3.5 guys built 3 MMs, 3 serial no.'s #49, #50, #51 ! - Knappa OR USA

[DeadGuy]

Hi All,


Today Forks_Dad, dragonfinder1, and I started 3 Mechmates. They are going to have 60" x 120" cutting surfaces. All three of us will be building the same size machines to keep it all simple. They may end up with different routers, spindles ect., but they will be the same machine. We will all be contributing to this thread. We will have pictures shortly.

This is also my first post.

I also wanted to say thank you, for starting these Forums and letting us all use his designs, to Gerald D.


Dennis

[Jayson]

Welcome Dennis,

I look forwad to seeing your build. It's all easy with the great plans and huge amount of information and pictures supplied here.

Jayson.

[sailfl]

Dennis,

How far away do you each live from one another?

Good luck with all three builds.

[domino11]

That is great. Welcome Guys! :) This will be the first triple build I believe.

[DeadGuy]

Dennis,

How far away do you each live from one another?

Good luck with all three builds.

dragenfinder1(Dave) and I live in Knappa, forks_dad(Scott) lives in Rainer Oregon. That's about 30 miles away from Knappa. We are building them all at my shop in Knappa.

Dennis

[DeadGuy]

First Cut

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/3407/firstcutsd6.gif

[Gerald D]

Welcome to the 3 musketeers; Dennis, Dave & Scott!

[Gerald D]

Dennis, sorry that your attempt to post a picture with your third post to the forum was blocked by an anti-spam system. I think we need about 5 posts before it allows pictures. (have moved your pic back into this thread above)

Those CNC monsters in the background are darn impressive!

[Kobus_Joubert]

Welcome welcome welcome and enjoy the ride

[DeadGuy]

Dennis, sorry that your attempt to post a picture with your third post to the forum was blocked by an anti-spam system. I think we need about 5 posts before it allows pictures. (have moved your pic back into this thread above)

Those CNC monsters in the background are darn impressive!

Hi Gerald,

Thanks for posting that picture for me! We cut all the metal for all three machine's today. Tomorrow we will try to get all the holes drilled and the bases bolted together. We are going to weld flanges to all the cross bracing and leg's in the table bases and bolt it all together. We cut the 8" channel 144" long so we can have 8 foot long spoil boards and some left over for other options later.

Thanks again for getting that picture up for me. Just a few more posts and I can do it on my own.

Dennis

[sailfl]

Dennis,

Please don't tell me all those machines are in your over sized garage!!!

[forks_dad]

Two live in Knappa and I live about 40 minutes away - we are fortunate to have Gearald and his experience, as well as the multitude of MechMate member's guide us through this adventure.

[Gerald D]

Rainier Oregon . . . . .is that anywhere near Mt Rainier that puffs from time to time?

[forks_dad]

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_9910.jpg

[forks_dad]

About 100 miles as the crow flies, Gerald - I can see Mt. Rainier and Mt St Helens from our fenceline. Mt St Helens is the one that blew in 1980 and continues to vent occasionally - I can bore you with a pic I took yesterday after our initial MechMate launch. http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_9953.jpg

[forks_dad]

Welding the rails - times 3http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_9921.jpg

[forks_dad]

The pile of cut stock for three MechMates - day one of the buildhttp://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_9949.jpg

[DeadGuy]

Dennis,

Please don't tell me all those machines are in your over sized garage!!!

Hi sailfl,

Well I guess you could say it is my over sized garage. It’s just another hobby of mine that got way out of hand.

Dennis

[forks_dad]

After cutting steel yesterday, we drilled over a hundred holes in prep for assembly. Some of the tubing supports will be welded, other items will be bolted together. After assembly, some of the joints will be tack welded to hold them square. This makes the unit easily moved if necessary....http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_9961.jpg
http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_9964.jpg
http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_9967.jpg
http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_9893.jpg Enough steel fro three machines -
http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_9965.jpg

[kanankeban]

Hi sailfl,

Well I guess you could say it is my over sized garage. It’s just another hobby of mine that got way out of hand.

Dennis

Welcome to the mechmate family and good luck, guess you already have it ;)I can almost kill for those haas babies you have there, what is your main business, do you machine for yourself or do you offer machining services?
Regards,
Hector

[vishnu]

Hi,
Welcome to the land of the "BIG BLUE BEAST" it would be a fun for you guys to work on three machines at the same time. You have a very good machine shop, love to build one like them one day as i am building my lovely MM. Love to see the pic of you guys on the MM rogue's list. My machine is nearing completion and wish you guys Good luck to complete them soon.

