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  #61  
Old Thu 12 March 2009, 12:40
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
Jayson the parts look very good. How long did it take to do the plates on the cnc mill?
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  #62  
Old Sat 14 March 2009, 05:56
Jayson
Just call me: Jayson #18
 
Horsham
Australia
Hi J.R.,

The plates were machined very conservatively as I have enough broken end mills in my collection already

Each plate took aroung 35 minutes. Slow I know but it got the job done.

Hopefully I will get them finished on Sunday and have another run soon after.

Jayson
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  #63  
Old Wed 18 March 2009, 04:51
Jayson
Just call me: Jayson #18
 
Horsham
Australia
Sorry all for not posting on the weekend, I was just too excited about getting the gearboxes finished. They went together perfectly and have made a difference of course. My maximum speed has been reduced from 27 meters per minute down to 15 meters per minute. I am still happy with 15m/min rapids, the table is not all that big so it gets from one end to the other quickly. The added safety of the slower speeds is also a bonus
Some pictures...

gearbox.jpg gearbox2.jpg
One X axis gearbox and the y installed

I got a delivery of some 6mm acrylic sheet during the week that I had hoped to make an edge lit sign with. The sign is 230mm high by 530 long and is to go over a friends BBQ area. I was not sure how it would go so I was conservative with my machining feeds and speeds. The finished depth was 4.5mm and this was done in 4 passes at 1900mm/min using a 12mm 45 degree V cutter. It took around 45 minutes to machine. If I was to do it again it would probably be in 2 passes at the same speed.

sign1.jpg

The picture does not do the finished product any justice, it does look fairly good even if it’s me that says so

d.jpg

Here is a close-up of one of the letters just so you can see how badly the machine does curves...

I still need to mount some LEDs and a way to hang the sign but so far so good.

That’s it for now, off to dream up another small project before I start the next big one.
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  #64  
Old Wed 18 March 2009, 07:15
jeffa
Just call me: Jeff
 
Iowa
United States of America
Jayson,

I assume you're being sarcastic about "how badly the machine does curves". This looks really good. Congratulations!

Jeff
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  #65  
Old Fri 20 March 2009, 21:30
Jayson
Just call me: Jayson #18
 
Horsham
Australia
Hi Jeff,

Yep I was being sarcastic. I feel very happy with the cut quality.

Regards,

Jayson.

P.S.
Sign Completed.jpg
Sign Finished.
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  #66  
Old Fri 20 March 2009, 21:56
gmessler
Just call me: Greg #15
 
Chicago IL
United States of America
Looks great Jayson.

How did you end up lighting the sign?
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  #67  
Old Fri 20 March 2009, 22:55
Jayson
Just call me: Jayson #18
 
Horsham
Australia
Hi Greg M,

Thanks for the comment.

I lit the sign with a string of 30 surface mount led's with adhesive tape on the back. Probably too many LED's but it was easy and it worked.

Jayson.
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  #68  
Old Fri 20 March 2009, 23:42
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
Smart work Jayson!

Where are the other Aussie CNC router blokes these days? Probably out practicing their rugby so that they can thrash us again!
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  #69  
Old Sat 21 March 2009, 01:02
Jayson
Just call me: Jayson #18
 
Horsham
Australia
Thanks Gerald,

there are other Aussies lurking here, I have been answering a few PM's and phone calls filling them all in on what a great design you have provided. There will be others built here soon I'm sure.

Jayson.
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  #70  
Old Sat 21 March 2009, 02:11
Greolt
Just call me: Greg
 
Victoria
Australia
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerald D View Post
Probably out practicing their rugby so that they can thrash us again!
Yeah, just lets not talk about the cricket right now.
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  #71  
Old Sat 21 March 2009, 02:42
MattyZee
Just call me: Matt
 
Adelaide
Australia
First post

Hey Gerald, thanks for the great plans! I've been one of the ones bugging Jayson with questions. I've had a homemachine i was going to upgrade to improve it but i've since decided to go with the MechMate.
It looks like Jayson has done a great job with his build and i'm lucky enough to be able to use the same laser cutters/benders as Jayson as they are 10mins down the road (Jayson is about 5 hours away).

