Figured out an easy way to determine the lenght of the cutter
Theory:
The frame of the router is a closed circuit with the cutter
   The ground wire that runs between the router and the dust collect is connected to the cutter as well
   Attach an Ohms meter a piece of steel and the ground wire
   Set the Ohms meter to scream when circuit is closed
   Lower the bit down slowly till it screams
   Metal is .1875 thick
   Do the math and you got your cutter tip
This will tie me over till I relearn Tool Length compensation and get the Post Process to work correctly with Mach 3.

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Feb 24, 2007
The Chips Are Flying

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All the 1/2" Plastic Parts

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Feb 25, 2007
Monitor Swivel

This allows the monitor to go from the work bench to the machine
As well returns my work bench area back
While very primative it works

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Machining of 3/4 MDF Parts

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Feb 27, 2007
Cutting of HDPE 3/4" Parts

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Parts cleaned up Ready for use DSCN5217

Opps Z 0 of just a little No big problem a knife can cut these easily out. You can see the tabs in the plastic DSCN5218

Roughed out parts(on left) and clean parts(on right) And the plastic there were cut from. DSCN5219

More Ideas

Remote management of machine and creating tabs

How I created tabs Create bottom layer at the lowest point And create breaks in the lines (see red lines) Solid bottom lines for outlines are put 0.1" above the bottom Inside cut throughs are machine fully to the bottom (See circles) T's in picture tell me these are taped holes(just for reference CreatingTabs

Remote connections to shop By putting a camera in the shop and Using VNC on the machine controlling the router I am able to monitor the shop from any computer in the house (from which their are plenty in this house) As well it can be seen from the internet if necessary WirelessSetup

March 1, 2007
Lots of Parts

And Lots more to come.
They are coming out the machine at a good rate

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Can you say MISSED A STEP

The side effects of the motors not moving when requested to

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Testing the accuracy of the cutter

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March 3, 2007
Taping the parts

Lots of taping required

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Cutting parts that don't fit in the machine

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Even more parts

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Z Axis Assembly

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Y Axis Assembly

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Opps The rails of the Y axis should have been pocketed and not cut through DSCN5243

March 5, 2007

Parts fixed and more parts

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March 6th, 2007
Prototyping

Saw this on learning channel today
Interesting idea
Fab At Home

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More Parts Ready

No glue yet, just assembled to verify fit

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By Products

This is only about 1/2 of the MDF cutouts DSCN5254

Plastic left overs Tonight I cut the last plastic parts out DSCN5256

The table is getting a lot of cool patterns on it DSCN5258

March 7, 2007
Assembly of Gantry Side

Testing everything before glueing DSCN5260

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The Rest of the Plastic Parts

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That's it for the plastics DSCN5275

March 10, 2007

Z Rails

First what not to do
Do not drill free hand - NO WAY you are going to line the bearings up straight enough.
This set of pictures where done by drilling the markings at specific measurements

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Check out how crocket the bar is running NOT Acceptable DSCN5286

Fix

To fix what I did was setup the drill press so that all the parts came to the same spot
This ensured all holes were at the same offset from the corner in the angle
Even with doing this there was a diviation in offsets of up to .02"
Which lead to a run out diviation of .03" between the two bars when freely mounted
At first I was concerned but after assembling it appears I am OK with the .02"
Assembly had smooth running guides

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Test Assembly of Z-axis

Compared to my last machine I Can't believe how SOLID this assembly is
The transfer of energy will definitly not overly affect this assembly
Amazing!!!!!

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Testing parts on Z Axis

No glue yet!!!

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Finished X axis short ribs

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March 22, 2007

Working on the cutting the X axis

Back from Snow Boarding Holiday

Last 2 X axis short ribs :) DSCN5615

Moving vise

Got this at Busy Bee for about $40. This turned my drill press into a very primative milling machine
WARNING - this device is rather sloppy and should not be considered for accurate machining
That said it worked perfectly for cutting the groves in my allumnimum angle and drilling the holes.

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March 24, 2007

More scrap

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Assembly of X axis ribbing

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Motor offset assembly

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The last of the X Axis long ribs

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April 1st, 2007
Machining last parts

In order to machine the last 8 parts I had to modify the machine a little
Removed the y stop which was 1" in from the end
Change the router attachment to the old one which did not have a vaccuum attachment
What a mess without the dust collector... don't know how you guys without it can handle all the dust
AND MINE IS IN A MACHINE BOOTH
The dust was so bad I had to put a mask on the router to prevent dust from getting inside
Took me 4 hours to clean up after those 8 pieces and I still have dust here and there...

