[GibbonsRock]

Hi Gang!

I received a startingly small but heavy skyscraper of a box yesterday from Patrick Hood-Daniel's CNC conglomerate world headquarters in Houston, TX. At first impression, I don't see how a whole CNC machine boasting a cutting area of 24" x 48" x ~6" could fit in a box just 12" x 12" x 3.5' Hoping to fill the surprising dearth of information on this particular machine here in the CNCzone, I'm going to detail my build of Patrick's kit.

I ordered one of his first 1.2 kits, sans electronics. I have already built a small CNC machine from scratch, but I viewed this machine as a logical upgrade, and will move my existing electronics to this one.

Patrick saves critical space in the shipping container by requiring the builder to source the largest parts: The actual 2x4 cutting surface, 4 long aluminum angle irons and a longer X axis linear motion screw. Everything else is included.

if you want to know more about this machine, visit Patrick's website.

[GibbonsRock]

Alllriiighty....

I have a long commute home, but it's an even longer commute when you've got a CNC machine kit in the back seat that you've been waiting months to assemble!

Upon opening the little cardboard skyscraper, I was impressed by the use of space. The box contained three shrinkwrapped bundles of MDF parts jumbled together like a 3-D puzzle, a shrinkwrapped stick of metal (the Z, Y screws and aluminum,) four boxes of hardware, and two crayons. I can only guess the crayons were a gift from the kids.

I think the inclusion of the hardware in this kit is a particularly significant advantage. Patrick includes everything- hundreds of screws, nuts, bolts, as well as all the bearings and couplers you'll need. Just the hardware weighs about ten pounds! I grossly underestimated how much the hardware contributed to the cost of my first CNC machine-- After the smoke cleared, I'd spent nearly $400 just on fasteners, leadscrews, couplers and bearings. Patrick also drills and taps the angle iron for the linear motion trucks.

In the photos, I've already sorted the hardware into bins for easy assembly, and I already assembled all the trucks. ( I couldn't help myself )

Also of pleasant surprise, not only are all of the edge holes for the cross dowel connectors already drilled, but all the I-beams for the main supports are pre-assembled. I think the kit will go together very quickly, save for one thing:

There are a lot of parts to this kit, but nothing is labeled. It is obvious how many of the parts go together, but some of them aren't so obvious. I'm confident it will become obvious as I get further into the build, but it probably helps tremendously that I have already built a CNC machine already.

Note: I'm not endorsing Patrick's machine specifically, and I don't want this blog to sound like a commercial. More to the point, the instructions for this machine exist solely in video form on his site, (and at this time I don't think the instructions show the final steps: completion of the main table, then again, it may be so mind-bogglingly obvious that it doesn't warrant another video.) While they are very entertaining, it is a little confusing to try to build this machine strictly from the videos. The best strategy is to watch a video, then go sort out your parts and assembly and figure out how everything fits together. Then you'll figure out what questions you'd ask (such as: specifically what kind of screw should be used where) I found they will be answered in the video.

Like I told Patrick: I fancy myself a reasonably smart guy, but I still routinely reverse at least one important piece when I assemble something from Ikea, and that's following well-written directions and clearly identified parts.

I'm hoping to get the Z and Y axis assembled tonight! I'll take more pictures and post my progress and thoughts here!

Cheers, Jim

[GibbonsRock]

On Patrick's website, the assembly instructions begin with the Z axis, so I set out to find all the pieces comprising the Z axis. Luckily, most of them are wrapped up in their own bundle of shrink wrap, but you're going to have to fish the smaller pieces out of the bigger bundles.

It's a really good idea to reference the assembly videos several times before starting this step. Because there are no printed instructions (yet- a manual is in the works) and the parts aren't labeled, it's easy to get it wrong.

For example, in the picture, I thought I'd identified and laid out all the Z parts, but that nut holder is wrong- that part is for the X axis.

Also, there are several different sizes of bolts included in the kit- save yourself from disassembling and reassembling everything by noting what size bolt goes where as you build.

