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  #1  
Old Tue 19 January 2010, 05:39
clarson66
Just call me: Chris & Leon #100
 
Adelaide
Australia
Smile Mini Vacuum Table ! #100 - Adelaide AU

Hi All,
Well we thought it was about time we posted what we are up to. I run a small cabinet shop and have always wanted a CNC machine. We (We = myself and my brother Leon) have currently built a small cnc machine and feel it's now time to take the Mechmate challenge.

Inspire by Mattyzee we have put the wheels in motion and have the following on order :-

4 x 203v Geckos and assorted electrickery bits (Thanks Phomann)
1 x 2.2kw spindle and collet set (Ebay)
1 x Spindle mount (Spindle Mounts.com)
1 x Bearings set (Rick at Superior Bearings)

Laser cut parts TBC from rnixon (Rick)
Steel nearly done just working our final design

Cheers to all that help us sourcing parts and with info!

Thank you in advance to Mattyzee, hope to catch up with and check out your machine! Also would be interested in that plugin for Mach3 and the VFD.

Regards Chris & Leon
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  #2  
Old Tue 19 January 2010, 07:27
riesvantwisk
Just call me: Ries #46
 
Quito
Ecuador
Send a message via MSN to riesvantwisk Send a message via Skype™ to riesvantwisk
hello Chris and Leon,

welcome to the forum and good luck with the build! Mechmate is an amazing and wonderful world as you noticed that has made many people addicted.
Please post picture of your build in your build log.

Ries
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  #3  
Old Tue 19 January 2010, 10:28
domino11
Just call me: Heath
 
Cornwall, Ontario
Canada
Welcome Guys!
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  #4  
Old Tue 19 January 2010, 16:05
MattyZee
Just call me: Matt
 
Adelaide
Australia
No turning back now ;-) I can catch up this weekend if that suits.
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  #5  
Old Tue 19 January 2010, 16:32
clarson66
Just call me: Chris & Leon #100
 
Adelaide
Australia
Cheers Matt,
Dont know if this suits but I could only make it Saturday between morning to 3pm ish.

PM us your details.

Regards Chris
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  #6  
Old Tue 19 January 2010, 21:30
Lonedawg75
Just call me: Leon
 
Adelaide
Australia
Thumbs up Geckos are Here!

Hello All,
The Gecko's have arrived today along with a BoB and few other bits.

Spindle has left China, Bearings & Spindle mount have left the USA.

Hopefully the steel will be ordered this week then just need the laser cut parts some rack & pinion, put it all in a big pile and hope for the best

Cheers, Leon
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  #7  
Old Wed 20 January 2010, 01:15
AuS MaDDoG
Just call me: Tony #71
 
Brisbane
Australia
Welcome aboard Leon, and good luck with the build.

Cheers
Tony.
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  #8  
Old Wed 20 January 2010, 02:42
Jayson
Just call me: Jayson #18
 
Horsham
Australia
Good luck with your build.
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  #9  
Old Thu 28 January 2010, 01:16
Lonedawg75
Just call me: Leon
 
Adelaide
Australia
Talking Some bits arrive and an Unnecessary purchase!

Well everything has arrived, A huge relief! 2.2k Chai Spindle, Spindle Mount, Superior Bearings, Homann BOB & Gecko's

After Chris(Damn you!) paid a visit to Matty we are getting Nema 34 steppers now, Hopefully cheap as we have another bro that travels OS/has dealings in China/HK and we wont have to pay silly postage amounts! Also we are going for a 6 leg design, more for looks than anything (had to convince Chris on the gantry setup so giving him some leeway on the table )

A little purchase for myself as I want to do a little bit of hobby metal work is..

