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-   -   Now VFD Chillin !! #125 - Mt Clemens, MI (http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4810)

Robert M Fri 09 October 2015 05:02

Happy for you....now the fun starts !
Congrats ;)

MetalHead Fri 09 October 2015 05:29

Chuck - Looks like you get #125 !! Congrats on your build !!

jhiggins7 Fri 09 October 2015 06:16

Builder's Log Update
 
Chuck,

Congratulations on completing your MechMate and earning serial #125. It's a great feeling isn't it?

Here is the Updated Builder' Log with your entry added.

Your table dimensions appear to accommodate a full sheet of MDF. That would make them 97" x 49". Is that correct? Or if not, please let me know what the actual cutting dimensions are.

ChuckS Fri 09 October 2015 13:37

Yay! I'm number 125! Thanks!

I'm pretty excited about having it working. UPS just dropped off my cable carriers & more bits & pieces from McMaster.

Working area 104 x 54". That's enough for a 4x8' plywood jig and some clamping area all around that I can still access with the cutter for whatever reason.

I'm still trying to think through my clamping options. My MM's new home has very limited power, so the vacuum table will have to wait. I have holes & Tee nuts in the bottom of my table every 10", thinking I can use nylon screws to hold down my primary jig which is built from a pc of 4x8x 3/4 ply. I'm thinking I'll put some 8020 T-slot around the cutting area, maybe with 1" of clearance so I can surface the table without worrying about the track.

I'll be moving the physical stop on my Z axis so any cutter I'm likely to use can't reach down to my T-nuts in the table.

Last night I was playing with Ger's 2010 Screenset. It looks like it will take care of lots of work flow questions.

Overall, I'm within about $500 of my budget (excluding hiring a friend who is a FAR BETTER and faster metal worker than me).

I've mentioned this before- I'm SUPER impressed with the detail and accuracy of the plans, and the information available here on the forum. When I started this, I knew a little about metal working, electronics wiring, logic controls/software, etc, but certainly not enough to build a machine. I've spent many hours trying to be able to define the problems or questions I had. I pretty much always found the answer once I knew what I was trying to ask. Thanks!

IMMark Fri 09 October 2015 18:21

Congrats on #125, enjoy!
Mark

lonestaral Fri 09 October 2015 19:24

Well done #125, have fun.

Andrew_standen Sat 10 October 2015 14:28

Congratulations. .

Tom Ayres Sun 11 October 2015 20:34

Welcome to the After Life, congrats Chuck!

smreish Thu 15 October 2015 18:43

Chuck,
Congratulations and thank you for the kudo's to the community and Gerald's design.
It's nice to see so many machines online and cutting in this forum!
Sean

pblackburn Mon 19 October 2015 06:12

Congratulations to #125

racedirector Mon 19 October 2015 07:19

Well done on #125, welcome to the club! Now get cutting and enjoying your new beast :)

darren salyer Fri 23 October 2015 20:53

Congrats to #125 from #101.
Well done, sir.

ChuckS Thu 29 October 2015 12:55

I had some fun yesterday. First I cut a test piece- 1/2 of a kayak paddle at 20% size. Everything went perfectly.

Next I tested the safety systems of the MM. It was not an intentional test. I started to cut a full size paddle. About 1 second into the cut the gantry lifted and everything came to a nice ESTOP. Apparently I messed up my tool path somewhere. My lead in ramp was in the wrong place, my depth of cut was WAAAY too deep, and my cut speed WAAAY too fast for cutting that deeply. I'll have to see exactly what went wrong. I suspect I just loaded the wrong file. No harm, no foul. It's best not to play with giant power tools when I'm running on very little sleep.

I did the only reasonable thing- I declared victory, and a beer, and tried to get some sleep.

Tom Ayres Thu 29 October 2015 15:03

Good Attitude!;)

ChuckS Sun 08 November 2015 19:21

SUCCESS


This afternoon I was able to put in some quality time with the MM. I'm going to like this beast. I've just started to play with the potential feeds & speeds.

The first complete kayak paddle cut in about the same time as I was able to get on a ShopBot Alpha with a (4hp?) Columbo spindle. By my third paddle, I'm cutting in about 40% of the time of the ShopBot. Compared to the SB, I can take cuts about twice as deep with the MM, at about the same ips, without the chatter.

My Bosch 1617evs router is performing MUCH better than I hoped. I may still upgrade to a spindle in hopes of quieting things, but so far the router is working great.

Robert M Mon 09 November 2015 04:39

Great to read all is better then expected ! ;)

pblackburn Thu 03 December 2015 13:43

How are things progressing with the time you have spent with the Mate now?

ChuckS Thu 10 December 2015 17:24

I'm learning bunches.

So far, all problems have been user errors. It's a steep learning curve ;-) I've not bothered with fine tuning/set up yet. My parts are well within the tolerance I need, so until I'm bored, we are definitely good enough. I have a few people who want more precision work, so get there sometime.

My Bosch 1617 router is performing admirably, but I have to keep the RPM's too high or I stall it. I'll likely order a Chinese 2.2kw spindle soon. I even have access to an unused 220v 30 amp breaker.