Vishnu

[forks_dad]

Thanks, Vishnu
We have each other to work with as well as all the folks on the Forums
Big Blue Beast - I'm sure that will be our case in a few weeks

Scott

[DeadGuy]

Sorry about pic quality, camera phone.

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/5438/legstackweldedeu2.gif
Shot at 2009-02-15

[Alan_c]

Dennis,

You have one heck of an interesting workshop, I'm guessing most of us would love to be let loose there. What is that black contraption bolted to the corner of the table, never seen anythink like it before, I assume it's to assist drilling vertical holes?

By the way good progress on the frame :)

[sailfl]

Dennis,

Okay, forget the MM build just take pictures of the shop so we can see all the machines and know how big the shop is.

[dragonfinder1]

We really have only about 2 guys 2 days in what we have so far. I would bet that if we had all the materials on hand before we started, we could have a standard MechMate running in two weeks. The machines are not that complex. the big plus is having the tools to do the job.

Dave

[kanankeban]

Dennis,

You have one heck of an interesting workshop, I'm guessing most of us would love to be let loose there. What is that black contraption bolted to the corner of the table, never seen anythink like it before, I assume it's to assist drilling vertical holes?

By the way good progress on the frame :)

I think that that arm is used for taping ;)

[DeadGuy]

Sorry guy’s I can’t talk freely about the contents of my shop. There is too much pressure from our competitors to divulge what kind of equipment and the capacities we have. You might catch a glance here and there as I’m assembling my Mechmate, but for the most part I can’t talk about my equipment.
Because I am here gathering information and learning from you guy’s about all things Mechmate I do feel I have an obligation to share all knowledge I gain back with the group. I can talk about anything that has to do with Mechmate’s, but about the other stuff I hope you will understand.
Sorry.
Dennis

[sailfl]

Dennis,

Sorry if I stepped into a place you don't want to go. Inquiring minds and all that. I completely understand. It is not a problem. It is great that you have the equipment and are building a MM also.

Happy building and I am sorry.

[DeadGuy]

Sometimes it's faster just to drill with a hand drill.
This is Dave and Scott drilling pilot holes 7/16" holes in the bottom of their 8" channels.


http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/3247/handdrillmg5.gif (http://img7.imageshack.us/my.php?image=handdrillmg5.gif)
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/handdrillmg5.gif/1/w600.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img7/handdrillmg5.gif/1/)

[domino11]

Welding the rails - times 3 Post #16

What were you welding the rails for here? Were the rails bent? Could you explain if they were and how you did the correction? I am not looking forward to bent rails, but it seems like it is common.

[Gerald D]

Heath, I think they have joins in the 8" channel.

Yup, hand drilling the big beams is easier than getting them into a drill-press.

[dragonfinder1]

Post #16

What were you welding the rails for here? Were the rails bent? Could you explain if they were and how you did the correction? I am not looking forward to bent rails, but it seems like it is common.

Well Dennis wanted his "X" rails to be 144" to have 120" of cutting, So he bought two 8"channels. Since he had 8 feet left over, Scott and I decided to make ours 144" as well. We just added the metal left over from Dennis's channels to ours. We were just being thrifty (cheap). Sunday, if all goes well, we should have the tables done and that will include the 2-1/2 x 1-1/2 angles ready to install on the channels. Then comes the gantry.

Dave

[DeadGuy]

This is just a test cut of the rail's. We are going to cut the rail's for real on Sunday. We have 120 feet of rail's to cut. I am going to guess it will take 4 hours to cut them all. That's just a guess, we'll let you know on Sunday how long it really took!

Dennis
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/256/railtestcutag2.th.gif (http://img19.imageshack.us/my.php?image=railtestcutag2.gif)
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/573/wheelontestrailwc4.th.gif (http://img23.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wheelontestrailwc4.gif)

[DeadGuy]

I failed miserably on my time estimation. We only got 4 of the rails cut to height. I got called off by the wife to do more important honeydew’s. One of the tables did get assembled most of the way.

Dennis

[forks_dad]

We had a good day of work - started milling the v-track rails, some assembly of tables and general organization of parts. Tables will be assembled in a couple more work sessions. Dennis may have missed the estimate but his attention to detail and perfection will make the v-track rails straight, true and inexpensive. Dave is welding things perfectly and will have the supporting bases done for all three soon.

