Thank you Doug, I'm hoping to find the needle bearings I need for the pinion sometime soon, so I can make that also...

I'm also very happy with the build up of it... Now onto tthe wiring of the things... Enough to do....

Kim, your pinion diameter will be very big.....you will have very little force to drive the router unless you put lots of gears/belts between the motor and pinion.

You may want to reconsider the location of the bridge rectifier.There was a post recently on CNCzone that showed a pretty ugly failure when the bridge overheated and shorted due to a loose screw holding the bridge to a painted metal surface. You have no heatsink at all for your bridge. If it's very lightly loaded you may get by with it, but maybe not. See http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50845

Mike, I think the CNC zone guys are over-reacting to the "heatsink" not being good enough for a faulty rectifier. The metal case rectifiers are typically good for 25 Amps without any heatsink. On our first MM I also had the rectifier mounted to wood for quite a long time - it stayed cool to the touch. Personally, I don't like wood in the control box because things can go wrong and I don't want surplus fuel for the ensuing fire. In this particular application, there is no "heatsink" concern - it will run cool if nothing is faulty.

Gerald...

The Pinioon, will have the exact diameter of the real nexen pinion, 47.5mm in diameter... So not so big again. But yes, a belt gear of 3:1 should do the trick, and this was also intended... I'm currently looking into how to build the pinion as it seems needle bearings whis small isn't available anywhere... but I have some ideas around now...

Hi Kim,
Now with in mind knowing your making your own « laser copy » of the NEXEN system, I find it very interesting. Please keep us posted on your results and findings, it will be interesting to see cost/effectiveness of it as a DIY – laser cut approach. I like that !
Nice approach, keep up the good work !

Sure Robert... I will be posting more as it progresses during the next few weeks, I should have a working model ready within a month or so... I need to either get some very small needle rollers or some small bearings that will hold a precision hardened dowl in place so it can turn when it runs the rail... But I'll post all that I can for this homemade "nexen" system.

Sorry about the slow pace here guys, I have been working too much for the last monthe or so, So I have not had time to work with this yet.
And Now I have gotten a lathe in the shop, so This is being refurbished also... So as you guys see I have more then enough, but I will be doing more on this though... So look back sometime soon I HOPE...

Ok... A little work has been done this weekend...
I have finished the base of the table, so Now I'm going to move on to the rails, and pre drilling all holes before painting the whole thing..
Notice, everything on the table is still boltet on, so in case of my moving and beeing unable to find a trailer big enough to transport it, I can disassemble the entire machine..

Yes it's a little rusty at the moment, but It will be sandblasted prior to paint.

Oh, I just realised, it's not really all the way done, I still need to mount feet and transport wheels on it...
I'm currently looking at som way of adding som wheels which can lift the machine an inch of the ground in case I need to move it around in the little garage I have.. :-D

On the last picture you can just see my newly purchased Schuchardt & Schütte lathe... :-D

Kim,
Looks like you did an excellent job on your table. I like the way it all bolts together. Would make it a lot easier to move if you had to. :)

Kim, table looks good. I have designed mine to be bolted together as well. If I might ask a question. Why did you bolt the flat (large web)part of the C-channel table cross members onto the beams? I would think that the table would have less flex if they were turned 90 degrees. I see that you have two bolts in each end. Putting them on the flat allows two bolts in each, which will keep the table from racking. Is this the reason? Just curious.

Paul

Personally I only turned the crossmembers over for the two bolt reason. And having looked around at other designs I found that this would actually do a pretty good Job... Although there might be reason for a little flex, the chassis that I have made makes the machine so stiff that I don't have to worry much about flex... It should be ever so stiff as the original welded mechmate.

But If I had the machines to move an entire mechmate with, Then I would most certainly weld it all together... But sadly I don't and the garage I'm in at this time has not got the height to get a crane in there for moving it..

Paul, the "racking" concern vanishes when the table top is screwed down. The table top itself simply cannot "rack".

