Congrats Rik! :)

Hi Rik,

Great piece of engineering. I am proud of you and it is great to see that so many
"mechheads" encourage your work with such enthousiastic comments.

Make sure the dust does not come into places where you don't want to find dust :) and take care.

We catch up on Skype soon.

Frank Schoofs

Hi Rik, Congrats on making that dust! I can't wait to see you in Taipei! Mid March is a good time for me. Let's chat soon. -David

just back from Klang , Maleisia
 

Hello,
I am just back from Klang, Maleisia. I visited Ken. I want to thank him for his hospitality and I had a great time to look around in his workshop, chatting with him and enjoying the local food.
Thank you Ken
I am getting more and more respect for Geralds design. simple, strong and usefull.

Rik,
You are most welcome. I too enjoyed every moment of your company.
Again, we enjoyed our company too much that we forgot about the photo session.

Thank you Rik for your visit.

disassambe mechmate
 

Today I am going disassemble my mechmate and prepare it for shipping back to Holland. I will show some pictures how I use a inflated skippy ball for lowering and lifting my x slide on and off the v grove guiding without damaging it.
first going to make a crate. lucky, it is not that hot today :)

make bended cable chain straight
 

When I bought my cable chain, it was not straight. Didn't like it, probebly it was functionel. so I decided to look what was not OK, and to modify it to make OK.
first I had to disassmebe the chain. getting the yellow buttons out, was the hardest task. I removed with my table saw a little material to make the chain straight. first picture shows the place where I removed the material. Second picture shows my table saw set up. the l profie is my guide on the table saw, the red thing has to simulate the position from the saw blade


http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1371912110

http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1371912558

pictures of new z axis
 

Because my previous z spindle was a long one, and the motor mounted on top which made the point of gravety high. Decided made a new impoved z axis.
this is the result.

this was the old one
http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1371912954

this is the new one
http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1371912956
http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1371912956
http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1371912956

made in ching cheng street, needs to be finished and allignet, but that will be september - oktober in Holland

Hi rik, thanks for the extra effort of posting this info and helping me out with all kinds of questions!

In regards to your first z Iam really surprised.... I know it was bought locally, and only adapted instead of built from the ground up. Because of the black parts and side shots it's hard to see the actual construction. Is your new z different in construction or uses the same principle ( because that one I understand from the pics ) !? I mean I am puzzled by the 700 mm slide that only has a travel of 300 mm, and the huge weight. Furthermore I want to be sure your flex issues originate in the y car and not the slide construction. Pre made slides come in all shapes and kinds, a z for a cnc cutter obviously gets way more force the a slide used under a plotter or such.

Fox ... 700mm of linear rail minus 400mm between two trucks means 300mm travel
you need some distance between trucks to lower the leverage.

Weight around 20kg is nothing and in my opinion is welcome

Back in holland
 

Today we arrived back in holland. We have to wait a couple of weeks till my container arrives with the mechmate.

Hey Rik, welkom thuis in ons 'koude kikker landje' ( = Welcome Home !)

Hey Rik.

This is possible the first long traveller Mech Mate? :)
We need pics !!!!

back in holland
 

Back in Holland.
3 months back we arrived in Holland. first wait unit the containers arrived and in the meantime do some work in the house, it's allmost empty.
my garage, before the container arrived.
http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1382296791

the big moment. Truck with surprisely 2 containers. we loaded a 40 foot container in Taiwan
http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1382296791
pictures from the packed mechmate, and my packed garage
http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1382296791
http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1382296791

