Thread: CNC Gantry Router #A

Thanks Geoff,

Me too

Hey Rod,

Yeah im looking forward to building. Its exciting...when we can agree on what we want.lol. Actually its going well if all goes to plans we should hopefully be building early next year. Im looking forward to finally having a home for the machines. Just not sure what type of shed will be right just yet.

Definitely looks the part after the naming ceremony. Im sure the 20mm plate will stiffen the gantry sides considerably. That coupled with the 3 phase spindle will be great. I really like this build, especially the frame/coolant tray.

daniel

Thanks for the link Rod, I have been sourcing a few parts slowly and that will certainly help, I must remember to forward the link to that big fella with the white beard...

Cheers.

Russell.

I have been making bearing mounts and finished one tonight for Morphy.

It is milled on an X3 CNC'd machine and it was a 20mm thick block of ally. The motor is recessed in the back of the block to allow enough shaft to poke through the front to get a pulley on. As you can see there are slots to adjust up the belt.

Bearing is also housed in the block and will have a plate over it to stop it pulling out.

The outside shape is to fit into a 76mm by 10mm ally angle and the gantry sides.

The pulley are around the right way. I am after speed and rather than get a 10mm pitch screw I used a 5mm pitch screw because there are more ball tracks in the screw. Motors are not affected as much by mid band resonance if they work through pulleys and belts.

It has been so quiet in here anyone would think it is Xmas.

I have got a couple of days in the shed and decided to do the electrics - avoiding those tapped holes still.

I have fitted a panel above the electrical enclosure for a main switch and 5 switches for driver board, spindle, vacuum, air and a spare. I cut the panel on my mill so that made it easy. These are either hard wired to the component or exit via a three pin plug in the side of the enclosure. Cooling inside the enclosure is by two 12 volt fans at the top and drawing air through two filtered holes in the bottom thereby creating a flow from bottom to top. I have fitted microphone plugs for the motors and limit/home switches in the side of the box.

I built the transformer and got very close to the 50 volts I wanted - see meter in photos. The toroidal outputs 8.4 amps so should be a good power supply given the 33000uf capacitor that was very kindly donated to the cause. The Geckos I have mounted on a large heatsink and just for fun I added some 12 volt fans wired in series to take 48 volts. This is connected direct to the transformer and it empties the large cap in under a minute. The geckos should keep cool enough on the heatsink but you use what is lying around.

OK enough waffle from me.

Another day into it and I have mounted all the boards, finished all the AC wiring and added USB and parallel port exits from the enclosure.

I have a smoothstepper, C10 CNC4PC breakout board, digispeed board for the spindle and of course the Gecko drives mounted on the heatsink.

Removed the power points from the door, re-located the RCD inside the cabinet and made plates to cover the holes. Sorry the wording is corny but what else do you do to cover things up? I cut the plates with a 45 degree V bit so that the edges are angled to lessen the dust clinging there.

Typical of me I just started fixing things in the enclousure with no master plan except that I wanted to keep the AC away from the boards as much as I could. If I get any grief from EMI I can cover the AC cables with a metal duct.
I will be mounting the VFD tomorrow and then back to the mechanical side and those tapped holes.

Gee Rod, you're becoming an expert on this electrickery stuff

Yes, Rod you seem to be getting on well with electrickery. Will you be mounting your VHD under the table as well?

I know that you built a separate Control Unit some time ago ... will you be using that for Morphy? I don't see that I will be having a succession of machines and was thinking of installing my PC under the table ... is this advisable or should it really be kept separate?

Cheers,

Alan

Rod,

This is turning into a really stunning machine. The componants, machining and craftsmanship are really first class. You must be right at the top of your game !

John,
I like the term electrickery and must remember to use it myself.
I don't kid myself with this stuff and have about four days invested in that box and everything is run over the meter and double checked. I have a electrical mate that will go over it to make sure it is safe when I am finished. There is an RCD in the enclosure as a backup but the house RCD triggers when I do a test on this one so probably over kill on that. In previous machines I have left the electrics till last then hurried it to see the machine running - not this time.

Zoot,
The VFD will go in a panel on the left of the electrical enclosure. I will offset the mounting inwards so the VFD is flush with the face of the panel. On the same panel I will bring the USB and parallel port to the front for easier connecting.
My bum and leg muscles are suffering from a few days of sitting splay legged on the floor working inside the cabinet so it will be a welcome change to work off the bench today.
My first machine I have a slide out drawer under the table for the computer, monitor, keyboard and while it was a tidy way to do it gravity made sure it always got coverted in sawdust, etc. Probably the easiest is to get hold of a cheap mobile workstation like the one I found on a verge collection - see photo of workstation and console. I bodgied sides and a back to it and it has served me well until I built the console. The fans draw in any dust so you have to be careful where you place them.

Jason,
Good to hear from you. As I don't have anything to prove to myself on getting them running I decided to try to build a machine with the best components (within reason) and finish that I can do. It is not any harder but does take more time - that is my excuse for taking so long.
I have another two mid size machines ready to go and a small mill after this is finished so 2009 is going to be another machine building year.

Finished the front panels, brought the USB and parallel ports to the front and near the bottom so I don't trip over the cords. Engraved acrylic name plates for everything - was on a roll there but more like time wasting.

The Spindle VFD is mounted on a panel that is set back so the face is flush with the front panel. As the machine is mobile I didn't want to park the VFD into a bench and it should help keep the dust away from it.

Back to the mechanicals now which is a lot less fiddly than the electrickery stuff.

Have to find a better way to reduce the photos as it distorts fine detail and makes it look crappy.

Just noticed my mate sticking his head out from behind the machine - should play where's Dre on each photo.

ohhhhhhhh Very Pretty

Can you take a flight to NSW and do some work on mine

Hey Rod, goes without saying but I'll say it anyway...great job !

You are certainly setting the standard for the rest of us...

I have one question, I notice the wheels on the beast, have you done this with any other builds ? I only ask as I am thinking of doing the same thing for my next machine for shed space optimization but was wondering about the machine moving around on the floor under quick rapid moves back and forth, is this likely to be a problem ?

Cheers.

Russell.

Hi Chris,
Thanks but Dre doesn't like to be called pretty
Yeah glad to help if you pay for the flight.

Thanks Russell,
All of my CNC machines are on wheels. Have to be as I only have a 470 sq/m block and my shed is only 4.5 by 8.5m and has lots of junk in there. I build on a very heavy steel base for two reasons. To dampen the resonance in the machine and to resist the momentum of moving elements. A solid steel braced trolley and then a steel machine base adds a lot of weight and takes care of any axis momentum. Moving elements are aluminum to keep the weight down.
The wheels I have it riding on are 4 inch cast iron, rubber coated and only cost $45 delivered to Perth for the set. They have a total load capacity of 560 kg so I think they will be OK and I am very pleased with them. Can send you a link if you like.