Bilal, ... I know it's old school, but find a 'yellow pages' (or their web site) and let your fingers do the walking. ... i.e. call around and ask if places have it, or if the people know where you might find it locally.

Expecially look for mom&pop shops, Radio Shack (but don't expect much help, but who knows!),

I started looking at http://www.yellowbook.com/s/electronic-parts/toledo-oh/ but also check surreounding areas.

Back 'in the day' I did a lot of sourcing things in the D-FW area, and YP was a normal starting point.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...-keywords=db25 has it, if you are willing to pay for next day-Saturday delivery.

Lots of luck!

Al, Jack, all the shops around here only offer usb to db25 which is only good for an older printer... I already have cables on order along with computer components...should see it all by Monday. I do have 2 more places to check...would be aggravating to wait till Monday.

Thanks
Bilal

I finally tried new cables tonight to no avail. please help.
the axes do jog in mach3...as far as I can tell, software is fine.

Another question that I've asked wrong twice before, I plan to use two cutters in the Y and they sit about 14" apart. How much longer does the X need to be for both cutters to reach the ends? Is it as simple as adding the distance between the cutters to the X along with the 600mm?

Thanks again guys,
Bilal

Going by the book.

Normal printer port operation, checked ?(you may not have this screen pop up, I did not)

Native units, Inch or mm.

Port 1 enabled, checked ?

Kernel speed 25000 Hz, checked ?

Ports and pins, motor outputs set to your suppliers list correctly ?

E stop configured correctly?

X,Y and Z motors tuned(steps, velocity, acceleration all filled in) ?

Tab key bring out the Jog control screen ?
Jog not set to 0% ?

Charge pump needed?

spindle output (should make no difference, but I do not have a spindle) ?

Home switches ?

Soft limits set(turn on or off) ?

Just some basic settings to look at.
Got to start at the beginning again and again.

PS. When trying a program for my lathe, I could not figure out why the Single Block button would not indicate whether it was on or off.
It seems that the early screen did not have this feature.

Do your DRO's show movement but your motors do not turn ?
Just something else I thought of.

.......it was the pins.

Sorry to bug you guys over my simple multiple overlooks...I'll try and keep that to a minimum.:rolleyes:

Hopefully I'm not starting again with this next question, I'm trying to slave my other X motor which is on pins A and B of the 126 but not sure what pin numbers those are on the parallel port.

Are you using a 134?

No, I'm using two 133's

I hate to give such a vague answer but near the end of the 126 manual it gives the cross reference from parallel to the port 1 and port 2 pins. This is where it can be confusing but you have to go to the section of the manual for the motor directory and step locations. If you have printed out the manual. It makes it a ton easier. I would tell you exact pins but everyone's setup is a little different

Had to switch to cell phone...Electricity flickering badly, storming hard.

Thanks Pete, lack of effort on my part. I do remember seeing those tables now. Manual is in garage but its coming down hard enough to drench me in that 40ft. run.

I've been putting off my steel order because they need to be cut the same day they come otherwise they won't fit in the garage, so I was hoping someone can help me determine the X length, I am using two Z slides, one the spindle the other a pneumatic drill about 14" apart. I just want to varify that I'm measuring correctly, do I add the 14" distance along with the 600mm to the X?

I also would like to list my material weights that I chose, please let me know if they are way overkill or not. Keeping in mind I plan to cut aluminum plate with it and the four walls will be bolted to each other and the cross bearers bolted.
X beams 8x18.75 (roughly 14ft long?)
Cross bearers 4x7.25
3 legs of c6x10.5 welded to X beam supported by 4x2x1/8 tube.
gantry tubes 4x2x3/8
Z slide: 3/8 tool steel with the 2x1x3/16 backing

Sorry...rough sketch.

Any recommendations to this as well?

Some progress last night,

Y-car jigged and welded up & motors tuned.

Can anyone tell me how much clearance between Z slide tube and spider plate?

Hello all,

I'm getting ready to order some hardened beveled washers, cheapest I'm finding so far has a minimum quantity of 200 for $110, is that a good price to pay? Is malleable ok to use instead of hardened(F436)?

Why hardened? I have 49 malleable square for 5/16 bolts; PM me with what you need and you can have 'em for shipping - or less if the shipping is trivial. I'd like to hold onto a few for odds and ends. I just looked; I used exactly 16 on my MM. Or, you could check out mcmaster.com - they've got them in small quantities at better prices than your 100 lot.

Brad, thank you for the kind offer but I am planing on using 1/2 bolts...I'm going to check McMaster now.

