[metalworkz]

Hello guys,
I was able to work on the bench frame sides today and both frame halves are assembled and glued. I need to trim the legs to the final height and possibly add some screws to them but now I can get started on the end pieces. I have a few pictures of today's efforts.







Regards,

[metalworkz]

Hello,
I got the chalkboard finished today, Wo0-Ho0! This is a late Christmas gift for last year so it is good to finally get this done and give it to my son. I started to make 2 of these assemblies last year and then became ill and hospitalized for double pneumonia and H1N1 flu so that might explain how I got so far behind on something like this. I was able to finish the first one for my youngest son by Christmas 2009 but had only started the 2nd one by then. It feels real good to actually get the second one done and be able to move on to some other things. I hope everyone is well and life is treating them well.



Regards,

[metalworkz]

Hello,
I made a dog tag for my new afghan puppy the other day out of .125" thick aluminum. I used Vectric's software to to create the 3D and cut it with the machine from this thread. It does not have any paint or finish on it yet, but here are some pictures of the part.







Regards,

[Teyber12]

lets see a picture of the pup!

the tag came out great

[metalworkz]

Here is a shot of him chilling on the floor. I don't have other pictures of him yet. He looks like he is going to have a lot of blonde hair.



Regards,

[Jeff S Gears]

Metalworkz,

I just created an acct on here a few minutes ago. The main reason was to thank you for putting together such a good forum post. I actually stumbled upon this thread of yours by doing various google searches researching homemade CNC equipment. I have been looking for a good hobby where you make things with your own two hands for quite some time now.

I took one look at your setup and initially thought "Man, that is way out of my league". lol. It seemed to me you would need a pretty good machine shop setup to make that tank of a rig. It was interesting reading though, and I could not help but keep reading.

Partway down I saw the discussion change over to Gingery Machines. I had never heard of those as my background is in mechanical design. After searching that up, I now have a catalog on the way from them and will be getting the basic set of books as soon as money allows. I live in an apartment so I will not actually be able to do anything until I buy my first house, but I have a feeling it will keep me busy for quite some time reading those books and digesting everything in them.

I am a Mechanical Designer and I have been in that end of the industry for the past 15yrs or so, but I have always envied the guys in the shop who actually get to make the parts. I have always liked being able to go out in the shop and lay my hands on something that went from my drawing to the final part. It is satisfying for me to design something but I would really like to do that and then make the part myself even if it is for a hobby.

It will most likely be quite a while before I actually get to start casting parts and making my first lathe but in the time being I am going to do as much research and learning as possible with those Gingery books. I use AutoCAD and Inventor at work and bring my laptop home with me everyday anyways, so I might content myself with designing all the Gingery Machines in Inventor until I have my own property to start building everything.

Thank you again for such a good forum thread though. You have put me on the path to a very rewarding hobby. I am so glad I stumbled on your forum post and found this website. I am going to wander around the rest of the threads on this board as just from noticing some of the titles it appears I may be able to find some even smaller machines to cut my teeth on. Perhaps I can make something small enough to fit on the coffee table to test my wifes patience. lol

Thanks,

Jeff

[FandZ]

I'm almost willing to bet Jeff will have a cnc machine before Christmas. If you made it to the zone, it's too late. Your hooked for life.

[Jeff S Gears]

Lmao, Yes I hope so. And I have to say, Oh My God! This is one incredible site! I am embarassed to say I didn't even look beyond this one post. I can not believe how many different areas there are and the activity on here.

I may have to set my sights much lower initially and think about something extremely small scale that I can make out of wood just so I can get my hands busy doing something. I have subscribed to this thread though so I can follow it. :-)

[FandZ]

Lmao, Yes I hope so. And I have to say, Oh My God! This is one incredible site! I am embarassed to say I didn't even look beyond this one post. I can not believe how many different areas there are and the activity on here.

