New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

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edclayton1
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by edclayton1 »

My two cents are use 80/20 for the gantry and Velox for the Z axis. I used 80/20 3060 and my machine accel/decells just fine with the 620 oz. steppers from CandCNC. I'm sure my whole gantry assembly weight it at about 100 lb.'s but I am running on bearings that are inferior to your setup so I have more drag for the motors to overcome. But with the 3:1 ratio gearing I have its not an issue at all. I didn't do any engineering or math, I just looked at tons of youtube videos and websites and made my machine up out of my head. You might look at CNCrouters.com for some ideas. I bought several of my items from them and was very pleased. Also Sean Palmers table here on Plasmacam was a big inspiration when I started out.

Nice welders you picked up! It took me over a year to complete my machine to the point I can now use it. There are still tons of tweeks I plan on doing to make it better. I am blessed to have a Bridgeport mill and a metal lathe as well as TIG/Mig welders. They all participated in my build.

The tough part for me was at the end. I had some trouble comprehending some of the info in the CandCNC manuals, but with some help from Tom and Luke @ CandCNC and Tom Verity here on PlasmaSpider, I got through it eventually. Now I am able to cut some stuff but I am still weak in the CAD software for designing my own custom art work. Sheetcam and Mach 3 were easy enough to get through well enough to get going but Inkscape and my Turbocad LTE are my main challenges now. It's been really fun for me, but it takes a lot of thought and a ton of time bulding your own table. The table fabrication was the fast and easy part but you definatly scored on that frame and the linear bearings. Id love to have those on my machine. There were many a day and night I just wished I would have purchased a plasmacam or an Arclight table. But now that its done and it seems to be working well there is nothing more rewarding than doing it for yourself. It was my biggest mechanical undertaking in my life and I'm 54 years old.
If I can do it as a aircraft mechanic you can certainly do it as an engineer. All it takes is time, money and persistence, and a little help from others who have been there before. For all of them I am very thankful.
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by Brand X »

I bought my table about 11-12 years ago.. Just getting around to fixing it correctly. Les got me moving back then, and Tom kept it moving all these years. The 30/30 gantry, complete with torch will be around 90 pounds. I had one motor (620 oz) with a drive shaft running though the gantry.. I was always lucky the Esab, and Thermal dynamics has 20-30 amp nozzles for running slow on sheet metal. That was huge to running a under powered machine, and getting good results. Nice to have a full array of Nozzle amp sizes.(IMO) I am a fan of 80-20 in it's versatility. Main reason was getting it down my basement. That was not going to happen with a welded table.. I also can change back, and forth between a dry, and wet table. Meaning massive clearance is available between the torch, and the floor with a downdraft setup.. I can add risers, and put a flush top air bladder tray at anytime I want.. All it takes to change the table is to loosen the three 15 series bars in the ends,middle, and you have it ready for any size tray you want.. He is my thread over here.. I have not needed a mill of lathe to change out anything. Just my drill press and careful marking has made the change easy..That and my metal muncher.. It all locates off of the carriages. and 80/20 factory holes.. That was the really cool part..Had to sell my Mill, and lathe in my last move, so out of luck there anyway.. Borrowed a mini mill but I have not has to use it..

The Y axis ran on wheels following the slots in the 80/20. Top gear rack that the gantry floated on. It was good for crashing, but not much else.. I trued a good drive shaft, and it helped for smoothness. Just not enough. The X had decent rails, and will work perfect with the pro gear rack, and other CNC Router parts.. ordered the last of the gear racks from them today. They will be here tomorrow. Just excellent to deal with. Only need $140 more in Parts.. X motor pulley (Using a Y style on it) Then this thing is upgraded, and done in the important areas. I am happy I bought it now.. Things have moved enough for a easy out of the box fix..

