[metalworkz]

Hello,
I have almost completed my build for a small CNC moving table build on the Vectric website and thought maybe it would be good to post the thread here on the Zone also. I designed all my parts with VcarvePro and most of the larger parts were laser cut from HRS or aluminum.
I designed it all from scratch and even designed the motor coupler from flat stock, motor brackets from flat aluminum, and have a cable carrier that is made from ABS pipe that is working fine. I thought some of the ideas might help people getting ready to build and perhaps I might get some constructive criticism from other members that will enable making improvements where needed. The build is almost done so I am not sure how to post the thread up to this point, and any advise or suggestions is appreciated. I will post a shot of the end view showing most of the machine for reference.

[kevin swan]

nice JOB nice size I like that more pics please

[Jesse B]

That looks pretty good. Some more pictures would be cool, and some video would be even cooler.

Also, what are you using for electronics? Motors, Drivers, etc.

[metalworkz]

OK, maybe I should start at the beginning of the build.
I have pictures of the base and gantry/bridge sections as I received them after laser cutting. I designed all the parts that fit together with a tab and keyed construction so the pieces all fit together like a puzzle and the assemblies are very sturdy.

[metalworkz]

Here's more pictures of the gantry assembly etc.

[metalworkz]

Hello,
I acquired the stepper motors from eBay along with the THK guide/balscrew and the Thomson fully supported 30" rails. The ball screw for the Z axis was also obtained from eBay and is about 4.5" or travel. If you watch eBay over a period of time you can possibly find some good deals on rails, ballscrews, actuators etc. and I actually designed the basic size of the machine around what I was able to obtain for the motion control and slides of the machine.
The electronics I am using were obtained from Hubbard CNC on eBay and Brent is a great person to deal with. He has offered me information to help with my build regarding the electronics and I got all of my stepper drivers and the power supply from Brent at Hubbard CNC. The drivers are a CW250AC and are capable of micro stepping of 1/256, but you can probably get by with something less expensive if you don't need the micro stepping. I ended up switching the X axis motor from the older cylindrical style to a new Kelling 425oz.in. motor due to the weight involved with my .375" HRS x 20" x 24" work table. The breakout board is a C10 from CNC4PC.
I designed the driver control box from .063 alum. and it is formed and includes PEM insert hardware for the hardware installation locations. I will post pictures of the driver box later.
Best regards,

[metalworkz]

Here are the next set of pictures for the build.
The complete build can be found on the Vectric forum website:

http://www.vectric.com/forum/viewtop...t=5736&start=0

[metalworkz]

Here are some pictures of the next steps of the build. As you can see I have tried to utilize the idea of tab and key construction and making as many of the parts as possible from flat material and assembling those parts with bolts instead of welding which many times introduces stress into the assembly. This also allows for making parts that may need to be formed out of all flat material, and with the gussets they are still very strong(most of the assemblies fit so snug that they stay together even before adding the screws)
The rails for the Z are some approx. 6" linear rails I was able to find reasonably priced on eBay. If you are looking for parts try running the search utility and over a period of time you will be surprised what great deals go bye.
The guide I used for the Y axis along the gantry/bridge is a THK guide/actuator unit that has about 18" of travel. It has a single carriage and the guide is a solid single piece steel channel and has a ball screw incorporated. It works great for the Y axis on this machine and almost seems a perfect size and very compact.
The pictures here include the Rotozip motor mount and the bearing block shown on the assembly of the Z.



Regards,

[metalworkz]

I worked on the Y axis motor mounting bracket next and it is another tab and keyed assembly for the NEMA 23 motor on my Y axis. Here are some pictures of the laser cut parts and the assembled unit.







Regards,

[metalworkz]

Hello again,
I guess there are no comments or questions? Maybe nobody is interested, but I will continue just in case.
I believe the mounting brackets for the X axis ballscrew/actuator was next for the build. I did not want to wait to have the parts lasered and I had some .50" thick aluminum stock and I decided to cut the parts with a jig saw and finish them square in my homemade Gingery metal shaper. These brackets worked very good and allowed me to keep the height of the worktable fairly low. Take a look at the pictures, and if you have questions or comments please post them.









