Mini Vacuum Table ! #100 - Adelaide AU

[clarson66]

Hi All,
Well we thought it was about time we posted what we are up to. I run a small cabinet shop and have always wanted a CNC machine. We (We = myself and my brother Leon) have currently built a small cnc machine and feel it's now time to take the Mechmate challenge.

Inspire by Mattyzee we have put the wheels in motion and have the following on order :-

4 x 203v Geckos and assorted electrickery bits (Thanks Phomann)
1 x 2.2kw spindle and collet set (Ebay)
1 x Spindle mount (Spindle Mounts.com)
1 x Bearings set (Rick at Superior Bearings)

Laser cut parts TBC from rnixon (Rick)
Steel nearly done just working our final design

Cheers to all that help us sourcing parts and with info!

Thank you in advance to Mattyzee, hope to catch up with and check out your machine! Also would be interested in that plugin for Mach3 and the VFD.

Regards Chris & Leon :)

[riesvantwisk]

hello Chris and Leon,

welcome to the forum and good luck with the build! Mechmate is an amazing and wonderful world as you noticed that has made many people addicted.
Please post picture of your build in your build log.

Ries

[domino11]

Welcome Guys! :)

[MattyZee]

No turning back now ;-) I can catch up this weekend if that suits.

[clarson66]

Cheers Matt,
Dont know if this suits but I could only make it Saturday between morning to 3pm ish.

PM us your details.

Regards Chris

[Lonedawg75]

Hello All,
The Gecko's have arrived today along with a BoB and few other bits.

Spindle has left China, Bearings & Spindle mount have left the USA.

Hopefully the steel will be ordered this week then just need the laser cut parts some rack & pinion, put it all in a big pile and hope for the best ;)

Cheers, Leon

[AuS MaDDoG]

Welcome aboard Leon, and good luck with the build.

Cheers
Tony.

[Jayson]

Good luck with your build.

[Lonedawg75]

Well everything has arrived, A huge relief! 2.2k Chai Spindle, Spindle Mount, Superior Bearings, Homann BOB & Gecko's

After Chris(Damn you!) paid a visit to Matty we are getting Nema 34 steppers now, Hopefully cheap as we have another bro that travels OS/has dealings in China/HK and we wont have to pay silly postage amounts! Also we are going for a 6 leg design, more for looks than anything (had to convince Chris on the gantry setup so giving him some leeway on the table ;))

A little purchase for myself as I want to do a little bit of hobby metal work is..
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/6551/lathe.th.jpg (http://img177.imageshack.us/i/lathe.jpg/)
22"x10" Metal Lathe with Quick Change Gearbox, Atleast it will help with machining up some bearing supports & belt drive axles :o seems like a nice solid machine and was a bargin from Fleabay Ozmestore :)

Anyway putting the finishing touches on dimensions this weekend so we can get the steel ordered. The price back from Sonnex Engineering for the Lasercut parts here in Adelaide was a bit more then we were expecting so waiting to see what the outcome is there, Rack we have found a cheaper buy than TEA Trannies so that will be on way aswell.

Thank you all for your time.
Leon

*Edit* We pulled the old CNC down the other day after trying out the Gecko 203v's with Xylotex PSU & 425oz nema 23's .. was a major improvement on the machine but could also see all the flex/inaccuracy appear. Then we tried a 387oz and realised where we went wrong on our initial machine, we should have gone 269oz steppers as we wanted speed more than torque (was mainly designed for system 32 holes!) it was only a 900x600mmish table. After about 30 seconds of deliberation we decided to pull it apart and sell off the Linear Rails/Xylotex/Ballscrews. It was fun building it and we learnt alot about CNC in the process atleast!

[Lonedawg75]

Hello all,

Well after a bit of a curfuddle with the steel pricing, seems the guy Chris called gave us the cost pricing. For all the steel including rails, bearers, bracing & additional bits fer stops etc it came to $1190 including cutting, With some sweet talk we got him down to $1100 and they are going to get the guys to cut as accurate as possible, bit more than the $750 originally :(

So far we(I) have spent:
2.2kw Spindle $570
Spindle Mount $105
4x Gecko 203v + Homann BoB $660
Bearings 12x $275
Steel $1100
Laser cut parts $450
Total $3160

Still to come and confirm on pricing is.. Rack & Pinion $365, Pinions/Spurs $225, PSU $150, Cable $200, Assorted bits n bobs $500 about another $1500 worth.
All up im happy as I had allowed for around $5000, the computer we haven't had to worry about as Chris and I both come from PC backgrounds and have plenty of bits :) Until the cash balance levels out a bit we are doing design etc with Quick-cad, tool paths with CamBam and control with Mach 3 from the last CNC machine.