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Finally!!!!!

All the parts are cut

Starting to assemble the X axis ends

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Testing the assmbley of the X Axis end and
then gluing them together with the bars ensuring everything is aligned

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Testing the Z axis

Managed to get 80IPM a minute out of it...
Even with a slightly bent lead screw
Ran about 1/2 hours worth of tests at feeds from 5 to 80IPM
Stalled about 3 times but attributing that to bent screw and me messing around
HOPEFULLY that is all the stalling I will ever hear
Using a vise with soft jaws it was quick and easy to straighten out the lead screw afterward
Will retest when I assemble again

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Slides for Z axis

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Disassembled the Z axis

Going to glue it up and paint it

All the hardware for the Z axis DSCN5661

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Painting

Not looking forward to all the painting

Lets see:
1 coat primer
2 coats grey
1 coat clear
All painting should be done by Thursday
If all goes right this means full assemble Easter weekend
Putting me 1 week behind what I orginally figured I would complete the project

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April 2nd, 2007
Assembly of X axis

First I anchored the long runners to the table in exactly the shape I wanted the be in.
Ensure they were square and level
Then I glued and painted the box
This painting is going to drive me nuts

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April 4th, 2007
Make a Sander for pipe supports

When you get paint in the groves they will shring/swell
and the pipe will not fit any more
To do a good job sanding I created a sander than ensures
Proper circles and no gouging

First cut a piece of pipe that is 2 or 3" longer than 3 pipe holders DSCN5680

Clean up the pipe Apply glue to attach sand paper DSCN5681

Rap sand paper and tape edges Try not to overlap sand paper You are trying to keep the diameter As close to the pipe size as possible I use 180 grit... slow but sure DSCN5682

Large one was already used Should have let the glue dry a little longer DSCN5683

See how it will average out the sanding across the supports DSCN5684

Bolt issues

Plans call for 5/16-1.5" long Only problem they must have threads all the way to the bottom I ended up using 1.25" as HD Did not have 1.5" as desired DSCN5685

I had to trim back the 1.5" bolts So they did not stick out the back Of the support. 1.25" bolts would have been perfect Again HD no go DSCN5686

Use of 1.25 rather than 1.5" DSCN5687

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Use of 1.25 rather than 1" As I could not get it all on 1" long DSCN5689

Dimples to accomondate bolts to long Done before I started triming bolts DSCN5690

Paint is moving along

DONE TOMORROW - YESSSSS!!!!!

I will probably work slowly
At first to allow the paint
To dry for a while... Ya right :)

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Cleaning up the pipes

You know it is getting close to time to assemble when you start to clean up the pipes
It is a very messy job. Be carefull of what ends up on the floor
As it does not appear to be anything there
Till you touch the carpet with your shoes

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Lucky I have a wipe your feet carpet on the way out of the shop DSCN5696

April 6th, 2007
Backlash system - pain in the A**

I tried everything to get it to work
Short, medium, long spring between the nuts
No spring... but that is a waste
No matter what I did it bound far to tight for the Xylotex system to work with
Finally I just took out the second nut turn the second holder backwards and locked in one nut
Tests with dial indicator could not locate any backlash so I am good to go for now

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Spacer used to hold the nut in place DSCN5698

Turned it backward to act like a brace DSCN5699

Assembled DSCN5700

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Limit switches

Bottom of Z axis

I tried as much as possible not to change the machine
Keep in mind you should not screw into MDF or vibrations will loosen up your screws

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Top of Z axis

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Assembly of Y gantry

YES!!! To nice square right of the bat :) DSCN5711

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Cleaning a little of the paint out of the holes DSCN5713

Boo Hoo!!! First paint causualty The side of the Z axis carrage hit the Y gantry Now you know why the orange clamps are on the Y gantry in the next pictures Going to by bumpers for the Z axis tomorrow to ensure this can NEVER happen again DSCN5714

