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View Full Version : Starting my control panel - Battle Creek MI


firechief
Tue 17 January 2017, 13:14
I have been a long time getting parts to start my control box. It is time for me to get started. Box 20" X 21", PMDX 424 USB board, 70v 1500 w power supply,
4-G201x drives, PMDX 134 board on top of the drives. The box will be feed with 220v shop power, Windows 7 computer. That is the start of this, looking to cut something someday not to far in the future. Any help will be great. :)

Thanks for looking.

firechief
Tue 17 January 2017, 13:43
15899

15900

15901

15902

Antonio Lima
Tue 17 January 2017, 16:11
Looks good, i have sure that you will finish your project first than i :).

Go ahead Tim.

erimel
Fri 20 January 2017, 17:15
Nice!

That looks like the same enclosure I bought at surpluscenter.com.

Where'd you source the heatsink?

firechief
Mon 23 January 2017, 08:55
Here is some more pic of the control box. Got to spend a little time in the shop over the weekend. Please let me know what you think. All help is welcome.

Ordered my bent kit from MetalHead :)

firechief
Mon 23 January 2017, 08:58
Nice!

That looks like the same enclosure I bought at surpluscenter.com.

Where'd you source the heatsink?

That is were I got the Box from... I had the heatsink for about 2 years and will have to look it up for you.

firechief
Mon 23 January 2017, 09:09
Here is some more pic's. Looking forward to starting the base frame ect...

servant74
Mon 23 January 2017, 10:10
Nice

erimel
Mon 23 January 2017, 14:05
Sweet!

Now I know it'll all fit. Thanks!

Kornerking
Mon 23 January 2017, 17:44
Fun, fun,fun.
Before you know it you will be making sawdust.

firechief
Mon 13 February 2017, 08:46
Got some work do on my MachMate this weekend.
Steel has arrived, and got it cut all up. Table tacked together.
What do you think good or bad.


Tim

firechief
Mon 13 February 2017, 08:52
The man in the pics is a good friend Danny, and he is a great paint and body man as well.

Here is some more of the table.

firechief
Mon 13 February 2017, 08:53
Let me know what you are thinking.

Stay Safe
Tim

Fox
Mon 13 February 2017, 11:47
Put in some cross bracing, you'll be amazed how much it moves around under it's own power.

firechief
Mon 13 February 2017, 11:50
Put in some cross bracing, you'll be amazed how much it moves around under it's own power.

Fox, I ran out of time this weekend. I plan on adding some all the way around the base. I love the help Thanks.

ChuckS
Sat 18 February 2017, 07:22
Looking great!

I'm in Allen Park.

hflwaterski
Sat 18 February 2017, 08:11
Looks like you're about ready for grinding the rails. For whatever reason the rails and the paint seemed like two major milestones for me. Unfortunately I don't have a heated shop and I finished the metal work in the dead of winter. So I ended up having to wait until good weather.

Great build you have going! Keep the pictures coming!

firechief
Sun 19 February 2017, 19:59
Looking great!

I'm in Allen Park.

You got your up and running? Maybe We can get together and show me some pointers on running this thing.

firechief
Tue 21 February 2017, 12:45
Got some more work done on Friday. It is starting to look like a machmate... I hope.

firechief

firechief
Tue 21 February 2017, 12:50
Here is some pics.

firechief
Tue 21 February 2017, 13:13
Had a lot of time this weekend to work on the old girl.
This is the cart mockup at welding done.

firechief
Tue 21 February 2017, 13:15
Also had Monday off (Go Trump) so I got some done on the Z slide and spider plate.

firechief
Tue 21 February 2017, 13:16
Z slider almost done

firechief
Tue 21 February 2017, 13:19
Got things setting on top of the I beams... Please let me know what you think or suggestions. I'm up for anything that mite help make it better.