Now to go work out the holes for drilling/tapping everything.

Have a great week everyone! :D

[KenC]

Wish you a good building experience.

#PS steel sure is expensive in Aus.

[gmcclure]

Hi leon,

sounds like we are at about the same stage.

say hello

best regards

Graeme

[clarson66]

Well we have steel (Finally) after all the hassles with the quote. Picked it up and 1 of the main beams had a join in it, everything else was out of square and wrong lengths. They guaranteed correct lengths and square cuts. We now have new beam and all the rest of the steel is just lengths and we need to cut it to size ourselves. Looking at buying one of the cold saws to do the job.
Leon has purchased a nice MIG welder for us.

Now between my 2 jobs and Leons long hours plus the workshop where it happens being a 50 minute drive for him, we now need to work out when we can make it! :(

Here's hoping for some more progress!

Chris

[Lonedawg75]

Argh!

Is driving me mad having most the parts but still no time to do anything, We picked up a control box and some various bits from an auction. Cable is ordered and waiting to arrive.

Wont be much on the update front for the next 3 weeks atleast *sigh* oh well off to sleep for more work :(

[swatkins]

We now have new beam and all the rest of the steel is just lengths and we need to cut it to size ourselves. Looking at buying one of the cold saws to do the job.

Chris

Best money I have ever spent for a tool.....8750

I bought mine a long time ago when it was about 225.00 US This model is better built than mine is ( We have one in another shop in Houston) and is worth twice what you would pay for it! http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200323677_200323677

[Felton]

hi welcome to the forum.

[clarson66]

Hello everyone,
Well the laser cut parts have arrived, thanx Rick.
Have Migshield gas for welder, now welds look like they should do :)
Cold cut saw has been ordered, awaiting delivery.

Over the next couple of weeks we should hopefully make some progress and have this pile of bits looking more like a Mechmate.

Chris n Leon

[cvriv.charles]

YAMM. Hello and welcome:)

[KenC]

Christ & Leon, Don't forget to post some fun filling pix.

[clarson66]

Well it's arrived and just couldn't wait so did some test cuts. Geez these saws are nice, the cuts are so neat plus quick and with so some quick adjusting the pointer of the angle marker they are square as well.
Will post some pics over the next couple of days as I hope to get down to my workshop to get cracken on this Mechmate.

Chris

[MetalHead]

I have a DeWalt version of that. Mines a chop saw not a metal cutting saw. Does yours have the tooth blade? Mine hase the large abrasive wheel.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200329087_200329087

Between that and the metal cutting Bandsaw

(http://www.grizzly.com/products/5-x-6-Metal-Cutting-Bandsaw-w-Swivel-Head/G9742)

Probably the most used two tools in the shop. Have to haves in my book.

[AuS MaDDoG]

Hi Chris,

some nice gear there!! should make light work of some of the harder tasks!! good luck with your build. I used the cold metal cut saw for all my steel and it worked a treat:)

Good Luck with your build.

Cheers
Tony

[clarson66]

Hi Mike,
Yep I got one of those friction saws as well, but your correct these have a 72 Tooth TCT blade in them and spin at 1500rpm. I think it's similar to Ausmaddog's.

Oh and cheers Tony, yes we have built quite a collection of metal working gear which I'm sure will aid the build nicely.

[clarson66]

Hi All,
Made it down to my workshop today and made some progress on the steel.
Some lengths needed cut and some needed the dodgey cuts from the steel yard to be squared up.

Legs cut, x & y bottom and top rails cut, y cross bearers cut n drilled.
Solved the drilling problem, much better standing up than kneeling down.

Only had my phone with me so not the best pics!

[Surfcnc]

Gidday Chris and Leon

I bought a friction saw and every time I use it, I regret not getting the more precise cold cut saw.
The machine (esp. the table base) will assemble so much more easily if it is made up of truly square cuts.

All the best with your project.

regards
Ross

[clarson66]

Leon & I have made another visit to see Mattyzee and we are ready to go!

Firstly we got onto the x beams.

Cut the angles on the end, bent plates, welded them on and cleaned em up.
Then we got onto the drilling and tapping of the beams and rails.
Day done and we have beams ready to start welding the frame.