That's it for the day
Just in time as I ran out of lock washers - see the nut missing on the right gantry side = HD 7am
Really productive day, tomorrow I hope to get the Y gantry completed and tested
OH ya the sanding tools I made and documented the other day worked PERFECTLY
To remove the paint and smooth out the pipe holders for the Y axis - will test the other tool for the X axis soon.
You have to work with it slowly or the paper wants to tear
Less than 15 minutes I had it all smooth and both pipes fit perfectly
Found it best to do a little on each U shape and go back and forth a few times
This allowed for the averaging to work well

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April 7, 2007
Aligning the lead screw

Need to make sure that all three holes are perfectly aligned
Put it through to holes and slide it to the bearing on the opposite side... if slips through the bearing with no effort its aligned
To verify do this on both sides
If you don't have perfect alignment adjust till you do... if you don't you could get binding under operation

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If you have to alter a hole a milling bit works great Drills bits will just cause you problems DON'T rush the adjustments... it's MDF DSCN5722

Make one of these Trust me it will save you some time. DSCN5732

Y Axis Limit Switches

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Again don't screw to MDF Switch is on both ends of the axis DSCN5730

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Attachement off pressure point DSCN5733

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Y and Z axis are done

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Metal bar was added for support Nuts where applied to the bearing adjustment screws To allow for lock down DSCN5737

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April 8th, 2007
Installation of Y and Z axis on to X axis

This first thing is you must believe that the holes in the ends of the table RULE
First check that the pipes fit in the end holes without problem if they don't... your problem is even bigger
Once you have that in your head, things need to align such that the pipes will fit
WITHOUT bending them or using clamps to force them in the holes
If you must apply force to get them into the holes you are bending the pipes
This will only lead to calibration, alignment and possible motor binding problems
When I first set up the axis to check one side was perfect and the other side both pipes were off
Took me about 1.5 - 2hrs to slowly and patiently adjust here and there so that the pipes would
make a STRAIGHT line from one hole to the other hole
I must have done something wrong when I glued it up.... but I can't see or understand what
PATIENCE PATIENCE PATIENCE.
When I was all done I just simply slide the ends over the pipes, the 8 threaded rods caused all the resistance

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See how these two pipes don't align with the holes PERFECTLY NOT GOOD To get them in it was easy just take the clamps on both ends and tighten Them up till they fit WRONG... that would just bend the pipe by 1/8" or so... Not good when the Y axis start rolling down it It would have 1/8" slack on one end and perfect on the other Or nice on one end and REALLY tight on the other DSCN5742

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The tools to fix the alignment problem Take your time with them... Especially the course file The sand paper bar I added 150 grit paper almost added 100 but I was a litte conserned about the diameter DSCN5744

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Putting on the Y axis

NOTE: The clamps here are only to hold the bars in place while the x is installed

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It's on I was amazed how easy it was to get it on And then how easy it was to make the initial adjustment Based on 15 minutes review of the adjusts capability I am impressed I am hoping the easy of adjustment continues when I go to calibarte the machine As my son would Say SaaaWeeeeetttt DSCN5766

Supporting stuff while I did my work DSCN5767

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The bolts are going to need to be cut While they are a little long I appreciated the additional length while I was painting I could paint both sides and hang them to dry on the threaded rods DSCN5770

Basically together

I meet my schedule

The machine was assembled the basement cleaned by 1pm - I had till 3pm :)
I can't find any where to hide this (must be 100lbs) beast of a machine for tonight

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Basic Assembly Done

Still lots to go before production of the machine:
Dust collector
Electronics connected and verified
Igus runners put in place for cabling
Lengthening the existing motor cables
Calibrations... big job.
Estimate from here till chips fly - 3 weeks (Just in time to deliver my old machine)
And FINALLY the biggest job: Expanding the machining center that the present machine is in (Way to small)

It sure feels alot bigger than I anticipated when I set out to build it DSCN5777

Changes to the bolts

Did a small change to the adjustment bolts
I think these will work better
As I can't find full threaded bolts I might just make my own out of some 5/16 threaded rod and nuts

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April 9th, 2007
Install lead screw X axis

Not aligning very nicely... adjustment required DSCN5832

Use my mill bit to slot the holes DSCN5834

Slots created DSCN5835

Dust collection head

Prototype

Final one will have a clear top so you can see into the work area.
Just got to install a leather strip for now.
Hoping to find some burshes but no luck so far

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The dust collector in the raised position Drawings have been updated to allow for easy removal Next prototype test will include this - not due out till after the machine is running DSCN5871

