Howdy all, I finally received my G0704 after a few months planning. I've read pretty much every g0704 thread on this forum (and watched pretty much every video on Youtube) so I have a pretty concrete idea of what I want to do. My build will look pretty similar to Ryan's. My build plan is as follows:

-3D Model and prints
-Truing up of mill (lapping, probably some scrapping, also have access to a surface grinder. I'll see what it needs)
-Build steel stand and enclosure
-Extend Y axis, see what I can do about Z
-Mount DMM servos (300W on XY, 400W on Z) and C7 ballscrews
-Double ballnuts on all axis's
-Linear encoders on all axis's (Ryan's seem to be working quite well)
-Install electronics, computer, touchscreen monitor (probably on LinuxCNC, we'll get to that)

This is Stage 1. After this I will run a few runs of parts, small production runs of 30-50 parts at a time, to get enough income to continue.

Stage 2:
-New motor (treadmill or large servo, haven't decided)
-Power Drawbar
-ATC

I know everyone plans on an ATC, but I've only found a couple here on the forum (in other words it rarely ever gets done), but I have a fair bit of experience in automation engineering, so it shouldn't be too difficult to design (famous last words...). I'm exploring alternative to the simple carousel type, possibly a chain style.

About me: I'm an Aerospace engineering student at Texas A&M. I've been a manual machinist for the past 4 years, so I have a fairly concrete foundation in mill and lathe work. Once I get the mill running I will be producing production parts for the machine shop I work for. While a VMC would be infinitely better for production, I need something that runs on 110V and fits through a garage door. Plus, I love a good project.

Now, on to the questions:

I seem to have very little z movement. Is the z carriage supposed to stop flush with the column? I've seen Hoss's carriage flip, is there anything else to get more z travel?

My mill will not run unless the stupid plastic guard is swung in front of the tool. While this is a super easy fix, is this a new thing? I've never seen it mentioned elsewhere.

Finally, on to control. The servo control is no problem, but I'm wondering what the best way is to sync the linear encoders. Would KFlop be best, as Ryan used, with the mach3 plugin, or would it be better to get a board from Mesa and run it all into LinuxCNC, closing the loop there? I have a bit of experience and a license for Mach3, but I'm fine with Linux as well...

Thanks for any input, I look forward to the build!



A few pics of me maneuvering the mill onto its stand temporarily. The crate was in pretty sorry shape when it arrived, but the mill seems to be fine.