A MechMate for Blackdog Cat Boats New Zealand
 

Hi All!! I have just found this site the other day, Awesome!! was wanting to buy a cnc router to cut my alloy components for my boats, but now I can build one!! and build it to how I want it... I have exellent fabrication skills, but I am an electronic virgin!! so I will probably ask some stupid questions through out the build, but hey, at least at the end of it all, I'll be a pro and know my machine like the back of my hand!!
I am wanting to have a large bed, 2.4mtr X 6mtr to cover the range of alloy plate we are using, also think i will do a way with the table legs and mount direct to the concrete, so that we can walk on the bed to lay the sheet out and to make it easier to screw the sheet down....
So...I have down loaded my plans, will organize the profiled parts, and get into it...
Any surgestion on motors and drivers for what i'm doing??? There was'nt alot in the plans about this, I guess this is because every build has different needs. Keeping in mind, aluminum plate is expensive here, and can't afford to stuff sheet, so want the best set up availible....

Look forward to the build and learning!!!! Cheers

Hello Blackdog,

First off, welcome to the forum! I'm sure you'll get plenty of good advice during your build.

I've just completed a MechMate of approximately those dimensions (cutting area 1900mm x 5100mm). One thing I will caution you about is second-guessing the plans. Gerald has done an awesome job putting the design together, every bit of steel is there for a reason. For example, the legs bring the table up to a reasonable working height. But with the lower longitudinals and diagonal bracing, they also help to stiffen the main beams horizontally.

I used the Oriental Motor 7.2 geared steppers, which many others have used with good results. The model # is in my build thread. I know the Aussie builders have been ordering that motor from the Canadian sales rep, that may be your best bet too.

Again, welcome and good luck!

Michel

Cheers Michel, will take a look at your build,thanks

Welcome!

Welcome to the MM world. Read plenty. If you look at the read count on the far right of the thread...it will give you a good indication if you should read it or not. Like a 10,000 count or higher is probably a good source for information.

Of course, you always welcome to ask!

Start a build thread so we may follow and assist as needed.

Best,
Sean

Man those boats are cool. Can't wait to see a MechMate makin pieces for one !!!

http://www.blackdogcat.co.nz/

Hi Blackdog

Had a look at your website and the boats you are making - nice stuff.

Regards
Ross

PS - Like Sean says "Read Plenty" as the forum is loaded with information to help you with your machine build.

Ross

Thanks for the warm welcome all, looking forward to seeing my MechMate cutting boat parts to!!!! Better get reading!! will start a build thread as soon as I get some cut parts back, a week or so I hope....Cheers

If the MechMate is like your boats it should be a nice build !!!

Hi Blackdog,

Watched your boat video clips, your boats look great and look to be a lot of fun too.
Good luck with your MM build your fabrication skills and other knowledge gained in your boat building should serve you well.

Cheers
Tony.

Blackdog Cat Boats...NZ....
 

Hey All!! finally getting started, I'll try to upload some photos, but just to give you all an idea of what we're up to, we build aluminium boats and want to cut and pen mark our components, so the Mech Mate will be awesome!!

Table size is 6.2 X 2.1 mtrs. We have decided to build the bed on the ground, as I figure we will be walking on it alot, to carry sheet onto and screw sheet down.

Cool!! photos worked!! sorry, we had to butcher the grind skate to get the disk in and out without pulling it apart.

Hi,

Nice progress and thanks for posting your pics, Its huge!!
Looking at your photos though it looks like you have welded your support channels the wrong way up?? the bevels on your support should angle in with the longest point being to the outside edge of your main beam?? did you allow for that in the length of your cross supports??
I hope you have it covered and keep the pics coming.

Cheers
Tony.

Cheers Mate, Yip, all in hand, I used the ends of channel to dyna bolt the bed down, so angled them outwards. Dumpy levelled and shimed, then bolted them down, so shes solid as!!

On your large angle by sloping it back to the inside you have shortened your cutting area on each end by a few inches. But I am sure with the table that size this should not be an issue. :) It looks like your rails stop short anyway. I like the floor mount. Will be interested to see how loading works out.

Cheers Mike, I added the extra length to the Channel and RHS runner to retain the bed size i wanted, the largest sheet we use down here is 6.2 X 2.1mtr so should work well... I guess if the low loading concept is crap, we could put some legs under table later down the track...

Cheers, Luke

Hi Black Dog

For a while there I thought you were building a railway !

There is plenty of clearance (as I sure you have figured out) for the motors etc and the floor so your design is a workable option.
It sure saves some time and effort on the table base construction but the cost of that decision will be lots of kneeling down... to change bits, to zero the cutter and eye in the X and Y.

From a safety perspective the floor mount is significantly more dangerous than a table mount as the moving gantry and motors now represent a trip hazard.
Their is also the further possibility of becoming pinned between the motors and the floor and the gantry and the table base if someone/something should wander into the work envelope while the machine is operating.
A safety fence and an access gate that prevents machine operation are now a consideration you should make as a high priority before commissioning the machine.

Not the sort of comments you might want to hear at this early stage of the build but they are genuinely made in your best interests.

Regards
Ross

As good as it seems but loading on the floor has its drawbacks, you have to pick UP everything and not just slide it to some cart.
The machine produces vibrations, as small as they look but with table bolt to floor I think the gantry might vibrate a little more than usual. Its good to have lots of different builds, so everything gets tested on site and not theory :)

Working on the floor is just the traditional thing that boatbuilders do - it's in their blood. See lofting

I bet they have strong back... :)

I seem to end up on the floor sometimes :eek: :) But it aint becuase of werk !!

Hey Guys, Ross, I was thinking that I would have put a fence around the machine, The Labour Department is pretty hard on us here, but a fence with an isolator on the access will sort that out as you say........A bit later down the track though:)

Cheers Luke.

Very well done so far by the way, not surprised given the quality of your boats.

Regards
Ross

Hey All, here are some photos of my progress!! Abit slow, bit we've been busy with of boats!! I have some gear in from China, 4KW water cooled Spindle and VFD, 3X 230V 42 Nema (bit of an overkill!!) and 1 nema 23 for Z axis (going to change for a 34) and all the goodies to make them move...

Couple more pic's

That is very efficient use of space.
I would not recommend having the VFD in the control panel, funny stuff can happens in such heavy RFI & EMI environment, especially having a SMPS in there as well....

Cheers, is there any way to get around this, without moving it

Get a RFI/EMI engineer to help.
If you can't, DIY RFI/EMI filter & ferrite core everywhere & pray for good luck.
Its a lot more economical & practical to just leave the VFD out. The problem won't be a problem as long as they don't share the tiny confine panel. If you can't afford a separate panel, you can do what I did, leave it in the open, cost nothing.
BTW, an old VFD technician advise me never to house a VFD in an enclose space. It some how shorten their life. Can't explain why but that is what his experience.

Hi Luke

Some people seem to have installed them in the control box with little problem while others have had issues.
The VFD should have an EMI filter on the 240 volt input side as well as some torriod chokes both on the input and output sides.
This is good practice but does not guarantee a trouble free run as there are so many variables with the individual electronics set ups the Mechmate users have.

The Chinese VFD's do not come with a great manual so try reading the Hitachi VFD manuals available online as they have a full description of the wiring schema I am referring to under the heading of "Basic System Description".

Regards
Ross