Funny you should post here Greg as your machine is what inspired me to mod mine to a Rack and Pinion drive but i like the idea of a large cutting area.

I'm still going through making sure i understand everything before i dive in. I have a couple weeks of leave from from work begininnig Easter weekend and hope be able to really getting cracking then. Will keep you all posted.

hardest part was convincing the wife....

Last edited by MattyZee; Sat 21 March 2009 at 02:43.. Reason: poor spelling
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  #72  
Old Mon 30 March 2009, 07:27
Besser
Just call me: Besser
 
Vic
Australia
x-y y-x

Jayson,

Gerald has mentioned elsewhere making the carriage transom represent the longest axis to later accommodate transfer to a larger table.

After building #18, is there anything you would do differently?
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  #73  
Old Tue 31 March 2009, 00:59
Jayson
Just call me: Jayson #18
 
Horsham
Australia
Hi Besser,

There is not anything that springs to mind that I would do differently. The design is extreamly well thought out and if the plans are followed you will not have any trouble with the build.
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  #74  
Old Fri 03 April 2009, 16:07
stingry
Just call me: Pete
 
Canberra
Australia
Smile Still lurking - not working on it yet

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerald D View Post
Smart work Jayson!

Where are the other Aussie CNC router blokes these days? Probably out practicing their rugby so that they can thrash us again!
Still lurking until I get room in my garage to start my MM! My son has a Mini in the way right now. I am educating myself first on CNC before I start.

Jayson - good work. I know it is achievable in OZ now.

Pete D
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  #75  
Old Sun 12 April 2009, 06:12
Jayson
Just call me: Jayson #18
 
Horsham
Australia
A brief update on what’s been happening here.
I spent some time fabricating a pen holder so that I could draw some cross's in the corners of the machine, the purpose being to square it all up. I could have just followed Gerald’s squaring directions but where would be the fun in that . After a few hours of fabricating and cross drawing the machine is now .5 mm out of square (it was 5mm out to start with ) I will spend some more time on this soon to get it better I just cant live with it the way it is .

Oh and the postman delivered this last week...

Spingle n vfd.jpg

The spending never stops. I have hooked it all up temporarily to test it works and also to do initial setup. As others have found it is important to set the motor parameters into the VFD before trying to make the spindle turn. Failing to do this may result in damage to the spindle and/or VFD.
Some may notice the white tape on the collet nut. This is a target for my optical tacho so that I can confirm the VFD if displaying the correct RPM. An interesting observation for those of you without a tacho. Here in Australia our mains power is 240 volts at 50 Hz (it's the 50 Hz that's important). Fluorescent lighting "flickers" at a rate of 50Hz here so if you have a target stuck onto the nut it will appear stationary at 50Hz or 3000 rpm and at multiples of 50 so 100 Hz is 6000rpm with the same result (100Hz x 60 seconds = 6000 RPM). Just some more useless information. This little fact also means that to use my optical tacho I need to turn off the shed lights and turn on a torch otherwise the tacho just reads 3000 rpm no matter where you point it. I am surprised that in the dark the VFD didn't end up in the bucket of water on the floor under it. I guess you have to be lucky some times.
I have to order some aluminium during the week to make the mounting brackets so at present I have only been doing bench testing. I may have to look at getting a different pump as it does not seem capable enough. It is rated at 12 litres per minute but once restricted to the smaller size tubing (only restricted once it gets to the spindle) it is only passing 250 to 300 ml/min. This still seems to be plenty for testing and very well may be enough when running but I would like to get another 100 to 200 ml/min just to be sure. All the same I will monitor the temperature of the water and the flow just to make sure things don't get out of hand.

I have noted that it looks like there have been some markings removed from the spindle, and I'm not sure why

Spindle Markings.jpg

Can anyone confirm what is usually marked on the third line, is it anything important?
For those that have more knowledge on water cooled spindles than I what do you use to cool them (apart from water ) Do I use automotive coolant or is there something else I should be trying to procure?

That’s it...

'till next time.

Jayson.

