[bekx]

Hi huys, great forum extremly helpful for DIY projects.

First i was thinking of buyng a torchmate2 kit, then i realised i could only afford a TM1 and after i realised i could do it myself and make great savings.

So i'm on a budget about 2000$ (without the steel)

I ordered the steel yesterday.

Now comes the hard part, i'm thinking to use linear motion guides for both X and Y (igus drylin T tk01-20 or THK SSR) i'm waiting on the THK quote so i could decide, i'm leaning on the THK right now.

I will use rack&pinion wich my engineer is disigning right now (i hope )

As for the drives&steppers i really have no ideea what to choose

gekcodrive
granite VSD-A
cncdriver.com controler

for motors i GUESS 5nm - 600ozin steppers will do

the thing i have no ideea of is the power source (nuts)

any kinf of help/oppinion will help.

[massajamesb]

look at www.kelinginc.net or www.candcnc.com
and have a look at their power supplies. I don't know what your main voltage is ( I am guessing 220), you need to tell either supplier what it is.
You can build one yourself as well.

[bekx]

things got a litle clear

i ordered the electronics/steppers from dubble (including the power suply)

the THK rails are way off my budget, they quote almost 4k USD wit taxes. so i'll order the igus T tomorow.

the sad part is i got shiping dates for 15 days and i can finish the steel work in 2 days.

[massajamesb]

Look at BishopWisecarver rails and vee bearings, or even skate bearings, which can be found cheaply here www.vxb.com

[bekx]

the vee rails for my aplication seem a lot more expensive than the igus T, my table will be 7.2X11 feet , the rails from vxb.com are not that long so i guess i'll go igus for the short axis and maybe something like in the picture for the long one.

[bekx]

just finished the sides of the table, i'll post some pictures monday (forgot my camera home today )

it cost me 9 tubes 60x40x2.5 thats 220$, it should be 8 tubes but my engineer friend cut the last one in the wrong spot (nuts) , good thing the steel suplier is right in front of my shop

i think i'll wait and weld it together after i install the rack, it will make drilling a litlle easyer.

[gdb]

Hey Gallop,

Rick at Superior Bearing is great to deal with for V-Bearings and Rail.

www.superiorbearing.com

gdb

[bekx]

the sides, side no 2 warped a litlle (overweld it) (nuts) , i hanged it and put some weight on and heat it a litle bit .. if its not straight tomorow i will make another one.

[Dale Heart]

You need a solid bench with some good clamps to jig the piece up before you weld. That will stop most welding distortion. Or, use an oxy-fuel flame to pull the frame to level.

[bekx]

You need a solid bench with some good clamps to jig the piece up before you weld. That will stop most welding distortion. Or, use an oxy-fuel flame to pull the frame to level.

tx for the post, i don't have oxy

i'll just make another side.

update , igus rails coming on monday and motors& controlers next week thanks to dubble

found a shop capable of making 3 meter long rack, i'm going to visit them monday morning.

[bekx]

i got the motors moving with mach3 tx to dubble.

now i got only 3 weeks to wait for the rails .

[Richard Honey]

Bekx,

Just had a look at your build pix. How come your shed / workshop is so tidy and uncluttered?

You're a disgrace to the home tinkering profession. By rights your shed should be chocablock full of equipment, materials, useful junk and sundry items.

Hang your head in shame!

[bekx]

yup i'm realy ashamed of my shop, i don't have a lathe and nothing cnc yet (or the motors spinning , cuting virtual shets of metal count???)


but sometimes things like these apear in my shop

[bekx]

finaly got some time to work on my table.

yesterday i painted it with red primer but forgot to take some pics.

[millman52]

Hey there bekx, Looking good so far. If it will not cause you to much of a rework I'd turn those rack gears with the gear teeth to the bottom side. Turned tooth down debris will not accumulate in the teeth.

[bekx]

i thought about turning the teeth down but for now its easyer this way.

my concern right now its the alignment of my table, everything is 1-2 mm off at one end, and thats after i twicked it a litlle, u think 2 mm is too much??

the gantry is moving freely tho,

anyway i intend to make another gantry from aluminium profile 80/60 or something like that

tomorow i'll get a long stainless shaft 15 mm and maybe will fit the long axy's motor

[millman52]

If you have the precision rail down both sides of the table they need to be in exact alignment. your table rails can be out a pretty good bit without causing to much grief.

I used 1 rail on only 1 side of my table to guide the gantry in a straight line. For the other side of the table I used cold rolled flat bar with wheels on top & bottom. I really didn't want the second side to do anything but roll.

I am using oxy/fuel which creates much more heat than plasma. I was afraid if both sides of the gantry were on captive guides, hest on the gantry might make it "grow" enough in length to either bow the gantry or create a bind situation. With rack & pinion on both sides of the table & master/slave arrangement on the drive motors it's really very solid.

[bekx]

the rails are paralell but the table is 2 mm smaller then expected at one side, my concern is the pinions will not fit the racks perfectly at that end, thats why i keep the racks with the teeth up right now, will have all the time to modify it when i cut flanges and brackets in a second

[millman52]

the rails are paralell but the table is 2 mm smaller then expected at one side, my concern is the pinions will not fit the racks perfectly at that end, thats why i keep the racks with the teeth up right now, will have all the time to modify it when i cut flanges and brackets in a second

Well being as your racks are bolted on you can shim behind the racls to make them parallel with your guide rails.

I bolted my racks to a strip of 1/4" X 2" strap then bolted the strap to my table in case I had to do the same.

I need to shim behind one of my racks too. I have a bit of run out on 1 side. I really haven't figured out why the top of my table where the rails are is as near square & parallwe as I can measure with a common tape measure.

I can only assume the sides of the 6" box tube where the rack is mounted is cupped in a bit.

[bekx]

i must say all this is a lot harder then it seems.

after making one motor flange myself i realised i'm not that good with the milling machine, so i made a drawing and went to 3 diffrent machine shops to check the price and build time.

so shop no 1 - will call me in 2-3 days.. that was thursday (no call till today)

shop no 2- 80 USD/pice ...they will come to me to weld something for them eventualy and i will rip them off.

shop no 3- will get me the stuff done monday morning for 25$/p

with a litlle luck i will got x-y movement next week.