Thread: Chris's First CNC Build

Looks good Chris ...love the blue leds ;-)....How did you glue the acryilic together...

Nice work
Frank

Originally Posted by Frankmc

Looks good Chris ...love the blue leds ;-)....How did you glue the acryilic together...

Nice work
Frank

Weldon Solvent cement for acrylic. Bonds them together.

Wasnt planning on using the blue led fans but all my budget went on the quick connect with locking mechanism, so I just used some I had lying around (had 5 of them I bought ages ago, were noisy but with a cnc router it wont matter)

Nice work Chris.

Get the brush out and let's see the new machine.

I can see where the name Blue^Ray comes from now.

Greg

I am a member of a Rescue Squad here in the Southern Highlands, mainly involved with road rescue work. My ute is decked out with flashing lights and strobe lights for travelling to accident scenes. I did not even consider the idea of flashing lights on my CNC machine ... great food for thought!!
Forget the rust ... bring on the photos.

Cheers,
Alan

They do make a lamp for CNC machining centres.
It is a pole with green, amber and red but I have no idea what each colour represents.

Originally Posted by Zoot

Forget the rust ... bring on the photos.

I'll get some pics up tommorow before I apply the flat black, main part already has 2 cans of grey primer applied.

Not sure what the pros on the forum will say, I never followed any premade plans

Steel with skate bearings. Will post some pics of the belts attached when I finish painting it.

That is a tease.
Need to see more and some detail of how it works. Looking very professional so far.

Got the Y axis done but I might be changing the carage some way to suit the Z axis. The carage for the Y axis is a bunch of skate bearings, 25x25 steel and threaded rod.

When its painted you'll see how it works

Just finished can #1, #2 will go on tommorow and if needed can #3.


The X axis is a pretty ugly design as I had to work with the bench as I got that done first before planning anything, then I stuffed up the belts and cut them too short, all sorts of mistakes. Should have the painting done by monday/tuesday then ill start to assemble and you can see what I mean.



More tease



Picture of my cluttered work bench, first thing I ever build, well its the 2nd but the first was a smaller version. BTW this was after I cleaned it up. Y axis is on the back of the table I didnt go in the garage because of the fumes (I am paranoid, and yes I wore a proper mask when painting)

Yeah I know what you mean about cans of paint. I use about 4 undercoat and 6 colour for my bases. Mind you it is the $2.00 a can special at Supercheap so it doesn't hurt the hip pocket too much.
Your build is typical especially on the first attempt. Even if you take the time and draw it all out you still need to modify on the fly as you build it. There are just so many elements and we concentrate on each bit and sometimes forget the big picture. I was a draftsman many years ago but I don't have the discipline to draw a machine before I start building. Best I do is a back of the envelope sketch.
Look forward to the next installment.

Originally Posted by rodm

Yeah I know what you mean about cans of paint. I use about 4 undercoat and 6 colour for my bases. Mind you it is the $2.00 a can special at Supercheap so it doesn't hurt the hip pocket too much.
Your build is typical especially on the first attempt. Even if you take the time and draw it all out you still need to modify on the fly as you build it. There are just so many elements and we concentrate on each bit and sometimes forget the big picture. I was a draftsman many years ago but I don't have the discipline to draw a machine before I start building. Best I do is a back of the envelope sketch.
Look forward to the next installment.

Next time I will be using the cheap stuff.

I used cheap grey for the primer but ive been using the expencive stuff from bunnings (had 2 cans already but looks like it will need at a minimum 3) $15 a can I think it was. I've had a bad experience with the cheap stuff previously (when i was 15/16) so maby I was just doing it wrong as the cheap primer went on great.

I love how the Flat Black is comming out

Spray outside if you can - as long as it is not windy or raining it is much easier than trapping all the fumes in the shed.

Originally Posted by rodm

Spray outside if you can - as long as it is not windy or raining it is much easier than trapping all the fumes in the shed.

Normally I find surprises when the paint dries when I do it outside, it is just at the door there, I had to close it as I have quite a bit of tools in there I dont want knocked off.



looks more black than the picture is making out, its looks like it has blotches because of the flash, but it only needs some touchups here and there.



Picture of the Y axis.

The rollers or whatever you call them are just 2x skate bearings and a domed mudguard washer on each side so the belt does not slip.