Chris

[clarson66]

Travelled down south again and opened the door, the magic fairies seem to have forgot to weld the frame together.

Ah well, Leon and I kick into action again and start welding!

One side done and the other one is somewhere!

Seem to have got the hang of the mig welding to.

Chris

[clarson66]

Not sure what day this is but here is some more snaps of the frame welded.
Sorry people I'm not quite sure where some of the photos got to and I cant find the ones of it all welded to together before it turned over.

Well it was quite late but Leon and I didn't want to leave our Mechmate on its back. So with some carefull lifting we managed to turn it the right way up.
Couldn't find the local rugby team team, so Leon and I did it ourselves

After shimming one leg the table sits dead level in all directions and there is about 1mm at the most variance in the diagonals of the x beams

Chris

[clarson66]

Well Leon and I had a rail of a time today.

Cut them down to 28.ishmm the set the jig up with a grinding disc and ground them dead square and accurate to 28mm, checking with Leons new dial gauge we got the rails to .01 mm variance in height and they do look good.

(Sooorry again lost the close up photos, going to check with Leon cause I'm sure there was more photos taken :( )

With a nice square top the skate runs nice and smooth. Next we shimmed the rail and checked with straight edge to make sure it's nice n level. Then string lined it straight then grind away!

x rails cut n ground
y rails cut ready for the angle grind.

Chris

[AuS MaDDoG]

Hi Chris,

Your build is coming along just nice!!! when are you welding in your braces??
Thanks for the heads up on the grinding of the rail flat, prior to grinding the 45degree V cuts, I will be onto that in the morning.

Cheers
Tony.

[clarson66]

Hi Tony,
The rest of the cross supports are cut just need to do the angled braces, hope to get back down there soon to get them in. Hoping to be there Monday if not on the weekend.

Good luck with the rails, my neighbours at the workshop love me right now :)

Chris

[mrghm]

how do you find the machwood a3 edge bander, do you guys use 2mm with it.

nice build you have done the metal work quick

[clarson66]

Just in case anyone was thinking I was over the top with our accuracy of our rails, I was. Slight typo the tolerance is was within .1 mm

Chris

[AuS MaDDoG]

Hi Chris,
Your thread should be getting moved to the Construction Started, But Not Cutting Yet as your build is well underway now.

Good luck with it!!

Cheers
Tony.

[clarson66]

Well we made it to the construction started, but not cutting yet section.
Went down and cleaned up the workshop today and did a few little bits on the Mechmate and made some bits for this Sunday when Leon and I will start on it again. Will make sure we get all the photos this time guys.

Chris

[Surfcnc]

I see your rail cutting jig worked well - so nice when an idea propagates so quickly through the group and gets put to use.

Do you have any forward plans for what you might like to make with your machine or like me it is a more stepwise, build it first, then experiment later.
Keep up the good work, it seems Aussies have taken the Mechmate CNC to heart judging by the number of starters we now have.

Regards
Ross

[clarson66]

Once the Mechmate is up and cutting, I will be able to make my own carcases and other custom cabinetry. I also have a few other cabinet makers I know that are keen for it to be up and going so I can do work for them. Leon who has financed this operation will probably finally get to make his racing cockpits for game consoles that he's always wanted to create.
The rest will come as we explore the world of CNC.

Chris

[clarson66]

More progress today, finally got the bracing all cut n finished today. Finished the clean up of the workshop and we are ready for the Y rails and carriage on Sunday.

[Lonedawg75]

Looking good there Bro.

Unfortuantly im going to have to work again tomorrow :( hopefully its a little more exciting than last Sunday, 1 truck in for the whole day, Oh well it let me catch up on some research! ^^

Other Bro dropped down the DIN rails and wire trap things plus I have another Control Box with goodies to pickup on monday morning.

[isladelobos]

¿"small cabinet shop"? :)

Very good progress Chris and bro.

[clarson66]

Hi all,
Well been down to the workshop and made some more progress. Leon and I managed to get the gantry made up today, cuttin, drillin, tappin, weldin and Rollin!!!!!! Wooo Hooo that baby rolls smooth. Leon did a great job of makin sure it was all sqaure on the ends, that panel saw top sure came in handy. Next we levelled the frame again as I had to move it, squared and clamped that sucker down and started welding, A1,2,3,4,B1,2, and so on. Have to make mention we looked for countersink bits and gave the $6.50 P&N a go 4 holes counter sunk and still good as new. Will try to get as much done this week as possibly but the 6am starts at work might slow me down.

