MechMate CNC Router Forum

Go Back   MechMate CNC Router Forum > Personal Build Histories > MechMates already cutting
Register Options Profile Last 1 | 3 | 7 Days Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #31  
Old Mon 14 January 2008, 04:14
J.R. Hatcher
Just call me: J.R. #4
 
Wilmington, North Carolina
United States of America
Send a message via Skype™ to J.R. Hatcher
It looks good to me, and the best thing about it is ..... it works.
Reply With Quote
  #32  
Old Mon 14 January 2008, 04:37
smreish
Just call me: Sean - #5, 28, 58 and others
 
Orlando, Florida
United States of America
John....
Grinder smoke! I had the same experience last week. You really must find the 1/16 or at lease 3/32 discs...they cut much better. Don't push the grinder so much - if the RPM drops so much that you can really hear/feel it - your pushing to hard. Let the disc cut....
After following my own advice, all went well, and quick on the 2nd rail.
Sean
Reply With Quote
  #33  
Old Tue 15 January 2008, 23:34
Roadkill_321
Just call me: John #7
 
Wiseton, Saskatchewan
Canada
Well we had a blizzard here today, so I had a day off. I got the X rails cut down today, I replaced the burned out grinder with a DeWalt. I think I'm just about ready to start welding the table sides together. I welded up the ends of the X channel and welded the foot plates on the legs and called it quits for the day. I hope to get the table welded together by the end of the weekend.

John
Mechmate-003.jpg
Reply With Quote
  #34  
Old Wed 16 January 2008, 04:46
J.R. Hatcher
Just call me: J.R. #4
 
Wilmington, North Carolina
United States of America
Send a message via Skype™ to J.R. Hatcher
Talking about low-tech, how's this.

Reply With Quote
  #35  
Old Wed 16 January 2008, 16:37
Roadkill_321
Just call me: John #7
 
Wiseton, Saskatchewan
Canada
JR,
In all honesty it was your rig there that I based mine on. It looked to be solid and simple to build. Your grinder looks a bit more beefy than mine. Mine is a DeWalt and has a plastic body, I guess I should have planned ahead a bit more when I was grinder shopping. I am getting the grinder skate laser cut and I think it will only work with a metal bodied grinder that has the four bolts around the shaft to bolt it on. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, but with enough metal, bolts, screws, glue, etc. I'm sure I can come up with something.

John
Reply With Quote
  #36  
Old Wed 16 January 2008, 16:43
Greg J
Just call me: Greg #13
 
Hagerman, New Mexico
United States of America
John,

I went thru the plastic body grinder (mine was a DeWalt also) phase.

My experience was too much flex from the plastic body. I would not waste the time and get a metal body that will attach via the 4 bolts.

I found a good metal body grinder at the local hardware store for under $20 (as I recall).
Reply With Quote
  #37  
Old Wed 16 January 2008, 17:04
J.R. Hatcher
Just call me: J.R. #4
 
Wilmington, North Carolina
United States of America
Send a message via Skype™ to J.R. Hatcher
Mine is an old Skill maybe 20 years +. The one in the skate was a new Hitachi, it has more power than the Skill. Check the amps it pulls, the more amps the more power.
Reply With Quote
  #38  
Old Wed 16 January 2008, 19:22
gmessler
Just call me: Greg #15
 
Chicago IL
United States of America
I was just at a Home Depot in Dallas.....They have a 2 pack of Dewalt baby grinders on sale for $99. Don't know if it is nationwide but anybody interested might want to inquire....they will all honor sales at other stores.

I never had any problems with my $14 HarborFreight cheapo grinder. Still going strong. I even used it with a wire wheel to take off all the welding "spit".......famous last words though
Reply With Quote
  #39  
Old Wed 16 January 2008, 21:37
Roadkill_321
Just call me: John #7
 
Wiseton, Saskatchewan
Canada
The first grinder I had was a Superior Grinder. Kind of a no name made in China thing. It had a metal "head" on it with the 4 screws holding the bearing retainer for the drive shaft on. It was the one that bit the dust and I will admit that it probably was my fault that it is not working today. I got the DeWalt 4 1/2" grinder packaged together with a DeWalt 3/8" drill on sale for $120.00 CDN at the local Co-op in town here. I would like to find the recommended grinder, (which I think is a Bosch) the next time I go to Saskatoon to do the rails so that I get the best job I can. What are your thoughts on making non-Bosch grinders work with the skate? I haven't seen the actual skate parts yet so I really don't know what modifications I can make.

