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  #1  
Old Mon 20 July 2009, 20:23
chopper
Just call me: chopper
 
Big Lake Minnesota
United States of America
Belt reduction installed, cutting metals - Big Lake, MN

here are a few pics of my machine,
I do not have the logos applied yet, since I am a sign guy I guess it mat take
awhile to get those made, these are right after I finished the machine
no new transmissions yet, Gerald if this is the wrong place for this sorry, please move...//chopper
Attached Images
File Type: jpg one.jpg (35.5 KB, 1935 views)
File Type: jpg two.jpg (36.9 KB, 1933 views)
File Type: jpg three.jpg (41.5 KB, 1930 views)
File Type: jpg four.jpg (47.3 KB, 1923 views)
  #2  
Old Mon 20 July 2009, 20:32
PEU
Just call me: Pablo
 
Buenos Aires
Argentina
Very Nice, please PLEASE more photos!

IE vacuum system, the machine, non standard details, work done, etc. Looks very clean!
  #3  
Old Mon 20 July 2009, 20:51
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
Great attention to detail!

A bit worried about your use of panel/bulkhead connectors - they are vulnerable to being bumped and breaking off. For example, where your parallel cable enters the control box; that could be knocked off with a broom, or kicked.
  #4  
Old Mon 20 July 2009, 22:51
javeria
Just call me: Irfan #33
 
Bangalore
India
chopper more or vacuum clamping please ....otherwise a very nice build!
  #5  
Old Tue 21 July 2009, 01:08
Alan_c
Just call me: Alan (#11)
 
Cape Town (Western Cape)
South Africa
Send a message via Skype™ to Alan_c
It's a beaut, never mind that its not blue, great neat job on the wiring and that vacuum table demands further details (what material, vacuum pump etc...)

Your legs look a bit small, do you not get movement or vibration when it's working?
  #6  
Old Tue 21 July 2009, 01:39
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
Alan, he has nice big braces on those legs (see very top, left) of top pic, dividing the end frames into "triangulated" trusses, so the weight of the leg itself is not so important. It all depends on an end view of the "truss".

Yeah, it is actually scary to see how much these things can shake and vibrate, in the face of a lot of people trying to cut weight!
  #7  
Old Tue 21 July 2009, 03:11
sailfl
Just call me: Nils #12
 
Winter Park, FL
United States of America
Chopper,

More details on your vacuum hold down system.

The machine looks great. Congratulations.
  #8  
Old Tue 21 July 2009, 03:56
Kobus_Joubert
Just call me: Kobus #6
 
Riversdale Western Cape
South Africa
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Did you cut the top of your table for the vacuum with the machine ?
Will you put a sacrifice board on top of that nice pattern, or how does it work ?
  #9  
Old Tue 21 July 2009, 04:43
sailfl
Just call me: Nils #12
 
Winter Park, FL
United States of America
Kobus,

The vacuum will suck through the MDF board. The pattern in the vacuum board helps with the holding. It looks like he has 5 zones?
  #10  
Old Tue 21 July 2009, 04:56
Greg J
Just call me: Greg #13
 
Hagerman, New Mexico
United States of America
Wow, nice work !!

Look forward to some pic's of the vacuum system.
  #11  
Old Tue 21 July 2009, 04:57
jhiggins7
Just call me: John #26
 
Hebron, Ohio
United States of America
Chopper,

Nice build, great pictures (they show the detail very nicely).

I too am interested in the vacuum hold-down. I've acquired a vacuum blower pump, but haven't constructed the hold-down yet. I too would appreciate more details on your hold-down design. What type and size vacuum are you using? Also, how well does it work?
  #12  
Old Tue 21 July 2009, 05:04
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
I think that hold-down had its origins over here.

(Havn't seen a similar system that pre-dated my proposal then, might have made some money off a patent )
  #13  
Old Tue 21 July 2009, 05:36
Kobus_Joubert
Just call me: Kobus #6
 
Riversdale Western Cape
South Africa
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Thanks Nils, I heard that the vacuum can be sucked through low density MDF from Marius, but I did not believe him...now you have confirmed it. What I heard is that you trim the top and bottom layer off the mdf....then is sucks like an Electrolux..
  #14  
Old Tue 21 July 2009, 06:24
J.R. Hatcher
Just call me: J.R. #4
 
Wilmington, North Carolina
United States of America
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Kobus I do cut away the surface of both sides first, but I saw a lifting system where the vacuum had to be turned down so it wouldn't pick up several sheets of 4' X 8' X 3/4" mdf at once.
  #15  
Old Tue 21 July 2009, 07:53
Doug_Ford
Just call me: Doug #3
 
Conway (Arkansas)
United States of America
Chopper,

Nice work. Show us your dust collection system too.