Last edited by Jayson; Sun 12 April 2009 at 06:37.. Reason: Fixed figures for 50Hz lighting
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  #76  
Old Sun 12 April 2009, 06:36
jhiggins7
Just call me: John #26
 
Hebron, Ohio
United States of America
Jayson,

That spindle looks great, and already running. Was the VFD RPM accurate?

Best of luck with your spindle set-up...already looking forward to more updates when you get it hooked up.

Regards,
John
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  #77  
Old Sun 12 April 2009, 06:42
Jayson
Just call me: Jayson #18
 
Horsham
Australia
Hi John,

The RPM is accurate now that I have set the parameters correctly.

Yep, there should be more updates soon. I can't wait to get it cutting.

Jayson.
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  #78  
Old Sun 12 April 2009, 20:19
javeria
Just call me: Irfan #33
 
Bangalore
India
HI Jayson - for the benefit of others can you list out the parameters which you set on this VFD -

one basic doubt - don't laugh at me - when you were setting up the VFD was it connected to the spindle? I mean when you powered it up.

RGDS
IRfan
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  #79  
Old Sun 12 April 2009, 21:33
Jayson
Just call me: Jayson #18
 
Horsham
Australia
Hi IRfan,

Yes the spindle was connected when I was setting up the VFD. I was unsure if the VFD would be damaged if I accidentily started it without a load connected.


All settings are default except for:-

PD003 Main Frequency 25.0
PD004 Base Frequency 400.0
PD005 Max Operating Frequency 400.0
PD023 Rev. Rotation Select 0
PD141 Rated Motor Voltage 220
PD142 Rated Motor Current 7.5
PD144 Rated Motor Revolution 3000

I don't think I have missed any. These are just initial settings and I am sure there will be changes once I get the spindle mounted but for now they are working. I have PD003 set at 25 so that when I press start the spindle runs at 1500 rpm just to prevent running it full speed until I get it mounted and also to prevent bearing damage. I have PD023 set to 0 as I do not require the spindle to run in reverse as my cutters do not work very well turning backwards.

I hope this helps someone.

Regards,

Jayson.
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  #80  
Old Sun 12 April 2009, 21:46
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
I would like to copy the last few posts over to a thread for setting up spindles, but I need the name of the VFD for the title please?
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  #81  
Old Sun 12 April 2009, 22:10
Jayson
Just call me: Jayson #18
 
Horsham
Australia
You certainly may have the name of the VFD.
It is a Huanyang HY02D223B.
Purchased from ebay and shipped from China.

Only time will tell if it was a worthwhile purchase.
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  #82  
Old Sun 19 April 2009, 04:41
Jayson
Just call me: Jayson #18
 
Horsham
Australia
Got some more done today. Got the spindle mounted, the water lines ran and the pumps sorted out. Yes pumps (more than one)

I forgot to take photos of the mount while I was making it.
I will have to apply some paint to it in the near future so I will take the photos then.

My initial tests showed that my pump was going to be ok but this did not take into account the 10 odd meters of 12mm pipe that it had to pump through. The pump was not capable of doing the job. I ended up with about 100 ml/min. Just not good enough. I did a little reading and discovered that the centrifugal pumps that I have can be connected in parallel to increase flow rate or series to increase head pressure. The pumps specs stated that it would pump about 10 liters a minute so I did not need to increase flow rate. I opted to connect them in series to increase head pressure.

http://www.tpub.com/content/doe/h101...h1012v3_76.htm

Spindle mounted.jpg pumps.jpg

Initially the series connection made a small difference but it was still only around 300 ml/min. I left the pumps to run for a while as I noted there was a lot of bubbles in the lines and I knew this would affect the flow rates. After about half an hour most of the bubbles were out of the system. This increased the flow rate to 800 ml/min which I am a lot happier with and I was supprised at how restrictive the bubbles were. The system contains about 15 ish liters of coolant and some anti corrosive agent. I am unsure of the construction of the inside of the spindle so I put in the additive just to be safe.

flow switch.jpg float switch.jpg

I cobbled together a flow switch from some rescued parts I had laying around. It’s not the best looking thing in the world but I think it will do the job until I find a reasonable priced flow sensor. The water enters in the top and fills the U section of pipe causing the float switch to activate. When the pump is turned off or stops, the water drains out the small hole in the bottom of the U and the switch deactivates. It takes about 10 seconds to change states which should be OK I think. I am happy so far with the way this is all working. I just need to make a new dust foot and I'm back in action.