The I beams are just setting there, I need to cut them off and weld them down to the table.
I have been putting grinding the rail off for to long, looks as if that is what is next. Don't look fun at all.

firechief

Kornerking
Thu 23 February 2017, 07:18
Tim,
Rail grinding is like the rest of the project. Looks daunting until you get done then you say "That wasn't so bad"

I was going through this just a year ago. What a godsend it has been to have it.

timberlinemd
Fri 24 February 2017, 10:50
Looking at the pics, me thinks your not building a machine to cut wood?

Tom Ayres
Fri 24 February 2017, 19:35
I dreaded grinding the rails:eek:, I tried to make them too accurate and wasn't happy with them until I was within a couple hundredths of a mm, drove me nuts

firechief
Fri 24 February 2017, 19:51
I hope to get started on them this weekend. Got some work done on the spider and z plate. I will get some pic soon.

Fox
Sat 25 February 2017, 01:31
Rails are easy when you setup properly. Search the forum. But in short, stable platform good sliding skate turn cut to height with thin 1 mm stainless cutting discs from pferd or such, then convert grinder support to angle, and sand down with 36 grid and then 60 or such sandpaper glued on thick cutting disk as support. Took me one day to do all rails for 2*3 MTR machine. Within 0,01. Don't forget to clean the grinding dust when cutting rail to height, cause you introduce height differences.

firechief
Sat 25 February 2017, 19:36
Fox...thanks for the info on grinding. I hope it is like a lot of things, after you get started it is not so bad. I got the z slide done tonight and working on my belt drives.

Thanks all for your input.
Firechief

firechief
Mon 27 February 2017, 14:05
Here is some pic from this weekend. Let me know what you think. This is the Z slider coming together on the v rails.

firechief
Mon 27 February 2017, 14:08
Got the limit switch added to the Z slide. I will use a shorter proxy when final assembly is done

firechief
Mon 27 February 2017, 14:10
Started the belt drive units.. got them cut and fit and welded up

firechief
Mon 27 February 2017, 14:15
Every thing starting to come together. All this is just mocked up to see if they fit and move as they should. Still got my v rail that need to be ground, I will have to stop putting them off here soon.

Please if you see something do not hold back so this thing gets done right.

Thanks for all the help.
firechief

sphericos
Tue 28 February 2017, 04:21
Your build is looking good so far. I noticed you have a round stepper motor, I am no expert on steppers but it is my understanding that this design makes use of ferrite magnets that degrade over time compared to rare earth magnets in the square type. I was offered some salvaged ones recently but have hesitated due to this. Is it an issue you have experienced or are yours new?

firechief
Tue 28 February 2017, 13:44
Your build is looking good so far. I noticed you have a round stepper motor, I am no expert on steppers but it is my understanding that this design makes use of ferrite magnets that degrade over time compared to rare earth magnets in the square type. I was offered some salvaged ones recently but have hesitated due to this. Is it an issue you have experienced or are yours new?

My stepper motors are new.. I got a case of them (8) for $50.00 total. I looked them up and they are Lin 8618 490oz. I called LIN and he told me that they would work for my machine. I will let you know how they work out. I can change them latter if I need to and will only be out the $50.00, so I will give them a try to start with.

sphericos
Wed 01 March 2017, 03:26
For $50 you can't go wrong. You could probably eBay them for more than that if you decided to change them later.

lonestaral
Wed 01 March 2017, 05:13
Looking good Chief.
Keep at it.

firechief
Wed 01 March 2017, 12:33
For $50 you can't go wrong. You could probably eBay them for more than that if you decided to change them later.

I still have 4 new in box that I can sell or keep for spares as needed. When I get this thing cutting that will tell if they will work right or not. With the belt drives they should work good.

firechief

firechief
Wed 01 March 2017, 12:34
Looking good Chief.
Keep at it.

Thanks, It will not be to long before I start to think about paint... I thinking Blue.

Tom Ayres
Thu 02 March 2017, 04:20
Blue is a good color ;)

Borko
Fri 03 March 2017, 17:10
Nice progress you have there firechief.