I may have to set my sights much lower initially and think about something extremely small scale that I can make out of wood just so I can get my hands busy doing something. I have subscribed to this thread though so I can follow it. :-)

I built my first one in an apartment/townhouse. It wasn't too pretty..lol There are some kits now a days from 500 to 2000. In hindsight I wish I would had gotten one of those. Good luck on your journey and welcome to the zone

[metalworkz]

Hello Jeff,

Welcome to the Zone and thanks for the kind remarks about this thread! I am glad to know that something I have posted has motivated/inspired someone, and I want to wish you the best of luck with your endeavors! If there is ever anything I can be assistance with( I have all the Gingery patterns and books) feel free to contact me and I will do my best to be of some help.
The CNCZone is a great place and so much information it should help with those times when you can't actually be in the shop and do things with your hands. Endless information in all categories and so many members posting each day.
It may be challenging but you can probably find some small projects to do even in the apartment and those may get you through until you have a place to do the more involved things. Good luck!

Regards,

[metalworkz]

Hello,
I have another dog(a golden retriever) and I need to make him a tag also. I decided to do this one in the shape of a fire hydrant and I created a 3D model of one to make the toolpaths. I might get time to cut it tomorrow but here is a preview of the toolpaths. The name, phone number and address are to be engraved on the backside.





Regards,

[metalworkz]

Hello guys,

I had a couple people ask me about the possibility of making the plans available for this CNC router build, but didn't think the demand was really high enough at first to warrant the time to put the build into a plan form. I have since then been wondering if there would be anybody interested in the drawings or plans for this machine? I have already put together a base kit of a laser cut steel base, gantry uprights and gantry cross supports and have a quote from the shop that laser cut my parts if there is any interest. Also I would sure like to know if any of you would be interested in a set of plans for this build before I put the extra time into detailed instructions? Any input you can provide will help me either forget about the plans or go ahead and start writing the detailed instructions. I already have all the parts files and a good build log for anyone to follow on the Vectric forums and here. Thanks for taking the time to give me some feedback!

[metalworkz]

Here is a shot of the base, gantry uprights and cross supports done in Inventor. These parts are laser cut .375" HRS and the base is cut from .25" HRS and they can be easily assembled by fitting the tabbed sections into the keyed ends of the mating parts. The assembly is very sturdy even before assembling with the socket head bolts. The tab and key construction also basically negates the need for dowel pins yet is in some ways probably even stronger. I think this makes a good base kit that will provide a very sturdy foundation to build a CNC machine to cut aluminum with.

[metalworkz]

Hello guys,
I finally got around to finishing the bench frame and got the top surface and bottom shelf cut and mounted today. I also got the casters mounted to the legs and it all seems to be very sturdy and very maneuverable with the turning casters. The casters on one end have a locking mechanism incorporated so that should be good for keeping the table in place when the machine is running, but I will make a couple of wheels chocks for the other end just in case. I intend to enclose the bench and make it more of a cabinet/bench but I think I will wait on enclosing the bench. I will see about getting the machine moved onto the bench tomorrow an see how it all fits, but I am sure it will be a sturdy bench. I may make some counter-bored foot plates to trap the machine feet on the table top also.

[metalworkz]

Hello all,
I finally got the machine to my sons place this past week and today I got some pictures of it on the bench at it's new home. I hated to see it go but this is what I had wanted to do and I finally got it done. Hopefully he will get many years of service from my first CNC build and now I can begin my second build of a larger machine for myself.
I will probably try some different ideas with my 2nd build so it should be just as interesting for me as my 1st one. Take a look at the pictures and if anyone ever has a question about any aspect of my build I will be glad to try and answer. I may add some pictures of things he has cut from time to time but other than that and any improvements we make to the design etc. I think the thread will come to an end. Thanks for all the encouragement, advice and help from everyone!