Dennis lines it up...

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0081.jpg

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0105.jpg


and some assembly required...


http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0110.jpg

[DeadGuy]

We took a little side track. It was getting to large to slide around so we made a frame with wheels so we could push them around the shop.

Dennis
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/3281/mmcart.th.gif (http://img100.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mmcart.gif)

[dragonfinder1]

Dennis's is tacked good and mine is welded an at my house for painting, Scott's should be ready for him to take home tomorrow for paint. Ganterys are next.
My power supply should be here next week, motors too. Belt reducer parts are here and I'll order the geared racks next week. Things are going well considering how little time we've spent on the triplets.

Dave

[Gerald D]

Looks like you are having a rainy, windy, cold day there today. Not good for painting . . . . gantry welding time! :)

Actually, the gantry and y-car welding is a lot quicker than what it looks. Reckon you guys will do all 3 sets in one day. :)

[dragonfinder1]

Scott has his at his house and will start painting soon. Gantery will be next. High school basketball championships will slow our progress a little.

Dave

[dragonfinder1]

Gerald

It always rains here. The paint companies make special reducers just for us. If we wait 'till the rain stops to paint, the MM's will be too busy to stop.

Dave

[forks_dad]

Good weekend progress with the three of us chipping in - the table bases are welded. I am grateful that the base is bolted together due to transporting it 40 miles to home. Just the base (minus the 8" channels) weighed the trailer down pretty good.

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0135.jpg Dave and Dennis made a rolling frame for Dennis' table

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0153.jpg Making second base....

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0160.jpg The third base and getting ready for Home... (sorry for all the baseball analogies - I love puns)

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0166.jpg Learning to weld - this is the first time I have welded. Sorry Gerald - some grinding will be required...

[Gerald D]

Hey Scott, we all had to learn welding somewhere! The kids these days have baby angle grinders to clean up........we had to use a file, or a big straight grinder if we could afford one. Believe it or not, angle grinders are relatively new technology; they started at 9" and only a good few years later did they get down to half size.

[forks_dad]

What with basketball tournaments and shop preparation - work has slowed for now on the three machines. Dave is working on his MechMate shop and I am upgrading the power source for my shop. Weather has been challenging and the trenching was backbreaking but the shop is ready for the MechMate - Oregon has been having some rain, snow and sun - a nice variety...
Gerald - I do have one of the smaller grinders and will clean up the welds. I only want to carry on the fine name of the MechMate in style..

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0183.jpg Saturday...3/7/09

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0229.jpg Sunday ...3/8/09

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0210.jpg ..later that same day and a ton of rocks and gravel being dug up (with the help pf my wife - what a wonderful woman)

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0215.jpg and the final leg to the shop..100 amp service for all my woodworking needs - and the Mechmate

and now - back to working on the table!

[Gerald D]

I really enjoy hard work . . . . .I can sit and watch it for hours! :)

That curved spade is a first for me - never seen anything like it.

Do you guys also bury a tape/ribbon about 6" above a power cable? We sometimes use a tape marked "danger, electrical cable below" (or similar) for warning the next guys trenching there.

[forks_dad]

I really enjoy hard work . . . . .I can sit and watch it for hours! :)

That curved spade is a first for me - never seen anything like it.

Do you guys also bury a tape/ribbon about 6" above a power cable? We sometimes use a tape marked "danger, electrical cable below" (or similar) for warning the next guys trenching there.

The curved shovel is actually for removing asphalt shingles from a roof. It just happened to fit nicely in the bottom of the trench for cleaning up loose dirt.

I like the idea of laying a ribbon in the trench, Not a common practice that I have heard of. We have a national service that will come out and sot the various utilities underground - power, gas, water, phone, etc. It's free too.

[forks_dad]

Status Update - March 29th
Another beautful spring day in Oregon - Mechmate work continues with tables ready to go to their respective homes.
Dennis came up with a piano wire set up that helped line up the v-track rails for punching and drilling in the 8" channel.
Now it's time to prime and paint the bases and get them ready for the gantry.

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0460.jpg Wire setup for rail alignment

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0470.jpg Gantry cross tubes

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0475.jpg Rails loaded up and ready to travel...

