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  #31  
Old Fri 06 February 2009, 07:18
domino11
Just call me: Heath
 
Cornwall, Ontario
Canada
Greg,
Congratulation on the #19!
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  #32  
Old Fri 06 February 2009, 07:35
jhiggins7
Just call me: John #26
 
Hebron, Ohio
United States of America
Greg,

Congratulations on a great table and Serial Number 19! The updated Builder's Log is here.

Looking forward to seeing how that extended Z-Slide works out for you. Pictures please.

Regards,
John
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  #33  
Old Fri 06 February 2009, 15:25
bradyaero
Just call me: Greg #19
 
Smiths Falls, Ontario
Canada
Lots of photos to follow!

I got the bed in place, there are two positions, the low position has 14" of Z and the high position has 6" of Z.

I think it's beer time here so the MDF will have to wait till tomorrow!

btw, does mdf exist in 6x12? The best I could do was 5x12 at around $80/sheet! So I am covering the full base with 3 4x8 sheets and then using the 5x12 down the middle.


Have a great weekend everybody!
Attached Images
File Type: jpg bed1.jpg (79.6 KB, 1545 views)
File Type: jpg bed2.jpg (64.3 KB, 1541 views)

Last edited by bradyaero; Fri 06 February 2009 at 15:32..
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  #34  
Old Fri 06 February 2009, 17:13
sailfl
Just call me: Nils #12
 
Winter Park, FL
United States of America
Greg B,

To many Gregs.....

Your build in looking good. Thanks for the photos.
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  #35  
Old Thu 12 February 2009, 08:06
bradyaero
Just call me: Greg #19
 
Smiths Falls, Ontario
Canada
Some Trimming

I decided to use my MM to trim my spoil boards. Here's a quick video of how my machine cuts at the bottom of it's Z.

http://www.crosstrainer.ca/downloads/trimming.mpg

Also, my friend Todd made me up some 1/2 bit holders for 3/8th bits! Here's a pic.

I spent some time working out the post-processing between RhinoCam and Mach3. (My earlier tests were all G1's so even with CV on thinks weren't as smooth as they should have been). I found K2's Mach 3 post and I was happily generating G2's and G3's and my MM smoothed right out.

Also I had to drop my parallel port speed down from 100K as there was a bit of glitching happening when jogging. I'm at 45K and could probably get up to 75K no problem (100K gets an Excellent Rating in the Driver Test but I was noticing some small glitching, I haven't optimized the machine for Mach 3, so there could be some task interference but I don't really think so all is running well now0).
Attached Images
File Type: jpg bit holder.JPG (29.8 KB, 1470 views)
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  #36  
Old Thu 12 February 2009, 15:45
sailfl
Just call me: Nils #12
 
Winter Park, FL
United States of America
Greg,

Would you please post the link to the K2 Mach3 post or send me a PM.

Thanks
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  #37  
Old Thu 12 February 2009, 17:21
bradyaero
Just call me: Greg #19
 
Smiths Falls, Ontario
Canada
Quote:
Originally Posted by sailfl View Post
Greg,

Would you please post the link to the K2 Mach3 post or send me a PM.

Thanks
Sure thing!

Here's their post:

http://www.k2cnc.com/Mach2_Mach3_setup.asp

Got my bed cut and positioned, will screw it down in the A.M.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg bed.jpg (57.5 KB, 1449 views)
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  #38  
Old Thu 12 February 2009, 22:58
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
Greg, we had a beer bottle on the left and now we have racing fuel on the right!
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  #39  
Old Fri 13 February 2009, 05:18
bradyaero
Just call me: Greg #19
 
Smiths Falls, Ontario
Canada
The beer to ward off evil spirits, and the fuel to make welding more interesting
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  #40  
Old Mon 16 February 2009, 09:23
bradyaero
Just call me: Greg #19
 
Smiths Falls, Ontario
Canada
Accuracy Test

Hi,

Today I completed my circle testing. There's a pic below of some of these tests. I am getting excellent circles now. I decided to cut a test part to see how well it worked. First thing I learned was about burning out HSS bits in MDF

I switched to a carbide bit and cut out a pick-guard. when I overlaid the part on the cuts everything fit very well. The final part is in mother of pearl, but I have to wait for my customer to be here to cut it!

So my MM is cutting very well, and I now need to figure out how to install hold-down's etc. I might do a grid of holes that can be used to clamp things on.

