Suppliers of components & services around the world (including laser kits)

[Gerald_D]

To build your own machine, you are going to need to do some shopping. Here is a summary of the major expense, or "tricky", items that you need to find a supplier for.....

Gear pinions and racks info moved to this thread (http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/12/1868.html)

V-Rollers from BWC, Yitong, Hepco, or "home-made"

Stepper motors from Oriental Motor (http://www.orientalmotor.com/products/ac-dc-step-motors/index.htm) (Japan) PK Series 2-Phase Stepping Motor, 12.7mm [0.5"] diam output shaft, square body.....
Alternatives: 3men (http://www.3men.com.tw/main_e.htm), Keling (http://www.kelinginc.net/http://www.kelinginc.net/)?

Stepper and servo motor types: MCG (http://www.mcg-net.com/)

Driver (amplifiers) from Geckodrive (http://www.geckodrive.com/) (USA)

Parallel breakout card thread (http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/832/1819.html) from PMDX (http://www.pmdx.com/) (USA)

Spindle from either Fimec, HSD, Elte, Colombo (Italy)

Variable Frequency Drive from Delta (Taiwan)

Electrics enclosures AutomationDirect (http://web6.automationdirect.com/adc/Overview/Catalog/Enclosures), Hubbell/Wiegmann (http://www.hubbell-wiegmann.com/), Nema-Enclosures.CC (http://www.nema-enclosures.cc/), Rittal (http://www.lcautomation.com/pdf/pdf_html/rittal_pdf.html)

[fabrica]

Can you let me have a completed list of components including prices and a list of suppliers to buld a complete 8'x4' machine. It is preffered to have part numbers as well.

[Gerald_D]

What about bolts, nuts, washers, electrical wires, connectors, transformers, relays, fans, gears, pushbutton switches, box for electrics, springs, rectifiers, capacitors, screws, proximity switches, glue, epoxy, wood for table top, etc., etc.?

[fabrica]

Other than the gears the rest could be purchased locally provided the correct specs are available.

[vadeem]

I found these v-wheel suppliers in the USA:

http://www.iptech1.com/IP_Tech_Catalog/resources/dualvee.pdf the v-wheels, and track. track is available in up to 20' lengths. look at the wheel covers too, they could wipe dust off the track.

http://www.bwc.com/products/dual-vee.html


I'm looking for a USA rack and pinion supplier. www.sdp-si.com (http://www.sdp-si.com) has 16 TPI (I'm assuming thats what we want), but only in stainless = $$$$

[Gerald_D]

For V-Wheels, you can look at Yitong (http://www.yi-tong.com/) (they have USA stockists), or the Bishop-WiseCarver (BWC) that you have listed. You need size 3 for the MechMate (bigger than ShopBot). Dual-Vee comes from Hepco (http://www.hepcomotion.com/) as well. Or, you can make your own wheels - link (http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/11/594.html)

For Rails, the Mechmate does <u>not</u> use ready-made rails. The ready-made rails from BWC/Hepco are flimsy and need to be screwed to a fairly precision surface to hold them in a straight line. If one is going to the trouble of making a precision bed for a flimsy rail, that bed may as well become the rail itself. This discussion can be pursued here (http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/11/820.html).

Gear pinions and racks info moved to this thread (http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/12/1868.html)

[vadeem]

Thanks Gerald for the fast response! You have got 3 more guys here in the USA, all building from your plans, and chomping at the bit for more. Even the guy at the laser cutting shop is thinking of building a mechmate as a second machine, once he saw the plans.

[fabrica]

I am monitoring your responses to Vadeems mail. I too could purchase this stuff from U.S.A. It is not a problenm to source from U.S.A.unless you know of a good source in the Asian Region such as Singapore. Out of the manufacturers that you have recomended above can you let me know the guys who do the best quality stuff and the relavant part numbers. For stepper motors, drivers controllers etc what will be your recomendations. I have already started on the table.