Thanks

Hello all,

metal is in and I'm about to start cutting my beams but my head is still not 100% wrapped around whether I have my X dimensions correct. One of my concerns is the offset of the spindle, it is more than 4 inches offset looking at 1010 300...does the 600mm addition of the X compensate for whatever position the spindle is in the Y car? I've been reading but can't find much to clarify this, every time I sit to read I get carried off on another subject of the build ...

Bilal

The + values add the correct amount for the gantry. As far as spindle placement to the spoilboard, that is dependent on the crossbearer locations.

Pete, Thanks again for the quick reply.
So if my cutters are equidistant from the center of the Y-car, I can just add the distance between the cutters to the X beam length along with the 600mm and center my cross bearer layout to the X?

Trying to follow your question but am having a little trouble understanding the exact information you are looking for.

Just want to make sure I'm doing this right ...mainly concerned about both cutters reaching both ends..

If you follow the prints for the length of your longitudinal beams,then it will be for that distance of cutting. I would add a couple of inches for wiggle room in my honest opinion. When looking at the prints you have to keep in mind which is the front and rear. I would have to open them up again but am fairly certain it gives the starting location for the first crossbearer. I did a bolt together build so it was critical to have the placement correct but if you are welding it doesn't take much to cut apart and move.

Pete, I think fasting got to me today. (ya thats a good excuse:))

I think I confused myself once again but I found my answer here. and as soon as I read it, I remembered reading it a while back.:rolleyes:

Thanks again Pete, I'm going to have more questions on electrics for you, I remember reading about a safety relay for spindle you posted a wiring diagram for that looked similar to mine...I think.;)

two more questions I wanted to put in, what are the thickness of the bushings behind the z-slide V-wheels? and does anyone have recommendations on the spindle mount for 4kw 4" diameter, or do you think the Chinese mount are OK?

Thanks,
Bilal

The drawing set allowed for only one tool offset to one side. If you want to be safe, measure the distance between the two tools, and add this dimension to the overall table length as calculated for a single tool.

Also, your table can then be symmetrical in terms of cross-bearer locations . . . .

Gerald , Perfect! Thank you, I was still trying to be sure about the cross-bearers as well.

Just so I have the view correct in my head, when looking at the last pic above, when installed on the gantry/table the bottom left corner of pic is considered 0,0 correct?

Hello all,

Just wanted to chime in, good progress has been made. I meant to post some pics before I went on vacation but didn't get around to it in time. I just got back and I'll post some soon.

Pics of your vacation? Ha Ha;)

Hello all,

Before I forget once again, I wanted to thank Brad. I took his offer on those washers, Thank you very much.

And thanks for those other parts Mike, much appreciated.

I will soon post a link to pics of progress.

Bilal

Looking forward to them

Hello All,

here is a link to those pics so far.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/10571261...10525558171275

Rail grinding time tomorrow.
More pics and questions to come.

Bilal

Nice set of photos

I really like those welds, what amp welder are you using?

Great photos.
What camera did you use ?
Are those real gold bolts ?:)

Good progress. Nice looking machine. Looks sturdy!

Well done and good progress.
Thank you for the photo's!

Hello All,

Thank you for the nice comments.

Tom, I'm using the typical Lincoln 140. Decent welder but i wish it was a 220vac with higher duty cycle.
Al most of the pics were taken with a Nikon coolpix AW120, the rest with htc M8 cell phone.
The bolts are USA made, the zinc coating is definitely different then all other grade 8 bolts I've seen. they are from lexarindustrial.com ( moparman0110 on ebay)

Hello all,

I got the rails cut and beveled, but not 100% to my liking. The 1mm gap in the center of bevel widens in certain areas, I'm hoping a final cutting pass will take care of that once they are mounted and leveled on the beams.

Im almost ready to tear the machine down for paint and wanted to ask for opinions on the best way to prep it. I was thinking scrubbing it down with steel wool and dish soap then drying with shop air piece by piece. I called rustoleum but forgot exactly what they recommended, primer + self leveling paint of some kind. I'll be posting more pics soon.

For cleaning use naptha(first choice) or denatured alcohol. Spray (cup) with paint used for industrial machines. All of these products can be found at a professional paint supply store, such as Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore.

Hello All,

That Naphta worked great Steve, thanks.

Here is a link to some pics of progress.

This industrial enamel takes forever to dry.

In the meantime I've been shopping for some E-chain, so far I'm interested in 5.92" wide igus for $17 a foot. Anyone have some suggestions to other options?

Also looking for some spindle mounts 100mm, the Chinese one is too wide for the Z.
Is 12awg good for a 4.5kw spindle? too much?

I'm hoping to progress faster now that the machine is almost ready to go back together. Thanks again!

Your build is looking great !!!