John
Reply With Quote
  #40  
Old Thu 17 January 2008, 04:36
smreish
Just call me: Sean - #5, 28, 58 and others
 
Orlando, Florida
United States of America
john
I was able to use a ryobi ag402 model which is 30$ at home depot. 40$ for the 2 pack if you catch the sale just right. If your using the mamba skate, the bolt pattern works, just a slight clearance slot is needed aft of the gear head for it to seat properly. Additionally, you need to add a7mm spacer on the bolt pattern and I think 30 mm long machine screws to attach it. I can't link things from my PDA browser or I would link you to the grinder thread we covered a few months ago. I asure you, all my grinding was done with the mamba skate and cheap grinder! Good luck
Reply With Quote
  #41  
Old Fri 18 January 2008, 22:49
Roadkill_321
Just call me: John #7
 
Wiseton, Saskatchewan
Canada
Well, I am waiting on the UPS truck anytime now. They will be bringing me my relays and stuff from Factorymation so I can get the control box done and make the motors turn (hopefully). I haven't been able to get much done on the welding end of things. I am working out at my brother's shop and it isn't always empty for me to use whenever I want. So, anyway I have the sides of the table almost complete, I just need to weld in the uprights and cut the angle pieces and weld them in. I was going to squash the top end of the uprights a little before I weld them, because the channel I am using for the main longitudinals has a flange width of a little over 2" and the pipe I am using is about 2.5" OD. Anyway, I attached a pic of what I was up to tonight.

John
Sides-of-the-table.jpg
Reply With Quote
  #42  
Old Sat 19 January 2008, 09:38
Doug_Ford
Just call me: Doug #3
 
Conway (Arkansas)
United States of America
Looking good John. Moving those side assemblies around is quite a chore isn't it? They are top heavy and I almost hurt myself the first time I picked up the end of one.
Reply With Quote
  #43  
Old Sat 19 January 2008, 19:36
Greg J
Just call me: Greg #13
 
Hagerman, New Mexico
United States of America
I'll agree with Doug,

I did strain "something". I bought ($15 USD) a set of engineered drawings for a 1.5 ton gantry crane. fabricating that gantry was one of the best thing I ever did. Very nice when it came time to flip the base table over.
Reply With Quote
  #44  
Old Sat 19 January 2008, 22:35
Roadkill_321
Just call me: John #7
 
Wiseton, Saskatchewan
Canada
Yeah, they weigh up pretty good. I am trying to imagine how I'm going to get the thing out of my brother's shop and into my garage after it's all welded and painted...
Reply With Quote
  #45  
Old Sun 20 January 2008, 07:59
Greg J
Just call me: Greg #13
 
Hagerman, New Mexico
United States of America
John,

I had the same concerns about how to move this beast by myself when needed. That's one of the reasons why I went with rectangular tubing. I bought some pneumatic tires (casters) from Northern Tool so I can bolt on to the bottom tube.

Now that I've got the picture downloading figured out I'll post some pictures when the "rig" is finished.
Reply With Quote
  #46  
Old Sun 20 January 2008, 11:11
Doug_Ford
Just call me: Doug #3
 
Conway (Arkansas)
United States of America
John,

Although I haven't actually done it yet, I plan to use an engine hoist to lift one end and then back a car hauler trailer under it. Then, I'll lower the lifted end onto the trailer and back up and lift the rear and shove her onto the trailer.

I've actually swapped the MM end for end, by myself, in my garage. To do it, I used a hydraulic jack to raise each leg and then placed a PVC end cap under each foot. The hard plastic PVC allowed me to push it around on the smooth concrete garage floor. However, I have to admit that I was huffing and puffing by the time I finished.
Reply With Quote
  #47  
Old Sun 20 January 2008, 11:56
Roadkill_321
Just call me: John #7
 
Wiseton, Saskatchewan
Canada
Thanks for the input guys, those are both good ideas. On another note, I was wondering about the 5VDC output on the power supply. I was going to power the PMDX-122 with it but was wondering if it would be enough. Yesterday I bought a 12VDC wall-wart power supply to power the 12VDC fan that I am going to mount under the Geckos. I had planned on wiring in a 115VAC plug in on the inside of the enclosure to accept the 12V P/S and was wondering if I could just power the PMDX and the fan with it. It's output is 1.5A 12VDC. Do you think it would be enough to power both?

John
Reply With Quote
  #48  
Old Sun 20 January 2008, 13:18
Roadkill_321
Just call me: John #7
 
Wiseton, Saskatchewan
Canada
I was reading the pmdx manual and it stated that the supply to the board should only be 7 to 12VDC or 9VAC @ 200mA on the J8 screw connector. My 12VDC power supply will supply 1.5A does that mean that I can not use it? The fan uses 12VDC @ .16A, and the board at 200mA, does that mean I have too much power or just ample supply?

John
Reply With Quote
  #49  
Old Sun 20 January 2008, 13:36
Doug_Ford
Just call me: Doug #3
 
Conway (Arkansas)
United States of America
John,

I think that means you have an ample supply but I'm not your best source when it comes to electronics expertise.
Reply With Quote
  #50  
Old Sun 20 January 2008, 22:02
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
John, it should work fine. Using only about a quarter of the 1.5amp capacity of the wall-wart.:

Fan 0.16amp (160 milliamp)
PMDX 0.2amp (200 milliamp)
Total 0.36amp (360 milliamp)
Capacity 1.5amp (1500 milliamp)
Reply With Quote
  #51  
Old Sun 20 January 2008, 22:55
Roadkill_321
Just call me: John #7
 
Wiseton, Saskatchewan
Canada
Thanks, I'm not exactly an electrical engineer. But I'm learning.

