getting serious in VT, USA; thinking transportable

[stecy]

Thanks to all who have gone before; fascinating to see how the internet facilitates global collaboration.

Have spent the past few days poring over drawings and a great many posts. Also have made contact with Brad in Somerville MA, & tentatively arranged a visit to see his machine.

One of the issues of greatest interest to me appears to have received little discussion: transportability. I did find some posts here on mounting the base on casters, and one mention of wheeling one onto a car carrier trailer to move it to another shop. That would be a one-time move, whereas I am thinking of moving the machine frequently. MIT, I see, has a ShopBot in their mobile FabLab in a trailer, along with a small laser cutter, sign plotter, etc - so plainly it can be done.

So my first question to the forum is: how to avoid damage to the moving parts in transit? Would it make sense to separate rollers and rails, or perhaps to in some manner lock them together? Here in New England, in addition to potholes, we have frost heaves every spring that turn our roads into rollercoasters. I can imagine an unprepared machine being beaten to death in a few miles of bad roads. Anybody have any experience moving a MechMate about on a regular basis? If not, what would experienced builders offer as suggestions?

TIA

Steve

[Gerald D]

The issue would be to stop the carriages (all 3 of them) from moving under external g-forces. Braking will run the gantry forward, cornering will set the y-axes in motion, and bouncing will get the z-slide moving. The moves in themselves aren't dangerous, but they could bang away at the end-stops.

I think I will clamp the router/spindle collet to a bolt that is fastened through the table, to lock all the axes.....

And I would weld a suspension and towbar direct to the table to make it street legal... Then put a tarp over it.

[stecy]

Thanks Gerald for your immediate response.

Regarding your perhaps joking suggestion of turning the machine itself into a trailer, as it happens I have here an approx. 5' x11' bare chassis of a former camper trailer, and was wondering if it might become integrated into the base. It has some degree of stiffness built in, being made of tubular steel.

[stecy]

Another thing that I might add is that I have on hand a number of 13 foot long steel channels of 4" x 1 5/8" section. Seems heavier than needed for the transverse bed supports, and not heavy enough for the longitudinal rail beams. However, there were posts on built-up beams. If I could make use of this material, that would be a big plus.

[lumberjack_jeff]

And I would weld a suspension and towbar direct to the table to make it street legal... Then put a tarp over it.

Once again, I *really* like the way you think. :cool:

No more worries about dust collection... simply move a few feet. :-)

(although here in the states, I think it would be easier and and cheaper to buy (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=42709) a 4x8 trailer to mount it to, because of the problems with licensing homebuilt trailers.)

That would be a real cool setup for me: currently I get the drawings and the marine ply from the boatyard, take it home, cut it up, and return the parts to the boatyard (50 miles each way) where I assemble the parts into a kit. If it's not right, I repeat that process. (hmm... how much is a nema 3r enclosure...)

Maybe an enclosed trailer is a better solution.

Let's get *really* carried away, a vertical mechmate installed in an enclosed trailer (http://www.interstatecargo.com/trailers.php?trailer_id=23). Cool, or what?

Darn you! Don't you know that ideas are dangerous things? :D

[stecy]

Jeff

You may have missed the part where I ponder whether the tubular steel chassis from an old camper that I already have might not serve as an integral part of the bed structure, rather than just a means of hauling. (Or as a source of salvaged steel, as one poster considered) Of course, that applies to a new build better than just moving around an existing one.

[lumberjack_jeff]

My understanding is that in my state, licensing and titling my own trailer is prohibitively difficult.

[stecy]

OK, that identifies an advantage that I have; here in VT registering a homebuilt trailer is simple. And I don't think that if the "trailer" also happened to be a CNC machine with wheels and a towbar, there would be any problem, as long as it had the requisite tail lights. Now there's a new topic: Tailights for the MechMate

[gooberdog]

Often when the wheels and hitch are part of the machine, there is no licensing required. Often seen with sawmills, chippers and the like.

[KenC]

I ponder over the necessity of such endeavour, anyway, its hopefully something rational will appear through discussion.

But it is surely a good idea for propaganda campaign.

A MM weighs in around 400kg. Would think will require similar amount of steel to go into the trailer. A VT in fist glance will be flimsy & woosy; & the car/truck will eventually tow a load of around 1000kg. that excludes the material, tools & equipment which you will work on at site.
On top of that you need electricity to the MM, you can tow along a gen set or upgrade the car system.
It would be counter productive to do setting up whenever it arrive at the destined site.