Here's a quick vid of some of the pickguard cutting:

http://www.crosstrainer.ca/downloads/pickguard.mpg
Attached Images
File Type: jpg burning.jpg (21.3 KB, 1407 views)
File Type: jpg pickguard2.jpg (37.0 KB, 1408 views)
File Type: jpg pickguard3.jpg (37.3 KB, 1407 views)
File Type: jpg circletests.jpg (39.2 KB, 1418 views)
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  #41  
Old Mon 16 February 2009, 10:48
smreish
Just call me: Sean - #5, 28, 58 and others
 
Orlando, Florida
United States of America
Greg,
Leko here on the forum found a great solution for holddown for my table. Slatwall. It's available in all sorts of materials - PVC, MDF, etc. and has t-slots on varies centers. Or, since you have a cnc table, by a t-slot bit and make your own!

Sean
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  #42  
Old Mon 16 February 2009, 14:38
bradyaero
Just call me: Greg #19
 
Smiths Falls, Ontario
Canada
Ahh Interesting,

I'll look into it!

Thanks
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  #43  
Old Mon 16 February 2009, 18:12
domino11
Just call me: Heath
 
Cornwall, Ontario
Canada
Sean,
Great idea, did you cut your own? How did that go on the CNC?
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  #44  
Old Tue 17 February 2009, 09:53
smreish
Just call me: Sean - #5, 28, 58 and others
 
Orlando, Florida
United States of America
slatwall
t-slot cutter

to make your own I used a 2 step milling of a sacrificial MDF sheet on top of the spoilboard.

1/2" mill bit, followed by a T-slot cutter.
Then t-slot bolts and hardware from rockler.com
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  #45  
Old Tue 17 February 2009, 10:40
Alan_c
Just call me: Alan (#11)
 
Cape Town (Western Cape)
South Africa
Send a message via Skype™ to Alan_c
With that particular job, you could drill the countersunk screw mounting holes first (when it is still part of the original square blank), then screw the blank down to the table using those holes. Once fixed to the table, all the other cuts can be done safely without the job moving or having to worry about running into a clamp.
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  #46  
Old Tue 17 February 2009, 12:46
smreish
Just call me: Sean - #5, 28, 58 and others
 
Orlando, Florida
United States of America
Alan,
Also a neat feature that MM users may not know, you can actually Identify the clamp areas in your cut file so the the machine won't hit the clamps. Or at the least, the file will pause so you can remove or move the clamp and progress on.
...Even LazyCam has this feature!
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  #47  
Old Tue 17 February 2009, 15:43
bradyaero
Just call me: Greg #19
 
Smiths Falls, Ontario
Canada
Sean,

My spoil boards are 3/4 inch. Will this be thick enough for the T-slots?
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  #48  
Old Tue 17 February 2009, 17:31
smreish
Just call me: Sean - #5, 28, 58 and others
 
Orlando, Florida
United States of America
Should be....But you may want to actually want reinforce the t-slots with the slatwall PVC strips made to reinforce the slots. This will allow for you to surface the top flat and still have a "strong" slot for holddown.
Sean
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  #49  
Old Wed 18 February 2009, 02:09
sailfl
Just call me: Nils #12
 
Winter Park, FL
United States of America
Are you running the T-Slots the length of X or Y? What kind of distance are you putting between them?

I like the idea of putting the hold down into the code. That is a nice feature.
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  #50  
Old Wed 18 February 2009, 05:04
PEU
Just call me: Pablo
 
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Quote:
Originally Posted by bradyaero View Post
First thing I learned was about burning out HSS bits in MDF
Are you sure HSS was the problem? maybe it was slow feedrate or cut too deep and the mdf chips (powder?) did not had an easy exit way and stuck to your cutter.


Pablo
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  #51  
Old Wed 18 February 2009, 09:06
bradyaero
Just call me: Greg #19
 
Smiths Falls, Ontario
Canada
Hi PEU,

It's probably what you said, slow feed rate combined with high rpm (24,000)! I cut the ends of my spoil boards today with RPM 16000 at a bit higher feed rate and there was no problem.

