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-   -   New Build Plan and Questions - Las Vegas (http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5519)

ctcwill Mon 27 March 2017 08:49

New Build Plan and Questions - Las Vegas
 
Hi All,

Been lurking on here for several weeks now, reading and soaking up information like a sponge. What an awesome resource.

I currently have a 4' x 8' CNC router, built by a guy in L.A. who admittedly isn't the best fabricator of CNCs. But, I've been using it for almost 2 years now, and it has gotten me hooked. I seem to be getting more and more work coming my way, which requires a higher quality machine. I'm currently maxing mine out, and it needs an overhaul to be very usable again. Rather than polishing this one though, I'd rather just start from scratch, and get it built right from the base table up.

So a Mechmate it is... Either a 4x10 or 5x10,,,, still trying to decide. Any thoughts? I don't use 5' sheet much, but maybe I would once I had that ability?

I want this machine to be reliable, and give as good a cut quality as possible - speed is secondary. Of course I would love a lightning fast machine, but more importantly I want to have to clean up my cuts as little as possible.

Also, I don't want to re-invent the wheel. I'd like to stick to the plans, not have to draw up and mill out doo-dads to make my machine somehow different or better (further down I'll ask about belt drive reduction units).

A few other questions to help me get started:
1) In the motor selection thread it lists the Vexta PK296A2A-SG7.2 as the first choice in motors, but it appears to be from 2008. Is this still the case?
2) If I did go with other motors, are the belt drive reduction units available for purchase somewhere? From someone on here?
3) Is CVsupply the place to order from? Just want to make sure I'm ordering stuff from somewhere that's actually affiliated with Mechmate.

I'm sure I will have tons and tons more questions, but this is a good start, and in the meantime I'm reading through these forums like they're a novel. Thanks in advance...

Will

timberlinemd Mon 27 March 2017 13:10

Answers...

1) it's the motors I used and I am very pleased.
2) belt drive is available through CV (MetalHead)
3) Yes, MetalHead maintains this site since Gerald retired.

ctcwill Mon 27 March 2017 20:47

Thanks for the info timberlinemd:)

MetalHead - at some point I'll probably send you another PM regarding the belt drive reduction units, and maybe some other things such as the grinder skate - if I'm correct, that's not in the laser cut part kit? I can fab one if needed, but like I said, I want to do as little re-inventing of the wheel as possible, and just try to recreate the design as well as possible.

Anyone have any preferences on table size?

Also, my current 4 x 8 table,,,, could be modified, to make it basically a Mechmate, so I guess that's an option. Gotta ponder on that one...

ctcwill

timberlinemd Mon 27 March 2017 23:23

Skate is part of kit, as far as I know.

hflwaterski Wed 29 March 2017 06:41

I built a 49" x 97" table and I've only used the full width and length of the table a couple times for case and cabinet work. It's always nice to have the extra large size if you end up getting a large amount of work with tons of nesting but I would say that the majority of my work has been done on about 1/3 of the table. My 2 cents on it would be if space isn't an issue then go for the size because it's not a lot of additional cost but if space is precious and you want to go big for the heck of it, then I would go smaller. You'll rarely use the extra table size unless you have work in mind for it. I would be interested in what others had to say about it. Best of luck with your planning and build! Post lots of pics!

ctcwill Tue 11 April 2017 15:51

Hi again,

Well, I made it to Atlanta, and I'm working here for the next few weeks. I want to plan my build as much as possible, and order some parts to come here so I can start the kitchen table phase.

I've decided to go with a 5' by 10' machine (1524mm x 3048), more or less. I'll obviously make it a little bigger to account for cutter width, but also a toolchanger one day, and possibly a 4th axis - the question is how much bigger to make it. I'm mostly worried about where I would put a toolchanger one day. If you were to add one, where would it be, and how much extra should I add on that axis? Thanks - getting excited,

Will


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