[DeadGuy]

Things should start moving faster now; Dave has more time to work on the Mechmate’s. This is a picture of him leaving work last Friday. Leaving for the last time ever, he is retired now after 20+ years at a paper mill and 20+ before that at an Aluminum plant.

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/8095/daveslastday.gif (http://img27.imageshack.us/my.php?image=daveslastday.gif)
[URL=http://g.imageshack.us/img27/daveslastday.gif/1/][IMG]http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/daveslastday.gif/

[DeadGuy]

One more shot. Tacked and rolling.

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/2633/rollingf.gif (http://img12.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rollingf.gif)
[URL=http://g.imageshack.us/img12/rollingf.gif/1/][IMG]http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/rollingf.gif/

[jhiggins7]

Congratulations, Dave, on your retirement. Enjoy!:D

I've been retired 12 years from my primary job and 5 years from a Consulting job...I don't know how I ever found time to go to work?

Happy building! Looks like you three are making good progress.

Regards,
John

[Gerald D]

Dave, I look forward to that retirement day!

(first time I see a padded turnstile - must be to stop the skin sticking in winter?)

Dennis, the bracket for the x-cable chain is not on the normal side that we are now used to. Did you have a special reason for putting it on that corner of the gantry? Cable chain location & orientation (http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?t=561)

[domino11]

Gerald,
We dont seem to have them padded here in Canada, but we sure do get winters. :)

[dragonfinder1]

Gerald
The short story on the turnstile is that they have only been there about two years. The children that work there don't like not having free travel in and out of the mill, which they had since the mill was built in about 1965. They need a card to go through the turnstile and some have been caught in them and a very few have been trapped in them for a few minutes mostly because of the luggage they take through them. So the company padded the upper half so no one would bang their head. As soon as the did that, the complaints started to come about the plastic cable ties that were used to secure the padding. The temperature rarely get below 25F (-4C ) here on the north Oregon coast.

Dennis put the cable chain attachment there because of the location of his machine. We talked about it before we decided on that location.

[Gerald D]

I actually googled "padded tunstiles" and discovered that padding at heel height was quite common out there. Out here we have powerful motors on the turnstiles to "force-feed" the labour masses into the workplace at about 2 per second! :D (tongue in cheek)

[dragonfinder1]

Ours don't have motors, although if they did 2 per second would be about going in, but not nearly fast enough for the folks going out :D

[robertmonroe]

Wow! My goal is to build a 6'x12' MM. My metal guys flaked out on me so I'm having to locate an affordable metal fabricator in El Paso, Texas. You guys are doing a great job, very inspirational. If someone wants to work with me building my Mechmate.

[forks_dad]

Painting and assembling begin - I picked a Blue as close to MechMate as possible, Gerald. I have a white trim theme on the rails and the inside work area.
http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0523.jpg Prime material

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0531.jpg A great day for painting

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0533.jpg Watching paint dry...

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0841.jpg Clearing a spot in the shop

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0847.jpg Getting ready for assembly

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0857.jpg Getting ready to put the beams up...

Dennis is waiting for me to get my rail to rail dimension so we can weld the gantry at the proper distance for the wheels - 78.125"

Thanks to all for your pictures and examples!!!!

[domino11]

Scott,
That was a really nice day for painting! I thought it always rained in your parts? :) You have some solid progress there.

[forks_dad]

Heath - The dry spell continues and the painting is getting done... yes - it is very green here but not humid

Now for the moment of truth -

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0903.jpg Yes - I wanted white on the inside... Gerald - I was looking to illuminate the work area better while maintaining the recognition of the equipment as a MechMate.

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0912.jpg The base and main gantry tracks will be assembled this week

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0918.jpg

I was out at the main shop today and dennis has the gantry and trolley put together on his table - and it rolls so smoothly - just a fingertip push and it glides - Gerald - wonderful design. My next big worry is the electronics...

[jhiggins7]

Looking good, Gentlemen!:) Nice looking finish.:)

The electronics are straight forward if you're following, at least generically, the plans so many on the Forum have used. I did some things a little differently, but I stuck to the Forum design for the most part.

Looking forward to the rest of your builds.:D

[hennie]

Scott I can`t wait to see that white paint full of dust:)

[forks_dad]

Yes, Hennie, but it will hide the dust so much more than the blue. I was really going for a brighter work area - don't ask me why, I don't expect to have my head in there all that much. Here it is with all the rails in place - next stop....the gantry

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_0922.jpg

[domino11]

Scott,
Your table is looking good.