[Gerald_D]

Fabrica, in your honour I posted this thread on motor selection (http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/15/1816.html) yesterday. That contains the stepper motor & driver suggestions. You need to be reading across the whole Forum, and the buttons at the top for Last 1 | 3 | 7 days will help you a lot.

Vadeem, and the other eager builders, the sample plans you have seen to date are very far from complete. There will be a heck of a lot more drawing sheets and a much better WBS spreadsheet that will answer a lot of questions that I am now getting by mail. I realise now that producing drawings for other people is ten times more work than doing drawings for myself! So far over 250 people from 30 countries have registered to download data, and the split seems to be about 50/50 for millimeter and inches. Whereas I started off only in millimeter, I am now trying harder to accommodate the inch people.

(Vadeem, I also appreciate you posting links to direct info - thanks!)

[fabrica]

Gerald, Do you have in mind any U.S.A suppliers for the Motor spring and the Prox switches. I am trying to get my friend in U.S.A to purchase all required components and once everything is purchased I will get my shipper in U.S.A. to collect the stuff from his place and get it air freighted to Sri Lanka. Tomorrow I will start working on the Y car. As I have observed elseware in this forum, that would be the best part to start with.

[Gerald_D]

For the motor springs, the McMaster-Carr (http://www.mcmaster.com/) 9654K324 (http://www.mcmaster.com/itm/find.ASP?tab=find&context=psrchDtlLink&fasttrack=False&searchstring=9654K324) looks the best I've seen quickly. Let me look some more....

For the proxies, I must admit that I am not using any at all. And I am having difficulty to see how they can be connected in series in a practical failsafe way. We rely on the "soft-limits" in the Mach software to know when the cars are near the end of the rails. Although I have target holes in the rails, I really don't know yet what the best proxy will be.

What are you doing for a control box? Buying ready-made or building your own?

[vadeem]

I was thinking of ending the rack just before the "hard stops" so the motors could just spin harmlessly if things do get out of control.

[fabrica]

Ok we will forget about the prox switches for the moment. What do you think of Vadeems suggestion sounds practical to me. Regarding the control box I will get it done locally. I have already located a coil. The rest of the stuff for the box should be available locally.

proxy discussion moved here (http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/832/1881.html)

[fabrica]

I sent a mail to Yitong requesting for prices for V rollers. Below given is the response that I received from these guys.

Thanks for your inquiry.
>
> I am glad to contact with you, the normal prices we quota is based on the quantity of the
> 1000pcs, so for your inquiry of the YTG W3X, the price is USD 5,74.
>
> But if you need is only 5 pieces, the price will be 5 times, that is USD28,67.
>
> We also can do the rail, so if you are interested, you also can buy from us.
>
>
>
> Thanks for your attention.
>
>
>
> Waiting for your further discussion.
>
>
>
> Best regards,
>
>
> Frank Hu
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> YITONG INDUSTRY (NINGBO) CO., LTD.
> Tel:+86 574 8630 2585 Fax:+86 574 8630 3168
> http://www.yi-tong.com Email:market04@yi-tong.com

[Gerald_D]

"I was thinking of ending the rack just before the "hard stops" so the motors could just spin harmlessly if things do get out of control."

That is very drastic! http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/clipart/happy.gif

In real life the problem is not that serious. When you jam a stepper motor (like against a hard stop) it loses steps, or slips, internally. This is magnetic slip, not mechanical. No damage is done. You hear a loud pulsing noise, but there is no problem if it happens for a short time (before the motor gets hot). Your idea will be bad because the gear pinion will chew on the end of the rack and cause mechanical damage.

With the proxy switches, it is easy to connect them to switch off the power if the cars move too far. My problem was to find a way to connect proxy's to tell the PC that it must do a gentle stop and not lose its position in memory. (the cheap click/click type switches can easily be connected, but they are not so well sealed against sawdust)

proxy discussion moved here (http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/832/1881.html)

[fabrica]

Gerald What do you think of the Yitong offer which I have copied above. They have agreed to do the Rail as well. Maybe we could get them to do a rail as per Mechmate specs and get them to offer our guys a special price. If you are agreeable to this you could post the specs on this thread so that I could immedietly convey them to the manufacturer and get them to quote a price.