22"x10" Metal Lathe with Quick Change Gearbox, Atleast it will help with machining up some bearing supports & belt drive axles seems like a nice solid machine and was a bargin from Fleabay Ozmestore

Anyway putting the finishing touches on dimensions this weekend so we can get the steel ordered. The price back from Sonnex Engineering for the Lasercut parts here in Adelaide was a bit more then we were expecting so waiting to see what the outcome is there, Rack we have found a cheaper buy than TEA Trannies so that will be on way aswell.

Thank you all for your time.
Leon

*Edit* We pulled the old CNC down the other day after trying out the Gecko 203v's with Xylotex PSU & 425oz nema 23's .. was a major improvement on the machine but could also see all the flex/inaccuracy appear. Then we tried a 387oz and realised where we went wrong on our initial machine, we should have gone 269oz steppers as we wanted speed more than torque (was mainly designed for system 32 holes!) it was only a 900x600mmish table. After about 30 seconds of deliberation we decided to pull it apart and sell off the Linear Rails/Xylotex/Ballscrews. It was fun building it and we learnt alot about CNC in the process atleast!

Last edited by Lonedawg75; Thu 28 January 2010 at 01:38..
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  #10  
Old Fri 05 February 2010, 00:00
Lonedawg75
Just call me: Leon
 
Adelaide
Australia
Thumbs up More supplies on the way

Hello all,

Well after a bit of a curfuddle with the steel pricing, seems the guy Chris called gave us the cost pricing. For all the steel including rails, bearers, bracing & additional bits fer stops etc it came to $1190 including cutting, With some sweet talk we got him down to $1100 and they are going to get the guys to cut as accurate as possible, bit more than the $750 originally

So far we(I) have spent:
2.2kw Spindle $570
Spindle Mount $105
4x Gecko 203v + Homann BoB $660
Bearings 12x $275
Steel $1100
Laser cut parts $450
Total $3160

Still to come and confirm on pricing is.. Rack & Pinion $365, Pinions/Spurs $225, PSU $150, Cable $200, Assorted bits n bobs $500 about another $1500 worth.
All up im happy as I had allowed for around $5000, the computer we haven't had to worry about as Chris and I both come from PC backgrounds and have plenty of bits Until the cash balance levels out a bit we are doing design etc with Quick-cad, tool paths with CamBam and control with Mach 3 from the last CNC machine.

Now to go work out the holes for drilling/tapping everything.

Have a great week everyone!
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  #11  
Old Fri 05 February 2010, 02:46
KenC
Just call me: Ken
 
Klang
Malaysia
Wish you a good building experience.

#PS steel sure is expensive in Aus.
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  #12  
Old Mon 08 February 2010, 01:25
gmcclure
Just call me: Graeme
 
Geelong
Australia
Hi leon,

sounds like we are at about the same stage.

say hello

best regards

Graeme
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  #13  
Old Mon 15 February 2010, 16:38
clarson66
Just call me: Chris & Leon #100
 
Adelaide
Australia
Well we have steel (Finally) after all the hassles with the quote. Picked it up and 1 of the main beams had a join in it, everything else was out of square and wrong lengths. They guaranteed correct lengths and square cuts. We now have new beam and all the rest of the steel is just lengths and we need to cut it to size ourselves. Looking at buying one of the cold saws to do the job.
Leon has purchased a nice MIG welder for us.

Now between my 2 jobs and Leons long hours plus the workshop where it happens being a 50 minute drive for him, we now need to work out when we can make it!

Here's hoping for some more progress!

Chris
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  #14  
Old Wed 03 March 2010, 23:39
Lonedawg75
Just call me: Leon
 
Adelaide
Australia
Argh!

Is driving me mad having most the parts but still no time to do anything, We picked up a control box and some various bits from an auction. Cable is ordered and waiting to arrive.

Wont be much on the update front for the next 3 weeks atleast *sigh* oh well off to sleep for more work
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  #15  
Old Wed 03 March 2010, 23:58
swatkins
Just call me: Steve
 
Houston
United States of America
Quote:
Originally Posted by clarson66 View Post
We now have new beam and all the rest of the steel is just lengths and we need to cut it to size ourselves. Looking at buying one of the cold saws to do the job.