Whip suppression

The lead screws appear to like to whip at high speeds
Theory is the springs will reduce it.
My implementation works for Y Axis but not so good on X

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Idea

To surpress the whip of the X axis. I am thinking you need something to stablize the axis.
What if I built a ushaped bracket that slides along under the machine and follows behind the gantry movements
It would not be attached to the gantry just moved when the gantry hits it
Two rails for a bracket to ride in would be suspended from the bottom
and a matching guide would fit into the brackets. This would then hold two brackets one at either end
The length would be 2/3 the distance of the bottom, this way when the gantry moves in a direction it would pull the other end
Behind it and hopefully remove the capability of screw from developing the wobble.
What you think?
Diagram below tries to illustrate what I am thinking

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April 10th, 2007
Installation of Igus cable carrier system

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April 11th, 2007
Adjustments to the X axis Igus

The rail supporting the Igus cable carrier was to high and the floating dust collector was hitting it
Lowered it a little and it appears to be OK now

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Cleaning ladies for the bars

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Torsion box adjustments

In preparation of the putting in the sliding system talked about above
I managed to get the 2 threaded rods lowered into the torsion box

I also added a bear to the other end of the torsion box
This took care of over 90% of the wobble at a speed of 120IPM
With this change going to wait for the slides to see how the machine acts with the actual motors as they will be slower

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April 13th, 2007
Removing the old machine

It's time, I need the electronics and motors to start tuning the new machine.

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Done everything has been stripped down that I need

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Refresh of the electronics built into the computer running the machine

Computer has:
A break out board which will opto isolate the Xylotex controller from the computer
A relay board which has the limit switch connectors and two realys 1 at 10A and 1 at 30A.

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The bracket behind the monitor is used in the shop It hocks to another bracket which allows me to easily swivel the monitor from the work bench to the machining center DSCN5882

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I hope I can remember what all these cables do :) It takes the following power cables alone 1 - Computer 2 - Monitor 3 - Relay board 4 - Breakout board 5 - 10A Relay 6 - 30A Relay 7 - Xylotex controller DSCN5890

My pendant

I have now tested 4 wireless keyboards and mice
Finally found one that I like, it had the following characteristics
Small
Light
Keyboard and mouse in one
Transit the signal atleast 20' - you would not believe how many can barely do 8'
Standard key board (and keys) size and layout
Dust resistant
No ball in the mouse

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Check out how small that is. DSCN5886

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April 14, 2004

Wiring of Y and Z axis

WOW what a day.
Spent 3 hours at the electronics store getting ready to extend wires. Need connectors and a grimp tool.
Get home set to work and the crimp tool is DESTROYING the pins - spent another 2 or 3 hours figuring if it was me that was the tool.
End up doing them all by hand and soldering them afterward I grimped them with needlenoose pliers

Finally got the Router, the Z axis and the Y axis motors and limit switches installed
Both are running really clean, Z at 80IPM nicely, Y at 92IPM (full tilt) with a little vibration (suspect its because the Z axis carrage is not aligned yet).
Igus cables are working beautifully keeping the cables clean and invisible
Also I am barely left with any moving wires to wear over time from friction

Tomorrow the X axis
New deadline set... I must be out of the room by next Friday or else - So I have a goal.... machining by Friday night

It has been realized that this vaccum head is not going to work well
What happens when the vaccumm moves over the far side of the table it has no more surface to enclose the vaccum
To correct this is going to take some design work to get the volumn of air moving yet contained when it is hanging over the edge of the machine

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April 15th, 2007
Removing the old machine

Removed it in less time that the intermission of the Sens game
As there is only 4 screws that hold up all the walls it took less then 5 minutes to take the walls down
Check out the dust already in the air from just opening the machining center - Do I hate MDF dust

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Preping the machine for shipping

Sending all the stuff but the router and dremel

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Building up the center

Has to be lengthed by 15" to accomondate the new machine
My shop was already to small... :(

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Calibration

Phase 1

My attempt to calibrate the machine with out maching
Will complete the calibration when I get it into the machining center
First I made sure the Y axis was perpendicular to the X axis

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Checked that the Y Axis was parrallel to the X table

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Make sure the Z axis is 90Degress to the X table in two direction

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Lock it down

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April 18, 2007
Modify the machining booth - Continued

I could not resist I had to slap a coat of paint on it
I am really glad as it really brightened the room up
As well the old lights hung to low so I change them out for a set of fluorescent lights

