Started on the electrical box - Canberra, AU
 

Hi Everybody,

I have been following the Mechmate forums for years and have finally got around to starting.

I am making my machine to cut 1800 x 2400 with an option to extend latter, also need to be able to dimantle my machine into pieces i can manage to disasemble/assemble myself.

And yep i one rail is ass about (didnt have enough material)

Its been great following all your posts over the years thanks.

Welcome back!!! Keep us posted!!!

Welcome! Looks like you are well on your way! :)

Busy week end
 

Have managed to assemble X & Y

Looking good so far garymo.
Any reason you haven't cut the angles on the other end of the rails and spun one around?

Keep up the good work.

Jayson.

Edit: scratch that, I see you have welded the rails to the legs. Not easy to spin it now I guess

Edit 2, maybe just bolted there? might still be able to spin one. Just a few more holes to drill maybe

Hi Jason top rails are bolted, ends are square as I want to
extra length at a later date.
Rails are not legs facing as I didn't have enough material
I don't think it will cause 2 many problems.
If if does I will flip it when I add more length.

I'm not sure if it's where I'm located but steel is expensive here.

Sketchup Model pics
 

This is a concept model of my mechmate in sketchup, the original model was posted by someone on this forum some time ago but have lost their name please let me know if it was you so i can post a thankyou.

Also thanks to Richard Nixon for the laser cut parts in Aus good service and well packaged thanks.

Gary,
Looks about right! I have one question.
Is the table slotted all the way through? If so, you may want to truly have a solid surface of material and t-slot it (or layer it on top).

The spoilboard is used to hold the square of the machine in the x-plane (corner to corner) If the surface is parallel material, it could shift like a parallelogram.

*by your preparation, it looks like you do fine on your build.

Cheers.
Sean

Hi smreish,
Thanks for the advice, I'm going to put the removable x braces on under the ends and also use three or 4 bolts across each table spoilboard section(these will also act as diaphragm stiffners).

The machine is already fairly rigid even without spoilboard and x braces.
Gerald's initial design is very good and for it's size and very efficient with materials.

Gary,
I think I follow you. The x braces are that are "white" in your model or your adding more that I can't see?
The Table is very rigid, but I did find after a forklift bump or two, it can change the squareness of the gantry by altering the distance between the x1 and x2 rail.

...I realized now from the post I am a nervous nelly and probably overthinking it.

Have fun!

Sean

Smreish,

Yes the cross braces are in white. Although if it isnt rigid after all the additions i can add another under the table.

Gary

Hi,

The X Beams in the google sketch up show the main beams the wrong way around.
Looking at your photos you have them the right way so all good!!:)

Cheers
Tony.

Hi Tony,
The main beams are the wrong way around in the model and the machine, i will run it this way initially as I want to have a removable extension and can flip it if I need to then.

It will be interesting to see how it goes I don't think those beams are moving anywhere from the motion/cutting forces they are subjected to.

Im Not advocating we flip beams around It's just the way mine went.

I built the machine from the model and printed drilling/cutting templates from it.

A big reason to have the hollow side of the beam to the inside, is to have a lot of space for the dust foot.

Thanks for your comments Gerald.

Z axis progress
 

Instaled the z axis today, had to make do with the drill press for the spacers as can be seen in the pics (file mounted to PFC to get them flat and thickness).

Also used my trusty bent file to make sure everything was flat and tapping block to make sure threads were perpendicular.

Electrical Box
 

Started on the electrical box which i picked up from the local recycling plant for about $5 things seem to be fitting in fairly well for now.

I will add filter and fans before using as it has a number of ventilation holes.

Thinking about mounting this rack style along with the computer.

Limit switch help
 

Looking for some limit switch help, what/ where do i find 12mm proximity switches and are these limit switches necessary?

I am having trouble identifying what is the best way to go here can any one give me some advice?

Don't worry, you can still have a functional MM without limit switches... just like mine :o

join the club:D

I don't have any ether :)

I can tell you I picked mine up from Factorymation.com . I dont know if they sell internationally or if it is even worth it after importing for you.