He is my retro thread over here.. Just fixed my z last night.. Tom has told me more then once to sell my table. Glad I did not listen, and waited for a real cure for it. $1400-1500 table fix, and it should be perfect for my needs.. It still have 61"+ X and 122"+ cutting size after the upgrade.
4 inch wide z helps that.. Love the Velox stuff but my poor mans version has some nice things going for it too. (It was there, and will bevel too..

http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?55 ... le-rebuild


I never wanted a plasma cam, but I did want this thing fixed right. :lol:
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by Simko »

Brand X wrote:Sean,
I said this before, but you got a great looking table there.. Simple/clean, and a well thought out design. Good parts too..
I agree... If I didn't score my table with the linear rails already attached, I would definitely put the linear bearing and the gear rack in the same orientation at Sean's table. It makes for much simpler gantry riser plates.
edclayton1 wrote:My two cents are use 80/20 for the gantry and Velox for the Z axis. I used 80/20 3060 and my machine accel/decells just fine with the 620 oz. steppers from CandCNC. I'm sure my whole gantry assembly weight it at about 100 lb.'s but I am running on bearings that are inferior to your setup so I have more drag for the motors to overcome. But with the 3:1 ratio gearing I have its not an issue at all.


I bought a piece of 80/20 - 8016 which is the metric equivalent of 3060 and it seemed really big so I bought a chunk of 80/20 - 8080 (similar to 3030). My original plan was to sell the 8016 on EBAY, but I may hold onto it and see how the build goes. It would be nice to have the bigger gantry when I decide to put a router on it. :twisted: I am planning on using 980 oz-in steppers for the table motion and a 620 oz-in stepper for the z-axis.
edclayton1 wrote:Nice welders you picked up! It took me over a year to complete my machine to the point I can now use it. There are still tons of tweeks I plan on doing to make it better. I am blessed to have a Bridgeport mill and a metal lathe as well as TIG/Mig welders. They all participated in my build.


Thanks... I got pretty lucky with the two welders I picked up (Hobart BetaMIG 251 and Lincoln TIG 300/300). I got them for $150 each. They both needed some work, but a little bit of labor and a few small parts was definitely worth it for these old machines. I have been scouring EBAY and Craigslist for a Bridgeport to add to the collection.
edclayton1 wrote:The tough part for me was at the end. I had some trouble comprehending some of the info in the CandCNC manuals, but with some help from Tom and Luke @ CandCNC and Tom Verity here on PlasmaSpider, I got through it eventually.


The mechanical part is my weakness, once I get past getting the table built the electrical wiring and control tweaking should be fairly easy for me. I have also been using AutoCAD professionally for 20 years and cutting vinyl on the side for about 14 years.
Brand X wrote:I bought my table about 11-12 years ago.. Just getting around to fixing it correctly. Les got me moving back then, and Tom kept it moving all these years. The 30/30 gantry, complete with torch will be around 90 pounds.

...The X had decent rails, and will work perfect with the pro gear rack, and other CNC Router parts.. ordered the last of the gear racks from them today. They will be here tomorrow. Just excellent to deal with.
I only have a few more pieces to make and my Y and A axis and gantry will be complete and I can start on my X and Z-axis. The plan is to make it a similar arrangement to SeanP's, but with 80/20, linear rail, and CNCRouterParts belt reduction and gear rack.

Thanks everyone for the responses it's great to get input from others who have already been down this road! 8-)
Steve

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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by Brand X »

This is interesting rail profile.. Looks like it would be great stuff..

http://www.lm76.com/EL300%20News%20Letter4.0.pdf
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edclayton1
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by edclayton1 »

Simko wrote:
Brand X wrote:Sean,
I said this before, but you got a great looking table there.. Simple/clean, and a well thought out design. Good parts too..
I agree... If I didn't score my table with the linear rails already attached, I would definitely put the linear bearing and the gear rack in the same orientation at Sean's table. It makes for much simpler gantry riser plates.
edclayton1 wrote:My two cents are use 80/20 for the gantry and Velox for the Z axis. I used 80/20 3060 and my machine accel/decells just fine with the 620 oz. steppers from CandCNC. I'm sure my whole gantry assembly weight it at about 100 lb.'s but I am running on bearings that are inferior to your setup so I have more drag for the motors to overcome. But with the 3:1 ratio gearing I have its not an issue at all.