Keep on with the work, don't see back, and be in no doubt. You'll be cutting before me.

Borko

firechief
Mon 13 March 2017, 11:53
This weekend I worked on my V rails. This was a big pain in the A##. I have over 12 hours in just cutting off and v grinding the rail... It is done and I,m glad. I think the out come was good and should work well.

firechief
Mon 13 March 2017, 11:58
After we got the rails done we started on the main I beams. got them cut off to size and cleaned up before they get leveled up and welded. I drilled and tapped three 1/4 20 in the I beam bottom leg. I will use then to level the beams before welding. I will get some pic of this as we set the main beam.

firechief
Mon 13 March 2017, 12:07
Next I will get the mounting holes in the V rail along with the hard stops and proxy target holes. I will have this move on the rail soon I hope.

One more note on the grinding skate... you need to use button head harden bolts for the height adjustment with button turned down on the rail, Softer bolts will gail on the top of the rail and will not slide along the rail. I had a hard time at first with grade 5 bolts before I made the change.

As always If you see something please let me know.

lonestaral
Tue 14 March 2017, 03:50
An interesting acronym on your main beams.:)

MarkRH
Tue 14 March 2017, 04:48
Tim you are moving right along, thanks for posting , but why did you reference your cut of the rail off 2x wood that cups and twists? Instead of letting bolt heads ride on a steel beam, I haven't done rails yet but assume you will need to straighten that cut by removing the wood and grinding it?

firechief
Tue 14 March 2017, 07:44
Tim you are moving right along, thanks for posting , but why did you reference your cut of the rail off 2x wood that cups and twists? Instead of letting bolt heads ride on a steel beam, I haven't done rails yet but assume you will need to straighten that cut by removing the wood and grinding it?

The beam was not that wide (4") for the head of the bolts to ride on. I placed the board on the beam and the rail on top of that and clamped it all down to the beam. This was flat and worked great for me. It was a new 1"x10" so it had no twists and was flat to start with. I used round headed bolts to ride on the wood.

I did not have any thing that was 11' long and 6" to 7" wide for the rail and the skate to ride on, so this is how I come up with a way to cut the rails.

firechief
Mon 20 March 2017, 13:12
Here is how I adjusted the rails to be level.. Then I welded the beams to the table for good. The bolts were to adjust the beam, I had three of them on each beam, one on both ends and one in the middle.

Thanks for looking

firechief
Mon 20 March 2017, 13:13
Go the rail on and looking good.

firechief
Mon 20 March 2017, 13:21
This is how I got the Gantry rail bolted to the gantry. I used a rod that I threaded on one end, put the clamping plate inside the gantry tubes and threaded the shafts in the clamping plate on both ends of the gantry. I lower the rails over the shafts and set them on the gantry. Then I pulled the shafts up and clamped them in the up position. I then put the bolts in the remaining holes removed the shafts and put the two bolds in there place. Work get

firechief

firechief
Mon 20 March 2017, 13:30
Some more rail pics all together

firechief
Mon 20 March 2017, 13:31
Gantry and Y cart stops.

firechief
Mon 20 March 2017, 13:39
Every thing is ready for paint. It will be going Tuesday to get color.

Kornerking
Mon 20 March 2017, 18:06
Very good. I suspect you will be cutting in a short period of time.

firechief
Tue 21 March 2017, 10:30
This has been a big project to put together, but I had a lot of fun so far. I just got back from dropping it off to get painted "Sky Blue it is". I will be picking it up on Friday. Now I got to clean the shop from all the grinding dust before It gets back. Thanks for looking. I have been working on Mach 4 and all the coding to setup the e stops, limits, homing and so on, Then on to v carve pro "big learning curve all the way around".