Chris n Leon

[clarson66]

Hi All,
Not much to report but we now have a Blue control box and our toroidal transformers have arrived. Still waiting for RS to send the cap. Got some crazy shifts at work so I'll probably be trying over the next week to get the electronics done. Just need to heat the shed these nights are getting a bit fresh. Then long weekend it should be back to the workshop and finish the carriage.

[Gerald D]

Either that transformer is too small, or the box is too big? :confused:

[clarson66]

Hi Gerald,
Im hoping both are ok, the box is 600mm x 600mm and was the right price.
These power supplies are 35 + 35 300va, paired together will make our required 600va. This is very similar to Mattyzee's setup.

Chris

[Gerald D]

If someone else is already using that setup without hassles then there is nothing further to say. :)

[clarson66]

Another weekend, more work done. We managed to get the Y rails ground and the carriage made up. Have joined our rack together and test mounted it for the X axis, welded the stops on X. Just have the Y to do the rack and the stops. Cleaned up a few other bits and started planning for the next weekend in 2 weeks time. No photo's this time sorry.

Chris n Leon

[clarson66]

Hi all,
It's been quite a while, both Leon and I have been quite busy and myself closed up my cabinet shop and have started working elsewhere. Have put up a new 12m x 7m shed in the back garden and moved all mine and Leon's gear in. Had our first meeting on the plan of attack to get this Mechmate finished and up n running. Have spent some time on little bits this week but also trying to finish the shed plus find where everything is from the move.

Couple of pix of the Mechmate and its new home.

Hopefully more to updates to come and soon!

Chris n Leon

[aussie_mick]

Looking good.

Keep the pics coming. Definately inspires me to get on with my build.

Mick

[clarson66]

Wet weather outside but dry in the shed, so we soldiered on!
Leon jumped on the lathe and hooked back up the DRO and tweaked the guides and a few other bits. Then he turned up the stand offs for the spider.
I finished marking, drilling and tapping holes in the Y rail, added the stops and drilled the holes in X and Y rails for the sensors. 20mm Step drill from Bunnings did the job nicely. Next got a start on the proximity holder/stop plates. Finished off with planning our next get together.

Yes there is 3 of the plates the other one is hiding underneath.

Chris n Leon

[clarson66]

Thought we might have a look at the electronics today, managed to make up a mounting plate for the geckos. Tested the transformers and started some wiring. Need to make another trip to the shops for some more heat shrink and cable. Also managed to machine up the piece for the bearing on the Y axis.

Chris

[clarson66]

Hi all,
Well Leon and I are still here and the Mechmate is still a WIP. Hopefully this Easter we will be out in the shed and making progress. I have got the Mechmate up on wheels so we can move it around to work on it. Sold a heap a stuff out the shed, but did buy a new panel saw though. Have moved things around and are ready to get back into finishing this build. Pictures and updates to come soon.

Bye for now Chris

[clarson66]

Some progress,
Another day in the shed and we have Y-cable chain fitted and tested. The stop blocks all finished. But most important we spent some time just getting familiar with where we are up to and what we need to finish this machine. Well with a shopping list in hand we are off tomorrow for more bits and some emails of to people tonight for other bits.

[Red_boards]

Perseverance!
You're almost there. It comes together pretty quickly once you have it rolling.

[clarson66]

Cheers Red,
Yes it does seem like we are nearly there. We managed to get lots of little parts yesterday springs, nuts n bolts and cable chain ordered for X. Still working on the Z plate finding the plate rather expensive and hard to get in Adelaide. Have been to a few places for costing on milling it up.
Oh well another day of holidays of to steel yard for some bits and then back out to the shed.

Chris

[clarson66]

Hi all,
Quiet day finished the Y cable chain setup and tried out our new springs. Cleaned up a few welds on the frame that were a bit crappy. Getting ready for the X cable chain to arrive and still researching this Z plate, got one quote today and nearly fell of my chair.

Chris

[smreish]

Is there a significant reason why you are trying to outsource the z-plate?
The fabrication method is not any more difficult than the rails. Just a little more layout is required.

Additionally, if the tool steel is the part that is hard to acquire, then use Cold Roll flat stock as a substitute. The steel substitution isn't a huge deal breaker - I had this set up on my first machine for 2 years before I put in a proper d-2 tool steel slide. No challenges on performance at all.