I bought a piece of 80/20 - 8016 which is the metric equivalent of 3060 and it seemed really big so I bought a chunk of 80/20 - 8080 (similar to 3030). My original plan was to sell the 8016 on EBAY, but I may hold onto it and see how the build goes. It would be nice to have the bigger gantry when I decide to put a router on it. :twisted: I am planning on using 980 oz-in steppers for the table motion and a 620 oz-in stepper for the z-axis.
edclayton1 wrote:Nice welders you picked up! It took me over a year to complete my machine to the point I can now use it. There are still tons of tweeks I plan on doing to make it better. I am blessed to have a Bridgeport mill and a metal lathe as well as TIG/Mig welders. They all participated in my build.


Thanks... I got pretty lucky with the two welders I picked up (Hobart BetaMIG 251 and Lincoln TIG 300/300). I got them for $150 each. They both needed some work, but a little bit of labor and a few small parts was definitely worth it for these old machines. I have been scouring EBAY and Craigslist for a Bridgeport to add to the collection.
edclayton1 wrote:The tough part for me was at the end. I had some trouble comprehending some of the info in the CandCNC manuals, but with some help from Tom and Luke @ CandCNC and Tom Verity here on PlasmaSpider, I got through it eventually.


The mechanical part is my weakness, once I get past getting the table built the electrical wiring and control tweaking should be fairly easy for me. I have also been using AutoCAD professionally for 20 years and cutting vinyl on the side for about 14 years.
Brand X wrote:I bought my table about 11-12 years ago.. Just getting around to fixing it correctly. Les got me moving back then, and Tom kept it moving all these years. The 30/30 gantry, complete with torch will be around 90 pounds.

...The X had decent rails, and will work perfect with the pro gear rack, and other CNC Router parts.. ordered the last of the gear racks from them today. They will be here tomorrow. Just excellent to deal with.
I only have a few more pieces to make and my Y and A axis and gantry will be complete and I can start on my X and Z-axis. The plan is to make it a similar arrangement to SeanP's, but with 80/20, linear rail, and CNCRouterParts belt reduction and gear rack.

Thanks everyone for the responses it's great to get input from others who have already been down this road! 8-)
I highly recommend the pro gear rack from cncrouters.com and in my case I bought there pro-series gear reduction units. I was going to build my own but I couldn't really compete. Most guys opt to run their standard reduction drives but I decided to pony up the extra few bucks. Overall I think I am glad I did although adjusting the spring tension was a little more tricky than I anticipated. But I got through it and now it seems to work good.
The reason I went with the big 80/20 was I was thinking similarly to you. I might want this bad boy to be able to handle a router someday. That will require a stiffer gantry than a plasma torch and after looking at all the models that CNCRouterparts.com sell that do have the big 80/20 extrusions and seeing that they seem to be running them with smaller 380 oz. steppers I figured I'd be ok with that much weight and the dual 620 oz. drives I'd be buying from CandCNC on my "y" axis. When I shared my concern with Luke at CandCNC about my projected gantry weight (approx. 100ish Lb.'s) he said he thought I'd be ok with the system they offer for the 100 lb. gantry system they sell. And I am happy to report he was right. I would have loved to have the servo system but I didn't want to pay that much extra for it after talking to Tom and others here who assured me the steppers have been installed quite successfully on thousands of machines over the years with little complaints. So I heeded their advise and I think I'm glad I did.
Maybe if this thing generates some cash for me eventually I can upgrade the linear rails and the motors and controller at some point. One nice thing about the 3:1 pro rack and pinion drives I bought from CNCRouterparts.com is they are built to accommodate either Nema 23 or Nema 34 motors. I like that concept a lot. Also even though their trolley trucks are a much cheaper design than the linear rails they do seem to work very well for what they are, and I didn't even go with their highest end system. I'm just mentioning all this blah blah blah blah stuff here because I hope it may make it a little easier for you with your build and may save you a little bit of effort or steer you to look at a few things from another perspective. The technical data pertaining to the drives on the CNCRouterparts website was useful in tuning and calibrating my axis and the info on the Velox from their website became useful as well. The example for the math in the DHTCIV manual used a different thread pitch so I dad to use the correct numbers for my lead screw pitch. Considering Tom likes to recommend the Velox you would think he would have used their thread pitch in his examples in the manual but instead he chose a 5 TPI example, go figure! (I'm not as smart on math and science as you are as a electrical engineer.)
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by Brand X »

Almost done.. cncrouterparts has been great to deal with.. Just about everything I ordered was here in a day or two.. If I order in the morning,it been at my door the next day.. Ordered 4 times,just because I was not sure which way i was going, until the parts showed up.. Last piece will be here today or tomorrow. Motor mount for the X.. Just used the pro parts throughout.. The Gantry is very solid now.. Just need to to drill a few more hole to hold the gantry sq.. Has two hold down fasteners in the 80/20, and one through the angle to the carriage. Adding two more bolts per side..I needed it solid so I could remove the Gantry, and drill through the factory carriage holes.. I think there are advantages to just about every way you build something. Some things you think suck hind tit, can come back and becomes a huge advantage..