[vadeem]

We should do a "group buy" on the wheels, as those would be easy to ship, and everybody needs them.

How would we safely ship 10 or 12 foot rails?

[fabrica]

Yes good idea Vadeem. Somebody in this forum could make some money by stocking these items. Specially when you think of the margins one can keep. Even at US $ 28 which they quote for one piece they are almost one third of the price that competition is quoting.

To ship rails safely wood crates should do a good job. I am waiting for Gerald to give me the specs so that I could have a serious discussion with the Yitong guy.

[fabrica]

Below given is the latest reply I received from Yitong.

Sorry for my delayed answer.

For the YTG W3 guide wheel, the normal prices we quota is based on the
quantity of the 1000pcs, so for your inquiry of the YTG W3X, the price is USD 5,74.

But for your 100pcs, the price is USD11,48

Regarding the rail, we are still in the calculation of the cost, our engineer suggest
that is possible you can still use the profile of the BWC design. If use your design,
we need to develop the model, and you should pay the mold cost which will increase
you cost.

What do you guys think.

[Gerald_D]

Fabrica, on the rails, I don't believe that Yitong is a willing partner that will undertake any expense for a new product line. They apparently are only willing to copy what other companies sell already. There is no way that I pay any company for mold/tool costs unless that mold/tool is under my control - in other words, checking that extra parts are not made from tools that I paid for.

Frankly and unfortunately, I believe the MechMate group is still too small to get into bulk buys and joint tooling costs. However, if suppliers want to take the initiative to help us, I will give them good advertising here.

On the router issue, I would dearly like to try the Porter Cable and Milwaukee routers, but they are not available here. The big Makita 3612C (http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&rls=IRFA%2CIRFA%3A2006-24%2CIRFA%3Aen&q=makita+3612C) is popular in the 220/230V countries. We have run one quite hard and have to change bearings maybe once a year. (The handles are removed to fit in the MechMate car.)

[fabrica]

Does anybody know the contact details of the YITONG stockist in U.S.A. Do they stock the size 3 roller. What is the price that they are quoting.


Rail discussion moved here (http://www.mechmate.com/Forum/messages/11/1932.html)

[Gerald D]

Some stepper motor producers in China:
Changzhou Yunkong Electronic Co. (http://www.motorsourcechina.com/about.asp) Motionking (http://www.motionking.com/) Changzhou Songyang Machinery & Electronics New Technic Institute (http://www.cnsoyo.com/gs_e.asp) YiXing Motor Co. Ltd (http://www.yx-motor.com/) T&M Tech Co., Ltd (http://www.timer-motor.com)
Any more?

[thesaent14]

hey gerald what are the lates plans the ones i dounlow some pages don't match with the forum so i can folow up

[Gerald D]

The downloads are the latest - maybe the forum is behind?

[stefanv]

Sean,

In my personal post, you can see I live in Haiti and forward all of my purchases from Florida. My small packages forwarding is done from Venice, just a few miles from Sarasota. I talked to Florida knife about some other projects, by email and phone, they never even got back. Somewhat disappointing.

But, that being said, I believe you beat me by an hour or so to Donald’s last set :) I’m not in a great hurry yet, but I’m looking for a good set of laser or water-jet cut parts whenever an affordable deal comes up in the next few weeks / month or 2.

You mention other companies in Florida that can cut the parts. Do you have a listing? references? Prices ?:) I’m making my list and slowly buying parts. If you can help, it’s greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Stefan

[smreish]

Stefan,
For the good of the cause...and the fact that I now need an additional set of laser cut parts, I am on the task. I am in the manufacturing business and have numerous waterjet vendor's at my disposal. I am currently getting pricing and "1 off" availability from 4 vendors at this time. I hope to have an answer for the whole MM crowd by the end of the week.