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Calibartion of the X/Y axis squareness

Creation of pencil holder

To ensure the X and Y axis are square to each other they need to be aligned.
While this version of the pencil had a plastic tube (used it because I had it)
My next version will definitly be made from a metal pipe
Basically create with a pipe, a stopper at the end of the pipe, a spring and a pencil

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Alignment

The principle is draw a set of cross hairs the put arcs over the cross hairs
The points at which the lines and arcs intersect need to be in the same point or you are not square
The process worked great
I also found that using a square on the cross hairs was adequate as well and allowed me to figure out which way to adjust the gantry

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April 22, 2007
Drilling the leveling board

The first board is used to create a surface to allign with the machines axis
It will be entirely machined so that it is parrallel to the machines movements

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Opening up the machine center

Need to take down the walls so the machine can be inserted

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All the parts DSCN6004

The machine before installing it

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It's in

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Now you see it

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Now you don't

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April 25th, 2007
Installing the table limit switch

This plate is going to be connected to a limit switch. If the cutter ever gets down here
STOP!!!!!
Your not supposed to be this deep

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Anchor point for the switch There is a recess in the table to hide the head DSCN6032

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Chips are flying

The good news is the machine is functional
The bad news is I damaged the Z axis carrage while aligning the axis
Need to make a new one
It is so cool to watch it work at 40IPM with out a problem
Compared to the last machine... took me 12 minutes to machine out parts that took me an hour on the last machine
I spend more time setting up and tearing down than I do machining.

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Tape

I am testing using carpet tape to hold the parts down
These are the first two I got, my findings so far
The green one holds well, leaves no glue on the MDF surface, goes on and comes of easy,
But leaves a gummy film if you don't cut through it. Not testing with HDPE yet
The Indoor one, is almost to thin, leaves a very bad gummy film on the MDF, is hard to put on and take off
Took extra work to make sure it stuck to stuff, Worked OK with HDPE so far
NOTE: This is only on initial review.

UPDATE: April 27, 2007 The black tape was used last night to hold down plywood - did not work so well
I have a feeling this is because of the uneven surface plywood offers

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A close up of the black tape DSCN6048

April 27th, 2007
Go SENS Go

Installation of the T Slots

I am installing the slots across the table so that I can gain the maximum area for clamping
If I went the length of the bed I could use the table saw
but I would have weak edges where it is dadod for the gantry equipment
This job is messy think I might wait till I machine the sub table and take the sacrafical plate outside and complete this task

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Rebuild Z axis

Took me less than 1 hour to machine out what use to take me over 2 hours
On this head I changed the maching for the inside holes to hold T Nuts instead of the hex nuts.

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May 1st, 2007
Sens are going all the way

Dust collection issues

Cutting over the winter has left my garage in a DISASTER
Dust is everywhere
The boss has told me no more work till it is cleaned up and it will not happen again
So first I have to guarantee it will not happen again, build its own vented room
Second find out why the dust was getting from the pail to the dust collector

Just a sample of the dust in the garage The entire two bay garage is like this, someplaces even WORSE Only thing that got saved was the Solstice - A little dusty but nothing bad DSCN6075

Basic frame in DSCN6073

Vent from the inside DSCN6074

Vent from the outside. Now that was easy to install Excluding getting some J trim from HD it only took 1.5 hours to install the vent DSCN6070

One advantage, finally the central vac is going to get vented outside Reduce noise in the house :) DSCN6080

Issue with garbage pail

Testing showed that the ring inside the pail was stopping the cyclone effect from occuring
So I took it out
It also looks like the pail is to small for the lid
This was identified when alot of dust was put in, it would go to the dust collector rather than staying
Suspected because the edge of the pale is to close to the collection hose and thus the dust comes in to close to the vacuum hose
Going to find a bigger pail and give it a try

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Ring that was removed Suspect if I need a new one I will make it on the outside of the pail DSCN6079

May 2nd, 2007
The Devils are going down

Finished up dust collection booth

Even with a Senators game on tonight I still managed to squeek in lots of work
All I have left to do is seal up the cracks after I take the car out from underneath...
I would not want to drip the foam on it :)

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I did not realize how big the sacraficial board was till I took it back out...
IT'S TALLER THAN ME!!!