The backbone of the Z axis is a small I-beam that came pre-assembled in my kit. There are tooling marks all over most of the parts, so for this reason and that I'm a super-precision junkie, I sanded the ends of the I beam flat and square.

Patrick came up with the idea of using angle-headed countersink screws to hold down the aluminum angle used as bearing surfaces. During this build I've found that if you tighten one side more than the other, your angle irons will be forced slightly off center in places.

Use a caliper and make sure all your angles are nice and straight, as well as offset by the same amount. I have advised Patrick to machine guidance grooves in all parts that will have angle irons mounted to them, so future kits will go together more easily and precisely.

[gfc62]

Jim,
Great job so far on the build log, looking forward to watching your progress.

I do think you'll need a bigger can of dustoff than shown in the picture when this thing starts cutting!

Gordon

[GibbonsRock]

Hi Gord!

See the part with two giant holes in it (it looks distantly like a tennis racquet?) Well, that first hole is for the wet/dry vacuum hose. Patrick's machine is designed with a semi-built in dust collector. Just make your own dust skirt and you're good to go.

In other news, I stopped using canned air. I got a blowgun attachment for my scuba tank. Yeah, I could have gotten a compressor, but space is extremely limited in my workshop.

I should work on the machine tonight, but I'm pretty wiped out from a long day.

Cheers, Jim

[gfc62]

Hi Gord!

In other news, I stopped using canned air. I got a blowgun attachment for my scuba tank. Yeah, I could have gotten a compressor, but space is extremely limited in my workshop.

So does that means you can use Nitrox to extend your dusting time?

[GibbonsRock]

LOL! A fellow diver! I just got back from Bonaire. Gotta love that nitrox kick after the dive. I could use a little stamina boost after my workday and commute. I think about working on the machine all day and when I get home I've got nothing left!

I did get started on the gantry, but I gotta snap some pics. Soon, I promise!

[gfc62]

Jim,
Are you done yet? Hope all is OK and that you're just getting too much done to post here.

Gordon

[GibbonsRock]

I have some progress to show, but I hit a wall with one phase of construction and I have been emailing with Daniel back and forth about it. It's important to point out that my kit is one of the early R&D models, and all the kinks hadn't been worked out of it yet. It's essentially a "Beta" machine, and as a beta tester I've been trying to help Patrick streamline the design and construction process.

I probably should have waited with the build log until I had finished the machine, and then chronicled the adventure in a timely fashion, because this log has been a rather uninteresting read, eh?

I'll post some stuff soon! Cheers, Jim

PS: The other excuse: my camera is somewhere in the workshop...and I'm not sure where.

On the final version of the kit, many parts will have been significantly redesigned and go together easier

[GibbonsRock]

Hi Gang!

I found my camera! Actually, as the machine came together, I came to realize just how bad my "bass ackwards" approach to the CNC shed had become. Even though the machine is nearly finished, I was forced to reconfigure everything about the shed. During that process, I found my camera. More importantly, I found the memory stick full of pictures inside.

Here's a shot of the Z axis assembly fitted onto the Y gantry. It fit nice and snug. 10 nuts and bolts later, the sides were on.

On the last photo, note that small orange drillgun. That's a Ridgid Micros from home depot, the smallest most powerful drillgun I know of. It's 12v lithium ion batteries recharge in just 15 minutes, and they last longer than my full sized DeWalt 12v. One battery pack lasted this whole build, and that includes disassembling everything at least once. It's also the only model I know of that has a chuck instead of a screwdriver hex receptacle. Best $120 bucks I ever spent on a tool.

Anyhoo, it's time to finish the gantry. More to come....

[GibbonsRock]

The gantry is bolted to two boxes clamped around the X axis rails. The floor and ceiling of these boxes house the angle-aluminum rollerblade bearing trucks that will contact the rails of the X.

