PM-45 CNC Conversion (RF45)
1st Post!
I'm not sure whether to thank all you guys for the great build threads and wealth of knowledge and data here.... or e-slap everyone for the amount of dollars which have left my possession in the past week :banana:
I'm a mechanical engineer who has been bumming machine time at friends and co-workers home shops for years now. Having a little machine shop in the garage is something I've wanted since I was in high school. But I didn't think I could do it in my two car garage while maintaining the "rule" that both cars come into the garage at the end of the day. Initially I felt any machine purchase would need to be a big ol' bridgeport style machine to do any real work. I also wanted the ability to build complex shapes because as an engineer I'm used to being able to "have" any shape I can design - and I don't turn wheels with both hands too well. So I had kinda given up.
I finally gave in to the idea of just finding a cheap mill drill on craigslist and sticking it in the corner. I went to buy one for $1000 and lost it to another guy by about 5 minutes - turned out that was the catalyst for all this. Started looking around more, found this place, and realized I could squeeze in a RF45 sized machine, make real parts, and do it CNC.
The PM-45 should be here this coming week. All the electronics are on order. First I have to do some mods to my current garage setup. Cutting up benches and moving stuff around.
With the help of all the other RF-45 threads these are the parts in-route to my house:
- PM-45 Milling Machine
- Antek 10N70R5R12 power supply
- Gecko 320X's
- C11T controller
- Smooth Stepper and BOB
- Kelig 850oz/in servo motors
- CUI encoders
I work at an electronics company, so I'm going to build the control system at work with some of the EE's. The guys at work are excited, should be fun. Plan is to get the control system up and running first. I'll get the machine setup in the garage, and take it apart to measure everything and create a CAD model of it. Then I'll design and layout the CNC conversion parts in the CAD model and create drawings. That should allow me to order the ballscrews with pre-finished ends. I just got a lathe, but don't feel like turning those. I might have some friends crank out the mounting brackets for all the CNC stuff at their shops so I don't have to do it all by hand. I don't have tons of spare time and thanks to you guys I want the CNC up and running soon. But who knows, I could end up building them all myself too.