My table can be converted to a 5X5-6 with parking , it only will take about $250 more depending on how I do it.. The 80/20 is sweet for making changes. I have had about every decent welding machine made, and many ways to cut steel..but I just as soon bolt the stuff together.. :lol:

I will just add a few of these for the conversion to a 5X5.. It will hold the parking area up, and work extremely well doing so..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/330942065392?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT
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y rails done2,.jpg
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by Brand X »

Got my table together.. The pro mount worked great for the X. Only have to feed the wire though the Gantry then done completely .. I Just tested it with the temp wire Job.Cuts accurate. Always did, but zero slop now.. I have no issues with the spring setup. Had to make a mount, and was able to use all my old X stuff..

Cncrouterparts, has been great to deal with.. Made for a nice easy conversion. I still ended up with 60.5" of X after the change out.About 122-123 Z travel. Still 6 Inches of Z travel with almost 12 inches of clearance to the top of the slats.. Take the slats out, and almost 3 ft of clearance. Handy sometimes..
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x done3.jpg
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by Brand X »

Last post about my CNCrouter upgrade.. Runs smooth.. Cleaned up the wiring a bit, and did a test cut on some .190 MS. The Cutmaster can work excellent if you understand that thing.. ( not the easiest setup to make work correctly) Just not in the book as far as setup.. This one was totally off the wall, but awesome anyway.. :mrgreen:
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table wiring 3.jpg
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by SeanP »

Looks great!
I like your pivot points for the motor mounts, did you make those?
Can't just see,,,is there some adjustment in there?
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by Simko »

BrandX.. The rebuild looks sweet!

I can't wait until mine is looking more complete. Just a few more pieces and I'll be posting pictures of my completed gantry without a z-axis. 8-)
Steve

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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by Brand X »

SeanP wrote:Looks great!
I like your pivot points for the motor mounts, did you make those?
Can't just see,,,is there some adjustment in there?


It's just the CNCrouter parts pro model mounts. Yes it pivots. Take the spring off or loose, and the drive falls away from the rack. The X mount was just one of the pro mounts that I hooked up to my modified carriage. I still get about 60.7 X travel with the gear over to one side. I wanted a way to fix my table, and not have to start over.. I would of used the pro mount guide Y rails instead of the top mount cold roll, but I would of had to start over on the 80/20 30-30 top rails.. It's not the very best, but for standard plasma, and light scribing/routering. It is really a pretty good system now.. (about $1500 for the complete upgrade) Extra gecko, y motor, Z fix included.) With the standard 3100 Cancnc windows Xp computer, I have a decent table now.. Guess I should upgrade the hub software at some point.. :mrgreen:


My table originally had one Y motor with a drive shaft.. The gantry floated on the top gear rack.The guide wheels also just ran in the 80/20 slots. So my upgrade really was needed bad.Tom's old 650 control box from 2006/07 was up-gradable to their 4 motor setup, by only adding a 203V driver/slave Y motor, wire, and plug for the box.. It also allowed for the 3100 THC setup to be installed.. Pretty nice to have some backward compatibility built into the system..
Last edited by Brand X on Wed Nov 25, 2015 11:47 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by Brand X »

Simko wrote:BrandX.. The rebuild looks sweet!

I can't wait until mine is looking more complete. Just a few more pieces and I'll be posting pictures of my completed gantry without a z-axis. 8-)
You are going to have one heck of a table also.. Looks like with enough Z clearance it will handle driving a truck on it.. :D Should run super smooth too. If you want to run servo's down the road, it will handle anything there..
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by Simko »

Brand X wrote:
SeanP wrote:Looks great!
I like your pivot points for the motor mounts, did you make those?
Can't just see,,,is there some adjustment in there?


