[Topdecking]

Those are BEAUTIFUL ballnut mounts.
Someone *hint hint* should start making and selling something similar for all the different sizes *nudge nudge*.

"Widgit Master Productions" *NUDGE NUDGE*

[widgitmaster]

today I made the two Teflon washers, then I turned a step on the inner surface of the big washer. The Teflon is .040" thick, so I made the step .040" deep. This will offset the pivot plate .040" so the powder coating doesn't have to be removed! Next I assembled both motor swing plates, and mounted them on the router! Then I assembled the x-axis motor slide plate, but this required scraping all the powder coating off the frame where the little trucks go. A bit of a hassle, but it's done!

[widgitmaster]

The stuff for the 220-VAC arrived today, so I can start working on the 220-VAC supply conduit. It looks like I may have to move the big Lathe away from the wall, just to get access to the lathe's 220-VAC supply box & twist-lock plug! The power cord is only 10-ft long, so I can't go too far from the machine!

[widgitmaster]

Lots of progress today! The 220-VAC wall outlet is installed, and the wiring on the squirrel cage fan is finished! Now when I flip the power switch, the fan comes on and it moves lots of air through the Hoffman boxes! Then I pulled the VFD cable and water lines, along with all the stepper motor cables. everything is on track, except for one small situation! The upper conduit is too small for all the cables, so I'll have to increase it from 1/2" to 3/4" EMT. The black Delrin block which attaches to the end of the cable-chain needs to be modified to hold the water line fittings. That should not take long, so I'll do that n the morning!

[CNCMAN172]

Looking Sweet Wigit, this beast will be running pretty soon.
Russ

[nlancaster]

Looking like you are making excellent progress widget, you should be cutting by this weekend right?

[widgitmaster]

The parts have returned from the powder coat'er, the yellow really looks nice on the red too! So I quickly tapped all the holes, and removed the unnecessary coating. Then I pressed in the dowel pins for the end plates, and mounted them on all four corners. The acorn nuts with through threads arrived, so I put them on the ends plates.
Next I cleaned up the z-axis slide, and mounted it on the machine! The VFD cable, water lines, and cable chain went right in place! Then I pulled 13x wires through the small tube connecting the gantry side boxes. There was plenty of room, after I switched to single conductor hook-up wires! I still have to replace the 1/2" EMT, as it's too small for all the cables!

[CarveOne]

Your machine is coming together nicely, and looking really good Widgit. No doubt that you will have yours running before mine is anywhere near completed.

[widgitmaster]

The race is on Carv'e

More progress today, as one of the gantry side boxes is finished! The crazy thing is the 1 1/4" conduit is so full, and I still have one more cable to pull through it!
After dinner, I went back into the garage and tapped all the holes in the white plates, then I mounted all the circuit boards! The barrier strips in the side boxes was a great choice, as it made wiring everything so much easier! Tomorrow I'll pull the last cable, and that will finish the other side box!.

When I find someone with a truck, I'll get a full sheet of 3/4" MDF. Then I can put it on the machine and setup a little work station. That way I can better reach the top boxes, and finish wiring them too!

[Jason Marsha]

Almost there Widgit, the finish line is in sight. The colour combo looks good.

Jason

[CNCMAN172]

Wigit, those colors really make your machine POP. The wiring job is also first class, very nice.
Russ
:cheers:

[CarveOne]

Widgit can't hear you guys. He's out in the garage making sure that he wins the race.

[widgitmaster]

You tell'em Carv'e !!

So far today, I've made two trips to ACE, and two trips to Home-Depot just to increase the conduit from 1/2" to 3/4" ! Then I had to enlarge the hole in the Delrin block, so the EMT fittings would go through! Finally the circuit boards are in the big box, and all the cables are too! So for the last 3-hr, I've been making connections and identifying which cable goes to which axis! To make it a bit easier, I made up a test plug that screws into the stepper motor sockets! Then I connected the 110-VAC to the transformer, and put the AC lines inside a braided jacket with one end grounded! The braid was almost too short, so I used a crimp connector to add a 3" long piece of braid! The yellow cover was too much, so I removed it Why shield the shield?
After sitting on a pile of rags, my back hurts, my butt hurts, and my knees are MIA! I may have to put some traction bars hanging from the ceiling

[widgitmaster]

So far I've made excellent progress, as all the primary circuits have been connected! The Wire-Marker's are worth their weight in gold, everything is now clearly marked! By Friday I should be ready to turn the 220-VAC on, and start moving the gantry!

[keebler303]

Keep the panel doors closed so the magic smoke can't escape!!

[widgitmaster]

Keep the panel doors closed so the magic smoke can't escape!!

No smoke, but it did get within .2 deg F with boiling water!
Just a test to see if the digital thermometer was accurate, being that it was designed for automobiles!
It's the only Fahrenheit digital thermometer I could find that used 12-VDC!!
So now I need to make something to mount it on the Z-Axis slide! Then I need to make a Z-Axis touch-off plate and a nice holder!

[widgitmaster]

A little more progress today! Putting two small barrier strips in the big gantry side box was a mistake, there were more connections than I had anticipated! So I found a 20-circuit barrier strip, and mounted it inside the long cover plate! Now all the connections are easily accessible, and easier to trace for errors!

[widgitmaster]

This morning I added the 12-VDC contactor which will sever the 220-VAC power when any of the E-Stop switches are used! Then I put all the access cover plates on, as I should be finished in there!

When testing the y-axis limit switches, I found three duds! Glad I bought a bunch of them! Next I hooked up the bright white LED's, to see how they looked! Now I can remove the z-slide, and mill & drill the end so the LED's will fit flush! Also, I'm still undecided as to where the digital thermometer will be mounted! But I've been thinking of a nice block of black Delrin between the spindle clamps, that way I can hide the probe, the hose clamp, and all the wires! Enclosing the area between clamps will create a hot-pocket above the bearings, and should be a good place to measure their temperature!

[CNCMAN172]

Wigit, amazing that those more expensive type limit switches were duds. I wonder if there was grease or something on the contacts, I did find a issue with one myself, but mine are smaller and I was shocked mine was bad. I never did figure out what caused mine to fail. Well you should be cutting out one of those large calendars this weekend. LOL

Russ

[widgitmaster]

Wigit, amazing that those more expensive type limit switches were duds. I wonder if there was grease or something on the contacts, I did find a issue with one myself, but mine are smaller and I was shocked mine was bad. I never did figure out what caused mine to fail. Well you should be cutting out one of those large calendars this weekend. LOL

Russ

Hi Russ,
The switches have been on the machine from the beginning, and I think my setscrews were too long and crashed them internally! My Bad

But I have had a good day! Last evening I put an old PC in the garage, and hooked it up to the router. This morning I have been tuning motors and configuring MACH3! The good news is this machine actually does move at 1000 IPM in rapid mode! WOW!

I have two movies, but I'm not sure how to upload them