|
Some stunning stuff, using help from paint masks #34 - Seattle, WA
12 Attachment(s)
Hello,
Gerald, thank you for your design, knowledge, and this website. I came across it in January while searching for a used Shopbot online, but building a MechMate seemed like a more worthwhile and rewarding pursuit. Over the past several months of research, planning, and reading this site, I've learned a lot more about fabrication and CNC than I ever thought I would. This weekend, I started the cutting, welding and drilling...and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Some information on my MechMate, it will be about 55" x 100" and will be a bolt together design -- I expect to (have to) move it into my basement someday. I based the base on KevinL's machine. I liked his idea for the welded subsections, and ibeams give a lot of room for bolts. So far, it seems very strong and stable. Enjoy the pics...I can't wait until next weekend to continue! John Base design, similar to Kevin's: Attachment 4299 Laser cut parts courtesy Joe McClain: Attachment 4300 Fresh cut steel: Attachment 4301 Notice my welder is MechMate Blue :) Attachment 4302 Welded side subsections and rusty ibeams (main beams): Attachment 4303 Just visualizing... Attachment 4304 Attachment 4305 Laying out and match drilling the bolt on flanges to the legs: Attachment 4306 Attachment 4307 Attachment 4308 Attachment 4309 Finished all 16 flanges this weekend. The 2x2 subsection will be welded to the flange...next weekend!: Attachment 4310 |
Welcome John, great start!
|
Now, that's what I call a good start! At this rate you should be done by Friday:)
By the way, I like your garage floor. Is it hard to clean? |
Good going there John....that is going to be a nice STRONG table.
|
Thank you for the encouragement, guys.
Wayne, the floor is really nice to work on, but is very hard to clean. Dust and wood chips get caught underneath and won't come out with vacuuming. Once the table is cutting, I will probably remove it and epoxy coat the floors. John |
Cool...I may have to come visit you. I'll be sure to bring my drool towel so as to not mess up that CLEAN workspace ya got goin'!
|
Weekend Update
7 Attachment(s)
This has become addictive, and I ended up working on the MechMate for a couple hours every night after work this past week, and pretty much morning to night this weekend. I'm a lucky guy...my girlfriend has been really supportive of this project and hasn't minded.:)
So after a week, I have the base built, and the y-car welded up. I really didn't expect it to go this fast, so I don't have the steel for the rails, v-rollers, or any of the control box components ordered yet...I guess that's next! Gerald: I hadn't tried putting together the y-car until today, and I'm utterly impressed and inspired by your design. It all fit together so well, and made welding so easy! It's obvious you designed this with the builder in mind...thank you! Welding up the flanges...my method of keeping everything square. Attachment 4370 Beams were too big for my saw, so this process process took quite a while. Attachment 4371 Starting to look familiar! Attachment 4372 Attachment 4373 Setting up and welding the Y-car. Attachment 4374 Attachment 4375 Finished Y-car. Some of my welds are very ugly, but luckily I'm better with a grinder than a welder! :D Attachment 4376 |
John,
Nice looking table. |
Great work John!:) Keep those pictures coming.:D
|
Looking good, no, looking great!
|
Nice table.
Question: why you decided to go to a custom table instead of the one in the MM blueprints? |
Thanks for all the compliments.
Pablo, I wanted a bolt-together design that could break down in sections for easy assembly, while not sacrificing rigidity. After getting ideas from other builds on the forum, and assembling/disassembling the machine in my mind over several months, this design made a lot of sense to me. |
Nicely Done John!
I will deffinatly have to come and visit your and your machine sometime this summer. Great solid start! I like the bolt together design very much! I have a better understanding of it based on your well taken pictures. Best of luck to you and your machine.
|
Weekend 3 Update
Didn't get as much done this weekend as I wanted. Picked up angles at the steel yard for the rails on Saturday morning, and spent the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out how to cut them down. :confused:
Finally setup and cut on on the bandsaw Sunday. It not easy pushing a 45lb, 11 foot piece of angle through a bandsaw! Each one took about half an hour of constant pressure, and I ended up snapping the blade with 4 inches left on the last one. I ended up having to use the grinder to finish it off. Though this is all I accomplished this week, I'm sure glad it's done! Guess what I'll be doing next weekend! Bandsaw setup with piece of square tube for fence: http://homepage.mac.com/john.bui/.Pi...C92D6E11DE.jpg Setup beam on a bench to catch the angle: http://homepage.mac.com/john.bui/.Pi...7C2D6E11DE.jpg Cutting...very long, boring, tiring...zzz... http://homepage.mac.com/john.bui/.Pi...D52D6E11DE.jpg Yay! http://homepage.mac.com/john.bui/.Pi...242D6E11DE.jpg Smoothing the cut edge: http://homepage.mac.com/john.bui/.Pi...AB2D6E11DE.jpg |
Hi neighbor
I live in Olympia and I'm a' fixin to start one of my own. I LOVE your table design, it seems to me that it is of huge benefit to be able to disassemble it for transport.