[lunaj76]

I like the white paint!

[Gerald D]

The internal white makes me think of a military tank, or a coal mine, that have surprisingly white interiors. Nice touch!

[DeadGuy]

Getting more done today. Who needs a tool changing spindle!

Dennis
:)



http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/7070/3gantry.th.gif (http://img22.imageshack.us/my.php?image=3gantry.gif)
http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/6015/3ycars.th.gif (http://img50.imageshack.us/my.php?image=3ycars.gif)

[forks_dad]

All the gantries and y cars are welded. Biggest time consumer now is the painting... and painting, preceeded by sanding...and sanding. I'm a woodworker, and maybe a little picky about finishes. I'll only get one shot at painting this and when it is finally running, be so covered in dust that I'll wonder why I spent so much time on surface preparation - call it pride in having a fine piece of machinery. Here's what happened this weekend - next step will be to put the racks on and start thinking about the electronics - I'm terrible when it comes to understanding it - but there is a ton of help in these forums and I should be able to succeed - with help from all of you -

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_1016.jpg The gantry and y-car (with a Z car in the background)

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_1021.jpg More progress - getting ready for all the fine points...

[lumberjack_jeff]

That looks *really* nice!

[Doug_Ford]

Scott,

Why don't I drive out Oregon and haul off that 240Z that's just getting in your way? :) I had an orange '72 back in high school. Sure wish I still had it.

[DeadGuy]

Drive parts are starting to show up. I'm wishing for a June 1st start up.

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/6206/driveparts.th.gif (http://img257.imageshack.us/my.php?image=driveparts.gif)


I'm probably just dreaming.

Dennis

[domino11]

Dennis,
Watch that fabric material under your electronics. Depending on what the material is you could have some static damage to your circuit cards if you are not careful. Better to not use it and be on the safe side. :)

[Gerald D]

Heath, I cannot imagine any part of the power supply or Gecko's getting damaged by static, and I see the PMDX lying on its original wrapping, so Dennis is a careful guy :)

[domino11]

Gerald,
The problem is not it just sitting there, but more when you would pick up the pmdx for example. It is probably low on probability, but just thought I would mention it. Also depends largely on what the material is made of. I did not mean to infer that Denis was not careful. :o

[Gerald D]

Are opto-isolators sensitive for static? I can't think that a PMDX contains any other item which may be sensitive - it has no memories or processors or stuff like that. Quite frankly, I have never thought to handle any of the MM parts with any precautions other than for welding sparks! :D

[domino11]

Gerald,
This may be just me being over cautious, but any semiconductor device (integrated circuit) is capable of being damaged from electrostatic discharge. The problem is that damage does not always cause catastrophic failure. Sometimes the failure is just partial damage with intermittent problems for example. The geckos are the most protected because of the shielded case used around the circuit card, but the inputs could still be damaged. The pmdx card is wide open and you could have a discharge to any on the integrated circuit pins when you touch it. Best practice is to ground yourself before touching any of these components. :) Just to be safe. Same goes for computer cards and motherboards, touch the grounded case before touching the electronics. All those ESD courses at work may have poisoned my brain though. :) There used to be a time I did not care. :eek:

[DeadGuy]

This is the back wall of the room dave made in his shop for his MM. His wife had to paint this on the wall before he could put his MM in. He is now assembling his MM. More pics to follow.

Dennis


http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/2710/davesmmroom.th.gif (http://img300.imageshack.us/my.php?image=davesmmroom.gif)

[Gerald D]

Dave (Dragonfinder) has found another dragon. Nice picture! I can guess what Dave's first cutting project is going to be. :) Why the interest in the dragons?

[dragonfinder1]

I’ve admired dragons for a long time, I have several guarding our house. My wife wants to be reincarnated as a komodo dragon. The dragon in the MM room is an oriental dragon, rather thin. I’m built more like a European dragon a little thicker in the middle.

A dragon is on a list of projects, however not the first. The first one will be a life size Holstein cow that we’re going to put in a friends yard when she’s not home, she has a house of black and white cow stuff

[DeadGuy]

Ok, I have decided. I have seen blue and black, blue and white, blue only and red. Mine is blue and yellow. It is now assembly time!

