Ted,

You might just win that "longest build" award. I just looked at the Builder's Log and the current longest build (actually recorded) is just over 4 years. Keep going, it's worth it. I finished my MechMate 9 years ago. I have moved it 3 times. I just finished setting it up again after a move from Texas to Ohio. And, I completed a "project" for a friend at Church. I was amazed at how well it went.

So I encourage you to complete your MechMate and earn a Serial Number. It would be my pleasure to add you to the Builder's Log as the longest build.

Welcome Back!

Control box mounted.
 

Finally got the control box on the wall. Mounting the VFD/enclosure this weekend.

Nice Cabinet!

+1.
Good beer posters too.

Never too long to please your self......:p
Nice to see ya back.....and congrats on the time to share your update @_#
Cheers, Robert

Thanks, guys.

Mike, I've finally put everything I've gotten from you to use. One thing I did learn is how quickly a DIN rail fills up. I also learned that even that short bit of rail will deflect when
you install everything on it while it is on it's back and then you mount it vertically. The hole you drilled for the front disconnect no longer is lined up. Got it all sorted.

Al, I've managed a couple of pubs at a local festival site for the past 10 years as a side business. I have managed to collect a lot of posters of my favorite brews and have them on every wall.

Robert, my bride of 18 years has finally come around and wants me to get this finished, as she has a million ideas of what she wants me to do with it. :D

Quick question: two grub screws to secure spur gear to shaft? M6 screws okay for this? 90 degrees apart? The shaft does have a flat.

Ted

Ted....
"two grub screws to secure spur gear to shaft? M6 screws okay for this? 90 degrees apart? The shaft does have a flat."
Yes, 2 is better & M6 is big, but quite fine, and good on 90° !!

PS....my sympathies now you have your love one with a million ( for starters) .....stuff she'd like to be done...:o:eek:

See ya, R

Merci Robert. One done.

Ted

just thank your former self for getting you that far. Im just getting started and feel a bit overwhelmed but i am finding confidence reading through this forum. Good luck with the rest of your build!

Well done Ted....
Also, my advise, I use a tiny drop of loctite blue ( 242) ( or equivalent).
These grub screw, even at two, do have a tendency to loosen with time, hence, attracting other issues :eek:
All the best Ted !! ;)

Thanks, guys. Robert, I will heed your advise on the loctite 242. X and Y are complete and are working fine. I have to say that it is somewhat scary seeing all of that metal moving so fast on the rapids! Should have the Z completed by the end of the month, I have a local machine shop grinding it right now. Seeing the blue beast move on it's own for the first time was fantastic. I rigged up a floating ball point pin to the Y carriage and had it draw a few things. Road Runner first, of course. I was giggling like a school-girl when it finished that first drawing.

Ted

" Robert, I will heed your advise on the loctite 242. " ??
What's the advise i can help u with ??
Later, R

Robert, I was referring to your suggestion of Loctite blue on the grub screws.

Ted

4th axis question
 

I have a question about a 4th axis. For they type of woodworking (hand turned goblets on my lathe) I do now manually that makes me money, a 4th axis actually would be used constantly. As I now get to the implementation part, I am getting a big headache trying to just pull the trigger on a drive system. My primary question right now is harmonic drive vs planetary vs belt reduction for driving the 4th axis. Do I need the <1 arc-min accuracy of a harmonic drive for what I will be using it for, or will a planetary gear driven accuracy of 3 - 5 arc-min be sufficient? Initially, I would just like to be able to use the machine to rough turn the piece to shape and then I would finish by hand on my lathe. Eventually, though, I would be doing more complex, wrapped carving and inlays. The largest diameter blank I turn is about 120mm.

Thanks!
Ted

Z Slide plate
 

Z slide plate back from machine shop.

It surly looks....pretty nice & well done, but.....at what cost :eek:

Your build is getting closer & closer to the magic....day.
all the best, later.

Thanks, Robert. It cost $300 USD to have machined. It was strictly about the time savings for me. I have been traveling for work 5 days a week lately, and with my time at a premium, it was well worth it. I scheduled having this part back for this coming week since I have a week off to spend completing the beast.

Spindle wiring question
 

Wiring up my VFD now. Running a Sunfar E300 2.2kw. Mains 240v single phase. The manual shows a breaker and contactor on the mains side. Couple of questions: For my model, E300-2S0022, it is recommending a 32A breaker and an 18A contactor. Any idea why there would be such a large delta between the breaker and contactor ratings? Secondly, the manual calls for 10AWG wire for the mains. Is this little VFD actually going to pull that much current to need that large gauge wire? Also, for the folks running a separate enclosure for your VFD, are you running a contactor in that cabinet as well? If so are you feeding it from the control cabinet's main breaker or from the contactor ?

