May JR's legacy continue #4 - North Carolina, USA

[DocTanner]

Top Notch Work!!!!!

Skilled craftsmanship.




DocTanner

[J.R. Hatcher]

Thanks Doc for the encouragment.

About 2 months ago I heard that Gecko drives was going to have a customer appreciation sale so I waited to buy my geckos, glad I did, it started today and ends August 31. Check this out http://www.geckodrive.com/index.cfm

[J.R. Hatcher]

I've uploaded a Excel Spreadsheet that list all the bolts I used in my 48" X 96" MechMate
http://www.msnusers.com/NCMechMate/D...te%20Bolts.xls

[J.R. Hatcher]

Router bracket at last!!! Thanks to Marc.

[Gerald D]

Looks like it is a fairly close fit into the Y-car. You should also check if it doesn't foul the gantry gusset when the Y-car is hard against the end-stops and the Z goes up and down.

MVC-021S.JPG

Is that electrical cord a problem?

[J.R. Hatcher]

Gerald you must know the design is better than that. It has 1/2" of play on each of the bracket, and the gantry gussets miss by a country mile. I plan on replacing the cord with one of those coil jobs.

[Gerald D]

Our Makita hit one of those gussets....about a month down the line with an expensive job on the table.

[J.R. Hatcher]

I'm looking foward to having one of those expensive jobs on my table.
I was concerned last night when I read your post, It was about 12:00am, I put on my shoes and made a trip to the shop to check it out, then breathed a sigh of relief. Thanks for sharing your insights.
My router brackets are bolted directly to the Z plate without an addtional 1/2" spacer plate.

[Gerald D]

In post 16 of this thread....
http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showt...6&postcount=16
......you can see the square lump on the Makita that hit the gusset by about 6mm [1/4"]. Solved by grinding a small notch in the gusset.

Do you think it might be possible to mount the PC router nearer to the Y-motor? Somebody may want to get two z-slides into the Y-car, and it might just be possible? This is just thinking aloud.... Then a second y-motor to firm up the other side of the y-car. On paper, 2 z-slides can go back to back, but I don't know if they can with Porter Cables. Of course the dust collection becomes a bit trickier then.

You are lucky to be able to make such a short trip to the shop - I havn't been within 10 miles of our machines for 2 months and I am forgetting what they look like. Your pics bring back the memories!

[J.R. Hatcher]

Gerald I went and looked at the possibility of putting 2 Zs with PC routers. I think it's doable if you use a feel-a-guage. You're right about the dust collector, maybe split the pipe into 2 or 3 smaller tubes that would come down in tighter spaces. Or the pipe would need to come from the outside of the grantry and flatten out into a rectangular box to go under. Marc and I are talking about 2 Zs one with a smaller router, like a trim router or Roto tool. We think this setup would handle almost all 2 Z needs. The PC would be the workhorse and the trim would do touchup. The dust collector should have room to go between them???
Maybe we need to look for 2 routers with this application in mind, taller with a smaller diameter.

[Gerald D]

A small dust pipe/s is a bad idea because of potential blockages. Often small scraps come loose and want to go up the pipe. We even manage to block our 4-5" pipe when a long sliver comes off the edge of a board, for example.

The 3-phase spindles are taller and thinner. But very expensive by comparison.

[J.R. Hatcher]

Trying to get the control box together. The white button will be changed to a red one. The Geckos are behind clear plastic, just wanted to see the leds and thought it would look cool. The main disconnect will not let the door open until it is in the off position, nice.

[Greg J]

J.R.

5 Gecko's ? Do you have two motors on the Y axis?

Greg

[J.R. Hatcher]

Greg I have 1 motor on the y car. I am thinking about maybe some type of indexing accessary tools that would be temporarily mounted to the table (lathe, turntable etc.)

[Doug_Ford]

That looks great JR. I'm envious as hell.

[Gerald D]

Has that box got a door on the back? (I see a line down the outside?)

[J.R. Hatcher]

The box is made from a 6" bottom plate used in steel stud construction. I made two, one from a steel stud 16ga., and one from the plate 14ga. I used the one from the plate (thicker metal). The back and the door are 3/4" MDF, the back has an alu. layer inside and is bolted to the box.
I may have a heat problem caused by the MDF. If so I will cut a hole on the top, with the largest round auto carb filter (cheap) that will fit on the 6" surface. if I need more I will add a fan. Trying to keep it as KISS as possible. Any suggestions??

ps Thanks Doug

[Gerald D]

The hole & carb filter by itself will do nothing. Carb filter plus fan will still do nothing. Carb filter plus downdraught fan plus an exhaust hole at the bottom will start to cool, but the internal airflow will be counter to the normal convection airflow inside. So then you need the filter at the bottom, suck the air through it and blow it out near the top - but then you need to prevent dust falling in when the fan is not running (eg. when dusting down the shop). Lots of things to consider . . . . . . .

[J.R. Hatcher]

The outdoor part of a dryer vent (it has gravity controlled flappers) might work mounted high on the side or back.

[Marc Shlaes]

That looks like good thinking. What is the overall size?

[J.R. Hatcher]

They are made for a 4" pipe, so I would say maybe 5 1/2" to 6".

[J.R. Hatcher]

Ran out and measured the one on my house, 6" on the money.

[Gerald D]

The Pabst fan in this post works very well for us. Expensive, but a high-quality construction.

[J.R. Hatcher]

Just a few pics of the motor XLR connectors. I like them.

[sailfl]

JR, They look good and thanks for the pics. Good to see you working on your machine.

[cbboatworks]

Looks good


Gene

[Doug_Ford]

J.R.,

You do absolutely beautiful work. I'm not posting any more pictures of my MM. It's too embarassing.

[J.R. Hatcher]

Well I've got to get my machine running before you guys or else I'll have to walk around this forum with my head down

[Greg J]

J.R.,

My wife said it once before, and I'll say it again. Your MechMate is a work of art.

Doug,

Keep posting Pic's. Not that I'm one to talk Got my gantry welded up today. When my metric hardware (bolts, jam nuts, etc.) shows up, and I get it assembled, I'll post some pic's.

[Doug_Ford]

Greg J,

You just want me to post pictures so you can have a good laugh. I know that trick.