All my best.
Sean

[smreish]

Stefen - FYI
Qoute from florida knife on grinding the rails..material included.
150" Rails 4-36 Hot Roll Material Per Customer Drawing
$375.00 each

90" Rails 4-36 Hot Roll Material Per Customer Drawinq
$225.00 each

[stefanv]

Sean,

Thanks for the info. For the rails I'll stick to the cheaper adventurous way :)
For the waterjet parts, Let me know what you find, perhaps we can combine our "purchase power" to get a better price. I'll eventually need to get my set forwarded to Miami, to my freight forwarder.

Stefan

[Kobus_Joubert]

To Gerald and Alan-C in South Africa.
What is the best way to get stuff from Gecko and the BOB PMDX into SA.

[Gerald D]

Gecko & PMDX are the small stuff. Had one bad experience with a shipper who suggested using "USPS Express" and that turned into a disaster. USPS is the US Post Office who relies on the SA post office to do the rest here. You can gues where the wheels fall off . . . .

I suspect that "USPS Global Express Guaranteed" is the safest way to go:

http://pe.usps.gov/text/imm/immc1_017.htm

[Kobus_Joubert]

Thanks Gerald, I suppose each one will be a seperate order. Wonder if there is a way that Gecko can supply me with a PMDX in the SAME parcel..that could save on some postage back to SA.

[Gerald D]

It will also save postage if you can club a few SA guys together and re-distribute once the parcel reaches here.

One tip I can give, is to use a personal address in SA and not a company address. Our Customs experts believe that companies have money and so they scrutinise things addressed to companies for import duty and VAT to be added on this side.

[smreish]

...or know a friend who will gladly ship UPS or Fedex for them.;) I Understand Sean @ CamCraft is putting together another order of parts. Talk to Sean and see what the time frame is....you could piggyback that order if your nice! :D

Sean

[Kobus_Joubert]

Thanks, will e-mail Sean right away.

[Gerald D]

I think that Sean_D of CamCraft changed his mind when he realised that he was newly engaged to be married. ;)

[CAM Craft]

Hi Sean, it seems you never received my email of apology on the 2nd of April, and explanation why i have pulled out of organising crate#2
Here is a reply i sent to eager Kobus few minutes ago

“I let my old man (and others) know a while ago that i have pulled out on doing this. He has just phoned to double check my decision. I'm still not in a financial position to buy my (large) wish list and neither have the energy to sort out who owes what for postage, shipment and import duties etc. I may reconsider only to add my wish list (scaled down) to someone else's crate later this winter.

Any other volunteers to organise the paper work?”

Sorry for the confusion.

[smreish]

I couldn't think of a better reason to spend money on the right "project". Congrats on your engagement. Hey maybe you can talk you dad into making you that #3 machine as a wedding gift!:D

Good luck on the wedding stuff - it's a blast!

[Gerald D]

Jeesh, had to edit that post.

[Alan_c]

Kobus

You can also try CNC direct (http://www.cncdirect.co.za) for the Geckos, I got mine from them for not much more than bringing them in myself and he is willing to exchange if something goes wrong, he also supplies what seems to be a very neat BOB, slightly more expensive than the PMDX but maybe worth a look (its also a little bit smaller). I have one to build into my second machine but I suppose I must get the first one finished first :o

I had no problems with him getting the goodies to me here in the sticks even though we had to use SA Post Office.

Sean_D - congrats on the sentence I mean engagement, now the fun begins :D

[CAM Craft]

Haha ;)

[Kobus_Joubert]

Thanks guys, and all the best Sean, may your kids enjoy working on your MM one day.

[Doug_Ford]

Congrats on your upcoming nuptials Sean_D.

[domino11]

Sean D,
Congratulation on the upcoming wedding. Dont let the other guys get to you, being married is wonderful. At least that is what my wife tells me to say. :eek::)

Heath

[Roadkill_321]

Sean_D,

Congratulations on your wedding plans. I'm in the same boat as you, 2 months to the big day.

John

[Doug_Ford]

Sean_D,

I dated a million girls in high school and college and built a really bad reputation for myself. Finally found the right woman and haven't been interested in anyone else since. 28 years later and I'm still crazy about her. Marriage is great.