Project CNC - November 2007 - Ongoing
Well, you have to start somewhere. The
hardware, wood, metal, and electronics are
all acquired. Part fabrication is almost
complete. The finished machine will be able
to handle up to 25" x 37" items. Plans
provided by David Steele, www.solsylva.com.
hardware, wood, metal, and electronics are
all acquired. Part fabrication is almost
complete. The finished machine will be able
to handle up to 25" x 37" items. Plans
provided by David Steele, www.solsylva.com.
All wood components are made of oak and
treated with a medium stain.
treated with a medium stain.
Some wood parts.
Plastic blocks that will hold bearings for
leadscrews. These were made from a
single plastic kitchen cutting board.
leadscrews. These were made from a
single plastic kitchen cutting board.
Aluminum parts.
I thought it might be fun to make some
parts out of Plexiglas rather than 1/4 inch
hardboard.
parts out of Plexiglas rather than 1/4 inch
hardboard.
Misc. hardware, bearings, and belts.
Z axis stepper motor support bracket.
Z axis stepper motor support bracket test
fit on Z axis gantry assembly. The bearing
located below the bracket will is for the
vertical lead screw that will be directly
connected to the motor.
fit on Z axis gantry assembly. The bearing
located below the bracket will is for the
vertical lead screw that will be directly
connected to the motor.
View from the side and above. The pieces
are starting to come together.
are starting to come together.
Z axis stepper connect to leadscrew.
Z axis gantry nearing completion with
stepper motor in place. X and Y axis
hardware test fit in background.
stepper motor in place. X and Y axis
hardware test fit in background.
Z axis gantry side view with lead screw
installed. All lead screws are 3/8"-10 ACME
2 Start (5 turns per inch).
installed. All lead screws are 3/8"-10 ACME
2 Start (5 turns per inch).
Leadscrew nut attachment to Z axis gantry.
All nuts are 3/8" ACME Anti-Backlash
Leadnuts from DumpsterCNC.com.
All nuts are 3/8" ACME Anti-Backlash
Leadnuts from DumpsterCNC.com.
View with Z gantry in place.
Another view from the back.
First trial fit with all three axis gantries in
place.
place.
X axis gantry bearings in place.
All axis bearings installed and X axis
stepper motor and belt in place.
stepper motor and belt in place.
Another view of X axis stepper motor and
belt idler. Stepper motors are 425 oz.
purchased with controller drives from
www.xylotex.com.
belt idler. Stepper motors are 425 oz.
purchased with controller drives from
www.xylotex.com.
Won't be long before the wood chips start
flying.
flying.
Detail of Vertical "Z" axis.
Beginning to mount the Porter
Cable Trim Router.
Beginning to mount the Porter
Cable Trim Router.
View from the back. The Y axis
stepper motor is mounted on the
left. Y axis lead screw extends out
from the motor along the bottom of
the y axis gantry.
The only remaining tasks are to
connect the X and Y gantries to
their lead screws, install limit kill
switches, complete wiring to
stepper motors, install 110v router
power with speed controller, and
make final adjustments.
A new digital level was acquired
today to verify and square up
alignments to a 1/10 of a degree.
stepper motor is mounted on the
left. Y axis lead screw extends out
from the motor along the bottom of
the y axis gantry.
The only remaining tasks are to
connect the X and Y gantries to
their lead screws, install limit kill
switches, complete wiring to
stepper motors, install 110v router
power with speed controller, and
make final adjustments.
A new digital level was acquired
today to verify and square up
alignments to a 1/10 of a degree.
Close up view of Mach3 control
software application. This
application will translate text
movement instructions into
electrical pulses sent via the
printer port to a second controller
that operates the three stepper
motors simultaneously.
software application. This
application will translate text
movement instructions into
electrical pulses sent via the
printer port to a second controller
that operates the three stepper
motors simultaneously.
This is the new CNC installation.