Dennis
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/9830/painted.th.gif (http://img5.imageshack.us/my.php?image=painted.gif)

[Kobus_Joubert]

I am like the European Dragon also a bit bigger in the middle.
Just a silly question / observation... How do you do you pictures on the forum. When I am home or on my Blackberry, I see all your photo's. When at work I see some of them and some not....part of it must be a problem on this computer, but then I would expect to see no pictures....and they show up very small on this computer....
Just wondering....other posts on this forum the pictures are all OK.

[Gerald D]

Kobus, try a right-click -> Properties on the picture to see where they are hosted. Some of the pics above are .jpg's at Photobucket, while the most recent are .gif thumbnails at Imageshack

[buibui]

Dennis, love the color scheme...looks like all the machines at my work!:)

4659

[Kobus_Joubert]

In Post 76 the picture is a GIF on imageshack, This I see
In Post 79 the picture is also a GIF on imageshack and this is just a little grey block. Tried to refresh but stil no picture.


Ok see it ..our server is blocking certain sites...but why only certain pictures on the same blocked site ??

[Gerald D]

Kobus, those two pics are two different servers:
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/2710/davesmmroom.th.gif
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/9830/painted.th.gif

[dragonfinder1]

Kobus, I don't post the pictures, I give them to Dennis, he puts them on imageshack and links them to the forum. That way it saves memory on the forum and imageshack doesn't care how big the pictures are. Scott uses photobucket for the same reason. I have an image gallery but I can't link from there to here. As to why some of the pictures don't show up, I don't know, sometimes I can't see them either.

[DeadGuy]

Getting more parts ready!

[Travish]

Getting more parts ready!

What motors did you decide to go with? Also what size belt and pulley's are you using? Please share! I like the geared OM's, but I would love to go belt drive for performance and save a few bucks everywhere I can.

Thanks,
Travis

[dragonfinder1]

J. R. Hatcher found the parts, we bought 'em and came up with the side plates that suited our needs. Dennis is going to build a clear guard that will keep the chips out.

Below is the thread that has the information, I think it's post 343 or so in J.R.'s build.

http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?t=329&highlight=spd-si&page=12

[domino11]

Dave,
If you copy the link location from the post number like this,
http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?p=11431&postcount=343

then the link will bring you right to the post you identified.

[Gerald D]

Right-click on the post number, Copy Shortcut, then Paste into your new post.

[dragonfinder1]

Okey dokey

I can probably remember that:)

[DeadGuy]

A few more gearbox pictures.

Dennis

[J.R. Hatcher]

Dennis I would like to see a picture of your trans on the motor mount or if you're not using the motor mount, maybe a pic on the machine. :cool: These are some good looking mounts. Wish I had a mill :(

[DeadGuy]

It will be a week before we have any assembled pictures.

They are just sitting in a pile until we get time to assemble them.

Dennis

[jeremy35]

Any updates ;)

[DeadGuy]

Dave and Scott are using the Milwaukee 5625 router. These were made for them today. I'm using a spindle.
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/8876/routermount4.th.gif (http://img9.imageshack.us/i/routermount4.gif/)
http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/6205/routermount1.th.gif (http://img196.imageshack.us/i/routermount1.gif/)
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/707/spindleandtrans.th.gif (http://img9.imageshack.us/i/spindleandtrans.gif/)

[cncb]

nice, bet that spindle and vfd weigh a lot!

[smreish]

Sure looks like the same Delta / RV73 spindle combo with the PDS spindle custom ORANGE cable I purchased recently. Great package!

[forks_dad]

Now that the weather has turned away from summer - we're back in the shop. Dave has made excellent progress (although retirement does not spell "all the time in the world")and Dennis has been making and milling parts (as well as coaching football,winning championships, running a business and working full-time). So here are some update pictures from this past weekend, trying to sprint to the finish line and get done before year's end. Dave is breaking ground for us and making dust...

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_4450.jpg

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_4461.jpg

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_4455.jpg

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_4456.jpg

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_4462.jpg

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_3805.jpg

We're back at it and ready to wrap up!

[Gerald D]

Always nice to hear from these guys!

[forks_dad]

Since taking the summer off, we have been working to catch up. Dave's cutting, I have my motors on and am ready to start pulling wires. Dennis is taking his football team to the State tournaments and is a very dedicated coach. When his team takes the Oregon State title, Dave and I will jump in and help him finish his MechMate.
Here's some of the latest:

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_4517.jpg

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_4519.jpg

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_4520.jpg

Dennis works on the panel:

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu358/forks_dad/IMG_4525.jpg
Gerald - we're still in the running for serial numbers...