I prommised a picture from my skippy ball which I used for placing the y axis.
I placed the deflated skippy ball (from the kids) on the spoil board and placed a piece of plywood under the y axis. then I start to inflate the skippy ball with a hand air pump. ( this one we normaly use for air matress) the y axis get lifted and can be verry easy placed on the rail, without damaging the rail. I did this opperation without the help from somebody.
http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1382297585

assembling the mechmate
 

the Mechamate is assembled. this took some more time because I had to adjust and mount my new z axis.
I had to allign the guidings and the ball screw. I also had to connect the ball nut holder to the topplate. first I had to find out the gap, and fill this gap.
I had to made a new flex cable mounting bracket and had to install limit and home switch.
the arm, which sees the home switch is mounted in a 25cm curtain rail profile, and moveble. the limit switch has to "see" a 15 x 20 mm L profile. this profile has over its length, 4.5 mm mounting holes with a pitch from 10 mm. this way it can be moved when necessary. If i want to place a 4th axis under the table, I move the limit switch.
I still have to paint some parts and rout the cables more nice as in the pictures

http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1382302047
http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1382302047
http://mechmate.com/forums/attachmen...1&d=1382302047

power on, 220V this time
 

after my Z axis was ready, I was ready to start up again. first I had to convert the machine to 220 volt. This means:
-change head connector to european style 220 V connector
-connect the 35Volt powersupply correctly for 220V instead of 110V
-change the breaker from the powersupply
-place a 220 -->110 transformer inbetween the cooling fluid pump
after these changes: power on!
not yet, the controller swithed off, and ALL my warninglites and alarm was on, computer was not starting
trouble shouting time.
I found the home and limit switch from not connected, but after re connecting same problem.
find out that all 4 emergency buttons where activated, but after reset.. same.
find out that I forgot to place the fuse in the 35V power supply--> placed fuse--> problem same
Checked all wires, opened some connectors and placed the cable correct under the stress release and checked if all wires still connected.
then I found a lose wire on the backside of my controlbox. bought a 220V soldering rod, and connected the wire..but.. still alarm
checked all wires again then I figured out I made a shortcut with the pin next the one I just soldered an hour ago. decided to get my GLACES inside. this is the first time I HAD to use my glaces because I could see it clearly. My wife bought some cheap reading glases for me because I could read small size letters any more.

Then my error was over, but computer was not starting up. Find out the powerplug from the laptop was unpluged.
Then the machine was starting up again.

I decided to change my axis set up, so I reversed x and y axis by switching the puls cables on the controller. I also had to swap x and Y home and limit cable (just switch connectors) then I had to change my homing script, so machine is going to the correct home point (moved from left to right)

adjusted the pulses to run 1mm to the correct value (my old z axis had 2:1 gear ratil) Checked with a gauge if the displacement from z is correct. this was correct.

so this is the status. the machine is ready to make some dutch dust :D

an update
 

long time ago that I updated the forum.
I had recently quite some problems with the machine. I was loosing or adding steps.
was not in all cases. I made some pictures with holes and those patterns with 25.000 holes looked very nice and no problem with accuracy. when making 3D molds for making model airplane wings I run into accuracy problems. checked all bolts, the fixation from the gears, the tension of the belt etc. some bolts from the z axis get a little untight so periodic inspection is not that bad
I mounted two dial indicators accuracy 0.01 mm with magnet clamps to the c beams to monitor if the machine was coming back in its home position after the routing job.... it wasn't.
made my nerves. looked that it was more when I used bigger cutters, and use some more cutting power.
changed the acceleration settings, put the acceleration back, so it can not be that it is loosing steps, cut at low speed, still not solved.

Then my computer breaks down.
was not a big thing. the battery from the laptop was that bad, it didn't pas the power from the always connected power supply, and the clock battery was empty.
when I removed the laptop from my control unit, I mentioned that the cable from the frequency controller to the router was very close to the rs 232 cable which runs from the laptop to the desk cnc controller.

when installing the computer back in the control unit, I put it farther away from the frequency controller and routed the cable to the spindle away from the other cables.

machine started up, and I was happy again.
then It looks that my positioning problem was solved. my x y gauges showed less then 0.03mm offset and z (ball screws) within 0.01
when I walk in my workshop, and I see the mechmate, I get a always a big smile on my face

we bought recently a piece of land, for building a new house, and create some more space for my mechmate.
Yes I am very happy with my bolted frame. and with some luck I am going to extend the machine to 125 x 250 cm. I designed the table that way, that it is prepared for it, but first let build the house

As an aside, I found a problem with an old laptop, even when running from 'house power' it still had power problems. I borrowed a used battery from another machine and the issue with power went away. It appears that even if not used, the battery plays an active part of the power circuit in some laptops. Possibly similar to a filter or a big capacitor in helping filter otherwise power that is to 'rough' for the laptop to handle. .... Just my random thoughts.