John
Reply With Quote
  #52  
Old Mon 21 January 2008, 04:35
Richards
Just call me: Mike
 
South Jordan, UT
United States of America
The current supply (Amps) of a power supply must be equal to or greater than the current draw of all the devices attached to it. The power supply does not force current into the attached devices, instead, the devices draw current from the power supply as needed.

I try to always have excess current available so that the power supply runs cooler, but excess capacity usually means larger size and greater cost.
Reply With Quote
  #53  
Old Wed 23 January 2008, 22:56
Roadkill_321
Just call me: John #7
 
Wiseton, Saskatchewan
Canada
Well, I tried my hand at wiring today. Tried to get the "Kitchen Table Project" going. I didn't get a chance to wire the motors or power to the geckos, but I have the contactor working properly and the fan and PMDX power are working too. It turns on when I hit the green button and it shuts off when I hit the red one and there's no smoke. It's a start, I'll try to get the motors turning tomorrow.
Mechmate.jpg
Reply With Quote
  #54  
Old Thu 24 January 2008, 01:44
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
John, I see a solid state relay, probably for the router. Just be aware that some electronically controlled routers/drills (powertools) will not be turned on by a SSR. They don't give suffiecient load to the SSR in the beginning - a bulb/lamp in parallel cures that. Personally, I prefer another contactor to do the router switching.
Reply With Quote
  #55  
Old Thu 24 January 2008, 04:44
Robert M
Just call me: Robert
 
Lac-Brome, Qc
Canada
Send a message via Yahoo to Robert M Send a message via Skype™ to Robert M
Hey John,
Let me guess… getting to sleep took more than average time yesterday!!
Sure look exiting for you, wishing you as good of result w/motors.
Reply With Quote
  #56  
Old Thu 24 January 2008, 06:48
Doug_Ford
Just call me: Doug #3
 
Conway (Arkansas)
United States of America
John,

Have you tried to place your back panel into the enclosure with all of those components in position? I think you're going to have a hard time when you do. Also, most of the guys raise their DIN rail off the back panel so that wires can pass under it and they move it up more toward the top of the panel. My DIN rail was several inches from the bottom edge and I still had a difficult time inserting the cable wires into the bottom connections of the DIN rail mounted terminals.
Reply With Quote
  #57  
Old Thu 24 January 2008, 09:18
Roadkill_321
Just call me: John #7
 
Wiseton, Saskatchewan
Canada
Thanks for the critique guys. It surprises me that a router doesn't draw enough power to keep the SSR on. The specs on this particular SSR says that the Min. Load Current to Maintain On would be 120 mA. There is also the real possibility that I don't know what I'm talking about. This is the link to the specs on the particular SSR that I have. http://magnecraft.thomasnet.com/item...=prod&filter=0

Thanks for the good wishes Robert, the UPS truck came yesterday so sleep was secondary in my mind.

Doug, I haven't yet tried to lay the panel in the back of the box, but according to my measurements it should fit with 2" clearance on the sides and 1" clearance top and bottom. My enclosure has removable panels that I am going to use for extra accessibility to the terminal blocks, etc. I am going to raise the DIN rail up a bit, the picture shows my temporary setup for the "kitchen table project". The panel is not going to be easily removable anyway, as I am mounting a 115VAC receptacle on the side of the enclosure to accept the power supply for the fan and the PMDX board.
I am a long way from getting the panel wired the way I want it to be. Thanks for all the comments.

John
Reply With Quote
  #58  
Old Thu 24 January 2008, 10:40
Doug_Ford
Just call me: Doug #3
 
Conway (Arkansas)
United States of America
John, If you use your SSR with the Milwaukee router that's recommended in the router thread, it will work okay. That's the setup I have. I can't guarantee any other router will work though.
Reply With Quote
  #59  
Old Thu 24 January 2008, 11:50
Roadkill_321
Just call me: John #7
 
Wiseton, Saskatchewan
Canada
Motors are Turning

OK thanks Doug. I haven't gone router shopping yet so that can be a consideration for later. I HAVE THE MOTORS TURNING! Everything is running smoothly and is nice and cool. No smoke.
I have a question about the signal that turns the router on and off though. I am using the aux. out #14 on the PMDX to control the SSR. I have the correct pin set up in "Ports and Pins" in Mach3, but when I enable "Active Low" there is no response from the SSR. When I disable "Active Low" the light (router) comes on and stays on. It doesn't seem to matter if the program sends an M3, M4 or M5, theres no response. I'm a little confused as to how this works. Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks John
Reply With Quote
  #60  
Old Thu 24 January 2008, 12:09
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
Look at posts 46 to 55 in this thread
http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218
Reply With Quote
Reply

Register Options Profile Last 1 | 3 | 7 Days Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 18:58.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.