You'll notice that in these photos, the "inside" wall of the boxes has been cut away. Patrick suggested that the structure was plenty strong enough, and trimming the inside pieces would enable me to attach the actual cutting table to the X rails later, enhancing ridgidity.

Now it's time to tackle assembling the X rails.....

[GibbonsRock]

Patrick's machine is purported to be the first modular design for a CNC machine- this kit can be scaled from a 2x4 design to a 4x8. He accomplishes this by building the main structures with an I-beam design. If you want to make the machine longer, you can add additional I-beams to make it 8' long. Likewise with the width- adding another I-beam to the width widens the workspace to 4'. After adding I beams, you replace the leadscrew and the angle iron tracks with a longer ones and reassemble. This lends itself to some flexibility- you can configure your machine as a 2x2, 2x4, 2x6, 2x8, 4x4, 4x6 and 4x8. (and possibly even longer if you can find the acme screws for it!)

Space is a serious commodity in my shop, so I stuck with the 2x4' machine.

In my kit, all the I-beams came pre-assembled, which was handy. All you need to do is line up two I beams, grab 2 connector plates and 8 nuts and bolts. After bolting them together, attach the legs with bolts and dowel nuts.

Mine didn't go together quite so smoothly. None of the connector plate bolt holes were countersunk enough for nuts to get a bite on bolts, and the X parts are not symmetrical on the horizontal axis. This means it is very easy to mate one I beam "up" to one oriented "down," resulting in a joint that has a nearly .125" stairstep between them, which would prevent or at least mess up movement of the gantry back and forth. I evened them up and drilled out the countersinks and got them all bolted together.

At this point I also made the executive decision to stop using nuts on the angle-headed bolts for the aluminum angle. The bolts are stressed in at a slight angle and bite hard into the MDF- they aren't going anywhere.

This time, I also didn't crank the bolts down hard onto the alum angle- I'll align it precisely with a caliper later when I fine-tune it all up.

[GibbonsRock]

Once the X beams are constructed and have aluminum track mounted on them, it's time to mate them to the gantry. This is a little tricky, but it can be done by one person. In the assembly videos, Patrick puts the gantry on top of the rails and then attaches the bottom connector plate from the bottom. In my shop configuration, I don't have easy access to the far side of the gantry, much less the underside of it, so I assembled it from the top. I removed the main top structure of the gantry and put the lower assembly on blocks so it slightly supported the machine, x rails and all. Then I replaced the top structure, lined up the bolts and cranked them down. Viola! The thing is really starting to look like a CNC machine!

As you can see in the photos, the machine wound up being MUCH larger than the table it's on. I thought that the two outrigger boards I put underneath would support it, but once the whole structure was complete and I wired up the motors, I decided this machine really really needs a level, flat and stable surface. More on that in a bit.

This is the point where I misplaced the camera, so I'm afraid there aren't any photos between this stage and where I am now. (which is: almost complete! I hope to make the first cuts this weekend!)

[GibbonsRock]

OK, by now I'd bolted the gantry together and even wired up the motors. Working around the machine on this workbench could be very trying: there's practically no access to the far side of the machine, and once the cutting surface was finished and installed, there would be zero access.

With the machine supported on these outrigger boards, I gave the machine a few tests, just moving the gantry back and forth. Those tests were extremely disappointing, but access was so limited that I was powerless to do much about it. Heck, half the problem might have been just an uneven base.

I decided I had to do something drastic about this bass ackwards table approach. I attached clothesline pullies to the machine and hoisted it up to the rafters of the shed. I then gutted the shed and it's workbench out from under the dangling machine.

Once the shed was clear, I built a new, very very level and flat table for the machine. The new table is 6x3, and only 30 inches tall. Once it was finished, I lowered the machine into place. It went very smoothly.

BOY I wish I had some pictures of this process, but it was about 3/4 of the way through it that I found the camera.

Here's the machine as it stands in my shed right now.

[GibbonsRock]

The new table is great. I can get to all sides of the machine, and it's work surface will be at an ideal height.

