to Rod. But knowing Rod as I do I wouldn't expect anything less.

If you build a Morphy style router you can't go wrong I recon.
Looking forward to seeing your machine take shape.

Cheers

Gary

**phillfalco** · 13th September 2009, 10:15 PM

haha. what can we say.. seems this forum just attracts some legendary guys!! thanks for the support and encouragement.

As I bought some of the electronics, I went and saw a mate at jaycar to pick up some parts to start on building a power/driver box.

Ive had a bit of a change of plans... my first intention was to have a CNC that contained all of the electronics and was portable ie pick up and go. That would mean that if I built another machine down the track (lets be honest... seems all get addicted to this process so im sure I will or am already) then I would either have to pull that electronics out to put in the new build or buy new components.... and I can already see a lot of problems in convincing my lovely wife that I really need some more.

Im now leaning to producing a power/driver box and then a console unit that I can plug and play into different machines... this is my start. The power enclosure has handles on the front and a comes with two faces, one can be attached to use as a rack mount (longer with positions to fix to a surface) or just a plate that dosnt extend past the enclosure walls.

Attachment 116339

Attachment 116340

The unit is really well built with a lot of ventilation (done quite a few computer builds in my time, comparing cases to these cases). The design is well thought out with rails that can be adjusted or moved to fit the bits you want (only four of them which was just right for what I have done so far. I have bought a fan as well to run off the 12v supply, unsure wether to suck cool air in (with the risk of dust/dirt) or blow hot air out. The 48V power supply sucks in from the left and blows out the right so was thinking with the fan in that position could blow cool air in and through the power supply)

Was hoping to put "power points) on the back wall near the G540 to plug the computer/console and monitor into... would this cause any kind of interference with the drivers??

I have this emergency switch on the front and was thinking of adding other switches for features like a pump (air nozzel), to turn power on for the computer. The only one connected to the emergency switch will be the stepper motors as I dont want to shut the computer down as well.

A start anyway.. was fun to put it together and a long long way to go. Any input would be appreciated.. ill be heading over to Rods on Wednesday to pick his brain.. top bloke!!

Attachment 116341

As you can see... i am trying to keep it simple, not trying to build my own terrodactal thingy etc etc lol... that will be a learning curve down the track.

**rodm** · 14th September 2009, 02:42 AM

Hi Phill
The usual way to go is to push hot air out of an enclosure with a fan. If the only thing you are running on 12 volts is the fan then maybe a 240 volt fan or a 48 volt or even two 24 volts fans might be better. Seems a shame to use the power supply just for a fan. When you come over I should be able to help out there. If your computer is close enough you can pinch 12 volts from there.
For interest I have included a photo of 12 volt 1 amp and 5 volt 3 amp power supplies I got recently. They are less than $10 and perfect size for fitting in a control box. Much easier than fitting a plug pack as well.

Try and get some separation between the AC and lower voltage stuff. EMI can become a problem if you get them too close.

**phillfalco** · 14th September 2009, 08:34 AM

Thanks!! Out it is then (fan). Your right about it being a waiste... not doing much at all and taking up a lot of room. I only put it in for down the track if I wanted the power source... as you have said, the computer can supply that as well. Those ones you have a photo of are a lot smaller and would mean that I can get the seperation that I would need. The power supplies ended up packed over that end as I was trying to keep as much distance from the G540 as possible, make sure no interferance with that and also to allow working space for the connections etc. Its a small enclosure though to pack that much in so the smaller ones would be great. Ill drag it along when I come over... thanks.

**twistedfuse** · 15th September 2009, 02:16 PM

Your enclosure is going well and looks great. I have an enclosure very similar, if not, the same from jaycar which i'm wiring up for a mate. Keep up the good work.

Rod, where abouts did you get those power supplies. I could use one or two of those for this enclosure i'm wiring up.

Daniel

**rodm** · 15th September 2009, 03:59 PM

Here you go

**twistedfuse** · 15th September 2009, 04:11 PM

Hey Rod,

Thanks for that. They will work well.

Daniel

**Zoot** · 15th September 2009, 05:04 PM

Rod,
I will add a thanks to that as well ... I have ordered a 48V 5a transformer to run my Geckos. I had a 24V one and was thinking I would make do with it, but at $40 I felt it better to go with the higher powered alternative.

Cheers,

Alan

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