Thanks!
Ted

Z-work
 

Have my Z close to completion. Had a few gotchas. I'm going with the 350mm Z and ordered McMaster-Carr 9416K54 Gas Spring. The tube body is larger and it caused interference issues with the spider. I added some metal to the upper gas spring mount and re-drilled it to move the tube body a little closer to the Z-plate and it now clears. I also had to put my spindle mount on the table saw and cut off two corners at a 45 to clear the v-bearings. Tapped the spindle mount for one 10mm bolt and two 6mm bolts. Hope that is enough.

Quick question, the geared z-axis laser cut plate I got from Mike looks like it has a 6mm hole for the pivot point, where as the direct drive plate and the mounting tab on the spider are 10mm. I'm assuming I just need to drill it out to 10.5mm. Just wanted to be sure it wasn't laser cut to 6mm for some obvious reason that I am oblivious to.

I have power to the spindle now from the VFD (under manual control) and that thing is so quiet! Love it. Cooling system seems to be pumping water just fine with no leaks yet. Getting closer. Travelling up the east coast this week for work, so won't be able to go any further until this weekend.

Ted

Sorry I still have you beat by 22 days :)

1st Cut
 

Steve, your record is safe.

First cut today! Still so much left to do, but she can make dust!

Ted

https://vimeo.com/330372072

Congratulations.
Have fun:)

Very nice build, Ted. Have you figured out what you're going to do about the 4th axis?

Suggestion. Slap some logo's on it and earn a serial number. It would be my pleasure to add your build to the Builder's Log.

Thanks, guys.

John, I am looking for my MechMate adhesive logo that I got years ago, but no luck so far, except for the little South African flag that somehow has survived. :) If anyone has a set for sale, I'll buy!

Yes, I have added a 4th axis to try out. Went with a belt driven Nema23, 6:1, 100mm 3 jaw chuck with 65mm tailstock. Amazon purchase just to get something in my hands to try. About $350 USD. Have to decide if I am going to mount it below table surface or not. I went with the longer Z with that in mind, so that is what I'll probably do.

Ted

Ted,

PM me your address again and I will mail you some logos.

PM sent, Mike, and thank you.

Also, thank you to all of the folks who have helped me on this forum through their comments and advice. It has been far too long coming. Also, a very sincere thanks to Gerald for starting this thing, and to you, Mike, for carrying it forward. I am really looking forward to getting my serial number and beginning to learn how to use this blue beast.

Funny story about what happens when you take so long to finish your build. Going to try and get my spoilboard down here in the next few days. Wanted to hook up my XHC wireless pendant and try it out too. So I hooked up the pendant and used it to run out to all of the stops to get a rough idea of where my spoilboard was going to be positioned. When I started this project, I remember choosing to go with a 49" x 97" workable area. When I ran the gantry from stop to stop I came up with 103" and I couldn't figure out how that happened. Then I remembered that over 8 years ago when I started putting together my build, I had thought about a 4th axis even then, and had extended my axis to give me room to mount a 4th axis in front of and below my spoilboard. I had forgotten all about that. So, now to weld up some sort of brace/mounting system for it. I think I was a lot smarter 8 years ago!

Ted

Quick update. Have my spindle under Mach3 control finally. I have some concerns about pins/ports. I'm using pins 2-9 for my x/y/z/slave a axis and pins 1 and 14 for my 4th axis (b). Pin 16 is my PWM pin for my spindle. Pin 17 would be used for Charge Pump signal to spindle, but I have it ignored for now. The problem is that the PMDX-107 daughter board I am using on my PMDX-126B board is looking for a Run signal on pin 14 as well. There doesn't seem to be a way to change the 107 to look at another set of pins. Right now, with both the b axis and spindle Run set to port2, pin14, everything works. I have no idea how. I'm using an ESS Smoothstepper on the 126, and 2 PMDX-133's daisy-chained from the 126 as well. Looking through my notes from years ago, it looks like I had planned to use the 2 pins not used for a 5th axis, pins 16 and 17, and use those for the PMDX-107, but I guess I did not research that well enough back then and assumed I could control those pin assignments. I have reached out to PMDX and asked for their advice. Since my 4th axis jobs with not have a need for X movement, I suppose I could steal those pins for when I am running a rotary job, but I would rather not have to do that, especially since I will have others running this thing when I am absent. If anyone has any advice, it would be appreciated.

Ted

Update to the update. Tonight I put the PMDX-126 K1 relay in multimode setting so the PMDX-107 is controlling it now. This is handling the switching for my coolant pump. Pin 14, port 1 is putting my VFD in run mode and pin 16, port 1 is accepting the PWM signal for spindle speed. My 4th axis is using Pin 1 port 2 and Pin 14 Port 2. Everything seems to be working correctly. At least I haven't let out the magic smoke!

Ted