Chris
Best money I have ever spent for a tool.....saw.gif

I bought mine a long time ago when it was about 225.00 US This model is better built than mine is ( We have one in another shop in Houston) and is worth twice what you would pay for it! http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...3677_200323677
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  #16  
Old Mon 08 March 2010, 04:51
Felton
Just call me: john
 
newark de
United States of America
hi welcome to the forum.
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  #17  
Old Thu 01 April 2010, 03:34
clarson66
Just call me: Chris & Leon #100
 
Adelaide
Australia
Hello everyone,
Well the laser cut parts have arrived, thanx Rick.
Have Migshield gas for welder, now welds look like they should do
Cold cut saw has been ordered, awaiting delivery.

Over the next couple of weeks we should hopefully make some progress and have this pile of bits looking more like a Mechmate.

Chris n Leon
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  #18  
Old Thu 01 April 2010, 04:19
cvriv.charles
Just call me: charles
 
New Jersey
United States of America
YAMM. Hello and welcome
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  #19  
Old Thu 01 April 2010, 04:33
KenC
Just call me: Ken
 
Klang
Malaysia
Christ & Leon, Don't forget to post some fun filling pix.
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  #20  
Old Sat 10 April 2010, 05:56
clarson66
Just call me: Chris & Leon #100
 
Adelaide
Australia
Cold Saw arrives

Well it's arrived and just couldn't wait so did some test cuts. Geez these saws are nice, the cuts are so neat plus quick and with so some quick adjusting the pointer of the angle marker they are square as well.
Will post some pics over the next couple of days as I hope to get down to my workshop to get cracken on this Mechmate.

Chris
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Cold saw.jpg (72.9 KB, 2086 views)
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  #21  
Old Sat 10 April 2010, 06:21
MetalHead
Just call me: Mike
 
Columbiana AL
United States of America
I have a DeWalt version of that. Mines a chop saw not a metal cutting saw. Does yours have the tooth blade? Mine hase the large abrasive wheel.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...9087_200329087

Between that and the metal cutting Bandsaw

(http://www.grizzly.com/products/5-x-...vel-Head/G9742)

Probably the most used two tools in the shop. Have to haves in my book.
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  #22  
Old Sat 10 April 2010, 06:58
AuS MaDDoG
Just call me: Tony #71
 
Brisbane
Australia
Hi Chris,

some nice gear there!! should make light work of some of the harder tasks!! good luck with your build. I used the cold metal cut saw for all my steel and it worked a treat

Good Luck with your build.

Cheers
Tony
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  #23  
Old Sat 10 April 2010, 08:23
clarson66
Just call me: Chris & Leon #100
 
Adelaide
Australia
Cold Saw

Hi Mike,
Yep I got one of those friction saws as well, but your correct these have a 72 Tooth TCT blade in them and spin at 1500rpm. I think it's similar to Ausmaddog's.

Oh and cheers Tony, yes we have built quite a collection of metal working gear which I'm sure will aid the build nicely.
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  #24  
Old Fri 16 April 2010, 02:55
clarson66
Just call me: Chris & Leon #100
 
Adelaide
Australia
Some progress made

Hi All,
Made it down to my workshop today and made some progress on the steel.
Some lengths needed cut and some needed the dodgey cuts from the steel yard to be squared up.

Legs cut, x & y bottom and top rails cut, y cross bearers cut n drilled.
Solved the drilling problem, much better standing up than kneeling down.

Only had my phone with me so not the best pics!
Attached Images
File Type: jpg steel_cut.jpg (77.4 KB, 2039 views)
File Type: jpg y_cross_bearers.jpg (75.4 KB, 2056 views)
File Type: jpg drilling.jpg (65.6 KB, 2033 views)
File Type: jpg Square_ends.jpg (88.9 KB, 2029 views)
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  #25  
Old Fri 16 April 2010, 04:44
Surfcnc
Just call me: Ross #74
 
Queensland
Australia
Gidday Chris and Leon

I bought a friction saw and every time I use it, I regret not getting the more precise cold cut saw.
The machine (esp. the table base) will assemble so much more easily if it is made up of truly square cuts.