[Alan_c]

Scott

Looks very nice. Is there a reason why your Z-axis is mounted back to front in the Y-car?

[smreish]

Alan,
Nice catch. The cutting tool (spindle, router or whatever) should be closest to the y-axis motor. If you keep it as built, the 4" table offset will work against you.
Sean

[tone.gibson]

the three of you have great machines! I have just started the process on building my machine, steel for the table is on order. You fellas in oregon have a leed on laser cut parts? I'm in portland if that helps. I also like your gear drives, you guys have a dxf for that and a parts list. Ialso drink beer and coffee and would be willing to share for a tour of your mechmate.

-Tone

[Sherman McCoy]

Tone-

You might try Summit Manufacturing in Hillsboro, they do laser parts, and seemed like they were hungry for business. I got mine from "Joe Alabama" though, and despite a huge amount of postage, it was easier than having to get a new fabber up to speed. Joe's parts are flawless.

[domino11]

I can also tell you that a new bender might have some growing pains with the spider to get it just right and flat. I know mine did. :)

[klschuff]

We got the big blue one running this past weekend!!! Did a couple of VERY quick cuts. Still a lot of cleanup to do on the wires and whatnot, but it WORKS!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIXpC1YaTnA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcQMqZZPv24

[Gerald D]

This thread belongs to Dennis, Dave & Scott. Along comes Kurt?

[klschuff]

This thread belongs to Dennis, Dave & Scott. Along comes Kurt?

Sorry, Kurt = Son of Scott, master of all things software. :)

[Castone]

Great job Kurt , now you just need some MechMate Labels.

[domino11]

Welcome Kurt. Keep those guys on track will you? :)

[lunaj76]

Nice looking Mechmate! I really like the white paint. Is your y motor farther away from your router than the bearing hold down?

[dragonfinder1]

One more to go before we get the labels for serial numbers.

Dave

[Gerald D]

Hi Kurt. Hope the change in title to this thread is suitable? :)

[klschuff]

Hi Kurt. Hope the change in title to this thread is suitable? :)

Very nice. :) I'd hardly say I did 1/2 the work... more like the guy who hordes the last puzzle piece and waits for everyone else to do the work.

[dragonfinder1]

Here's a few pictures of what I've been busy with.
A picture of my first attempt at finger splice, when I get that under control I'll start with dovetails.

Dog feeders, from pine. The dark one is burned not stained, cat feeder under construction.

Tambour box as seen in the February issue of Woodworker's Journal. This was all built on the MM except I cut the slats to length with a hand saw. This box was made with scrap wood and was intended an experiment to see if I could do it. Now to do it with some "good" wood.

[MetalHead]

Awesome looking projects.

[domino11]

Nicely done Dave! Good to see you are still around. :)

[dragonfinder1]

Actually I did get my dragon done. The cedar board started out 12" x 27" x 1-1/8" thick. I had to erase it twice, so the board ended up about 5/8" thick.

[domino11]

You have a wood eraser? :):eek:

[dragonfinder1]

You bet! 1-1/8" diameter, it takes off about .060" at a time :)

[bradm]

<paraphrase> Surfaced it three times already, and it's still too shallow! :)

[jhiggins7]

Yeah, my guess is that it is also called a "planer".

[dragonfinder1]

It's the same bit I use to surface the spoils board, I've used it to "plane" lots of wood. I used it to plane the oak slats in the tambour box from about 5/8" to 1/4" and the red cedar ( closet liner ) from 3/8" to 1/4". I really need to be able to resaw and get a real planer.

Dennis and I are going to build a saw to resaw, maybe this summer.

[Gerald D]

and while the dragon was eating from the dog feeder, it burped, and gave the feeder that scorched look? :confused::)

Well done Dave!

[DeadGuy]

Almost ready to go. I took it for a spin around the block today and ran the spindle for the first time. Ran the roadrunner program and almost made some chips but figured I need the stop switches on it before I cut wood. Dave and Scott better put their stickers on their machines because mine will be cutting in a few days.

Dave and Scott have been waiting for me to get mine done before they put their stickers on so we could get consecutive numbers, they better get ready because I am almost done.

Gerald/Mike, when you give is our numbers Dave's was done first then Scott's and mine last. If it’s ok we would like consecutive numbers in that order.

Thanks.

Dennis

By the way, those are the stickers laying on the table

[domino11]

Nice work Dennis!