Good luck
Sean

[clarson66]

We were looking to outsource for ease and accuracy. Im hoping that a fellow Mechmater here in Adelaide can get his friend to do the machining as the price was very reasonable. I am going to ring back the place were I tried to get the steel from before, just last time we tried to get it in they mucked up the order and sold it to someone else. Didn't offer to get another one in just refunded my money. The plate here in Adelaide cost me about $160 AUD, not sure what my interstate builders paid for theirs.

Chris

[clarson66]

Hi all,
Lazy Sunday thought we would just do some washing and hang it out to dry. Going over the last bits to order hopefully get more painting done soon.

Chris n Leon

[Gerald D]

You guys hang corks around your hats like that! :D

[Kobus_Joubert]

Tomorrow it is the wife's turn on the washing line :D

[Gerald D]

What are those "lumps" on the wash line pole?

[clarson66]

Yeah she didn't find it funny when I asked her to get all the washing off so Icould hang some stuff up. But on the plus side our MM is finally getting ready to go BLUE!

PS Gerald if you are referring the silver lump above the handle winder it's a peg bucket the old guy that owned the house before made up :)

[Gerald D]

We don't even have the handle winders here.

[Jayson]

Here in Australia we have so many people from all over the world living happily together, what this means is we have women folk of many varying heights, so Mr Hills designed the Hills Hoist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hills_Hoist) to allow the height to be changed so that they could get the clothes line to the correct working height and joyfully hang out the washing. This results in our women being wonderfully happy and welcome us with open arms when we get home every night... :D

Its also handy to raise things up a little when painting.

[clarson66]

We have managed to get a good price on the plate for the Z axis, found a dealer in Melbourne who was overstocked and happy to sell us a piece delivered for less than any of my quotes from Adelaide. Also thanks to a friend who races cars we now have his machinist to machine the plate up for us. Just need for finish the paint job and it will soon be time to start final assemble.

Chris

[clarson66]

Well another day on the MM build. Today was the last day of cleaning up the last bits of surface rust, she has been sand blasted, rainex rust converted, wire brushed and sanded. Then wheeled it into the temp spray booth I made and let the primer fly. Interesting thing to paint so many angles and sides, seemed like every time I moved there was another bit I'd missed. Well finally got it all primed, u can see it in there somewhere.

Chris

[clarson66]

Phone call from the machine shop and a quick drive down to his workshop and we now have our Z-plate. Just need some time of work and we can get the spider finished.

[clarson66]

Hi all, just looking for some feedback. I was setting up the x rails the other day and its seems despite all our care and measuring and previous rough trial set ups, that some how we have ended up with the tapped holes in the x beams being 6mm overall to close. Meaning I cant get the y carriage to sit down on the v rails.
2 Possible solutions we have thought are
1. Just use 4-5mm of shims on each v bearing
2. Elongate the holes in the rails to slide the rails out further and back to 2 - 2.5 mm of shims.

Any thoughts everbody?

Chris

[Regnar]

Did you make sure you didnt swap the rails to the other side? What was on the right is now on the left and left is now on the right. A slight offset would be doubled when swapped and could be where you came up short.

Option 1 would be a whole lot easier than elongating a bunch of holes just be sure you have enough on the X axis pinions to come in full contact with the rack.

[Quadro]

I wouldn't recomend enlogating any holes on the x rails. Do you have any 'shims' between the V brg and the Y carrage? It is a bit hard to tell from the photos. Somewhere I read use half of a nut if necessary.

[clarson66]

We still have 20mm of overhang each side so with the rack being 15mm space shouldn't be a issue. We have tried it in the current holes and can get the y carriage to ride correct with 4mm of shims each side. I was going to look into getting a shim nut if possible. The rails were clearly punched so they are back in the right spot. Im leaning more towards just using the 4mm shims or a nut, was just concerned cause I have seen it mentioned about 2.5mm of shims should be all you need. But that is a lot of holes to elongate.

Chris

[Gerald D]

4mm of shims, or a standard heavy washer + shims, should be quite acceptable

[clarson66]

Thanks Gerald,
I Was thinking it should be right but its always nice to get advice from experienced folk. 4mm washer and shim to true it up it is, back in the shed on the weekend and I will get it rolling again.

