how long did it take ?
 

Impressive . Would love to make one myself . How long did it take to complete the milling ? Where did you get the files ?

Total milling time was about 30-40 hours, dont know exactly it. I didnt make et for me own its job for kayak manufacturing company they gived file.

In christmas time i started building dust system. For now is blower ready. Pictures:

Ivo - don't constrain the outlet of the blower like that with a hole, use a sheet metal transition for that.

What about the intake hole, that look way to small. My blower intake is Ø200mm all the way to the Cyclon. from the Cyclon to the hose Ø100, and the hose is Ø60. See Pic

First bigger problem showed up. 12 core signal cable is broken. Its TKD ÖPVC-JZCY http://www.tkd-gruppe.de/index.php?m...=6&q=%C3%B6pvc I took it off from chain and cable is gnarly. Looks like cores are moved inside and then when cable chain and axis are moving core are just pulled broken. Cable chain has 75mm bending radius. When i bought it i didnt look producer website for recommendations about minimum bending radius, but looks like here in chain thread http://mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?t=498told 75mm bending radius is too small. Now im worried about motor and spindle cables. If they broke it may cause driver/VFD damage. Damn looks like i have quite big problem here.
Tomorrow i take pictures.
Has anyone else had same problem?

Ivo,

I am planning to build exactly like that. What motor size (HP) are you using and what size impeller?

Ries

Impeller is 400mm, but i need look for this blower new motor because its identification plate was unreadable and i thought its 2900 rpm motor,but its 1450 rpm and it doesnt suck enough. motor for that size impeller should be about 3 HP

Ivo, nice job.did you build the impeller?
You can make a 1:2 step up belt pulley to achieve your desired speed. not necessary to replace the motor.

Its easyer to get new motor as build belt drive:D No i didnt build it, i got motor and impeller from my friend. Its cost was sixpack beer.

Nice reading regarding dust collectors:
http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com...ure+Resistance

http://forum.canadianwoodworking.com...ighlight=phase

Meanwhile in Estonia.... Started building belt reduction.
Like all guys with direct drive i have problems with rough cutting in diagonal. While cutting wood or MDF it isnt big problem - couple wipes with sandpaper and its ok, but one regular job is making ATV skid plates from PE sheets - there cant fix that so.
Now i have all parts and i hope that have in this weekend so much time to put it all together.
Here is gallery of some jobs what i have done http://vigurpuit.ee/gallery

Belt reduction is now complete and working.
At first picture is shown difference of cutting quality. One is cutted before installing belt reduction and second with belt reduction. Impressive:)

...Pretty amazing how a little 3:1 or higher gear box makes a huge difference. Thank you for the picture data

Impressive! Love your profiled reduction assembly plates. Why straight when we can have curves... beautiful.

Hi Ivo, mind sharing the dxf for those nice curved gearboxes ? They are looking PROFESSIONAL... well done

Here are dxf drawings of my version of gearbox for mechmate. It is 4:1. Bearings for it are 61902.
Tooth gears are: 72 teeth 15-5M (aluminium) and smaller 18 teeth 15-5M (steel)
Belt is 425mm 15-5M
All bolts M6

Thank's Ivo, now maybe I will go gearbox also...this one is so SEXY...:D

I opened the files with Coreldraw and Vectric V-Carve pro and notice that on both programs the washer does not fit on the back or front plate...maybe it's something with these programs that change it when you import it.

Here are some videos what i uploaded to youtube
PE-HWU 8 mm machining
Styrofoam machining
Machining aluminium AW5754 (AlMg3) 4mm sheet
Cutting that alu sheet is still a headache for me. Today i tried to cut it with 4mm one flute plastic cutters.(bits for alu will arrive tomorrow) Results at end of day are 5 broken bits and lots of knowledge. Best results for cutting it is to cut it with one pass. Plunge need to do with ramping moves 10mm lenght and ramp angle 10 degrees. It need to do not for it that bit dont cut trough but because if i do straight plunge then chips will not start to fly away and result is jammed and broken bit. Spindle rpm are 15000 and feedrate 800mm/min. At video is feedrate 1000mm/min, but as can hear there cutter will scream too much- result vibration and broken bit. Tomorrow i will try with special alu bits i hope that they will work.

Ivo, thanks for the file, your design is just too sexy to pass... :D

Ken did you check to see if the WASHER fit when you open it on your programs ?

Kobus, They look fit well enough to me.

Thank's must be the conversion from DXF into my programs. But I fixed it manually already.

Tried lot different combinations of cutting aluminium atv skid plates. Seems that best is spindle 18000 rpm feedrate 1000mm/min and 2mm depht per pass. What do you think guys is it normal that tool lifetime is about 2-3 sheets cutting, then it brokes. ( its about 200-300 meters cutting lenght?)

Ivo,

Your spindle rpm seems a little high for you speeds and feed. For a 6mm endmill you will want a 4 mm cut at 1800mm per a minute. This calculation is for a 2 flute HSS endmill.

Router and High Speed spindle guys are always going to have a problem with heat due to rpms. I have a feeling your are cutting your chips as well. If your spindle can handle the side pressure you want your chips to look like small flakes. No dust looking chips.

Here is a free program that will take all your information and give you a speed and feed calculation for you cutters. It takes in deflection and chatter and a type of machine. It has a few other useful things in it. http://cnccookbook.com/CCGWizardv6.html

4mm seems a very deep cut at 1800mm/min
but I've yet cut any AL with my MM. Until I gain more info & confident. I'll be watchin such discussion with a keen eye.

Russel i have one flute endmill, that makes almost same chipload at 1000mm/min as you said 1800mm/min at two flutes. I have on that speed/feedrate no dust. And chips are "normal" and hot

Ivo, you are in the right area then. Are you doing anything for cooling? Is it cutting good one moment and then it turns bad and snap? Can you see if any aluminum is welded to the cutting edge?


Ken those speeds and feeds are what is recommended for getting the most out of the bit with the least amount of deflection. After that its a matter of what the machine can handle. To give you an Ideal of what it should look like in a almost perfect world check out this video http://www.glacern.com/index.php?pag...course_mill_08

I have no cooling. Aluminium is welded minimal. Looks like bits going to broke because its material tires, not because it wears down and dont cut anymore then starts jamming and brokes.