Jayson.
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  #83  
Old Sun 19 April 2009, 06:01
javeria
Just call me: Irfan #33
 
Bangalore
India
Hi Jayson - jsut about the right time - My submersible pump (single ) facing similar problem -

tell me one thing what happenns when you stop them for a while and then restart them - the same story of slow start till the bubbles are out continues ?

ok also where are you planning to connect the flow switch - to the e-stop or just to a high pitched buzzer?

were the pumps supplied to you by the spindle supplier? how much did it cost u

RGDS
Irfan
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  #84  
Old Sun 19 April 2009, 21:03
Jayson
Just call me: Jayson #18
 
Horsham
Australia
Hi Irfan,

when I leave the pumps off for an extended preiod the fluid runs back down the return line until it is below the level of the coolant in the reservoir which is only about 12 inchs. There is no way for any other bubbles to get into the system unless I have an leak in the system. When the pumps are turned back on this small amount of air is pushed out within seconds.
I plan on connecting the flow switch to an input in EMC2 so that it shuts down the spindle, stops motion and also trips the E stop of both the VFD and the machine. Hopefully this will be enough.
The pumps I am using are Iwaki MD10's that I removed from some used equipment at work. From what I have heard they cost a fair amount so I am glad I had them on hand already.

Regards,

Jayson.
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  #85  
Old Mon 20 April 2009, 07:31
javeria
Just call me: Irfan #33
 
Bangalore
India
Thanks Jayson - I am planning similar connections for the float switch -

think I will just get a better pump.

RGDS
IRfan
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  #86  
Old Mon 04 May 2009, 22:21
MattyZee
Just call me: Matt
 
Adelaide
Australia
Hey Jayson, I've just bought a very similar spindle to yours off ebay (may be the same infact) I notice its advertised as a 2.2kW spindle and the markings on yours says 2200W, all good. But then it says 220V 7.5A. Which by my calcs only works out at 1.6kW? whats going on there?
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  #87  
Old Mon 04 May 2009, 23:22
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
Hi Matt, it is a 3-phase motor and it is using 7.5 Amps on each of the 3 phases. Not all at the same time though. See top calculator on http://www.nepsi.com/total_power_calculation.htm
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  #88  
Old Sat 09 May 2009, 17:40
Jayson
Just call me: Jayson #18
 
Horsham
Australia
Hi everyone,

I have been absent from here for a while due to intesive work on the mechmate. To be specific, I have been trying to get the VFD and EMC2 to talk to each other. At first I thought that this would be relatively easy as EMC2 supports the modbus protocol and the VFD supports it as well (according the the VFD specs).

It turns out that the VFD has a communications protocol that is very similar to modbus but not the same as most other units out there. This meant that to make it work I would need to modify the software. This would have been easy if I knew what I was doing but I am not a programmer so it wasn't so easy. Like all things I don't understand, I stuffed around with it

After 3 weeks of intensive changing and compiling, testing, reinstalling, etc, etc, the two now communicate. To be accurate, due to the way I have "fixed" the software there is occasionally a misunderstanding between the two and a communications error is created. This does not have any adverse effects on the system and I just ignore the error. I might have to learn how to program so I can make this work correctly, one day.

Here is a screenshot of what I now have:-


Time for some more testing. I will report back soon.

Jayson.
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  #89  
Old Sat 09 May 2009, 21:35
Gerald D
Just call me: Gerald (retired)
 
Cape Town
South Africa
Very interesting! Especially the fact that you have the feedback of things like the Amps displayed on your screen.
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  #90  
Old Sun 10 May 2009, 04:57
Basilica
Just call me: Basil
 
Wirrinya (NSW)
Australia
Hi Jayson,

Nice work, did you keep a track of the costs involved in the project?
I am also contemplating a similar size to yours and as a fellow aussie i am keen to know the local prices.

Cheers,
Basil
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