It's just the CNCrouter parts pro model mounts. Yes it pivots. Take the spring off or loose, and the drive falls away from the rack. The X mount was just one of the pro mounts that I hooked up to my modified carriage.
Maybe you can answer what the point is of the eccentric collars on the PRO R&P. If the spring keeps tension pushing the pinion into the rack, what does the eccentric do?

This is what the CRP website says... "Dual bearing pivot with eccentric locking collar for low backlash and easy adjustment of rack engagement in non-standard setups."

:?: :?:
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by Brand X »

I would guess it would take the Backlash out of the bolt to inside bushing clearance..Also maybe the end play of the mount. Seems like it's only real mission to me.. Just spin to the right, and tighten the whole thing up.. The maybe .250 max movement would be of little value in anything I needed..
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by tcaudle »

Considering Tom likes to recommend the Velox you would think he would have used their thread pitch in his examples in the manual but instead he chose a 5 TPI example, go figure! (I'm not as smart on math and science as you are as a electrical engineer.)
Well......the Velox Z comes with several options. One is the Z thread pitch . Its a 10 TPI 2 start (aka 5 TPI) and a 5 TPI is what we recommend (thus the example). :geek: Why 5 tpi and not 10 ? because to hit 100 to 120 IPM on the Z with a stepper you have to spin the motor up to about 600 RPM. Much higher in RPM and it runs out of torque (aka motor stall) . With a 10 your top speed is only 50 to 60 before you run out of torque. With a DTHC that can easily handle vertical speeds of over 200 IPM you can cut the thicker flatter stuff at the lower speeds but the really thin stuff or corrugated forces the Z to have to track at much higher speed. 120 IPM will get you a 35% grade (angle) running XY at 220 IPM. 60 keeps tha down to 15% , etc

So there you have it: 5 TPI is best because courser than about 4 TPI starts to cause stability problems with THC . Finer than about 7 causes response (speed) problems.
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by SeanP »

Brand X wrote:
SeanP wrote:Looks great!
I like your pivot points for the motor mounts, did you make those?
Can't just see,,,is there some adjustment in there?


It's just the CNCrouter parts pro model mounts.
Thanks I see them now,,just looking on there website, neat!
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by Brand X »

SeanP wrote:
Brand X wrote:
SeanP wrote:Looks great!
I like your pivot points for the motor mounts, did you make those?
Can't just see,,,is there some adjustment in there?


It's just the CNCrouter parts pro model mounts.
Thanks I see them now,,just looking on there website, neat!
I wanted to post some 10 ga from my test cut today.. I did a little fine tuning on the THC the other day, and also a smoother table. I know most people fight bevel in the thinner metals, and generally Thermal dynamics is about the worst of them.. I am getting great cuts on thinner stuff. now.. Old design torch, and all.. I am super happy with the cut quality, and consumable life..
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by SeanP »

Wow very impressive for that thickness! what speed was that cut at?
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by Brand X »

SeanP wrote:Wow very impressive for that thickness! what speed was that cut at?

Thermal 9-8205- 20 amp exposed drag tip.. 20 ipm on the .190 and 30 on the .135 The tip life if really good too.. Mostly from from the .180 pierce, and .1500 cut height used.. Thermal's cut slower, but with some thought, cuts can be quite good..

No settings in the books, for many of the quality cuts using the antique Thermal one torch.. Got to love a underdog.. :lol:
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by Simko »

I had a chance to work on the table his weekend. The last few weeks have been busy with family stuff and Christmas is coming so I had to get done what I could while I had some free time.

I have the gear rack all installed and did a final alignment and tightening. The side plates are installed along with the belt reduction units and the pinions are perfectly engaged with the gear rack.

I cut the crossmember for the gantry and installed the linear bearing for the x-axis. I cut the gear rack, but I need to buy some hardware to attach it.

The entie gantry moves smoothly and is very rigid. It seems like it will make a great dual purpose gantry. I just hope that I can get the acceleration that I need to cut thin metal with finecut consumables. My estimate right now for the completed gantry after I get everything on it is about 150 pounds.