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Installed cross bracing in the middle

While I will have to recalibrate the X/Y axis once again
I installed cross bracing to support the gantry sides.
I loosened of the gantry bearing box to remove the tension on the sides of the Gantry
Then applied pressure to the newly installed threaded rods below the Z axis carrage

Installation of threaded rod below Z axis carrage DSCN6097

Before picture of deflection DSCN6089

Defection was not evident on this side This was the side the angle was installed orginally DSCN6092

Deflection removed Stayed removed with tightening of gantry bearing box. Yahoo... I think I am on my last pass for calibartion and I get to machine my base plate DSCN6096

April 15th, 2007

Levelling the machining surface

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see the difference in how level the table is From nothing to a 0.01 or so DSCN6107

Squaring up the X and Y axis

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Squaring up the cutter

You need to do this on two sides of the cutter
Basically cut a line along X and along Y
and test for square

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Testing gantry is level

Take a cut and check the depth at two ends

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Checking backlash and accuracy of machine
Y Axis

Move the machine in one direction then move it in the other direction
How much did it take to move the machine back in the other direction = backlash
OR Mechnical error

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X Axis

The first set of tests demonstrates some sort of mechnical error which I believe is the lead screw
In each frame I request the machine to move 0.1" which is one revolution of the dial
so theorectically the pointer should come back to where it started from each step
NOT!!!
This same problem happens with moves of .001 on the error is much smaller
As well these results were found on all axis

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Another way of hanging the dial

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Checking Z axis

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YIKES

Found this morning...
Not good

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April 16th, 2007
Test 1" accuracy

This program should cut 1" pocket and 1" contours
The Test1inchpocketcontour.NC file is the code I use to machine the test
Z0=Surface
Material must be at least 1/4" thick (recommend 3/8")
Cutter=1/4" end mill

TEST1INCHPOCKETCONTOUR-ROUND3.NC

Machining cut

Test1InchPocketContour-Round3

Test Results

Square pocket

Reading = 0.987" DSCN6172

Reading = 0.991" DSCN6173

Circle Pocket

Reading = 0.985" DSCN6174

Reading = 0.985" DSCN6175

Circle Contour

Perfect!!! Reading = 1.000" DSCN6176

Good Reading = 1.0015" DSCN6177

Square Contour

Awesome!!! Reading = 0.9995" DSCN6178

Good Reading = 0.997" DSCN6179

Same test on 4" board

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May 17th, 2007

Movies

June 19, 2007
Change the Lead Screws to 1/2-8TPI 2 Start

On all three axis
Only the Z axis need mods

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Had to place the bearing mount on the bottom. Make the lead screw 3/4" longer than my last one DSCN6402

Need to change the lower limit switch connection DSCN6407

Shorten the Router back plate

This was done to raise the cutter and to reduce any deflection of the cutter
It was simple.
Just make the same plate 3" shorter.
Need to add one set of recessed holes on the back plate
To accomondate the mounting bolt that has now moved up 3"

Next to come new sides with the upper router support higher up

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It was simple. Just make the same plate only 3" shorter. Need to add recessed holes on the back plate To accomondate the mounting bolt that has now Moved up 3 inches DSCN6409

Everything is just moved up 3 inches DSCN6410

RouterPlateShorty

Cutting files for the parts
First file marks the location of the hold down screws
Second file is the cutting file for the part

MDFPARTS.75-SHORTYCLAMPDOWN.NC

MDFPARTS.75-SHORTY.NC

Added a clean up hose

NOTE: Still need to shorten it up a little so it gets out of my way when stored (use to be straight but it got longer)
It sure is nice to have it for cleanup after cutting the parts.
While the vacuum head works great it does not get everything.

Added a clean up hose NOTE: Still got to shorten it up a little so it gets out of my way when stored (use to be straight but it got longer) DSCN6403

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Change location of router clamps

Ensure the router gets the best stability from the clamps.

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Calibration of the machine

Already calibrated the squareness of the two sides of the router
Which is 90 between X and Z and 90 degrees between Y and Z (you can see how I did the previously in the thread
Now need to make sure that X and Y are square to each other

I then machined an edge at .05, .05 with a 1" cutter which means
I have a reference at -0.45,-0.45 to put the material in and clamp down
This allows for clamp and lose to material due to cutting on the 0 lines.

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Cleaned up and ready to go

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Light up the situation

Helps just a little, but not really worth wild.

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