Here are some pics of the new BEAST! I should have it finished in the next couple of days. This machine should be able to process the things that my MKI and MKII cannot process effectively.

Attached files

 

mike, very nice man!! the old monk is jealous with envy!! very sweet looking...randy.

 

I'm a little over budget 'cause I just had to get 8020 for the stand, but I'm at about $2800 total including $100 for the Rockler rails (for materials hold down) that I haven't received yet.

Only thing I have yet to purchase are the bits for the various types of cuts.

 

LOL, Gefahren, what you don't see are the mounds of crap I so carefully avoided when I snapped those pics! The router is a 2.25 HP Hitachi, and I do, in fact, have plans to add a vacuum table in the future. But for now, it's just gonna be the Rockler clamping system.

Dorsal, I elected to not use casters on this machine. Due to the weight that will be in motion, even if I were able to lock all four casters down, I think there would still be a LOT of movement during operation (GOBS of inertia!). Instead, I just opted to use the 5/16-18 leveling feet from 8020 Garage Sale (MUCH cheaper than casters, too!).

Okay, I'm back on track today. I had to take the machine down again to replace a bearing that I broke on one of the X linear carriages. Fortunately, the linear motion carriages that were designed by Ahren (fom CNCRouterParts.com) use a standard sized, easily obtainable bearing. These bearings are simply Skate bearings (608 size). Rather than ordering replacements from VXB, I opted to get a package of 16 from my local sporting goods store. I resisted the urge to step up to ABEC 9 bearings and just bought ABEC 7's.

Wanna hear something cool? To replace the failed bearing I had to remove the Y, Z, and X assemblies - basically remove everything but the frame! The cool part? It only took about 1:15 to break everything down, replace the bearing, and reassemble everything again! There is only ONE order to follow when doing this and if you know that order, everything moves very fast. LOL

Hopefully, tonight I'll get to get back out to the shop and start building the wiring harness...

 

I finally got the remainder of stuff done with this machine and have it dialed in. The video below shows my first official (and accurate) maiden cut.

All that's left to do now is wire in an E-Stop, add 6 limit switches, and install the rails into the spoiler board so I can secure my parts.Oh, yeah, I failed to include the part where I have to hole up in a quiet room somewhere and bury myself in CamBam to get it all figured out so I can start cranking out my own gCodes.

 

mike, nice work man....i can see the projects poppin out of the maching. looks and sounds smooth...randy.

 

Mike that looks AWESOME brother!! Really smooth, Nice job and thanks for sharing your maiden cut with us Have fun with it
Mark

 

Travis, where did you score Aspire?? That app is sooooo expensive! LOL

I feel that the PhlatScript offers the perfect solution for 2D cutting on ANY CNC machine (it's just that dog-gone powerful and easy to use), but I will be looking for something else for 3D stuff. I need to research everything, but I am thinking that Cut3D or VCarve Pro from Vectric is what I'll end up using eventually. Aspire is only a dream right now for me.

Finding something to use right now that keeps my budget in check is not easy. Lots of CAMs out there but I'm not finding anything that has less than a STEEP learning curve. It looks like the Vectric stuff is all super easy to use, but all of their stuff is way out of my price range right now...

 

I found a neat write up on a new kind of Dust Shoe on overhead gantry machines. It's called the Tunnel Shoe.

What makes it different from other types of dust collection shoes? Typical Dust Shoes are merely a "plate" (with a curtain of plastic, rubber, or bristles) that mounts to the router and facilitates a vacuum hose attachment. Set-ups like this create a large vacuum cavity where pretty much anything inside that cavity can be sucked up by the vacuum. The problem with these things is that much of the negative vacuum pressure is lost through the "curtain" of plastic (or whatever).

The Tunnel Shoe design focuses all of the vacuum's negative pressure right at the router bit, instead of throughout the entire shoe. The result is less debris on your work and cutting table and more in the vacuum canister!

Attached are a few pictures of the parts that I have cut today for my Tunnel Shoe. You'll notice that all of the pieces are cut from MDF (1/4" and 3/4"). I can tell without a doubt that the "clamp ring" that I've made from 3/4" MDF will need to be changed out to a stronger medium (HDPE or aluminum).

Incidentally, the gCodes that made these parts came from CamBam, so alas, I'm making progress! Attached files

 

mike, looks excellent!! nice work man...peace, randy.

 

Wow Mike you are really getting the hang of cambam, that looks great!
Nice and clean lines. I love the idea too I think it will work great.
Your machine is going to look great with that attachment, are you going to paint it?
Mark

 

Yes, CamBam really is a neat tool. Now that I'm starting to get the general idea on how it works, I'm anxious to start playing with some of the other features, like 3D relief carvings from image files. Heck, I've been able to work up the code for a relief of my podcast logo! I just need to throw up a piece of wood and try it out!

The only problem I have with CamBam is that I haven't been able to get a clean DXF file out of SketchUp Pro and into CamBam. It seems that the DXF files that SketchUp creates are somewhat nonstandard. Nonetheless, I have found a SketchUp plug-in that allows you to export a native CamBam file from SketchUp. I'll be trying this tomorrow and seeing how it works. If it doesn't, then I will be on the lookout for a new CAD program that's as easy to use as SketchUp, but allows the user to save out a standard DXF file. The plugin for SketchUp that allows the export of CamBam format files is:

http://www.cerebralmeltdown.com/cncstuf ... efault.htm

Oh, and since the Dust Shoe is such a small piece (unlike the MKII), and is just screaming for a hammertone or gunmetal finish, I probably will be painting it.

 

I played with the plug-in last night and this morning and am happy to report that it does a great job in getting your SketchUp work into Cambam. All of the files I worked up and tried all went off without a hitch, so it's full steam ahead!

Jeff, I still need to get some pieces rounded up to try out the shoe, but I am expecting that it will work nicely.

Your carvings look really good! I am anxious to try out some of that stuff, too! What kind of bit are you using to process those? I purchased a 1/4" ball nose as a starting point.

 

After much thought and research, I finally have my Dust Collection system in place. I haven't tried it out yet to determine it's effectiveness, but I really think it's gonna be just fine. Preliminary tests (where I turn the system on and check the "pull" in the pick-up zone) have been successful. I will get to thoroughly test the system this weekend when I cut a custom audio cabinet from MDF for a friend of mine.

If you missed my last podcast (SPADs, Rants, And A Challenge), I'll give you the dope on my system. I have the Harbor Freight 2HP, 1550 CFM Dust Collection system (reg $249.99 - I got it for $152.00!). I also sprung for the $49.99 accessory kit that included 20 ft of the 4" hose, 2 waste-gates, and an assortment of pickup attachments (one of which was butchered to allow me to make the mount for the hose on my shoe).

I am including some pics... Attached files

 

mike your rig looks awesome !!!!! man oh man...great work mike, ya lookin real good. wish i had something that nice to operate...i supose i will just die a old ghetto monkey... randy.

 

Thanks, Randy! Your compliments mean alot to me, since I know that you are a professional machinist and have worked extensively on the "real" equipment.

I am really thinking that I may not wait til the weekend to do a full production trial with it. I have some scrap 3/4" MDF and I could really use some more fixtures.