Hello - Vanderbijlpark, S.Africa
 

Hi There,

Just wanted to say hi and introduce myself. I'm a programmer living in the Vaal Triangle in South Africa. I'm not very mechanical, but I did get bitten by the cnc bug when I discovered cnczone. I've built my first small cnc and while it's not pretty or perfect, it is fun. I'm still learning alot though. I'm planning on building a MM one day but for now I'll just read and learn. I find this forum amazing in terms of all the South Africans here. It's always been difficult to source parts in South Africa, but atleast now I know there are others who feel my pain. Anyways, just wanted to say hi :)

Cheers,
Tom

Welcome to the forum Tom.

hi Tom,
I'm considering a small mdf cnc project before taking on the MechMate (which i WILL do). who's plans were you using for your build?
Peter

Welcome Tom, I am sure you will enjoy yourself here and even though you have been bitten by the bug, membership here only makes the symptoms worse...:D

Hi Tom

Welcome, it won`t be long before you start ordering parts

Hi Tom,

Getting parts are really not THAT BAD. As a Telecomms / IT man myself, putting together a MM with all the help here is easy...go for it.:D

Thanks for the welcome everybody. Now I really want to start building a MM, but I'll need to rob a bank first .... ;)

I started with the rockcliff plans, but I then ran into some problems with getting some of the parts so I decided - screw this and I finished it the way I thought it should be. Doesn't cut perfect but not too bad either :

Photo

I'm also in the process of designing a little io board with an AVR to communicate to Mach3 via modbus. I want to use to bring out some of the functions for easier control of the cnc. Should work nicely

Rob a bank ? Not really...by doing it yourself, beg borrow steal...no that is bad....you can get a very professional machine for the amount you lay out.

Well, I'll start reading the plans tonight and see what I can figure out. The thing is I don't want to build a massive one since I'm already running out of space in my garage. But I was thinking 1.5m by 1m. Does that still sound extreme ? Also, I'm not sure what tools you guys use for building this machine. All I pretty much have is a normal stick welder ...

Tom,
A stick welder will do just fine. As far as size, that is not that big of an issue. If your going to build that small, I would recommend making your y-axis (the gantry) the longer of the two and to a standard width. Thus, if want to expand in the future, the only change would be the base table. The easier part to build larger!

Sean

That actually sounds like a very cool idea. I'm busy printing out all the plans. I'll probably post some more questions after reading them ... :confused:

Tom, full size plywood is 2.44m x 1.22m (sometimes 2.5m x 1.22)

Full size "Supawood" (MDF) is 2.75m x 1.83m

If you have a 1.4m gantry, it can span full width plywood, and half-length supawood. One day you can aim for a 2.75m long table, but a starter table at 1.22 meter lets you take half plywood sheets.

So, how about 1.22X and 1.40Y?

Tools...well a drill press helps with all the holes if you go for a 'bolted' table. Then a hand drill, some taps, steel cutoff machine and small angle grinder. Compressor to get the blue paint on and some /////lot's of HANDCLEANER.:D

Don`t forget a extra pair of hands to help with the main beams and a "mik en druk " for all the photo`s .

I am like that tough 'old' :rolleyes: American that manhandled the main beams by himself...inc by inch in America and millimeter by millimeter in South Africa..:)

OK, so I went through the plans and wow. The plans look very nicely done, but It's definitely going to take me a while to understand everything.

First off, some questions:

(1) It looks like I will need to have some parts lasercut. Does anybody recommend anybody in South Africa (preferably close to Vaal Triangle, Jo'Burg, Pretoria) who can cut those parts for me? If and when I do find a place do I just submit them the dxf files I found in the downloads?

(2) As for software I'm guessing the Mach3 setup that I'm using for my diy cnc will work perfectly ?

(3) What kind of routers do you guys use ? Or do you use decent high speed spindles ?

(4) More questions to come soon.

Tools List :
- Stick Welder - Check !
- Drill Press - uhm, I've got a mini desktop ryobi drill press - Check ?
- Hand Drill - Check
- Steel cutoff Machine - Check
- Small angle grinder - Check
- Taps - uhm, maybe a 5mm one, but this is easy enough to get
- Compressor - Would I have to spray it? Or can I paint it with brush ?
- Blue Paint - hmm, I was thinking of maybe making it green ;)

Bolted ? You mean you don't necessarily have to weld it together ?

Got my laser parts from Robert Miles at Metals Centre in JHB for a very good price...incl. bending. Robert should have the files that he used for my set. Just make sure about the steppers you intend using. I am having a new set cut right now to fit onto my straight steppers without gearboxes.

Painting...as you prefer. Maybe spraying looks a little better than a brush finish.

I opted for bolting it together....it's just TOO BIG to move otherwise for me.

Oh no Tom!. You are getting sucked in the same way as I did.:) I was going to start with a small one like you did, but .....I want the big one!:cool: Its only the bank manager that is still in the way.
While you are a little bit worried about the mechanical, I am getting brake marks in my underpants when I think of the electronics.
Luckly we are not alone. I hope. :confused: