New Website, R/C Flight Boxes & Custom Pendant #25 - Minnesota
 

Hi,

Just getting started on my MM build.....although this is not my first CNC machine build, it is the biggest build to date.

I should probably introduce myself before I start rambling on about this project. I am electrical engineer by trade...have been for ~25years, but really enjoy mechanical engineering. Seems the two go together very well, electro-mechanical engineering :)

I am hoping to build this machine on the cheap, by using many of the parts collected over the years. The attached photo's show some of what my wife affectionately calls junk :rolleyes: This stuff came from various machines I have disassembled.....much will work perfect for this project.

If you look close you will see a box of new (14) BWC dualvee wheels, unfortunately they are 4x size.....l hope to save a little money and somehow make them work.

Looking forward to meeting you guys and learning from those that have already completed their machines

Wayne

My pile of junk;) to be used for my MM build.

Here's my other machines.

The MDF router is a little crude, it was built about 6 years ago......the MM will replace it.

The mini CNC is rev. 3, I had to build two others to get it right:o

These are my other machines, they will be used to build the MM.

The first is a Van Norman #12, ~1950's machine that is built like a tank. Got this from a guy on Craig's List for $500usd delivered:eek:

The other is my Logan lathe, got this one for free:p It needed a lot of cleaning, but it turned out great.

Well that's a little about me and my machines.....really looking forward to this project.

I will stop showing off now and get down to work:D
Wayne

Welcome RR, like your junk....R/C Model aeroplanes and is that a motorcycle tyre in the last picture ?

Yeah, I love model airplanes been building them for most my life. Only build electrics, got rid of my nitro stuff years ago. The Katana is a one of my largest, it's a 2KW 10lbs pattern plane. To be honest, the equipment I have mainly supports my addiction to RC airplanes:p Seems I outta fiqure out a way to make some money with these tools.

Motorcycling is my other passion,the tires are for my KLR650. The wife thinks we have too many bikes.....but I tell her "to many" is not possible:D

Welcome Rad, with all that "junk" you should have your MM finished by Xmas! :)

Welcome Re-cycle expert, nice junk
I don’t think the wheels will work on the MM, have a look at the dimensions regarding the outer diameter and the Spider plate unless you use a narrow Z slide, the same go for the Y gantry, might be a tight squeeze between the Y tube and location holes, the inner diameter of the wheel bearings will need some bushes, but you have the junk to make it work

Gerald - before xmas:o I was thinking more like spring.

Kaartman - Figure I will give the wheels a try, if I can't make them work....I can purchase the correct ones and sell these on Ebay.

I priced the steel for this project.... ~$1100:( Sure wish I could find a source for surplus steel.

Welcome Rad,put some wings on your MM.

Old, used steel is just as good as new for our application. We are putting low stress into the system to keep the flex down.

Wayne,

Virtually all of the steel in my machine came from a couple of local scrapyards. The only new steel I purchased was for the rails. Scrap in my town is going for 25 cents per pound. You ought to check the scrapyards in your area.

Good idea Doug, we do have a couple of scrap yards located near me, I'll check.

I Did talk to the steel yard today, I ask them for current prices on the steel required for the MM. Turns out the crappy economy has driven down steel prices in recent weeks, so building isn't quite as expensive....should be in the $800-900 range.

Started on the control box tonight. Since this used to be part of a O2 monitoring system....it needs a little disassembly. I believe this box should fit all the components needed to make the MM run.

The breakout board was created by my friend a couple of years ago, it was designed to interface with Mach3 software.

The board connects directly to the parallel port(s). It has a built-in 5v supply and supports conections to (4)axis, (3) limit switches, auto Z sensor, Tach, and (2)SSR relays.

This should save a bunch wiring hassles and time;)

Practice V-rail
 

Started to build the MM today. For practice, I setup my mill and cut a "short" v-rail. Turns out the Van Norman mill is perfectly suited for this type of cutting....as the head can route any angle from 0-90deg.

It is only 30deg F today.....and my garage is not heated:eek: so I have to work fast to keep warm:D

Included a few pictures of the milling setup and finished rail.

Looks good, Wayne.

Can't tell from the pictures what the maximum length of the mill is without readjusting the rails, but I remember reading in some of the posts a year or more ago that it might be a good idea to offset one side of each pair so that the rollers don't travel across the section ends at the same time. That will minimize any difference in elevations you might get from the milling "joints"...

Wayne,
Those rails look mighty nice. You sure lucked out with that mill in your stable! :)

Bill,
Good idea to stagger the rails and minimize the section bump. I will keep that in mind as I make the rails.

Heath,
Yeap, got lucky with the Van Norman:D I may automate it someday...it would be nice to have a machine that can hog metal.

Wayne,

I also milled my rails on a vertical mill and learned a valuable lesson AFTER I finished them. Make sure you clean off all of the scale from the back and bottom of the angle iron. I indexed off the back and bottom and since I didn't clean the scale well enough, some of the cuts weren't as good as I would have liked them to be. It hasn't affected the performance of my machine that I can tell but it still bothers me. I also removed my vise and clamped the rail directly to the table and backed them up every 6" with support to increase rigidity. Finally, let me give you one last thing to think about. My vertical mill table is pretty much worn out and will not hold close tolerances for the entire length of the table. Maybe your's is better. If it isn't, here is what I did. I clamped a straight piece of metal on the table and set up a dial indicator in the spindle to determine the maximum length of angle I could machine and hold .001" then I marked the table with a black marker. I kept my cutting inside those marks.

Good luck.

Doug,

Appreciate the milling comments...always to hear from someone with experience. Not sure about the milling table, seems tight but will check to make sure.

Wayne

Making some progress....did a little machining and welding yesterday.

Gantry welding is complete, next up the Y-car.

Wayne,
Did you countersink the gantry end plates yet for the motor swing plates? I can't tell from the photo, but don't forget to do it!

Good progress! Looks like the MM building season is taking off. This forum goes quite in your fall/autumn while folk prepare for the winter, but I guess you are starting to see snow now?:)

Sean,
Good catch on counter sinks.....I did the Y-car plates but not these.

Gerald,
You are correct.....the lakes are frozen and the is snow is flying. There's no better time to work on projects:D

Making some headway on my MM.

Completed the Y-car welding and the machining of both the Y-axis Vrails.

Looking good Wayne.:)

I love the look of metal being worked :)

Agree, it's fun to see how easy it can be cut.

The carbide endmill cuts through that 1/4" angle like a hot knife through butter :)

Wayne

Made some more progress this weekend. I finished cutting down the angle for the X-rails and completed the "V" milling on both Y-rails.

The weather turn REALLY cold on Sunday, so I decided to work on the control box since it can be built inside the house. Looks like the rest of the week is supposed to be cold......it's -10F(-23c) right now and predicted to be -15F(-26c) by morning:eek:

I believe I have most the parts needed for the control box, so it should go together quick. I got the big heat sink with (4) centents from Ebay a couple of years ago.....should be perfect for this project.

Wayne we have some nice old South African sun shine would you be interrested in having some:) ( 25c and up)
Your half way there once the angles on the rails are done.