Hi Sus - Give it a good coat of wax. I use paste wax and would give it 5 coats of wax for MDF melamine surface.... Peter
Type: Posts; User: peteeng
Hi Sus - Give it a good coat of wax. I use paste wax and would give it 5 coats of wax for MDF melamine surface.... Peter
Hi Sus - I'd add webs to the long sides. They may bow under hydrostatic pressure. You can test this in FE by adding a hydrostatic load case to the model. MDF is 4000-4500MPa modulus. I presume you...
some more machine fun - Peter
https://youtu.be/q3kw75XCj_4
Double Column Machining Center - HD Video produced by ???? S&J Corp - YouTube
Hi Pio- Not sure if your following the Milli thread. I pursued the exo-portal design and got the weight down to 730kg with all axes 100N/um. It could come down more with some more time. The portal...
Hi Pippin - Same problem once you put an enclosure on so make access same as having an enclosure. The "box" can be taller so the hole is bigger giving good access. Maybe the front of the "box" is not...
Morning all and sundry - Been interested in another thread on a small mill. It has brought back memories of an exoframe design I wanted to look at. So I built a model this morning and its very good....
Hi All - I have been wondering why the Datron NEO is a portal type machine when all their others are gantries. I think its because with a gantry there is always a dead space at the back due to the...
Hi Pio - Another worthwhile configuration is a portal machine like attached. Peter
Hi Pio - You could go the gantry design and cast the base yet use steel for the gantry, that's how Datron do it, except they use granite. Check out your floor loads. A sustained high load on a floor...
Hello BB - The technically correct way to align such a machine is to use a geometric laser metrology set up. Unfortunately they cost well over $25000USD to buy one. Maybe you can hire one nearby you?...
Hi Craig & et al - I ran another couple of rounds. I'm at the point I think where to gain stiffness I have to gain weight. So Round 12 got to 107N/um at 1684kg. I made the base deeper and played with...
Evening All - A little bit more work at Round 10. Couldn't help myself. Wanted to get to 50% weight ie 1360kg but got to 58% at 1578kg. Scored 95N/um would like 100!! But that's enough I can see it...
Evening All - The gist of the matter is I have hovered around 80N/um for this design. I have reduced the weight from 2720kg to 1706kg so that's a loss of 40% would like a little more. But its a...
Hi Craig - As I have stated before any config can be made to any stiffness as long as you have the real estate. So yes making the machine base deeper will make it stiffer in the Y dirn but maybe not...
Hi All - Here's the lightweighting history so far. Still cutting away stuff. I only mod one component at a time so I know what's what. Peter
Evening All - I built a new gantry model which had bearings and features that could be adjusted easily. I then set up 4 freedom cases. I constrained the model at the bearings in 4 cases. So I had a...
Morning Pio - The chase for machining steel using a medium size mill in a 3rd floor apartment, what a set of parameters! So interesting!
Datron is worth a visit. I think that style of machine is...
Hi All - I added the bearings to the arm on the std column model but the deflections remained the same. Also note that the column is considerably wider then usual. Seems to me the high rail gantry...
Hi All - Back to the config face off. I added a conventional lifting arm config to the block models. Doing this made me realise that the worse case arrangement for this config is different to the...
Hi All - Epoch5 is maturing. I only have the rotary to integrate into the machine base and its ready to detail for manufacture. I have most of the structural parts in stock... Craig in the image with...
Arrggg its for a Mac! :)
Hi PIO - enable your PM's Ta Peter
Hi David - Thanks I have a look at Pixelmater don't have photoshop or anything like that. Peter
Hi David - Can you give a brief description of how you do your imaging? I'ts always impressed me.. . Peter
Hi all - Heres a nice table of small mill specs.
https://www.ajax-mach.co.uk/mini-cnc-lathes/ajax-proton-mini-milling-machine/
If your going column like these go 2:1 on the envelope plus you...
Hi All - Since its currently a design exercise I'd go max expected Z and once a more details are in place cut it back if needed. I don't think the gantry config is any less difficult to change the Z...
Hi PIO- I'll have a read of freecad fem and see where its up to. Can it do preloaded bolts?
1) re mesh in the settings image you are using second order elements. If your solve time is long change...
Hi All - I usually use 100x10 or 100x12mm flat bar for the top of the wall. But using the 30mm rail means it does not fit with the 16mm ballscrew bits unless I make a custom nut mount or am I game to...
Hi Craig - The issue with a large metal slab for the base is that no machinist in my area has a mill big enough to level it, and I don't have lifting gear to lift it. I say a lie actually because one...
Hi RDD - no mock up attached. But I imagine its a 24" long slot in 3/4" timber. The fastest way would be to use an upcut tool thats smaller then the slot size and do it in one pass down the middle....