The CNC machine is nearing
completion. The controlling PC
has been installed in a dust proof
cabinet under the table (below
keyboard in photo). Three drawers
have been installed for misc.
equipment, bits, etc. PC Monitor
has been installed up at eye level.
Master kill switch is installed
below the monitor.
The CNC machine is nearing
completion. The controlling PC
has been installed in a dust proof
cabinet under the table (below
keyboard in photo). Three drawers
have been installed for misc.
equipment, bits, etc. PC Monitor
has been installed up at eye level.
Master kill switch is installed
below the monitor.
Top of Z axis gantry. You can see
the Z axis lead screw extending
down from the motor through a
3/8" bearing. The gantry rides on
four sets of bearings that capture
a pair of aluminum tubes located
on top and bottom of the Y axis
gantry rail.
01/26/08
the Z axis lead screw extending
down from the motor through a
3/8" bearing. The gantry rides on
four sets of bearings that capture
a pair of aluminum tubes located
on top and bottom of the Y axis
gantry rail.
01/26/08
Well it's now up and running as a
pen plotter. I thought it made
sense to do some drawing for
calibration and making friends with
Mach3. Better to make newbie
mistakes with a pen rather than a
router.
You can use the Mach3 jog
functions to draw long parallel
lines along both the x and y axis to
verify alignment.
pen plotter. I thought it made
sense to do some drawing for
calibration and making friends with
Mach3. Better to make newbie
mistakes with a pen rather than a
router.
You can use the Mach3 jog
functions to draw long parallel
lines along both the x and y axis to
verify alignment.
I obtained a spring loaded, ball
point tipped, plastic pen ink tube
and mounted it with the spring
between two small blocks of wood.
I used super glue to attach the
blocks to a small base. The base is
attached to the Z gantry with a
single wood screw through the
existing hole for the router attach
screw.
I drew a uniform grid with hand
written G code and used the
Mach3 lettering wizard to
demonstrate that capability. All the
curves drawn are amazingly
smooth even down to 1/4"
diameter circles.
point tipped, plastic pen ink tube
and mounted it with the spring
between two small blocks of wood.
I used super glue to attach the
blocks to a small base. The base is
attached to the Z gantry with a
single wood screw through the
existing hole for the router attach
screw.
I drew a uniform grid with hand
written G code and used the
Mach3 lettering wizard to
demonstrate that capability. All the
curves drawn are amazingly
smooth even down to 1/4"
diameter circles.
Clamp rails have now been added
to the bed of the CNC
to the bed of the CNC
Test carving guitar rosette rings.
A very precise way to carve rosettes.
Now for the real thing on a harp
guitar top.
guitar top.
Test drawing a profile of a new side
bending Triple O form before the saw
dust flies.
bending Triple O form before the saw
dust flies.
Oct 2009
Recent installation updates that
include hinged board support for
overhead wiring and vacuum hose.
Recent installation updates that
include hinged board support for
overhead wiring and vacuum hose.
March 2010
This is a test of an aid to have the router
self-center after placing cross hairs over
a 0,0 home location. This can also be
used to set Z zero as well.
The base of the aid is clear plastic. Cross
hairs are etched on the plastic that can
be seen inside the copper tube. The
copper tube is electrically bonded to a
copper coated PC board with a solder
joint and then joined around the base
with gap filling super glue.
The circuit wiring used with the Xylotex
controller is the same as the Xylotex limit
switch setup, just leave out the limit
switches.
The rest of the details can be found on
the cnczone forum.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthre
ad.php?t=56079
This is a test of an aid to have the router
self-center after placing cross hairs over
a 0,0 home location. This can also be
used to set Z zero as well.
The base of the aid is clear plastic. Cross
hairs are etched on the plastic that can
be seen inside the copper tube. The
copper tube is electrically bonded to a
copper coated PC board with a solder
joint and then joined around the base
with gap filling super glue.
The circuit wiring used with the Xylotex
controller is the same as the Xylotex limit
switch setup, just leave out the limit
switches.
The rest of the details can be found on
the cnczone forum.
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthre
ad.php?t=56079
End