New South Australian machine

Hi guys and girls
Like a lot of others i have been lurking and looking since being introduced to the idea of CNC.
Once i saw the concept, I became 'hooked'. have been turning for several years now and have always been interested in making things.
I figured that as I had good wood-lathe (Nove dvr XP), a 17' bandsaw, and a good 10' tablesaw and a drill press, I should be able to put together a reasonable job. However, as i always tend to over-engineer everything, I decided to jump right in and make my machine from aluminium.
As well. I tend to build things from the 'top down', - ie: I get an image in my mind and buld things to fit. Oh Oh!!!
Anyway. I purchased three ball-threads - one which is 16mm in diam by 250 in length, and the other two are 20mm diam by 950mm long.
I also purchased three steppers from Keling - Nema 23-425's, and three gecko 201 drivers. I combined these with a C10 breakout board and Keling 65VDC transformer which has two additional output ports - one at 5vdc and the other at 12 vdc. This allows me to power everything from the power source, including the drivers and the fans as well as the steppers.
I used an old computer case for the power system and installed the three drivers on three old computer heat-sinks and fans - they should stay cool.
The end result is a work area of 850mm by 900mm by 120mm (Zaxis). I figured this should be plenty of area, and anything bigger is out of the question due to lack of space in the garage/workshop.
i started off using an old Dell Inspiron 1800 laptop, but even after optimising it I had several issues with missed-steps and motor stalls, so have changed over to a later model desktop machine. Still have to see how this works but expect better performance.
I am still playing with setting up and fitting the limit switches but hope to strike a blow in anger any day soon.
It has been a very interesting process - particularly as i have no previous knowledge of electronics and had a lot of issues getting precision in my aluminum turning, such as fitting the bearings into ally blocks, etc. (I have found that a woodlathe is not as accurate as a metal lathe).
have included a few piccys for comment, and any helpful suggestions would be appreciated.
Will post more as I progress.
Cheers
Noel

Thought I would post a few piccys of the control box.
Cheers
Noel

Hi Noel,
Your story and introduction to CNC is very typical for most of us here. I would say we need to take lessons from you going by the quality of your build. :2tsup:
Keep us posted on how it goes.

Hi Noel,

Nice construction and lots of aluminium :)

It is going well so far...

Very interesting will be following this thread

Ray

Nice one Noel!

Did you build your machine off a set of plans? Did you cut all the aluminum yourself?

Hi John
I guess i'm a bit of a 'think about it and build it' sort of person, and tend to get an idea into my head and just build things from there. I did scrawl a few dimensions down on a bit of paper, but i find that by the time i have managed to draw things up on graph paper (bit old-fashioned) or on the computer, I could just have easily built most of whatever I am working on. My wife complains that my drawings look like chiken scrathcheson old bits of cardboard, lolly wrappers, and off-cuts of timber. - So - no real drawings as such - sorry.
Yes, I did cut all the aluminium myself. Most of it is either 12mm or 16mm thick and I started off trying to cut it with a metal blade (16tpi) in my bandsaw. Not much chop - it seemed to take forever and just clogged up the blade with fine filings which tended to melt onto the blade.
I finally got desperate and used a normal wood-blade at 6tpi and guess what? - the darn thing cut through the ally as if it was butter - and the best part was that it did not even blunt the blade. I later figured out that you need a deep-gullet blade when cutting ally. because some of the plate was a bit long and wide to manage through the band saw, I then got adventurous and tried cutting it on my table saw, which is fitted with a good 'multi-purpose cut' blade.
Again, I was really pleasantly surprised at the ease with which this cut the ally, and the total lack of damage to the blade.
The most frustrating part so far has been with the ball-screws - not really knowing what I was doing, I failed to have the end of the screws machined when I bought them and had to source a local engineering shop to do the job. ()*^*&^%&^$% frustration after frustration - this part was a bit of a nightmare, with the guy taking about eight weeks to do the job - Oh well - as SWMBO says - patience, patience - (but then, I'm not her and I tend to get frustrated at the lack of the number of services available as a general rule in SA.
Anyway - onward and upward - I am mounting the limit switches so I hope it won't be long now.
Will post a piccy of first cut when available, and many thanks to all you people on this forum who so generously make so much of your knowledge available to novices like me.
Cheers
Noel

Might be worth investing in a small lathe :D

I was just looking at some myself and the small ones are around $800 which isnt bad from my understanding, or spend upto $1500 and get something with a little size and 1HP motor, the 2nd hand units seem to be good bang for your buck ie. huge industrial one just went for 2K :D it probbaly weighed 2 tons.

That is nice work, I normally cant get my bandsaw to even cut in a straight line yet alone a complex design like you have done.


Nice work.

Yeah I cut all my aluminium on the bandsaw and table saw. Cuts great. Just an extra measure of care on the table saw. :)

You are doing a great job there Noel. :2tsup:

Greg

Nicely done, your of to a good start as a first time cnc-er. The size you have is very functional, if you go over that, then you may as well set up for a full sheet of mdf. Where as that will tuck away into many small places and not overdominate the workshop. Mine is similiar in size and I have it under the workbench kicking and making dust

Two Thumbs up:2tsup:

Steve

just a few more piccys - I have managed to fit the limit stops and wiring and am working on the table - with expert asistance as you can see.:U
Also started on the base frame but ran out of paint half way.
Cheers
Noel

I notice that your frame does not have any cross members. Do you find that you get some rocking of the unit when you run the machine, especially in rapids?

Hi Noel,
I hope my first CNC is as nice as yours you are doing a great job. You say you are a non electronics guy well I have been in electronics for 34 years and I can say I have seen so called experts not able or willing to do work to your standard.

Keep up the great work and the pics coming as it si helping me with my ever changing design. Now I know why you and Rod do not commit to paper, every time I open a post about a new machine I change my mind about my design!!!http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ons/icon10.gif

Steve