In that last photos, you can see my stepper controller board on the pegboard on the side wall. That's a "mechatronics" board, and for a time was sold on eBay by a dude called autohec. I don't think he sells them anymore. It served me well enough with my first CNC machine. I used Cat-5 cable to wire the motors, which are Keling technologies 425 oz/in motors. Take a good look at how those cables are haphazardly draped, because they're pretty important in a minute.

So, with my nearly finished machine now standing proudly on it's dedicated table, I set out to troubleshoot my machine and get it going smoothly.

It's frustrating: the X axis moves well only in the middle 2 feet of the travel, and then only up to about 80 ipm. Within about a foot of either end I have to decrease the ipms down to about 20 ipm to reach the limits of travel, and even then it's struggling. The Y axis travels smoothly throughout it's range, but it tops out at about 40 ipm reliably. Frustrating! Patrick has claimed CUTTING speeds @ 80, and rapids much higher.

I had really hoped the new table would clear up the X movement problems, but it didn't help at all. So I set out to map all of the measurements and parallelled the guidance rails and nothing I did made any difference. As might be expected, as I ran out of options I began to get extremely frustrated.

With frustration comes carelessness and, right on cue, I blundered through those white cat 5 cables I told you about, ripping one of them right out of the board, which fried it.

Coincidentally, a thread popped up over in Keling Electronics about a similar situation involving a mechatronics board. More importantly, the main topic is just how improved his machine performance is after he replaced his mechatronics drivers with Kelings.

So that's where I am right now. Last night I bolted 3 Keling drivers and a breakout board into a unused computer chassis and wired them up with a beefy 36v/9a power supply.

Tonight I hope to get the motor cables (and an Igus cable carrier- I do not care to repeat that dumb mistake!) installed and wired up and maybe I'll have some great news to report soon!

Cross your fingers! -Jim

[sonex128]

How about some pics. I need to mount my drivers but haven't got around to it yet.

Brian

[GibbonsRock]

Hi Sonex,

I mounted the Keling drivers in an otherwise abandoned minitower PC case. The breakout board and the drivers are bolted where the motherboard would have gone (I drilled new holes for them) and the power supply lives in the top chamber, where the PC power supply and drives would have been.

Don't try to wire your rig with these pictures- use a diagram from keling or watch patricks videos. I was cheap and didn't color code my interconnecting wires. You'll get lost real quick. The gray wire hanging out goes to the adjacent PC (running Mach) and supplies 5v from a USB connector.

Amazingly, I can't test it yet. The DB25 connector on this breakout board is female, the one on my old board is male. I'll have to splice another cable or get a gender changer, or buy a new one.

The Igus cable carrier is sweet.

Cheers, Jim

[gfc62]

Amazingly, I can't test it yet. The DB25 connector on this breakout board is female, the one on my old board is male. I'll have to splice another cable or get a gender changer, or buy a new one.
.

Jim,
Please don't waste your money on a cable. I have some extras & can drop one in the mail to you on Monday. They are DB25 male both ends like you need, the same cable I'm using to connect my Keling BOB to a PC.

Gordon

[GibbonsRock]

Thanks Gordon!

I may take you up on that offer! Let me check my office first- I think I have a M/M db25 at work, but I know I've got a gender changer, it's just a matter of finding it. It's just my work is 40 miles away, so I'll check tomorrow, when I'm there for a slightly higher purpose.

Sigh, so close, and yet so far.

Cheers! -Jim

[gfc62]

I don't see any connections on the breakout board terminals for limit and e-stop. When I was testing mine, I jumped those to the 5V connectors next to each one to be sure there was a signal. Be sure to check the NO/NC or active high active low settings in Mach for both of these.

On mine I decided that limit switches and e-stop should be normally closed so a disconnected wire harness connection would stop the machine.

Is enable connected as well? I can't make out if there are two power leads or three.

I'll bet you get this running even without the cable. If not, you'll have the cable before the weekend.