Hi guys, ive been reading these forums for a little while trying to learn what I can about CNC. It has been an awesome read and I have already had a lot of questions answered... there will be many more i'm sure!!!
Rod has been awesome and invited me over to see morphy and many of his other creations in his shed!!!!!!!! I was walking around like a little kid drooling over all the toys and gadgets... loved it!! thanks again rod!!
Going over a lot of stuff with Rod I have finally settled on the idea that the build I would like is semi portable, can be lifted and moved by two guys and placed in my ute if needed. I want it to be the maximum size I can that will be able to fit through a standard door. I have started with a 600mm x 900mm (allowing an extra 120mm (60 per side for a rail support and gantry wall clearance). I have bought the following electronics so far; G540, 3 x 387oz Stepper Motors (24H290-35-4B) and a power supply at 8.3Amp.
I was in my Dads shed the other day and he had some galvanized "C" channel left over from a shed he built.. got me thinking I might be able to use it to form a frame/base for a CNC. Its 2mm thick, 200 High and 76mm wide. I want the build kind of light so am thinking its a compromise of strength and weight. I dont have a lot of money to spend either, so the aim will be to keep it reasonable as I have a baby due in 13 weeks and the wife is kinda protective of the funds lol!!!
Morphy is an awesome machine to look at and see in action!! I love what Rod has done. Two things that stood out immediately is the gaps that are running on both sides of the cutting bed allowing all the cut material to fall through and be funneled down to a central collection "bin".. an awesome idea. I was also impressed (along with heaps of things) with Rods system for clamping his work, much simpler, cheaper and effective than the T-slots systems I've seen. Most of the T-slot ends up under the work piece and I cant justify the expense of the material when I have seen how effective rods idea is. It looks like im on my way to trying to build a rods mini morphy .... hahaha... maybe it should be named RMM in honour of that.
I have also figured that I would like the CNC as stand-alone as possible... only needing to run one cable to power and one to the parrallel port. Would also like a small amount of storage built in to store bits and some of the clamping gear... all sounds over optimistic but fun to try.
This is how I decided to use the C Channel to allow for this.
Attachment 115653
I want panels on the front and back that will be used to fix the switches, G540 etc and hide the electronics. The side walls will hide the cavities there but I want access to them to use as storage for the clamps and other bits and pieces
Attachment 115654
Attachment 115655
I am aiming to use some of the KR series Actuators. I dont have access to any machining so think this will be the easiest way for me.. the one showing is to size for one I have found on ebay and considering buying.
Anyway... bed time.. first post and very long winded... would appreciate any feed back or suggestions... maybe the whole C Section material is a bad idea?? It is very strong material.. fairly flexible which would be a big problem if not supported/braced correctly (big no no for our application). So far I believe the side walls (10mm aluminium) will stop the C channell moving or flexing when screwed to it. The front panels when attached should stop any movement there and I will be able to put some support in the middle of the structure. I have left it empty at the moment as figuring on rods ramp and material collection idea and the hope that maybe a small compressor/pump might fit in there!!! was thinking I could even jazz it up with some small lights that can be turned on in the side panel/cavities when accessing them and looking for bits lol.
The idea is that I would be able to move the machine (with someones help, those actuators weigh heaps!!) and the laptop and should have all the main gear in this one unit.