[metalworkz]

Hello again,
I had a request to make a clock for my oldest sons girlfriend. She has a son that used to race bmx so she wants a clock in a sprocket shape with flames on it for his birthday that is coming up soon. I made the design in VcarvePro and went to my sons place to cut it with his machine because it has larger travels than my CNC mill and we would be able to do it all without repositioning the material. We cut the numbers, flames and text with a 90º x .25"dia. 2 flute solid carbide V bit to about .03" depth and then used a .093" dia. 2 flute end mill to cut the center hole and cut the profile along the sprocket teeth. She actually wants a clock with about a 14" diameter so I will probably combine the aluminum face into a wooden frame to get the larger size she is looking for, unless she is happy with it the way it is. It measures close to 7.75" diameter as it is and I think it will be fine after I finish the cleanup and perhaps some finish work, but I have already given some thought to inlaying it into a wooden frame if needed.
My son has done several projects with his machine since I gave it to him including the clock he made for me a while back. He made a small scale railroad car for oiling the tracks not too long ago and has some RC car chassis suspension parts partially completed now.
I was glad to get the face for the clock done and it did not take too long to complete it either(about 14min engraving and a little over 15min for the profile). I have had very good luck with the tiling toolpaths since the new versions have been released but I really enjoyed getting it done without the hassle of repositioning.
I have a couple of pictures taken with a cell phone so they may not be very good.

[dfmiller]

Wes,
I don't read things here all the time. Thanks for bumping your post up. That is a very nice looking machine. And a fantastic write up. Its great to see someone building and using the Gingery machine. I found the books very interesting but I am too lazy and too ADD to ever complete one.
Thanks for sharing.
Dave

[metalworkz]

Wes,
I don't read things here all the time. Thanks for bumping your post up. That is a very nice looking machine. And a fantastic write up. Its great to see someone building and using the Gingery machine. I found the books very interesting but I am too lazy and too ADD to ever complete one.
Thanks for sharing.
Dave

Hello Dave,
I am glad that you enjoyed the thread. I just wanted to say if you have the books the projects are something that normally can not be done in a short time anyway so don't let anything stop you from making the machines. I worked on them at my own leisure on weekends and as time permitted in the evenings, and once you get started the motivation to get to the next step in the process was enough to keep me going. I did all of the melting and pouring outside so it was a good summertime project that lasted all of 10 years or more and I learned a heck of a lot in that time that I would not have experienced in a lifetime otherwise. Just be careful and take your time and in a while you will have a small lathe to work with. I spent a lot of time working on wooden patterns inside and when it was raining or too wet outside to melt. I just wanted to encourage you to go for it if you are so inclined and do it at your own pace.

[metalworkz]

Hello again,
It seems I have left this thread behind in updates on what we have done to this machine since my last posts here. We were experiencing some intermittent problems with the X and Y axis when using the machine, and I kind of thought it was due to noise perhaps. Well the problems were not encountered all the time so we worked around them for a while. I thought perhaps the motor tuning for the X could use some improvement and I also took notice of the reduction ratio for the X axis. I had used what timing pulleys I had on hand when I made the machine for this axis and it looked like maybe it could be improved. I had a larger pulley to replace the small pulley on the motor so we changed that timing pulley and after adjusting the motor tuning for this axis it did seem to improve the use. I had about the same time acquired a smooth stepper(USB) so we decided to add it to the system and see how it worked.
We were very pleased with the improved movement for all axis and for the most part is was a great addition to the machine. We have increased feed rates without any problems and the movements are much smoother with this addition. There is one minor problem with it and that involves homing all axis together(at once). We had the homing wired in series which worked very well with the BOB setup, but homing all axis with the smooth stepper does not work correctly with them wired in series. We have resorted to simply homing only a single axis at a time which works fine as long as you do not inadvertently try to use the Home all axis button in Mach.
We also added a relay board too so we could turn the spindle and vacuum on and off with Mach3 and this makes the use of the machine a bit easier too(more automated) and it will finish a job and shut the spindle and vacuum off.
The original control box was just a bit small for the newly added boards to fit so we used the machine temporarily with the boards hanging out of the machine. This is not the right way to do it and we fabricated another larger box to house it all with since then. This past weekend(1/12/2013) we got the components swapped to the new box and it is basically all wired up now.
There are a few things to tidy up and we are going to add the wire sheaths for most of the wires to make it a neater setup but here are some pics of the current box on the machine and wired.