All the best with your project.

regards
Ross
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  #26  
Old Sat 01 May 2010, 06:33
clarson66
Just call me: Chris & Leon #100
 
Adelaide
Australia
Some more progress!

Leon & I have made another visit to see Mattyzee and we are ready to go!

Firstly we got onto the x beams.

Cut the angles on the end, bent plates, welded them on and cleaned em up.
Then we got onto the drilling and tapping of the beams and rails.
Day done and we have beams ready to start welding the frame.

Chris
Attached Images
File Type: jpg x_beam_end_cut.jpg (57.2 KB, 1937 views)
File Type: jpg x_beam_capped.jpg (56.9 KB, 1920 views)
File Type: jpg drilling_x_beam_n_rail.jpg (68.7 KB, 1900 views)
File Type: jpg Tapping the x_beam.jpg (62.3 KB, 1897 views)
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  #27  
Old Sat 01 May 2010, 06:39
clarson66
Just call me: Chris & Leon #100
 
Adelaide
Australia
Day 2!

Travelled down south again and opened the door, the magic fairies seem to have forgot to weld the frame together.

Ah well, Leon and I kick into action again and start welding!

One side done and the other one is somewhere!

Seem to have got the hang of the mig welding to.

Chris
Attached Images
File Type: jpg mechmate_side.jpg (66.8 KB, 1879 views)
File Type: jpg weld.jpg (57.7 KB, 1877 views)
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  #28  
Old Sat 01 May 2010, 06:48
clarson66
Just call me: Chris & Leon #100
 
Adelaide
Australia
Days just blurring into 1

Not sure what day this is but here is some more snaps of the frame welded.
Sorry people I'm not quite sure where some of the photos got to and I cant find the ones of it all welded to together before it turned over.

Well it was quite late but Leon and I didn't want to leave our Mechmate on its back. So with some carefull lifting we managed to turn it the right way up.
Couldn't find the local rugby team team, so Leon and I did it ourselves

After shimming one leg the table sits dead level in all directions and there is about 1mm at the most variance in the diagonals of the x beams

Chris
Attached Images
File Type: jpg Mechmate turning.jpg (59.4 KB, 1862 views)
File Type: jpg Mechmate.jpg (64.3 KB, 1862 views)
File Type: jpg Mechmate_2.jpg (64.9 KB, 1854 views)
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  #29  
Old Sat 01 May 2010, 07:03
clarson66
Just call me: Chris & Leon #100
 
Adelaide
Australia
Grinder keeps on turning!

Well Leon and I had a rail of a time today.

Cut them down to 28.ishmm the set the jig up with a grinding disc and ground them dead square and accurate to 28mm, checking with Leons new dial gauge we got the rails to .01 mm variance in height and they do look good.

(Sooorry again lost the close up photos, going to check with Leon cause I'm sure there was more photos taken )

With a nice square top the skate runs nice and smooth. Next we shimmed the rail and checked with straight edge to make sure it's nice n level. Then string lined it straight then grind away!

x rails cut n ground
y rails cut ready for the angle grind.

Chris
Attached Images
File Type: jpg cutting rail.jpg (84.0 KB, 1852 views)
File Type: jpg Rail ready for grind.jpg (42.3 KB, 1837 views)
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  #30  
Old Sat 01 May 2010, 08:14
AuS MaDDoG
Just call me: Tony #71
 
Brisbane
Australia
Hi Chris,

Your build is coming along just nice!!! when are you welding in your braces??
Thanks for the heads up on the grinding of the rail flat, prior to grinding the 45degree V cuts, I will be onto that in the morning.

Cheers
Tony.
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