3dtek X-Carve CNC - my new toy

[foobillious]

btw if you want to save a bit of money: I made my spoil board from mdf, with hex shaped holes sized to fit a 1/4" hex nut in the top (plus a through-hole large enough to take the 1/4" bolt). I inserted all the nuts and flipped the board over (so the nuts are on the underside). This seems to prevent the nuts pulling out if you get over enthusiastic on the tightening, and its a lot cheaper than using threaded inserts. You can get a box of 50 nuts for about $3.50 at bunnings.

[snowyskiesau]

btw if you want to save a bit of money: I made my spoil board from mdf, with hex shaped holes sized to fit a 1/4" hex nut in the top (plus a through-hole large enough to take the 1/4" bolt). I inserted all the nuts and flipped the board over (so the nuts are on the underside). This seems to prevent the nuts pulling out if you get over enthusiastic on the tightening, and its a lot cheaper than using threaded inserts. You can get a box of 50 nuts for about $3.50 at bunnings.

We did the same as this at the local hackerspace on the 6040. One of the gurus hand coded the g-code to do it!
It's held up pretty well but may need replacing soon as the MDF has a lot of oil on/in it.

[djneli]

Soldering went well, and everything hooked up and ran like it should. A couple of test runs didn't quite go to plan. First up the stepper motor pots needed a bit of tweaking but then I blew a fuse on the CNC board. Was going to call it quits but thought "what do I have to loose" and made my own bypass fuse. Looks like it worked as I got the little bugger up and running =)
IMG_0893.jpgIMG_0894.jpgIMG_0895.jpg
Still some minor bugs to iron out, but I have all weekend to play and reckon by Sunday morning I should be a seasoned pro about ready to tackle my first proper project. Muchos excited!

[snowyskiesau]

Well done!
We eagerly await the video of its first cut!

[djneli]

Absolutely - I've got a rack of G-Code files waiting to go and will make sure that the camera is set up and ready to go =)

[djneli]

So I had a few teething issues. Fuse blew on the CNC Shield board, one of my stepper drives failed and I broke 3 bits (luckily the 70 cent Chinese ones and not one of the $25 Carbitech ones...).

But now I am up and running. ne thing do want to stress to anyone that is considering a build of this type - cooling of the electronics is key! I underestimated the heat generated by the stepper drives and as such my solution couldn't draw the heat off fast enough. So I would have steppers stall mid carve and generally things just not go to plan. Take two and "over kill" the cooling and hey presto... I'm a happy X-Carver.

Proof of concepts weren't anything flash so I haven't bothered with a video today but will set it up tomorrow and get something of this bad boy in action. Man is I pleasing to see it working as it should =)

[snowyskiesau]

My xyz-carve arrived today! There was a slight delay as the cable chain was out of stock.
I'll take it along to my HobartHackerSpace meeting tomorrow, they love opening nerdy packages. I'm sure I can find help there in putting it together

[djneli]

Brilliant - you're going to enjoy both putting it together and giving it a run. I've been at a sales conference with my team for the past few days so am looking forward to getting my hands back on mine over the next few days. I've got orders for a couple of signs for b'days and Father's day on Sunday too so I'm going to be busy =)

[snowyskiesau]

I think the first thing I'm going to have to do is to make my self a table! The only flat surface I have inside (still too cold to assemble it in the shed) is the kitchen table.
I'll check the tip shop tomorrow and see what they have.

First step is to print the BOM and check off the parts I have and those I still need to get. It is, or was, very well packed and each bag is clearly marked as to the contents.

[myvess06]

Just confirmed with Ben that my order has been delayed as the cable chain is out of stock
Should be here late in the week or early next week.

By then, you should have all the bugs sorted out and be available for construction advice

How is the new tou going, have you decided to upgrade ur spindle to a trim router?

So didn't get too much done today as had to go out shopping and got a little side tracked.

At least I did get the waste board cut and drilled. 144 x 5.5 mm holes and unfortunately I had to then do 144 x 6.5 mm holes (read the drawings wrong) and then 144 x 10 mm counter sink. But I think the worst was the 144 x M5 screw insert. Luckily I had the wife give me a hand and make it light(er) work.

So tomorrow after work I need to get the mounting holes drilled and attached so I can then complete the last of the mechanical. Then I can tackle the wiring up and soldering. Maybe Wednesday finish now haha.

Sent from my SM-N910G using Tapatalk

[snowyskiesau]

How is the new tou going, have you decided to upgrade ur spindle to a trim router?

I started a new thread here.

[myvess06]

Cheers mate, I have found ur posts very helpful.