[DeadGuy]

Ok, at this point all three machines are cutting and are stickered up. I still have lots to do like getting the 4th axis running and limit switches, but Dave’s, Scott’s and mine should be official enough for #’s. I hope!

Dennis

[Gerald D]

Well done guys!

[domino11]

Wow, The first triple build complete! :)

[sailfl]

#49, #50 and #51

Congratulations on three great builds. Welcome to the club.

[javeria]

ok - now who's got which one :D

[hennie]

Welkome to the Elite Club congrats!

[SumBum]

You guys did really nice work on those, they look great..

[Travish]

The MechMate Trio! Very cool! Great Job You guys.

[MetalHead]

Great Job !!! Who gets which number again?

Mike

[sailfl]

Dave 49, Scott 50 and Dennis 51

[DeadGuy]

dragonfinder1 - Dave was first

forks_dad - Scott second

DeadGuy - Dennis last

[Regnar]

Congrats guys! It would have been funny if you guys had numbers 49.1 49.2 and 49.3.

[dragonfinder1]

All three have a 60" x 120" cutting surface available. All three have 20 awg wire to the motors. Mine has G-540 drive, the other two have G 203v's.

Mine made the first cut on 11/2/2009

Dennis was 3/1/2010

Scott, I'm not sure.

[Claudiu]

Congrats for finishing this trio project! Great MM`s.

[KenC]

Brilliant team work! Extra hand sure make a world of difference. Now go make tons of dust!

[jhiggins7]

Dave, Scott and Dennis,

Congratulations to Oregon's Team MechMate on your THREE Mechmates and on Serial Numbers 49, 50 and 51.:)

Here is the Updated Builder's Log (http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AttqjIPMBEXKcExveGc4d3U0V25zQmMyX1U1eUVhU Xc&hl=en).

Please review your entries and provide any changes you want to make.

[bradm]

Yes, congrats to the 50 +/- 1 team! Happy cutting!

[aniljangra]

You must be proud to hit half century :), Congrats on nice builds love to watch your MMs.

[MetalHead]

Ditto on the big 50 plus !!! Profiles upated !!!

Mike

[riesvantwisk]

well done guys!!

[myozman]

Great Job Guys!

Starting to feel my machine is old now.

[cvriv.charles]

Hey guys. What size bolts are you using to bolt your machine together? More importatnly the 10-10-302 cross bears, what size bolts?

Thanks.

[dragonfinder1]

We used 3/8" diameter bolts mostly everywhere except for the rails which are 5/16". Miscellaneous bolt sizes in other places that are not structural.

[cvriv.charles]

Thanks. I am planning to use high grade 3/8" bolts too. The thing im worrying about is that im using 3 X 1-1/2 X 1/4 (6.0#) channel for everything under the mainbeams. Cross bearers, legs, etc. Thats very heavy. Im wandering if I use an appropriate number of high grade 3/8" bolts that I'll be fine? What do you think?

I was thinking maybe I should use 1/2" but thats seems like overkill to me. 3/8" bolts are pretty big/ strong.

[DeadGuy]

Thanks. I am planning to use high grade 3/8" bolts too. The thing im worrying about is that im using 3 X 1-1/2 X 1/4 (6.0#) channel for everything under the mainbeams. Cross bearers, legs, etc. Thats very heavy. Im wandering if I use an appropriate number of high grade 3/8" bolts that I'll be fine? What do you think?

I was thinking maybe I should use 1/2" but thats seems like overkill to me. 3/8" bolts are pretty big/ strong.

Hi Charles,

3/8 will be fine, but if I do this again(and I will) I will be using all metric bolts. To many things you buy for this, like steppers or the wheels, all use metric bolts. It was a lot of switching back and fourth and it gets to confusing.

Dennis

By the way I think I have a reservoir you built. DarthBevis gave it to me.

[cvriv.charles]

Hi Charles,

3/8 will be fine, but if I do this again(and I will) I will be using all metric bolts. To many things you buy for this, like steppers or the wheels, all use metric bolts. It was a lot of switching back and fourth and it gets to confusing.

Dennis

By the way I think I have a reservoir you built. DarthBevis gave it to me.

LOL! Really? How is good ole surroz doing? Wow, its a small world. I plan on making some newer and better reservoirs with my MM. I'll dedicate one of the first to you:)

Anyways thanks for the advice:)