Adding to that for future mm owners... Laptops have strong power management schemes, sometimes even embedded into their bios by their manufacturers . This can interfere with your pulsestream which make them less desirable compared to a regular pc for controlling your cnc.

If you insist on using a laptop, using http://www.planet-cnc.com/ or SmoothStepper from http://www.warp9td.com/ or similar.

I think these kinds of devices are going to become more prevalent as hard-core printer ports and energy savings in machines comes harder to find/defeat.

PS: I have used neither of these, but have seen some good reports. They currently seem to only work with Mach3. They might support Mach4 but I don't know about LinuxCNC (I kind of doubt it, but new developments happen all the time!)

Mechmate moved to new house
 

Hello from holland. Last 4 years I billded a new house. To create workspace I let build a basement under the house which is going to be my workshop. In the garage I have an opening in the floor to lower equipment. Mechmate is ready to go downstairs. I didn't disconnect the z from the y cart. With help from my son,I could just lift it. Looking forward to assemble and start using it. Still need a new kitchen in the house. A nice mechmate project

Hello Rik.

Sounds like a major job, hope all goes well for you.

I was planning on moving myself later in the year but
I am not sure now because of what is happening in the world.
Just have to see what happens.

Take care.

hey all,
here some news. I moved the machine down to the basement and re-assembled the machine. Then it would start up.... and I had to spent some evenings on measuring, checking, re-measuring. I had two issues. first the machine was not releasing the safety circuit, and second, the computer would not start up.
The first issue is solved. my safety circuit "needs" an certain resistance to ensure every thing is connected and I have no broken wires. the resistance of some switch buttons and safety buttons seems to be to high. I used moeller a22 contacts and buttons which I bought in Taiwan. they A 22 contact blocks, I could not buy here. so I swapped everything with moeller M22 contact blocks, and the buttons and button frames were also not compatible. So I replaced 4 emo's 8 start / pause, and my machine start up button.
after swapping it started up immediately. the area were I lived in Taiwan was an hotspring area with a lot of sulfur in the air which is corroding electronics. that's what I suspect. Good news is that it looks that it is solved.
The second issue, the computer not starting up, seems to be caused by an empty bios battery. the one in my computer is soldered to the connections. tried to buy a battery with soldering lips on it, but all shops, except supermarket and drug stores, are closed by the corona lock down in Holland. bought cr 2032 battery without the soldering lips, and tried to solder it.. but it exploded. will order on line a battery with soldering lips and install that one. Than I can rout some stuff, instead off talking about routing...
Yvo, who announced himself at the "start building" topic visit me today. and luckily I could show him a working mechmate. (the computer will start after a couple off attempts)
So he had some questions, and he wanted to see some stuff in real life. so we had some nice talks and could show how everything's works. we are friends for at least 35 years, and his parents used to be my nabors till I moved to my new house.
I hope I can by some material during the lock down, to start with my kitchen project. at some shops I can order on line and pick it up. since April I have to work from home here. The situation is not good here, and don't seems to be improved despite the lock down. so to all, stay safe

Computer replaced
 

Hello all
Some while ago i replaced the computer. I used a very aged laptop which had an 40 gb harddisk. I bougt a used small dell computer which fits in my operating cabinet. And got a big monitor from my brother in law. I installed the desk cnc software from its installation disk and set all the required parameters. Surprised it was not working. During homing it stops and i could not move manualy my axis. After copying the old program from the laptop to the new pc, it was working like it should do.
I have a new controll board from usb cnc laying ready to install but i didnt installed it yet because everything was running.
I still have to finish some stuff in my new house, so my time is limited.
I made 8 storage cabinets and used the machine for making the holepaterns for the shelves and hinges. Also i made some name signs for horses. I got some horse furtelizer for the garden and they got some signs.

some pics of signs
 

here some pictures of the signs I made.

Very nice work. Thanks for sharing.:)