Thread: CNC Gantry Router #A

Hi Gary,
Always welcome up this end of the woods mate.

Been fiddling with some high speed spindles with Baldor bearings I got on ebay and got a ER16 collet to match the spindle. They have a hole through the centre of the spindle for a draw bar which will make them viable for a toolchanger. Also been playing with a 90 volt DC, 1kw motor I plan to drive the spindle with. If the Chinese 3 phase spindles had a through hole I wouldn't bother but unfortunately they don't - at this stage.

There are a group of us here planning a kit build router that will eventually be laser cut from 10mm plate.
Morphy cut a prototype at 60 percent scale this morning to see how the design is coming along.
This is very much in the early stages of design but the results so far look good.

Lebott is coming along as well albeit slowly but with the temperatures in high 30's for the last weeks the shed is not the first place I want to be. Thank goodness it is not as hot as Adelaide has been though.

looks good Rod what size will end up being in the end?
Will this be a kit people can buy or will it be like a MechMate build.

Just get a box AirCon for your room, mine works wonders in this heat

This one has is a cutting envelope of 1200 by 1000. The longer side is on the Y axis so a full width sheet can be passed through. It is also a pivoting table so that when folded the footprint will be slightly more than half the table width. Handy for small sheds and lack of space.

The design is scaleable and we are making a couple of sizes in the initial run to test this out.

It will be marketed but not by me as I am not into that sort of thing. I expect that it will be sold as a kit or complete machine here in Perth and the design/drawings sold for anywhere else where transport cost for a kit will be too high. I am not involved in any way with that side of it and it might change - anybodies guess at this stage. We have only been working on it for two weeks so a long way to go. The other blokes are guns in their fields and it has been a great source of learning for me.

At this stage there will be an initial run of four machines scheduled for about two weeks time. One of them is for me so as I knock it together I will give some feedback on the forum in case anybody is interested.

Originally Posted by rodm

This one has is a cutting envelope of 1200 by 1000. The longer side is on the Y axis so a full width sheet can be passed through. It is also a pivoting table so that when folded the footprint will be slightly more than half the table width. Handy for small sheds and lack of space.

The design is scaleable and we are making a couple of sizes in the initial run to test this out.

It will be marketed but not by me as I am not into that sort of thing. I expect that it will be sold as a kit or complete machine here in Perth and the design/drawings sold for anywhere else where transport cost for a kit will be too high. I am not involved in any way with that side of it and it might change - anybodies guess at this stage. We have only been working on it for two weeks so a long way to go. The other blokes are guns in their fields and it has been a great source of learning for me.

At this stage there will be an initial run of four machines scheduled for about two weeks time. One of them is for me so as I knock it together I will give some feedback on the forum in case anybody is interested.

Well yes keep us updated I am interested that was a design fail on my latest machine as well wish I had put the longer axis of the Y so i could pass a sheet through I may rebuild it one day when I can afford the downtime.

Looks great Rod. A kit will make things a lot easier for those without the means to fabricate their own.

An update on the kit build. We cut another MDF protoype on Morphy (sorry no photos) and made a few more adjustments and it went to the Laser Cutters last week. I knocked up the axle and flanges in the mean time and all the rails and screws (LMB) and bearing (VBX) arrived in the same week. The axle is ground stainless steel bar.

The laser cut plates were picked up yesterday and last night we bored the 7/8 inch axle hole in the three main plates and did a mock assembly. The plates are 10mm thick steel with tabs and slots to locate each piece accurately. Cap screws will be used to hold it all together.

Tomorrow night we are drilling and tapping the plates and then it will be diassembled and sandblasted, painted and finish assembled. Ths machine will be servo driven so a new experience for me - more mumbo jumbo electrickery to learn.

First impressions are it is going to be one very heavy and solid machine. I think we could easily drop out two of the cross plates without sacrificing the strength of the machine. Laser cutting was good and plates fit together well. I can't see any problems with assembly at this stage.

This is not my project and my involvement is out of intererest and the challenge to build something different. Even though it is not my project I am excited at being involved as it is a totally different approach to building a machine and is very inovative in the design featuires. That will be obvious as the assembly progresses.

There are already two orders for this machine so there might be quite a bit of interest as it develops. Once we have perfected the kit a web site will be set up so that anybody interested can enquire through that. I'll post a link when that happens.

In the mean time enjoy the journey and have a gander at a couple or three photos of the progress. The first four photos are the base upside down then next four the right way up with the last photo showing the rails and ballscrews.

Looks good rod, would love to see how it turns out.

Looks like there is fun times ahead with tons of drill and taps needed

Hi Chris,
Good character building - Actually I find it quite relaxing with a bit of music playing in the background. In any case anything in the shed beats a day at the office.

The kit moves on. Axle flages have been fitted and a few holes drilled in the plates. The good thing about laser cutting is there is no marking out - each drill hole is marked by the laser cutter when the plates are cut. They do a 1mm deep crosshair at each centre.

A couple of photos to show the long plates ready for re-assembly. Also the axle and flanges.

Rod,

It looks really good. I have no experience at all with laser cutting, but couldn't the laser actually cut the holes rather than just marking them?

Cheers,

Alan

Hi Alan,
This is new territory for me too but it is fun. I am blown away that a light can cut steel to such great accuracy. I wish I knew more about this five build ago.

The bloke designing it all told me the cuts can vary across the depth of the material - in other words the holes would not have parallel sides. It would be minute but we have to use those holes to spot the end plates so they can be drilled and tapped. Drilling them on the mill means we have a good start and with a mug like me on the drill I need all the help I can get.

Hi Guys,

I'm the other Rod working on the project. Thanks for the kind words on the build.

I'll tell you the answer I got from the laser cutter about the holes.
Laser has an accuracy of 0.1mm-0.2mm. If you want an 2mm hole then it is proportional to the thickness. eg 2mm dia hole then 2mm thick 10mm hole 10mm thick.

The laser can also not have a parallel cut. The ramp off is only slight but on a precision hole it can be upto 0.2mm.

I did have a piece of 25mm thick steel cut once and the ramp was about 0.1mm.
That's not bad for light.

Cheers
Rodney P