I recon to tow your MM to site requires you to actually have a mobile workshop & haul the required material along.

Why not have a real muscle build? Convert a 8'x20' container on low bed, power by a truck loco. You will have enough space for a workshop, stock area, pantry, WC, & a sexy receptionist in the office... maybe just enough space for a hot tub powered by the truck exhaust :D

On top of that, as Jeff mentioned, No worries with dust collection.

Or you can fix it straight on the back of a 3 ton truck... with a tarp canopy over it. If you really need hoisting capibality, install a crane ;)
I don't see any registration difficulties in any part of the world with this concoction.

[Gerald D]

I was not joking when suggesting that the MM could become the trailer itself - it is already a very rigid flat bed. Same as per portable sawmill, or tower crane, or other types of construction machinery.

Cutting at a constuction site often has a lot of benefits.....that is just the way that some trades work. Film set construction is just one example.

[lumberjack_jeff]

Ken, it captures my imagination for a couple of reasons;
a) I am somewhat space-constrained in my current shop
b) all the materials are at my client's site
c) the nature of his projects are such that there's 4 or 5 days of major work followed by quite a bit of downtime
d) it saves a great deal of time to be able to collaborate with his crew
e) it's cool. ;)

I envision a vertical Mechmate installed against one wall of the trailer, a workstation/workbench in the front, a 5kw genset, a vacuum pump and a dust collection fan installed in a cabinet on the tongue - probably #2000 (900kg) total including the Mechmate.

[KenC]

I see where you are getting at. That is what I call Door-to-Door service at its best!
I'm not joking with a truck or a container mobile workshop. Have genset, power cord connection ready & what ever you fancy, Add a retractable gang way to facilitate in & out of the bed, retractable floor on the side to give comfortable standing room beside the MM, park that in your drive way or anywhere that is convenient & solve the space problem. Moreover, a truck would be a "trouble free" platform to work on. & you get a dedicated vehicle to take the load off your daily ride.
It can be cool too :D

You may even make wood dust on the move too! BUT I would never recommend that.

[Gerald D]

The idea of working in a container does not appeal to me at all. That is just too tight.

[KenC]

Saw these on my way to lunch.

This is the flat bed I had in mind
8896

This twin cabin works well too, it is also a good example of the tarp canopy I had in mind.
8895

This the ultimate. c/w crane arm, hydraulic jack. Perfect when add a tarp canopy like the double cabin pix.
8897

No claustrophobic problem, I hope.

[stecy]

I think I will clamp the router/spindle collet to a bolt that is fastened through the table, to lock all the axes.....
.

Coming back to the central issue of the beating the machine would take on the road, in whatever manner it travels, I can see Gerald's idea of clamping the spindle to a bolt through the table as workable for very occasional moving, but it doesn't seem robust enough for frequent relocation, which is what I am envisioning. Would it make sense to incorporate clamping to immobilize each axis separately? Could that perhaps be implemented with off-the-shelf toggle clamps?

[SumBum]

I think to roll it around to job sites it would need to be at least covered so weather wouldn't determine when you work. Maybe build one similar to a display or concessions trailer with lift up sides that would create an awning around it. Add some leveling jacks to get the tires off the ground when your running the machine and I think it would work great.
This is along the lines of what I'm thinking. With a smaller rear compartment and lift up side panels added to it.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b95/Glenguitars/1_116_1.jpg

[Gerald D]

Steve, with a decent suspension (springs/dampers), and calm driving, I think it will be okay. I am a bit nervous of clamps because the clamp forces are poorly controlled and you could find yourself damaging the machine by accident. Eg. pull the gantry down too hard and the rollers may bend their mounting bolts.

[normand blais]

even on regular mm a way to lock the gantry should be provided since any body could try to move it and burn a drive .It sure does not have to be as solid as if you would want to tow it on a dirt road.
Normand

[Gerald D]

Normand, the older ShopBots suffered from that problem, but we don't hear much of it these days.

[normand blais]

I got to get up to date I gess

[servant74]

In the States the 'yellow school bus' is a fixture of the landscape everywhere but big 'high rise' cities.

Due to safety regulations changing, most busses must be replaced every 10 years of so. I have thought one of the 72 passenger busses would make a nice (but cramped in width and height workshop, even if it just stayed parked most of the time.

Interesting to think about anyway.

For example...
http://www.midwesttransit.com/Bus-Search_moreinfo.asp?i=K38571