Well done. |
Thank you, lumberjack Jeff. And good luck with starting your build.
Looks like we may be able to start a MM gang in the PNW soon, as Chris and Travis are in the area too! |
2 Attachment(s)
I finally finished grinding the rails. The skate works great, and the result was better than what I was expecting from a hand grinder. I struggled a little on the first one, but the others went pretty easily...not sure if it's due to new grinding wheels I bought (more aggressive, extended performance Dewalt wheels) or if I managed to tweak the setup "just right" during the change.
I tacked the original guard to the skate...I'm pretty scared of these things!:( Attachment 4654 Still need to drill, but otherwise done! Attachment 4655 |
Nice idea on the guard!
Good view of all the grit, but from the strong shadows it looks like you did the job oustside. :) Bet you are glad you are over that hurdle! |
John,
Nice work!:) I really like the idea of tacking the guard on the back of the skate...danger lurks there. |
3 Attachment(s)
Thank you, Gerald and John. I did drag everything outside to do the grinding. That's part of the reason why it took so long, as it's been raining off and on during the past couple weeks. I heard on the news that we got snow in the mountains yesterday...in mid-May!
This week, I received my fasteners and most of my electronics, so I can start on the gantry, z-axis, and control box. I started buying hardware at Lowe's (hardware store) but this became really expensive and frustrating, since everything is packaged in odd quantities I didn't need, and their metric selection isn't very good and pricey. I ordered everything else from Fastenal for a fraction of the cost, and was able to buy by individual pieces. Here's what I found waiting for me when I got home: Attachment 4656 Started the z-axis this evening. Not much happening here, but I thought it was a nice picture :) Attachment 4657 I guess there's no turning back now. Just sizing up my box, and I'm hoping to start the kitchen table project during next few days! Attachment 4658 |
4 Attachment(s)
Hello all,
This weekend, I got a lot of drilling and tapping completed, and welded the gantry. Things are now rolling! It's memorial day holiday in the US, so I'll have an extra day of working on the table tomorrow... Attachment 4702 Attachment 4703 Attachment 4704 Attachment 4705 |
Nice!
(Hope you know that the y-car is wrong way around relative to ganty?) |
Thank you, Gerald. I just threw the y-car on to test how it rolls. (Then spent about an hour this evening just sliding things back and forth...it's sort of relaxing!)
|
I love your table! I need something that bolts together too. I love the use of the I beams. The only thing I have to question is,... your table is ok without adjustable feet? Or you havent got that far yet?
Hey can we get a shot of your garage from the outside? Please:) It looks huge! |
Charles, thanks for your compliments and sorry to miss your post...I haven't been on my own thread in a long time.
The table is fine without adjustable feet where it is right now, but I have shims in case things aren't level if I ever move it. My garage is a three car garage...fairly typical in my area. I think it looks bigger because I haven't cluttered it up too much yet! |
11 Attachment(s)
I haven't posted updates in a while. I've been tied up on other projects, and finally made a push during the last couple of weeks to do a lot of finish grinding, cleaning, sandblasting, and painting.
I've also have been finishing up a lot of the small details, and there are a whole lot of them. I'm still not completely done with the mechanicals yet -- need to finish the motor assemblies, z-drive, and other details -- But I'm finally seeing the end! Attachment 5448 Attachment 5449 Attachment 5450 Attachment 5451 Attachment 5452 Attachment 5453 Attachment 5454 Attachment 5455 Attachment 5456 Attachment 5457 Attachment 5458 |
Glorious!
|
Nice, I will be afraid to get it dirty....BUT we need dust..;)
Well done John...like the blue shoes |
Don't worry, Kobus...it will get dirty soon, I promise!
|
Fantasic looking build, I can only hope that I can achieve a similar build quality once I start my build, guess it gives me something to aspire too.
Great work, well done!! Cheers Tony. |
| All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:34. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.