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  #361  
Old Sat 06 July 2013, 20:20
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
Example from my build


Y chain
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  #362  
Old Mon 08 July 2013, 16:45
litemover
Just call me: Chris
 
Auckland
New Zealand
Thanks Pete; Looks good! I'll order more cable chain to do it.
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  #363  
Old Thu 18 July 2013, 22:41
litemover
Just call me: Chris
 
Auckland
New Zealand
hey everyone,

I'm moving my table this weekend to it's shop. So looking forward to that as it has 3 phase electricity for the spindle which is nearly wired up.

I have one question, Ive just purchased a gas spring which said 150nm for my 4k spindle. It seems quite stiff, am mounting it now. If the spring is too stiff, will it damage the Z motor or anything?

Thanks,
Chris
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  #364  
Old Thu 18 July 2013, 23:32
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
You can not damage the electrics/magnetics of a stepper motor by having too much external load. It may skip steps and you get some rough noises, but the motor has no damage.
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  #365  
Old Fri 19 July 2013, 02:41
danilom
Just call me: Danilo #64
 
Novi Sad
Serbia
In my opinion its better to have a less power then too much power on a Z gas spring. Motor moves my Z even without gas spring so he has enough power, if you get too strong one it may in some cases loose steps when plunging, very difficult to notice sometimes

the declaration on it may be misleading, put 15kg on it and see will it slide in
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  #366  
Old Fri 19 July 2013, 14:18
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
When you weighed the assembly, did you order a spring to match it? It should move freely when assembled. Mine is within a pound and moves easily by hand when assembled but does not drift down. The spring on each of our assemblies is different based on the build. I have a 30 lb spring.
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  #367  
Old Sun 21 July 2013, 18:17
litemover
Just call me: Chris
 
Auckland
New Zealand
Painting and Priming.

Just finished moving the machine, painting it while it is apart. Man that was a heavy mother. I calculated the mass of it based on profiles and tube width and it is over 1100 Kilos! The two side frame pieces with main X long beams alone are 700 kilo! Smelled the clutch of my friend's 4runner big time last night Anyway, sorry it took a while to get back to you guys.

The spring won't go down on it's own just by itself. But when I put the assembly on top of the sprint and push down, it will go down with a wee bit of force. Not sure how much, maybe 5LBS off. I bought the spring from Ebay in China as that has been the easiest way for me to get reasonable stuff these days. Can't buy a mcmaster car one here unless I send it to the US first then have someone send it to me.

The whole assembly weighs about 30 LBS I guess. I could add weight to it to make it heavier until I can find a spring that would be better.

Last night after moving, I rolled one more coat of black guard on it to cure rust as I noticed a slight layer of rust developing from keeping it in the garage where it is moist from all the rain. I'm going to put one more layer of black guard on today for good measure, then re-prime/seal it with a 2k primer prior to painting with a 2k paint, so today is prep.
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  #368  
Old Sun 21 July 2013, 19:20
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
I would believe that you would want it to return up if anything but I may be wrong. I thought I read that somewhere.
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  #369  
Old Sun 21 July 2013, 19:30
Red_boards
Just call me: Red #91
 
Melbourne
Australia
You can try Schutties fasteners in Moorabbin, Melbourne (03) 9553 2032 for a custom shock (~$50 a few years ago). Helpful people. They may ship to NZ.

It takes some effort to move my Z down and it only returns up slowly after power is removed. Been fine for 2 years now.
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  #370  
Old Sun 21 July 2013, 21:06
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
Your gas spring sounds about as good as it is going to get, if it is only 5lbs off. They are not made very precisely and they do "settle" a bit (they get smoother, less friction). Realise that your stepper motor, when switched off, will probably take more than 5lbs to turn.
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  #371  
Old Mon 22 July 2013, 18:07
litemover
Just call me: Chris
 
Auckland
New Zealand
Yes, I think the shock should be ok then if that is the case. I could get a custom one here in NZ pressurized to whatever I needed, but it's $115 compared to the $20 incl shipping I paid for the shock outside the country. My rig weighs in at 28LBS and the shock is rated for 33, so hopefully I don't miss steps. Probably worrying for nothing.

Getting my 2k primer today, it should hopefully smooth out some of the surface texture. Going to shoot 1 coat of enamel primer over the blackguard, sand with 600 grit, then 1 coat of 2k primer, then paint and clear coat. Should be a smooth finish I hope.
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  #372  
Old Mon 22 July 2013, 18:42
pblackburn
Just call me: Pete #98
 
South-Central Pennsylvania
United States of America
That little bit of resistance from the gas shock is not going to cause any problems with steps especially with reduction.
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  #373  
Old Mon 05 August 2013, 03:50
litemover
Just call me: Chris
 
Auckland
New Zealand
Made some progress painting. 2k primer, 2k paint turned out nice. The guy at the paint store told me the wrong ratio to paint on my other colour, so half the table is painted but turned out looking bad. Have to get some more paint to fix it. Moral of the story, always look at the paint tech sheet prior to painting.



