[newflavour]

hi all,

so for some time now (the last few months haha) I've been on the forum here and have read countless build logs and threads. I build furniture as a hobby and have been looking for a way to enhance what I already do and a CNC ticks all of the boxes for me. my build is partly inspired by a number of builds on here such as joe's hybrid 4x4, the blacktoe inspired outfeed table cnc, cast cnc upgrade for joes.

for me this machine will be a 2 to 3 stage process. in that I will first build it using steel and mdf with upgrades to both drive mechanics and ally parts as time and money permits. The design itself has been carefully thought through so that the upgrading of parts will be easy.

I picked up the steel bed this morning which measures 1200x2900 and is made up of 12x50 flat bar. its heavy, welded well and straight, so it should make a good base for everything else to hang off.

on each side I have 40x40 rhs box that I will epoxy both sides and then run angle over it for the vgroove bearings.

initial drive mechanics will be chain on x and y with a view to changing this later to RnP. Z will be ballscrew from the get go (and the design of the Z axis in the picture below will most likely change once I source the ballscrew and bearing blocks).

motors an electronics will be nema23 + gecko's + bob.

that's it for now. updates will happen as I get to them.

[newflavour]

so tonight I took delivery of a new computer, well it's second hand but it came free from the IT guy at work. He's seriously blessed me with a decent machine, Pentium core duo, 2gb ram, 150gb hdd, 256mb ati radeon graphic etc etc.

I've had a 22" openframe LCD laying about from an old touch screen project for a client and a keyboard, plus a logitec joypad that I plan on using for the remote controller. The LCD panel doesn't have the touch overlay but I can easily add that later (requires a purchase).

I hooked it all up and began to set things up, sans mouse (which I'll get from work tomorrow).

I've also order the caster for the legs of the table (mostly so I can bring it in from the outside for now). The more I look at my workshop and the table, the more I'm thinking of having this laying fairly low to the ground so I can roll it away underneath my workbenches when not in use. This however requires more thought about how I am mostly going to be physically interacting with it and the rest of my workshop.

Here's a few pics.



the resolution is pretty darn good


that's a thin openframe right there. It's screaming for a nice perspex enclosure.


the whole shebangabang


the joypad controller

[Benonymous]

So far so good What wall thickness will your 40x40 RHS have and what linear bearings are you using?

[newflavour]

Hey Ben,

The 40x40 will be 3mm thick and it is then going to have angle running the full length of it on three sides. The dimensions of the angle will be 22x22mm x6mm at the connecting point on the bed and 3mm for the linear rail.

My brother in-law will be welding all of that together for me. Seeing as though he's an engineer I'm sure he'll be up to the task
Foden Designs - Machining and Fabrication Specialists

The bearings will be sealed vgroove from vxb.

I'm hoping to find someone locally to me in Aus that can cut my mdf parts for a decent price. All of the commercial places are asking insane amounts of money to do it. Worst comes to worst I'll cut it myself with the table saw, router table and jigsaw. But if I do that I'll make a hardboard template for each piece so that I can use the template bit on the router table to accurately trim and shape. It's how I currently do my furniture pieces that require repeatability.

[Benonymous]

Have you approached any of the kitchen manufacturers in your area? All the ones around here have CNC routers and one place in particular I have here in the 'Gong did a job for a very reasonable cost for the business I work for. I did approach engineering companies but as you say, generally want astronomical fees for machine and labour time. They are used to doing business to business work and usually discourage small one-off jobs.

[newflavour]

no i haven't even considered that, thanks I'll make some calls. Over on the Australian forums a guy has contacted me letting me know that he knows of a few mechmate builds that have just been finished in QLD. He's going to see if one of them might be able to cut my goodies as a way of tuning their machines.

keeping my fingers crossed on that one.

[newflavour]

So tonight a bunch of parts turned up and I can see the reality of this machine actually being built. Essentially I've ordered everything I need and am awaiting it all to arrive.

I have a guy with a CNC in my city who is quoting on cutting some of the initial build parts for me from 25mm MDF. This will give me a good head start.

Anywho, my package of presents tonight was:



stay tuned as I begin to get things sorted. first up will be bench testing the electronics and looking at the initial config of mach3. no doubt I'll have some questions.