After too many days where it was to cold to work in the shop, First moves: X and Y axis are operational. Building Z motor mount next!
Looks Good, Yes it has been rather frigid in the shop lately … LOL
Lol, Long Beach looks a bit warmer than Kentucky, I could barely get it into the 40’s in the shop!
LOL Long Beach was a long time ago, We are up in Northern Wisconsin right now. It’s been around Zero for the last three weeks, I think we just broke freezing today … Yeah
ah, okay very familiar with Wisc. cold, my parents were from Beaver Dam, and relatives from Door County! Hah, your profile needs updating. I was born in the UP of MI.
Yup I’m done for the season here. It isn’t that cold, but too cold for me to have a good time, and stay focused on what I’m doing.
No Kidding I grew up in Door County
When I see u guys CNC’s I feel like mines a little toy
@javierymirna You can expand when you need to, and i do not think there is anything i can cut that you cannot.
@Paul_Frederick what part of the US do you live in?
@Bruce_Lunde
Delaware
I could do with some cooling - it’s 32 in my workshop - C that is, not F. All I have is a ceiling fan, and that blows too much dust around to use it when machines are operating. I think I am going to work in a thong and wife beater… and if you knew me that is a mental image that can do a LOT of damage to a person.
You are in Asia somewhere @Mike_Thornbury ?
Yes, On the equator…
You have a lot of clearance from the bed. Do you need that for the type of work you are planning to do? (It comes a price of higher lever forces)
Yes, the clearance is needed for some project pieces I am planning. As you mentioned, it comes at a cost. but I will adjust with longer cut times, smaller material removal at a time. I have built approx. 50% of the Z-Axis motor build, so I should be cutting by tomorrow evening, and I will see how well it works. Several pieces are done with hand tools today, but I hope to cut revision 2 parts with the CNC to improve it as I go along.
@Bruce_Lunde
I wish my design had worked out better. I may still fix it, but it will not be as elegant as I first envisioned it to be. In my design the height of the machine is adjustable for when you need more clearance. That adjustment is completely static too.
I know the design you are building is very common, but there are aspects of it that I simply do not care for myself. It is just too unbalanced, with lots of poor mechanical advantage for my tastes.
Folks usually cantilever the Y axis gantry to somewhat offset the worse bits of the design too.
Looking great! I’m a bit of a newbie to these gantry style machines made of wood, what kind of stock are you able to work with on these machines? What’s your plans for using this size of a machine?
The work envelope looks amazing. I have a small benchtop mill from Taig, so haven’t ever looked into these bigger style machines.
@Grant_Hancock I have a Harbor Freight mini-mill I am trying to expand it as well. I hope I can do aluminum and acrylic and such as well as various wood types on this machine. I’ll know in a day or so if the workspace size is adversely affecting the precision!
Nice looking build. Where did you source the rails? I am thinking of ordering a set of 2000mm rails from china via ebay, but am concerned about getting them shipped without damage.