Starting up in AZ
 

I will be using 4'x8' US stock

Hey People
 

Southern Arizona is where I hail from. Currently building a House a farm and a life as self reliant as i can be. So with that in mind i am looking toward making a machine that will handle many of the jobs i need to do at home IE Wood cutting/plasma cutter using a work area measuring 4' x 8'.

Starting up in AZ
 

Starting to collect information on this particular cnc machine will post when i start welding phase.

Welcome to the group !!!

Check out the store for parts kits.

http://www.cvsupply.com/servlet/the-MechMate/Categories

Welcome Mojo! :)

Greg, a fellow MM user is in AZ too....maybe nearby?

Good luck and welcome to the club.

Sean

Down south
 

Down in Bisbee, AZ

On the Road waiting on shipping
 

On the road working right now till the 5 of september hope to get home and have the lazer cut package. This is going to be fun... well except for the part where i have to remove old faithfull work bench from center of shop and clean the place up in preparation lol

I'm in Phoenix, almost have my machine done. I know my build log sucks .......

Got the Lazer cut package today woot
 

Will be cleaning my shop and prepping for cutting tomorrow.. yay got me lazer cut package woot woot

So let me know in AZ
 

So if anyone wouldn't mind me taking a look at there machine and maybe talking a bit of shop please let me know.

Parts streaming in now to find the time to start cutting
 

Well now I have the steel delivered, the lazer cut kit, has arrived only slightly bent (nothing i can't straighten :) ). I have all the bearings for the XYZ axis... as well as hardened rails ordered from Rick at Superior bearing. Getting the angle iron Lazer cut for mounting the hardened rails should have back tomorrow (cutting angle iron with my grinder didn't appeal to me at all :D. Now to get to wielding and cutting for the table... the excitement builds

Good luck on the long weekend of stuff to do....

Mojo,
Are you having Structural STEEL angle cut down via Laser or Architectural Grade ALUMINUM angle?

Steel angle is what i purchased

Why do so many of these threads just suddenly end? It's been over 2 years since Mojo's last post. Wha happend?

Ernie,

People get involved with other things and they may not have the time to work on their build or they finish the build and are busy cutting stuff.

Once you get the machine built, you have a learning curve on how to use it.

There are a number of other builds going on..

If you want to come to Orlando to see one in action, I would be happy to show you mine.

Not ending just life is slowing me down
 

Well i have not posted much as i have yet ot do anything but collect gear to build my MM ..I had to stop and build a house a green house a studio apartment and now finally this year i get to build my shop ..sign.. then the mechmate will start getting focused attention. So this thread will not die !! lol

Fricken life, money, and work always get in the way of fun!

Orlando ,,,
 

Honestly I work in Orlando at least twice a year so I would love to see your MM posted awhile ago about taking a look at someone's running machine that would be huge for me!!!

Mojo, If you were closer we could help each other bust these MM's out.

Yea Mesa a little far :(

Well bought the plans awhile back after I forgot to save the free ones from two years ago dooh.. Now i am waiting on Metalhead to take more of my money for Pdmx boards and gecko's (not sure why you need lizards for this..)
Anyway like I said above I need to build my shop before the MM so starting that on april 1st will post some pics so my build has a little color

Shop start
 

back wall of shop for MM finally started!

goat barn
 

the rest of the building there is the goat barn in progress 17' by 20'. Shop will end up being 20'x30'

MM flooring..
 

So i am currently getting ready to finalize my flooring design for the MM shop. I am thinking of using 3/4 chip board base then cross layer that with 3/4 a/c ply.
The Floor subframe is 2"x2" 16 gauge box tubing set at 2' centers anyone think i may be asking for vibration issues here? thank you!

You may have flex in that floor.

I also would not put chip close to the ground since it may be effected by moisture (I know your in AZ !!! :) )

I did a building with 14 gauge 2x3 floors only 12x12 floor and 3/4 inch cdx ply and it flexed a good bit. It was just a storage building.

They make a self tapping screw just for attaching plywood to metal.

Are you sitting the 2x2 frame on runners? Some use 2 2x6 treated. You may want to go with 3 or 4 and skip the chip board.

I built metal tube frame buildings for a few years.

Thank you for the input!

Is a concrete slab an option? I live in Texas and I had a slab poured for my shop floor. I pre-installed conduit for circuits to the machines and I buried 5" ducts for the dust collector...wish I had used 6" given what I've learned on the Internet about duct sizing. I have not had a problem, but just wishing.:D

Thanks for the insight about duck work had not thought of that. I am currently leaning toward concrete for the MM area and wood flooring everywhere else as I like to walk on something with a little flex also I lay larger jigs on the floor for bigger projects. So 6" dust duct and a 2" electrical duct I think? Any thoughts?

Sounds about right
 

Mojo,

Your guess is about right, IMHO. But whatever you do, in some way it will not be enough, and to much at the same time.

You might want to run air either through a separate conduit or in the same as either. But water coming from it (condensation) you don't want to mix with water or even 'dry' wood chips would make me want a 3rd conduit if economically possible.

Personally I am a big believer in hardwired ethernet rather than wireless, especially in a shop (noisy) environment.

I think I am going to with a concrete slab where the machine will be placed and wood flooring everywhere else. Didn't think about preplumbing dust collectors and electrical conduit in the floor will have to look at that closely . Got any photos of what you did? Thanks for the input!

Here's a link to my Phil Thien separator experience. The last photo is of my in-shop Dust Collector closet.

I laid out the placement of the machines on the shop floor and created a "tree" design for the dust collector ducts. At each machine, I have a Greenbox automatic dust gate. These dust gates open automatically when I turn on the associated machine. I don't have a photo of this design.

In my build thread, there is one photo of one of the dust ports and associated dust gate at the lower right corner of the incomplete MechMate.

I think your idea of putting in 6" dust collector ducts and 2" conduit would be very good (I ran individual conduits to each machine and put boxes in the floor for receptacles). You might investigate the specific design of the duct system. A problem can develop if you oversize the ducts. If the air volume is not sufficient, dust particles will accumulate in the duct. So you should carefully design the duct system so that air flow is maintained. In my case the "tree branches" are 4" pipes.

Good luck with your shop and MechMate.

John, that was a beautiful Thien mod.

Shop
 

Thanks for the input that looks like a great system!

Shop done!
 

Finally shop is done 20x32 now for some organization and mechmate time begins!

What is a Thein
 

I looked up thein on the internet and could not find a suitable answer.
What is a thein?

Typo I believe

A "thien" is actually a person, Phil Thien. He's the creator of a very effective, inexpensive "baffle" that improves the operation of a dust collector. Follow the link in Post #34 (above) to visit his Website and see his invention in action.