I'm wondering how many other guys have built MMs and haven't posted pics or even mentioned them on this forum.
  #16  
Old Tue 21 July 2009, 08:22
domino11
Just call me: Heath
 
Cornwall, Ontario
Canada
Chopper,
Looks like a top notch build. You should be very proud.
  #17  
Old Tue 21 July 2009, 08:37
servant74
Just call me: Jack
 
Nashville (Tennessee)
United States of America
Chopper,
What blower/vacuum system do you use for your hold down? I went to a ShopBot conference, and there were folks doing everything from 10HP regenerative blowers to 'whole house' vacuum units, to little shopvac's. All have their place, and are at different places on the the price/performance/volume scales.
  #18  
Old Tue 21 July 2009, 10:19
chopper
Just call me: chopper
 
Big Lake Minnesota
United States of America
there seems to be a lot of interest in the vacuum system,
that is a work in progress, I have it working but would like to improve it....
I really don't like to give away all my secrets, but the blower I am using was given to me from a friend who had one laying around, the problem I have is I need to upgrade the electric motor that powers the unit the duty cycle on it is short and will trip the thermal protection if run for awhile and quite frankly it has too much power it will pull 10 inches of vacuum on the table, the draw back is it is very noisy system,
it will actually hold the parts that I machine through 1 sheet of trupan and 1 sheet of mdf,stacked on one another... I machined or skinned the sheet of trupan, to allow better air flow
but in hind sight I don't think is was necessary, the mdf was not skinned
most of the time I use the T rails to hold the parts down and use the vacuum when I have to
ok, if you have to know it is a roots blower
//chopper
  #19  
Old Tue 21 July 2009, 10:25
chopper
Just call me: chopper
 
Big Lake Minnesota
United States of America
Doug,
I do not have a dust collection system as of yet,
I have thought about it but really haven't had a need for it yet....
most of the stuff that I do is plastic or aluminum,
so at this point dust is not a problem, we are in the process of building a plasma cutter, and when that is finished I think we will start on the dust collection, probably a unit that will work for both machines, I am also interested in seeing if the two machines will work side by side with out having interference from one another, I think the plasma may give off a lot of electrical noise and interfere with the router...
//chopper
  #20  
Old Tue 21 July 2009, 10:41
chopper
Just call me: chopper
 
Big Lake Minnesota
United States of America
Kobus,
you would be correct, the machine was used to cut the patterns and the T slots into the table, also the holes to run the pipes in from the bottom also were done with the machine, I kinda got the idea from the cnc zone I seen a few done like this there,
I have 4 zones on the machine two towards the front of the machine covering aprox 2 foot square each the third covering 2X4 feet and the fourth covering 4x4 area, the fifth pipe goes to the blower under the table....the problem with the roots blower is it pulls so hard you really can't shut the zones you are not using off, I am working on a way to control this better, (I am thinking about a vacuum valve that bleeds off when it reaches a certain level of vacuum) but it is not on the front burner right now, I have a few other improvements ahead of that...
//chopper
  #21  
Old Tue 21 July 2009, 13:37
Doug_Ford
Just call me: Doug #3
 
Conway (Arkansas)
United States of America
Chopper,

Are you using the MM design as the basis for your plasma cutter? If Gerald doesn't mind, could you document it on this website? I think there are other guys that are interested in having a plasma cutter too. I know I am.
  #22  
Old Tue 21 July 2009, 16:31
chopper
Just call me: chopper
 
Big Lake Minnesota
United States of America
Doug,
the plasma cutter is loosely based on the mechmate,
we will be using the rail system for the gantry and some other similar features,
the plasma cutter is my brothers project, I will take a few pics when it gets a little further along, but it isn't on the front burner right now either so it may be awhile
//chopper
  #23  
Old Tue 21 July 2009, 20:33
Greg J
Just call me: Greg #13
 
Hagerman, New Mexico
United States of America
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerald D View Post
I think that hold-down had its origins over here.

Maybe it's me, but that link is good reading. There is a major weather system in my area (SE NM), so I've printed the link and headed to bed with a flashlight.
  #24  
Old Fri 30 October 2009, 20:12
chopper
Just call me: chopper
 
Big Lake Minnesota
United States of America
here are some pics of my machine as requested...//chopper
Attached Images
File Type: jpg ten.jpg (42.5 KB, 1485 views)
File Type: jpg eleven.jpg (27.3 KB, 1480 views)
File Type: jpg twelve.jpg (45.0 KB, 1484 views)
File Type: jpg thirteen.jpg (42.2 KB, 1484 views)
  #25  
Old Fri 30 October 2009, 20:14
chopper
Just call me: chopper
 
Big Lake Minnesota
United States of America
here are a few more pictures of the rails and the router..//chopper
Attached Images
File Type: jpg seventeen.jpg (19.1 KB, 1490 views)
File Type: jpg nineteen.jpg (41.1 KB, 1485 views)
  #26  
Old Sat 31 October 2009, 06:40
jhiggins7
Just call me: John #26
 
Hebron, Ohio
United States of America
Looking good, Chopper. Nice work!
  #27  
Old Sat 31 October 2009, 07:45
Richards
Just call me: Mike
 
South Jordan, UT
United States of America
Chopper,

Thanks for posting those photos!
  #28  
Old Sat 31 October 2009, 13:02
smreish
Just call me: Sean - #5, 28, 58 and others
 
Orlando, Florida
United States of America
Chopper,
Nice work - as always. I even noticed the nice grade 5 and above fasteners on the machine.
Sean
  #29  
Old Sat 31 October 2009, 14:20
buibui
Just call me: John #34
 
Seattle
United States of America
Great looking machine, Chopper. I like how you mounted the eccentrics on the z-plate...I take it that's to keep one side vertical and only require adjustment on the other?

I hacked my spider plate up due to mistakes during my build (had to reweld and redrill my holes), so alignment is difficult. I may need to incorporate your idea if I re-do my z-assembly.
  #30  
Old Sat 31 October 2009, 17:29
bradyaero
Just call me: Greg #19
 
Smiths Falls, Ontario
Canada
very nice looking MM!
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