If it was easy everyone would be doing it.

firechief

MetalHead
Wed 22 March 2017, 04:24
Did they show you a swatch on that color? Royal/Ford Blue is the typical Blue used. Just want to make sure your getting the color your looking for. I had an experience with sky blue once that the painter used powder blue instead...

firechief
Wed 22 March 2017, 08:14
They did show me a color chip... I hope it is the same and we will know Friday.

I will post pic when it is back in the shop... Will be looking for some stickers soon I hope, and get on the build list with a number???

Kornerking
Tue 28 March 2017, 10:03
Kornerking Bronze looks good also.:D

firechief
Tue 28 March 2017, 13:44
I got it back from paint... Not bad looking. Now it is time to resemble and make it move.

firechief
Tue 28 March 2017, 13:46
Starting to get stuff mounted... it is hard to make the stepper noise with your mouth, but you know I tried. Got the rails painted as well.

firechief
Tue 28 March 2017, 13:52
Every thing is level and rolling smooth. Still got the Z to do. Looking at water cooled spindle, alone with a cooler and pump set on the Y cart. This making the run short and the system will be right in you face to keep your eye on. It will have a water movement indicator and temp read out as well. What do you think Pros or Cons

firechief

Kornerking
Tue 28 March 2017, 14:36
Looking awesome.
Now get a move on.

racedirector
Wed 29 March 2017, 03:05
Wow, that looks so nice! Well done, you'll be cutting in no time at all.

hflwaterski
Wed 29 March 2017, 06:32
That's one serious heat sink! Looking very sharp! You're in the home stretch now.

firechief
Wed 29 March 2017, 08:07
Thanks for all the comments on my build. Hope to be cutting soon. Then the learning curve with mach4 and v carve pro.

Any and all help is welcome.

firechief
Wed 29 March 2017, 08:12
That's one serious heat sink! Looking very sharp! You're in the home stretch now.

The stepper drivers are mounted to that on the inside, I cut out the side of the box to the size of the heat sink less 3/8" all around to seal and bolt it on. The drivers are bolt on to the heat sink on the inside. I can add a fan if needed on the out side of the control box, this keeping all the heat on the out side.

firechief
Wed 29 March 2017, 08:17
Wow, that looks so nice! Well done, you'll be cutting in no time at all.

Thanks, Not sure how long it will take to get all the movements dialed in. When mach4 calls for 1" of movement the spindle moves 1" on all axes, also getting the spindle square to the table and so on.

Again thanks for looking
firechief

IamDave
Thu 27 April 2017, 20:31
That is a good looking build. Very nice work.

MarkRH
Thu 11 May 2017, 17:01
Get any movement yet Tim? looked like you were moving right along

firechief
Tue 16 May 2017, 09:10
I got the water cooler setup along with the radiator and 3 fans. The water pump and fans startup with Mach4 calls for the spindle to start. work great so far.
As you can almost see the water flow indicator on the Z slide just after it come out of the spindle, to make sure it has water movement. The temp is showing there in front of the fans.

Let me know what you think?

firechief
Tue 16 May 2017, 09:39
I got the thing moving... I even crashed it one or two time :D :confused:
I got V carve pro 8.5 and Fusion 360. There is a lot to learn the curve is just about strait up. I fly cut the table, that was way cool the first time. I had to do it three time to get the spindle sq to the table and the steps adjusted right.
I have been cutting some small parts and made a base for a LED edge lite sign. The last pic show me making a vac boot for it out of wood (this will be from HDPE when done). This boot will let the z go to Home 0 and the hard stop.... if needed.

Maybe I can get stickers for it so I can get a number as well. :)

Let me know what you think.
firechief

timberlinemd
Tue 16 May 2017, 18:18
Looks good! Just needs logo for a number.

hflwaterski
Wed 17 May 2017, 17:30
Awesome job Tim! Looks like a great job. Now let's see some projects and maybe even a video. :)

MetalHead
Wed 05 December 2018, 04:20
Firechief I have moved your thread since you are now cutting.

Andrew_standen
Fri 14 December 2018, 10:53
Excellent job, Well Done.