Regards,

[Jesse B]

You've got over 300 views, people are interested. We just haven't commented yet More interested in just seeing the build

[RomanLini]

Yeah please keep posting! I love small rugged moving table builds.

People here don't seem to encourage build threads much unless they are 8'x4' gantry builds for some reason. I think lots of people just want to build wardrobes...

[metalworkz]

Hello Jesse,

Thanks for replying.
I guess since no-one replied I figured there was no interest.
Maybe I should post more each day? I can post a bit more each time, but I didn't want to rush through the build and also wanted to keep it all intact.
You can actually see the entire build at the Vectric forums website:

http://www.vectric.com/forum/viewtop...t=5736&start=0

[metalworkz]

I needed a motor coupler for my Z axis and decided to try and make one from flat stock. I did some research on the zone and found some good information about making your own couplers. The Oldham coupler was brought up in one of the posts and that design gave me ideas how to make my flat stock work for the coupler I needed. So far the coupler is working fine and I don't think it will wear out any time soon. Take a look at the pictures and let me know if there are any questions about them.










Regards,

[FandZ]

Please keep the posts and pictures coming. There's a lot to take in and it's a much better build than the average one you see in this part of the forum. It can be a little intimidating to some.

I really like how you made those couplers. How are they being secured to your stepper and screw? The oldham couplers I've seen typically have a slot and are torqued tight. I may have to replicate the ones you made.

[Jesse B]

Those couplers are very cool. How are they working for you?

[brihoo2k]

I really liked your tab and keyed construction using parts that were laser cut. And your oldham couplers were tops. But the kicker for me was the fact that you used a Gingery shaper to make some parts of your machine. For the people that don't know Gingery machines are a completely home built machine. Please post more because I'm definitely interested

[metalworkz]

Hello guys,

Thanks for all the replies and kind remarks.
As far as the Gingery machines goes I have made the metal lathe, metal shaper, horizontal milling machine, and the hand leaf brake.
They were great learning experiences and Dave Gingery teaches one how to make do with what you have or have access to. Perhaps one of the best lessons I learned from his books was the idea of breaking overwhelming projects into small steps, and conquering the project one step at a time.
I will post pictures of the Gingery machines as they were used to finish some of the parts and square off some of the lasered items.
The coupler I made is only being used on the Z axis and is working very well. It is secured to the motor shaft with a set screw tightened onto a flat I cut on the shaft. Similar to the Oldham style there is enough room in the obrounds for any slight mis-alignment of the motor and ballscrew shafts. I think I have a couple more pictures of squaring the X ballscrew brackets with the Gingery shaper I can post here. The shaper is truing the lasered Z axis ballscrew bearing block and the miller is doing 2nd operations on the Rotozip motor brackets after being laser cut. There is just a small kerf on lasered parts and for the bearing bracket I needed a perpendicular mounting surface.






Regards,

[metalworkz]

I believe one of the next items I started to work on at this stage of the build was the cable carrier. I initially started with a design to make the carrier from flat material and thought I would do things a bit different than the others and make each link as a single piece. I still have the toolpaths ready to cut them from flat material, form them up and snap them together. Then I had a thought, why not make the carrier from something that is already a closed shape?? How about ABS pipe? At $3.69 for an eight foot length it seemed very reasonable to try. I toyed with the idea, drew the links and created the toolpaths with VcarvePro.
Actually all the parts in this build were designed with VcarvePro and the parts I cut were toolpathed with VcarvePro also.
I will try an post some early drawing shots of the cable carrier and some pictures of the links. You can see the carrier in the picture of the completed machine on the first post along the top of the bridge behind the Z axis.

[supertechster]

Please send more pics, more info and tell us about that nifty 'Gingery' machine you built. Looks like an all-in-one shop in about 2'x2' space ;-)

Can you please share your dxf or G-Code cut files for that awesome mini-table with us?

Thanks for all your great postings, pics and info so far!