Any suggestions on how to hold down the spoil boards? Spray on glue? I have no idea!
Attached Images
File Type: jpg sb1.jpg (54.6 KB, 1314 views)
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  #52  
Old Wed 18 February 2009, 09:15
smreish
Just call me: Sean - #5, 28, 58 and others
 
Orlando, Florida
United States of America
I use a roller and Elmer's wood glue.
Put a bunch of temporary screws or weight on top, then when dry, remove screws and weights.
Surface the MDF...when the sacrificial board gets to thin, I just add on top again!
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  #53  
Old Wed 18 February 2009, 09:17
Alan_c
Just call me: Alan (#11)
 
Cape Town (Western Cape)
South Africa
Send a message via Skype™ to Alan_c
Quote:
Originally Posted by bradyaero View Post
Any suggestions on how to hold down the spoil boards? Spray on glue? I have no idea!
Woodglue (elmers, titebond etc) spread on with a roller, position board and weigh down with sand bags, timber, what have you...
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  #54  
Old Wed 18 February 2009, 13:41
sailfl
Just call me: Nils #12
 
Winter Park, FL
United States of America
Elmers Wood Glue.... cheap and it works.
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  #55  
Old Fri 20 February 2009, 13:10
bradyaero
Just call me: Greg #19
 
Smiths Falls, Ontario
Canada
Got my Limit Switches finished up today. I am using 3 switches wired in parallel, normally open for limits and homing. I used button top bolts for my limit stops. In the future I will probably switch to proxies but for now this is working great.

Here's a quick vid: http://www.crosstrainer.ca/downloads/homing.mpg
Attached Images
File Type: jpg limits.jpg (57.8 KB, 1274 views)
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  #56  
Old Tue 24 February 2009, 21:37
domino11
Just call me: Heath
 
Cornwall, Ontario
Canada
Had a real nice visit with my buddy Greg yesterday afternoon, here is a pic of us and the machine. Greg on the left and Heath on the right. Big blue thing is of course the Mechmate!
Attached Images
File Type: jpg IMGs_0247.jpg (40.3 KB, 1217 views)
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  #57  
Old Thu 26 March 2009, 07:15
bradyaero
Just call me: Greg #19
 
Smiths Falls, Ontario
Canada
Damn Heath, ain't we pretty! Thank god for brains or we'd be sunk

Here's a quick update, I changed over all my pinions to 20 tooth, and upgraded my grub screws to 1/4 28 thread. Pinions are now staying nice and tight. Speeds are excellent, lots of torque, I think the changeover is a great idea (unless you like to jog at 1500 IPM). I finally installed a gas strut for my Z (getting rid of those pain in the a#$ springs). I'm getting a solid 13.77" inches of Z-travel (limit of the strut).

As a fun test, I cut out a cub-car for a friend. The model was just a primitive mesh that I imported into rhino and then used rhinocam to process into gcode. One rough pass, then a finish at 45 and finish at 90. My friend went away really happy, especially since another club always manages to out-do them every year, this time they have a weapon

The weather is finally getting warmer here, I'm looking forward to some good long runs!
Attached Images
File Type: jpg zz1.jpg (67.1 KB, 1129 views)
File Type: jpg zz2.jpg (67.3 KB, 1136 views)
File Type: jpg zz3.jpg (61.1 KB, 1137 views)
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  #58  
Old Thu 26 March 2009, 07:25
domino11
Just call me: Heath
 
Cornwall, Ontario
Canada
Greg,
Not sure if the brains make up for my mug. I would need a PHD. So where are the cut comparison pictures for 20t and 30t pinions?
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  #59  
Old Fri 27 March 2009, 06:49
bradyaero
Just call me: Greg #19
 
Smiths Falls, Ontario
Canada
Hi Heath,

Cut quality between pinions is minimal (it probably would show up more with 1/8 and smaller cutters), but with 3/8 to 1/2 cutters, you can't really see any difference; the acceleration factor is the key to smoothness when doing any point to point cutting as we discovered.
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  #60  
Old Sun 19 April 2009, 15:15
bradyaero
Just call me: Greg #19
 
Smiths Falls, Ontario
Canada
First, let me say that it has been just fantastic to see the progress that everyone has been making on their MechMates, what a great group of people!

For my latest update, I finally finished my T-Slots. What I did was glue down the first board, and cut the bottom of the slots. I then glued on the upper board and cut my center slots. The standard 3/8 T-Slot bolts fit well, but even better, the leftover cut piece from my aluminum rails fits the slots and they run the full distance of my slots. So I am drilling and tapping holes into the aluminum to use with the standard hold-down kit. That will give me alot of hold down strength.

The toughest part was cleaning out all the MDF dust from the slots!

Here's a few pics:
Attached Images
File Type: jpg tslot1.jpg (64.0 KB, 1357 views)
File Type: jpg tslot2.jpg (55.9 KB, 1352 views)

Last edited by bradyaero; Sun 19 April 2009 at 15:19..
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