I installed mine IAW Seans post #71 http://mechmate.com/forums/showthrea...0&postcount=71

I wired mine up so that I dont have to wait for each axis to home one at a time. Each has their own pin and I can home all 3 at the same time if I wanted.

I think they are worth it and the amount of time and money was small compared to having the feature. Are they necessary probably not but I dont have any hard stops on my machine it works great. ;)

Thanks for your replies on limit switches, i think i will build without limit switches and install them later if i need to.

I wouldn't run without hard stops too much can get wrecked if gantries fall off. There is a youtube video with someones gantry falling off and he was just pushing it by hand.
I fitted reed switches from RS industries only because I had them laying around.

I must admit that Hard Stops should be fitted. Because they were not laser cut parts and had to be fabricated I never got around to do it.
I had my gantry run off the X-rail.....when I tried to line my router up with my indexer.
All that happened is that the first set of wheels got off the rail.....automatically the pinion gear lost traction and everything came to a sudden stop...no damage...just the ego.:o

I have no problems with someone's gantry falling off the table as long as there are no injuries to persons or pets. It would be stupid to sit at the end of a table with no hard stops and then jog the gantry towards you with the cutter spinning...

Anthony, I don't believe there is a youtube of a gantry coming off by accident

Wiring up the HUANYANG 2.2 kw spindle
 

Firstly thanks for your replies on the hard stops, it seems to be a bit of a controversial subject.

Sorry for more questions ideas but here i go

What i am interested in will it make it easier to home with or without, will my machine suffer more damage running into a hard stop?

Also on this topic will my BOB having a charge pump facility stop the machine from going out of control? Currently i have a BOB without this facility a Hoffman MB03V1 bought in Australia.

I have also progressed welding on the cross bracing and racks, i am also starting to wire up the HUANYANG 2.2 kw spindle and Antec power supply as can be seen in the pics.

Electronics is my weak spot and whilst i am learning any advice in this area would be appreciated, If anyone can see a problem in the arrangement of the connections i would be great full if you let me know.

The power supply manual says for 220 v: "1st red wire to neutral, 1st black wire to 2nd red wire, and the 2nd black wire to hot." which is the first red wire left or right? (In AU what colour goes to which brown blue green) Do i use a 2 wire power cord or a three wire, why do appliances comonly use only two?

Thanks in Advance

Hard stop is not an option... It is a must. even if you only have one stop at each ends of the y-axis.

You can avoid running into the hard stops by implementing your soft limit settings intelligently. :D

Your input terminals are correct. In fact it will work the yellow & blue wire connect to any 2 of the R, S, T terminals.

The U,V,W terminals are for connection to your spindle. If the spindle direction is wrong, just swap any 2 of the wires.

It will be wise to have the spindle grounded with one end connect to the ground terminal (where your green/yellow wire is) & the other screw onto the spindle if you really can't do that connect it to the spindle holder.

Read the Mach3 manuals & there are information for making your own charge-pump. Alternatively, dig this forum.... BTW, if you are unlucky, activating the charge-pump can be a hair pulling experience...

Again, you can always run without charge-pump 1st & have it later...

garymo,
Your connections are correct, you use a earth (yellow/green wire) whenever you have exposed conductive parts that are not double insulated from the power source (like a Mechmate), just connect your spindle to the UVW/678 connections (as advised by ken) and an earth connection to the spindle body or the plug if a terminal is provided, to your existing earth connection in the VFD

And, for your power supply, it appears that you have two primary windings, each of which has a red and a black wire. What you want is to wire them in series, so that the power goes into one, out and into the other, and back again. So the only thing you want to avoid is wiring the red and black from the same winding together. You can do this by taking a resistance measurement between a red and a black wire. If you get a reading (likely a few ohms), you do NOT want to wire them together, because they are on the same winding. Use the other red, or the other black, but not both. Then wire the remaining red and black to your power source, and wire the ground from the power source to a screw on your metal chassis.