The next step is to buy a Velox z-axis and design a plate/bracket to mount it along with the belt reduction unit to the linear bearings. I have approval from the bank (wife... LOL) to buy the motors and controls package in January after the holiday. 8-)
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by Brand X »

Turning out real nice, I like how you thought it out, after getting the table that might not of been ideal at the start. Many good ways to go, and you will understand your table very well..I see it doing a good job as a router too. I can get away with a bit on mine now too,but doing a air scribe first.. Might have to make a few changes or additions, but the hardware will be in place..
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Simko
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by Simko »

It's been a long time since I posted an update, mostly because it was too cold to be working long hours out in the bunker, but now that it's warming up it's time to get back to work!

I made the z-axis mounting plate. It has quite a few holes and it is pretty cramped once everything is bolted up, but it works great.
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The mount for the belt reduction was a little tricky making sure that the pinion gear was the exact right height to engage with the rack.
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I mounted the Velox z-axis using eight 10-32 bolts.
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Energy chain cable carrier is on order from EBay and my CandCNC Plazpak should be in transit as I type this. 8-) I shouldn't be too much longer before I am drawing with a sharpie on some cardboard and then the next step is to make some sparks!
Steve

Homebrewed plasma table in the works, NSK linear rails, 3.2:1 belt reduction, CandCNC Plazpak 1A with DTHCIV Ethercut, Hypertherm 85, CommandCNC and SheetCAM
Click here for build post
Brand X
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by Brand X »

I was thinking once you have the tension set correctly you could remove the spring , and put a solid bushing in there. on the Y axis only.. (X is fine because it does not weigh much) Reason.. Fast rapids can cause a heavy gantry to slip on the gear racks, unless you really crank them down. I am in no real hurry, and keep things moderate in my settings. Although I have high acceleration settings.. 300 ipm you will be fine,but push it too far above that, and excessive spring tension is needed .. Most the time I run less then 300 ipm, because of what I cut. so I set it lower.. Anyway, if you want very fast rapids think about that option.. The pro racks allow you to do a bit of fine tuning there..

That style gear rack is sweet, because you can get full engagement of the drive gear teeth.. Gear rack is raised off the 80-20. Plus its machined on the ends for perfect extensions. Both ends of the rack. Nice to use one piece of scrap on the other side of the table to complete a run.. For 80/20 users, this stuff is great to use... CNC Router parts does a fantastic Job of getting the parts sent out.. I am fairly close. Central Oregon.,so part of the fast shipping.. I can also see more table makers using this stuff lately, Arclight has for a long time.. Now Precision is using the cheaper stuff on their complete tables.. The way the bearings grab my cold roll. It will handle routeing very easy... No slop in this setup. Just simple.. that's all..

Nice job on your table. You have done a real nice upgrade to the solid table you had.. I like it a lot!
Simko
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by Simko »

Thanks Brand X! This has been a fun project, I'm really looking forward to seeing this thing move under its own power.

Using the CNC Router Parts bits and pieces along with my own machining here and there made this project possible for me. If it wasn't for those pieces, I probably would have bought a Precision Plasma gantry (besides for the fact that they won't make one a custom width).

I like the idea of a solid spacer, my gear racks were all indicated to within a few thousandths and should work fine with a solid pinion. But I think I'll try it the way it is first, I went through the trouble of putting all of my pivots right on the pitch line of the gear rack which is supposed to help with the pinion wanting to climb out of the rack. I guess I'll find out soon!

There is a calculation I found on the Precision Plasma website that allows you to calculate the amount of force that the pinion is exerting pushing away from the rack (i.e. spring force required to keep the pinion in the rack) http://www.chacich.com/info/hdg/prints/ ... enough.pdf
Steve

Homebrewed plasma table in the works, NSK linear rails, 3.2:1 belt reduction, CandCNC Plazpak 1A with DTHCIV Ethercut, Hypertherm 85, CommandCNC and SheetCAM
Click here for build post
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SeanP
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Re: New member, sweet find at the auction, and a massive gantry

Post by SeanP »

You're making a fine job there, I tried to keep the gear rack in line with the pinion best I could as well, yours looks perfect, not had any bother at all with mine trying to jump out, I don't have much pressure set on the spring, no calculations with mine though,,,just guessed the spring size :)
Less chance of any back lash being sprung I would have thought.

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