Chris

[clarson66]

Well we finally made it out to the shed, lost most of Saturday the wife came back from a holiday and wanted to spend time with me.
After sorting the shims for the Y carriage bearings, I got the X - Rails on and shimmed level. Then Leon came down today and we got the Y carriage on and the rails fitted and shimmed level. It is rolling real nice and smooth. We then decided to start looking at testing the motor mount, which all seemed to go fine as well.

Yes we have decided on a different colour scheme, one of our local auto stores was clearing out 3M paint for $10 a litre and they had Metallic Charcoal - Hammer finish. We thought it would look nice with the black accessories.

Chris n Leon

[clarson66]

Hi all,
I have been quietly working away on the MM in the background. Sorry I haven't posted any updates but there is good news. Our Mechmate has made the dust fly and is up and cutting, I still need to tidy up some wiring and bits but its definitely cutting. Will post pics and maybe a video as soon as I can get a chance.

Chris

[Quadro]

Can't wait to see the dust!

[clarson66]

Hi all,
Been playing around with the MM making lotsa dust. Purchased a up/down compression cutter, cut melamine board real nice. Been doing a bit of engraving and just mucking around. Have purchaed some acrylic to play with and have orded some strip LED lights for making some signs for fun. Thought I best do the square test and check the machine, had just under 1mm difference on the diagonals and after a quick adjustment and some changing of shims it all squared and ready to go.
Have put the stickers on and now await to see if we have earned the honor of a serial number and which one 98, 99 and who's is goin to get the 100th?

Oh yeah and the last photo is something from one of my muck around sessions.

[Gerald D]

Great job!

If you want #100 you need to ask Mike if he will reserve it for you :)

[darren salyer]

Great job, Chris and Leon.
I'm in the running for #100.

[clarson66]

Would be nice to have the #100 I will leave it up to Mike to make the decision of who will have that honor (Hi Mike). After 2 years in the making I am just happy and excited to see it finally cutting.

[clarson66]

Congrats 2 Darren, I have been watching ever ones posts as well thinking who is going to get the #100.

[Gerald D]

And we have this machine (http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2734) in the running for a number as well . . .

[Quadro]

Well done Chris!
I was 'holding back' on the second machine so I could swipe #100.

[clarson66]

Yes I was wondering how many people were holding of before posting they were done, as I said b4 I'm just happy to have it running. Although if I am not mistaken do we not have 3 Aussie builds in the running for the #100?

[Gerald D]

I reckon that 99 is more "sexy" than 100.

In a flash I can can produce photos of 4 unlisted machines (http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?t=499), stickered and cutting, and grab the next 4 numbers :D, but I won't do that ;).

[clarson66]

I was thinking the same Gerald, #99 does sound nice I would be happy with that. :)

[darren salyer]

I hope you all realized I was tongue-in-cheek about the serial #.
Whatever number I end up with will be fine with me.

A 100series machine sounds just as sexy to me....

I just want a running machine like the 100+ before me already have.....

[bradm]

Gerald, are you holding out for #111,#333,#777, and #999? :)

[Gerald D]

Brad, holding out for the mark of the Blue Beast #666

[Gerald D]

Now that #99 has been allocated, this must surely be #100? The photos in post #77 (http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?p=57801&postcount=77) are the qualifiers.

[MetalHead]

Yep - You are correct G !!! Congrats on getting #100 !!!

[Gerald D]

Pop the champagne!

[darren salyer]

Thats awesome!!

Congrats!!!

A testament to Geralds abilities as a designer that there are 100 documented machines built all over the world, by people with widely different skill sets.

Well done, sirs!!

[clarson66]

A big Thanks to Gerald for sharing his Mechmate creation with all of us to enable us all to embark on the journey of building their own. It has been a long time in the making this Mechmate and it's has now earned it serial number.
Cheers to all the other users that we looked in on their posts to originally inspire us to build the Mechmate and help us during the build, and although we might not have posted in your build we appreciated being able to look in and gain knowledge enabling us to create Mechmate #100.

Here's to many happy years of making dust!

Cheers Mike, May you carry the mechmate forward for the all the next people wishing to build a Mechmate.

Regards Chris n Leon #100

Yes the Beer is flowing :)

[Lonedawg75]

omg it is so nice to have built the machine, unfortuantly we had a few months of disruptions .. it is so nice that is all it is working well and we are now looking forward to makin things for the SA world :)

[domino11]

Congratulations Guys! :)

[hennie]

You did It!

[jhiggins7]

Well done, Chris and Leon!:) Congratulations on completing your MechMate and earning Serial #100.