My most recent additions have been 2 remote E-Stop systems. One is just a simple remote with a key fob control. The other is built on an Arduino board & WiFi shield so I can E-stop via the web. The eventual plan is to have a webcam monitoring the machine. All of this is separate from my control computer.

The next addition will be a laser crosshair, so I can get a quick confirmation that I'm using the correct offset. Maybe it will prevent me from chewing through my jig next time...:D Maybe

ChuckS Sat 23 January 2016 15:34

I just finished installing a HY 2.2kw spindle & VFD. If anybody is looking, the instructions are here. And here for the VFD settings. Confirm & understand all the settings before you do anything. It looks like not all the settings from the link are needed (or wanted).

Pro tip (which I'm sure many already know)-
Actually enter the set up numbers into Mach3's ports/pins setting screens, don't just confirm them. I lost a full day until it hit me that I should try ACTUALLY ENTERING THE NUMBERS, instead of just seeing if they were correct.

Sales are coming in, and I've not been trying. Now that the MM seems fully functional, it's time for some serious sellin' :D

Robert M Sat 23 January 2016 15:39

Great to hear about you and your recent developments !
Also good to read your having nice business growth !
All the best, keep on posting :D

Nikonauts Sun 24 January 2016 13:11

Quote:
Originally Posted by ChuckS View Post
Sales are coming in, and I've not been trying. Now that the MM seems fully functional, it's time for some serious sellin' :D
Yeay! Now, that got me itching... I contemplated on building a Mechmate like 7 years ago, before finally gave up (budget/skill/time constraint, etc.).

I'm determined to finish it this time.

7 years.... I hope I could get sales as quick as you! :)

ChuckS Sun 08 May 2016 20:18

Random update-
MM is running great, Chinese spindle not so great.

During my warm up routine for the spindle, a bearing started talking to me today. I did the only reasonable thing, and ignored it. It did quiet down once under load.

Tomorrow I'll order up another spindle and hope I have better luck. Then I'll (hopefully) rebuild the old one and have a back up unit.

ChuckS Sun 08 May 2016 20:20

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nikonauts View Post
Yeay! Now, that got me itching... I contemplated on building a Mechmate like 7 years ago, before finally gave up (budget/skill/time constraint, etc.).

I'm determined to finish it this time.

7 years.... I hope I could get sales as quick as you! :)
The lack of skill didn't stop me. Stubborn is a poor substitute, but I have plenty :D

danilom Tue 10 May 2016 01:05

Some chinese spindles come with plain radial bearings instead of AC for lower pair , friend of mine ordered cheap AC to replace and had a lot of runout. Tried Timken 6005-C3 deep groove and his spindle is running true 0.01mm and the bearings are holding well for the last couple of months cutting every day.

ChuckS Thu 12 May 2016 16:48

Thanks Danilo!

ChuckS Fri 09 February 2018 13:04

Another occasional update-

Much chaos here- illnesses & death in the family :-( Not much time to play, or work. I'm finally back at it.

My 2.2 kw spindle bearings are sounding angry, so I ordered another spindle. Once it's here, I'll swap it out and see about replacing the bearings in the old one. It looks like decent bearings are going to cost considerably more than an entire Chinese spindle, so I may just keep buying spindles & keep a back up on hand.

A local branch of a BIG company tracked me down to cut some plastic for them. Not fun, but it pays well. I'll take the money. I had to build a vacuum table, which is working great for just being powered by a big shop vac. Now that I have a vac table, I couldn't see a reason not to have a drag knife (my other business is a custom canvas shop. I spend too much time cutting strips of stuff!). It just showed up. I would have made one, but it would have cost me too much lost work. New toy!

Question-
How can I Estop my machine if the spindle stalls? I'm using the HY controller, PMDX-126, and Mach3. Internet searches have not helped. I lost a piece this morning due to the power to the spindle being lost, but the machine pressing on regardless.

edit- I think I just needed to ask the question to find the answer....

I think I just had the wrong hotkey code. Here is the answer, I think: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/mach-s...top-reset.html

Robert M Fri 09 February 2018 13:36

Sorry for you "chaos" ...mate !
Wishing you sanity through all this !

Out of interest, how many hr ( approx) your spindle has / had before....telling you he's angry :p !?

Love to read when one ask a question....for then, seeing self answered :D:p:p
All the best, ;)

pblackburn Fri 09 February 2018 13:53

There is a spindle repair company in Massachusetts that sells a decent Chinese spindle. You can get the bearings off ebay from them from their ebay store.

ChuckS Fri 09 February 2018 16:25

I just checked the maintenance log in Mach3. 1600 machine hours, 0 hours on the spindle. Hmmmm.

That spindle has been on the machine since May of 2016. I don't have a good guess as to number of use hours. I'm curious.... I'll poke thru my VFD manual and see if there is a number in the VFD somewhere.

I'll check out the repair company in Mass. Thanks!

pblackburn Fri 09 February 2018 17:37

Make sure of the dimensions of the bearings and contact them with any questions about the bearings. Here is their store on eBay http://stores.ebay.com/Precision-Bearings-Plus


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