Rocky Mountain Teardrops
Fri 15 May 2015, 11:58
Hello everybody.
This post has been a while coming....
I actually finished my Mechmate a year ago (2014)
I never made a build thread because there is nothing special about my Mechmate.
It's a typical 4'x8' machine, 7" Z axis , welded base, geared motors etc, etc, etc.
However, I have done a couple of things that I haven't seen or heard about very much, so I decided to share them here.
First, a picture of the Mech is all of it's glorious blue-ness.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd288/sharps45110/IMG_1439_zpscv5r2vfh.jpg (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/sharps45110/media/IMG_1439_zpscv5r2vfh.jpg.html)
Obligatory picture of the control box.
Not a tidy as most, but a lot better than my usual wire tangle.:o
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd288/sharps45110/IMG_1446_zpsair8atcv.jpg (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/sharps45110/media/IMG_1446_zpsair8atcv.jpg.html)
Some of the interesting things I have done.
I've always had problems with Mach3 starting the router I'm using (Porter Cable 7518). The onboard relay on the PMDX doesn't have enough amps to run it, and I could never get a Solid State Relay to work correctly with the electronic router speed control.
Many months of on and off work and thinking brought me to a solution.
We know that the SSR needs a load to engage. (a 40watt light bulb wired in parallel to the electronic router will make everything work just fine)
So I came up with this solution.
Wire a small resistor in parallel with the router. (kind of a parasitic load)
So after some maths, I decided on a 10K resistor, hooked to the output side of the SSR going to neutral line (here in USA, we have three wire systems, hot, neutral, and ground)
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd288/sharps45110/IMG_1445_zpsq52ji4t1.jpg (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/sharps45110/media/IMG_1445_zpsq52ji4t1.jpg.html)
Now the electronic router will start via Mach3 with the SSR relay.
Keeping my control box very tidy.
Next project:
I put a vacuum hold down table system on it with three zones.
First layer on the table is the standard MDF with the bolt holes to hold everything down.
Next layer is another standard 3/4" MDF with grooves machined in it for vacuum flow, grooves sealed with polyurethane.
No picture, but here's the simulation.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd288/sharps45110/capture_001_15052015_111325_zpsm1ngbvm8.jpg (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/sharps45110/media/capture_001_15052015_111325_zpsm1ngbvm8.jpg.html)
Top layer is a sheet of ultralite MDF for vacuum flow.
Mounted under the table top are three industrial vacuum motors.
Since the vast majority of my cutting involves 4'x8' plywood sheets, this system works very well to keep everything flat and in place.
I still use some edge hold down clamps just to make sure.
Next thing is the dust collection.
I have very limited headroom (8'), so I needed some way to make it fit.
I have seen other people use a LONG hose suspended from a tall ceiling, but that won't work for me. I also didn't want to run the hose along the cable tray or build another tray to run it along the gantry.
So what I did was got some strut (I used Unistrut), got some strut trollies (from McMaster), and made a sliding hose support.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd288/sharps45110/IMG_1443_zpsgszu5xz7.jpg (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/sharps45110/media/IMG_1443_zpsgszu5xz7.jpg.html)
Another short piece of strut along with a modified conduit clamp and a piece of HVAC duct.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd288/sharps45110/IMG_1442_zpsufavf3v9.jpg (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/sharps45110/media/IMG_1442_zpsufavf3v9.jpg.html)
Dust foot. Just a flat piece of sheet metal, bent edges, with conveyor brush (McMaster) around the edge.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd288/sharps45110/IMG_1441_zpsy4vav6qy.jpg (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/sharps45110/media/IMG_1441_zpsy4vav6qy.jpg.html)
Sorry about the sorry shape, I hit a clamp a while ago and haven't bothered to repair it.
Hope this will be usefull to somebody.
Thanks,
Lee
(HEY MIKE! How about a serial number? ;) )
This post has been a while coming....
I actually finished my Mechmate a year ago (2014)
I never made a build thread because there is nothing special about my Mechmate.
It's a typical 4'x8' machine, 7" Z axis , welded base, geared motors etc, etc, etc.
However, I have done a couple of things that I haven't seen or heard about very much, so I decided to share them here.
First, a picture of the Mech is all of it's glorious blue-ness.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd288/sharps45110/IMG_1439_zpscv5r2vfh.jpg (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/sharps45110/media/IMG_1439_zpscv5r2vfh.jpg.html)
Obligatory picture of the control box.
Not a tidy as most, but a lot better than my usual wire tangle.:o
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd288/sharps45110/IMG_1446_zpsair8atcv.jpg (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/sharps45110/media/IMG_1446_zpsair8atcv.jpg.html)
Some of the interesting things I have done.
I've always had problems with Mach3 starting the router I'm using (Porter Cable 7518). The onboard relay on the PMDX doesn't have enough amps to run it, and I could never get a Solid State Relay to work correctly with the electronic router speed control.
Many months of on and off work and thinking brought me to a solution.
We know that the SSR needs a load to engage. (a 40watt light bulb wired in parallel to the electronic router will make everything work just fine)
So I came up with this solution.
Wire a small resistor in parallel with the router. (kind of a parasitic load)
So after some maths, I decided on a 10K resistor, hooked to the output side of the SSR going to neutral line (here in USA, we have three wire systems, hot, neutral, and ground)
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd288/sharps45110/IMG_1445_zpsq52ji4t1.jpg (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/sharps45110/media/IMG_1445_zpsq52ji4t1.jpg.html)
Now the electronic router will start via Mach3 with the SSR relay.
Keeping my control box very tidy.
Next project:
I put a vacuum hold down table system on it with three zones.
First layer on the table is the standard MDF with the bolt holes to hold everything down.
Next layer is another standard 3/4" MDF with grooves machined in it for vacuum flow, grooves sealed with polyurethane.
No picture, but here's the simulation.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd288/sharps45110/capture_001_15052015_111325_zpsm1ngbvm8.jpg (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/sharps45110/media/capture_001_15052015_111325_zpsm1ngbvm8.jpg.html)
Top layer is a sheet of ultralite MDF for vacuum flow.
Mounted under the table top are three industrial vacuum motors.
Since the vast majority of my cutting involves 4'x8' plywood sheets, this system works very well to keep everything flat and in place.
I still use some edge hold down clamps just to make sure.
Next thing is the dust collection.
I have very limited headroom (8'), so I needed some way to make it fit.
I have seen other people use a LONG hose suspended from a tall ceiling, but that won't work for me. I also didn't want to run the hose along the cable tray or build another tray to run it along the gantry.
So what I did was got some strut (I used Unistrut), got some strut trollies (from McMaster), and made a sliding hose support.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd288/sharps45110/IMG_1443_zpsgszu5xz7.jpg (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/sharps45110/media/IMG_1443_zpsgszu5xz7.jpg.html)
Another short piece of strut along with a modified conduit clamp and a piece of HVAC duct.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd288/sharps45110/IMG_1442_zpsufavf3v9.jpg (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/sharps45110/media/IMG_1442_zpsufavf3v9.jpg.html)
Dust foot. Just a flat piece of sheet metal, bent edges, with conveyor brush (McMaster) around the edge.
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd288/sharps45110/IMG_1441_zpsy4vav6qy.jpg (http://s222.photobucket.com/user/sharps45110/media/IMG_1441_zpsy4vav6qy.jpg.html)
Sorry about the sorry shape, I hit a clamp a while ago and haven't bothered to repair it.
Hope this will be usefull to somebody.
Thanks,
Lee
(HEY MIKE! How about a serial number? ;) )