Finished soon!

Chris
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  #374  
Old Mon 05 August 2013, 05:56
darren salyer
Just call me: Darren #101
 
Wentzville mo
United States of America
I hate it when you listen to someone who should know what they are talking about and don't.
Glad it worked in the end.
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  #375  
Old Sat 31 August 2013, 20:35
litemover
Just call me: Chris
 
Auckland
New Zealand
Well, the machine is finished painted, and cutting nicely. Will post some photos shortly. Does anyone have a file for a waffle grid vacuum tabletop they can link me to? I remember seeing one somewhere but can't seem to find it again. Thanks!

Chris
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  #376  
Old Sat 31 August 2013, 21:33
servant74
Just call me: Jack
 
Nashville (Tennessee)
United States of America
Would sure like to see a few pix
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  #377  
Old Sun 01 September 2013, 03:06
litemover
Just call me: Chris
 
Auckland
New Zealand
The Machine cuts

Here are some pics, and I have a mov of it cutting that I will post later. The colours are Lemon Yellow, and carbon black metallic. You can see the metallic in the sun and in the lights. Looks sharp though next time I will avoid metallic paint a I had to paint the black twice!

















screen capture tool

Last edited by litemover; Sun 01 September 2013 at 03:12..
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  #378  
Old Sun 01 September 2013, 03:33
litemover
Just call me: Chris
 
Auckland
New Zealand
Here is the video of it cutting. Very nice cuts! Fast too! This was only about 4000 mm per min cutting.

https://vimeo.com/73555725
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  #379  
Old Sun 01 September 2013, 04:31
Robert M
Just call me: Robert
 
Lac-Brome, Qc
Canada
Send a message via Yahoo to Robert M Send a message via Skype™ to Robert M
Nice wook....now the real reward starts....
enjoy
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  #380  
Old Sun 01 September 2013, 05:12
Tom Ayres
Just call me: Tom #117
 
Bassett (VA)
United States of America
Chris that is awesome! Congrats!
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  #381  
Old Sun 01 September 2013, 05:32
lonestaral
Just call me: Al #114
 
Isarn
Thailand
Send a message via Skype™ to lonestaral
Very nice.
I have much to do and learn.
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  #382  
Old Sun 01 September 2013, 07:01
servant74
Just call me: Jack
 
Nashville (Tennessee)
United States of America
Great pix. So awesome.
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  #383  
Old Sun 01 September 2013, 08:42
parrulho
Just call me: Paulo #108
 
willemstad
Netherlands Antilles
Nice and strong machine. Congratulations!
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  #384  
Old Sun 01 September 2013, 17:41
litemover
Just call me: Chris
 
Auckland
New Zealand
Thanks for al your support folks. Really appreciate it.
Chris
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  #385  
Old Sun 01 September 2013, 23:32
Andrew_standen
Just call me: Andrew #109
 
Dorset
United Kingdom
Congratulations that looks good, cuts nice and clean.
Good luck
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  #386  
Old Sun 01 September 2013, 23:55
Mrayhursh
Just call me: Hurshy
 
Riverview, Florida
United States of America
Wow

The color is awesome. consider pin striping?
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  #387  
Old Mon 02 September 2013, 01:12
litemover
Just call me: Chris
 
Auckland
New Zealand
Yes, I have thought about some pin stripes or graphix. Originally was going to give it an Ironman theme, lol. Working on a cool Mechmate logo decal. Should be interesting.
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  #388  
Old Fri 06 September 2013, 01:20
litemover
Just call me: Chris
 
Auckland
New Zealand
More Cutting.

Working on some 3d carving, it's such a cool thing to watch the machine cutting 3d. It's so precise and sharp. I managed to get my VFD running through Mach3 via PWM so quite happy with that. My spindle, a 4kw Chinese air cooled so can't go less than 8000 rpm, does that mean when I warm it up, I should start it at 8000 rpm or is that just for cutting?

Very happy with this machine. Was well worth it.
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  #389  
Old Fri 06 September 2013, 02:17
KenC
Just call me: Ken
 
Klang
Malaysia
Your spindle can not go under 8000rpm? Do you mean it doesn't move at all?
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  #390  
Old Fri 06 September 2013, 03:07
litemover
Just call me: Chris
 
Auckland
New Zealand
No, it will go under, it's just that I was told not to cut that low because it won't air cool if I do.
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