Here is the Updated Builder's Log (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AttqjIPMBEXKcExveGc4d3U0V25zQmMyX1U1eUVhU Xc).

Please let me know the "cutting" dimensions of your MechMate so that we can include them in your Entry.

[sailfl]

Congratulations !

[zumergido]

ok iam going for the Number 1000..
congrats.

[clarson66]

Hi all,
Mechmate #100 is still happily running and I'm finally getting to spend some time working on it. Currently we have fitted the spindle controller so spindle starts n stops with Mach 3 now. Slowly updating and tidying bits up. Thanks to Surfcnc plans, we are in the middle of making and fitting his 4:1 reduction set up. Been getting some work for the Mechmate so some financial reward is finally happening.
Will post some pics when we get underway with the 4:1 upgrade.

Chris

[sailfl]

Congrates on 100

[AuS MaDDoG]

Well done guys !! congrats on the completion of MM #100

Cheers
Tony.

[Gerald D]

Tony and Nils, he got his #100 in June last year already (Nils you already congratulated him at that time).....or am I missing something?

[sailfl]

Gerald,

Nice to hear from you. I try to keep up with all the new builds. It is nice to see that the builds have gotten to 100 + that are registered.

[domino11]

Must have been the old thread bump that confused people. :):D

[AuS MaDDoG]

lol, Im with you Domino 11 that's what did it !! I saw the recent post congratulating and me being the friendly person that I am wanted to congratulate. Not too worry all good and good to hear that Chris and Leon are making some good use of MM. :D

Cheers
Tony.

[clarson66]

Well the pulleys and belts have arrived, after a fairly big credit. Place we ordered them from charged us nearly double what their website said. Bro picked up the laser cut plates today. Bearings on order from VXB now, ordered some from another Chinese supplier they arrived quick but were very poor quality and not even correct sizing. They nicely refunded my money and now we wait for the VXB to arrive then its assembly time. Will post some photos soon when it starts coming together.

Chris

[clarson66]

Well I'd become quite happy with how the MM has been working that I got a bit side tracked and left the reduction drives in their box. Now happy to say I have x and y made up, installed and tested. Much nicer and smoother cuts at higher feed rates.

Chris

[clarson66]

From the inspiration of Deere #116 a mini vacuum table. Needed to make something quick to hold some wooden boards in place for cutting into cheese boards. 200 x 200 mm and worked a treat.

[pblackburn]

Great job

If you ever need, I have a design I use that is 325mm square using two sheets of 19mm material. Just let me know, I think it is on my thread but if not I can send you the files. It is sized to not restrict the air flow at all of the vacuum until the surface has material place on it to achieve maximum tension. I use it for engraving plastic tags.

[clarson66]

Been a while, Mechmate #100 has been whirring away quietly doing all sorts of odd jobs. In the last couple of years it has moved the Clare Valley in South Australia and lives a quieter life in amongst vineyards now. Have had a couple of vacuum/blowers sitting under the bench and recently had a job come through that would be easier with a vacuum table so I whipped up this prototype to get me through. Will rebuild it again when not in quite a rush to get a job done.

[smreish]

Really well done! Congrats

[clarson66]

Cheers, I'm really impressed with how well it works. The MDF bleeder sheet was warped and as soon as I hit the pumps with a sheet of plastic on top the MDF it pulled it straight down.

[jhiggins7]

Hi Chris and Leon,

Nice work, thanks for sharing.

What Horsepower are your blower/vacuums? Just curious. I have one that bought years ago and was wondering how it might perform as a vacuum hold down.

[clarson66]

They are Kawake Ring Blowers, 1.75kw 240v Aussie. Each one move about 125cfm or 3.5m3 They can achieve a vacuum force as well, I'm getting about -6 inHg. It's not a lot of force but testing has been promissing. Best thing is though they seem to keep going, ran the system for 1 and half hours while the glue dried on the spoil board and they only got 40 degrees celsius. The old vacuum cleaner motor on the test one would probably been in flames by then.

I haven't machined the glossy layer of the top of the mdf yet and in a test tonight it still managed to pull down a warped piece of 3mm ply and held while machining.

[jhiggins7]

Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to your progress.

[AlexTup]

Hello everyone - I have updated the list of the newbies and members attending this weekends event, together with the undecided. Also posted within the thread is the meeting place, together with a link to the Adelaide Zoo, to enable you to print a map if required.

fozzie