Thanks, Gerald. You are right. I didn't think through the process far enough. :o

Paul

Kim,

We have to see Gerald objection.
Normal “profane” DIY-er have to have this hole thing boiled down to a simple & cost effective way. For most, 99%, it is not easy nor cheep to get laser cut parts. You, on the other hand, are lucky !
I to am blessed, I’ve got some few good resources for those, so I’m instigating to get some parts ( 10 10 322 & 10 10 302) done by laser at the same time w/all the others. All & all, for me, not a big if any cost difference vs C channels. Oh, for freight, It’s +/- 10min form my shop !!
Another BIG ++ in my opinion...no drilling in those C-channel, all holes done at the same time, better quality finish & tolerances!!
BTW >> From what I can see, your 10 10 322 are C channels but your 10 10 302 are bent ones !

Hi Robert....

Yes My main beams are C channels or UNP channels if you want...
But my crossmembers are lasercut and bent..
The main beams I wanted as straight as humanly possible without having to grind them down on a mill...
I would suggest you use the UNP (c channel) for the main beams as you will get the best straightness on top with those..
When you bend a lasercut part, theres the slight chance that the bendingmachine will not bend it all that straight in the middle. It might curve slightly... And considdering the thickness of the steel plate you need to cut it in for the main beams you are in for a surprise when you try to bend it...
Afterall, it's almost ½ inch thick steel you need to bend....
So therefore I used the UNP (c channel) there instead.. Yes, the holes are a hell to drill, but it's progressing quite nicely...

But yes, I'm very blessed when It comes to Lasercut parts...
And I also have a lot more ressopurces present at my work then most other DIY'ers.....

I can see the springtime here has given me more energy to proceed with this project..
Again today something has been done on the machine.
Still on the basetable though..
First rail has been completed and test fitted and second rail has been predrilled into the main beam...
Next is predrilling all the holes and mounting end stop blocks on the rails.
I also welded to pieces of rack together to form one complete length of rack.
So all in all a very productive coulpe of days for me.

I also just did a rail skate at work yesterday, so Now I have one of these too...

Have you cut the rail to final length before using the grinding skate?

Hi gerald...

No, oh god no...
These rails I have had machined professionally at my dads old work...
So these are ready made for me... :-D

Ah, you made a grinding skate today just for fun! :)

Yes. That's the general idea..

However, I have thought of making a bunch and offer them for the cost of P&P to users of this forum...
But I don't know if it's just going to be the to pieces of metal or ready painted, including bolts but no bearings though...
But I would be happy to offer a set of the two plates, and perhaps the bolt's for the skate as well for the price of Shipping.

Finally I got together and ordered my mechmate wheels from superiorbearings... So now I'm waiting for these to arrive... I need to add the cable chain shelf on the main table and the painting the main table, but then I'm ready to set the gantry on the base...

So all in all, I'm nearing a time of partially completion.... :)

Kim
Just been looking at the rack system you were working on did you ever complete this ?? just one suggestion you could try turning a bar down then drilling holes on a P.C.D similar to the rack then cut a groove into the turned peice to the rack thickness then loctite dowel pins into the pre drilled holes

Hi Liam...

I'm still waiting on my dowel pins to arrive. The shall be mounted in bearings in the Roller pinion, so gluing them into the roller would not work, cause then they would wear out to fast when they travel along the rack...

So no I'm not finished with it yet.

Today my guide wheels arrived form Superior Bearinigs... nice and fast...

I also have recieved my paint... I think I overdid it perhaps, got 4 liters of Ral 5015 Sky blue, but better to have too much than too little...

The tape has also been ordered for the racks, found 5 rolls of 3M VHB on Ebay for 16.5 Euro incl. shipping to Denmark. Offer I couldn't resist.

So of to sandblasting with the main beams and legs, then paint, it should be good.

Dissassembly started today, paint is the next part for the basetable... Everything has been test mounted on the base table, so now it's time to paint it... A big piece of work, but it should be easy enough...

Pictures will be posted next week when paint is finished, and it has been assembled again... :D

Today, the main beams where painted blue...
It's looking very good.

Now it just needs to dry over night, so I can move it outside and I can get all the other parts of the table painted...

They look beautiful Kim. Great work.

IT'S ALL BLUE

Today I got all the primed parts painted... I only need the X-rails and a few small item's painted now, so It's looking really good now.
This sunday I will start assembling the machine again...

I'm looking forward for a view of a completely Blue table.... :-D