Making Skins #74 - Brisbane Australia

[Surfcnc]

Hi Travis

Yes the paint has a metalic in it.
The table size is 2500 x 1300.

Ross

[Surfcnc]

Popped together the Y Car for a test fit this evening and was very impressed with both the quality of the laser cutters work and Gerald's DXF files.
It literally snapped into place excepting the the last corner that took a little hammer to convince the tab to go into place.
As per other reports it holds itself together even before it has seen a weld to it.
IMG_0692.jpg IMG_0694.jpg
IMG_0693.jpg

Springs - searched high and low for a spring that was near the plan spec and came up blank.
In the end found a specialist spring manufacturer in one of our industrial estates who could make myself, Skippy and Aus MadDog a set each.
The proprietor was happy to see the Mechmate plan M3 10 100 K B as his guide.
He said he could get the 12 kg force at 128mm as per the spec from his computer controlled spring making machine.

Regards
Ross

[Kobus_Joubert]

Hi Ross what are you doing with my tablesaw. I think we have the exact same model. Does yours also have the sliding table on the left side ?

[Surfcnc]

Hi Kobus

Have you checked in your shed to see if it is still there !!
It is quite old now and still perfectly functional, but I remember when I bought it the sliding table was an option (unfortunately I did not buy it at the time).
The thing that drew me to it was the very good quality fence it had for the price.

I have worn out the original motor and replaced it with a more powerful one the second time around.
It is pretty much a one owner dog if you know what I mean.
I have seen very tough men step back when it starts and cabinet makers shudder in horror at the lack of guarding.
The original riving knife setup was an accident waiting to happen so it came off and never went back on.

Hope yours has also been a faithful servant.

Regards
Ross

[Kobus_Joubert]

I had no problems so far...have changed the v-belt a while ago, but still on the same 2.2 kW motor.

I have not connected my sliding table at the moment due to space constraint, but I am planning to extend my w/shop in November / December adding another 2 meters in the width....then I will have 12 x 5 meter space. At the same time put in proper windows and a ceiling.

[Surfcnc]

Today welded the Y car first with the TIG then later with the stick welder.
The outcome was not what you would call overly pretty but it was straight.

Once I put the two central welds on the plates that hold the Z slide it they kicked out of square.
In order to remedy that I cut 4 short pieces of M10 threaded rod and set them to were they should have been top and bottom with some nuts and washers (210 mm to the outside of each plate from memory).
It worked well and when I undid the rods, the plates remained square.... thankfully !

I ground off what was some horrible looking mounds of TIG welding and the pics below are the outcome.

Regards
Ross

[Surfcnc]

Set the table level with a water level to a mm or so and then clamped the gantry tubes to the tables as per the Aus Maddog and Skippy setup.

Pleased to report the distortion was absolutely nothing and the gantry sits on the table with no twist at all.
The welding is strong and has good penetration but is going to need a tidy up with the grinder to make it look presentable.

Been doing my homework on the rail cutting and grinding options - no clear winner at this stage on my method.

Regards
Ross

[AuS MaDDoG]

Well Done Ross!!

Your gantry looks just like ours
three gantrys now done using this same method and worked a treat for all, certainly a nice easy setup and way to do it, and the end result ends up working out spot on with no distortion what so ever, certainly helps having everything bolted and clamped.

Let us know when you are ready to do your rail cutting and we can arrange the use of our skate parts if required. Just not sure what your thinking yet should be getting onto cutting and grinding ours soon, I think I have put it off for long enough now!!

Cheers
Tony.

[J.R. Hatcher]

Ross in the US we call it Bondo. I used it to smooth out some of my welds. Use a flexible rubber hose to spread it out in corners. This is much faster than grinding and leaves the weld as strong as it can be. This should make Gerald happy ............ he hates to see welds ground.

[domino11]

So you should never grind welds? I was told long ago that the only thing different from a bad welder to a good welder is a good grinder.

[J.R. Hatcher]

Sorry if I didn't make my last post clear. I was trying to say ... don,t grind the welds ......... cover and smooth them out with bondo. Just the weld not the seam.

[domino11]

Jr, yeah that is what I was saying, the old rule I heard was if your welds look crappy, then just grind em till they look good. Were we not supposed to use the filler (bondo or painters caulk) to fill the seams, so they would not corrode. I thought I remember Gerald saying something about sharp edges and seams being the first place for corrosion to start? Could be my memory though.

[melissa]

Originally Posted by domino11

Were we not supposed to use the filler (bondo or painters caulk) to fill the seams, so they would not corrode. I thought I remember Gerald saying something about sharp edges and seams being the first place for corrosion to start? Could be my memory though.

You've got it correct, Heath.

I think Gerald's bigger point was: weld enough to make it strong, and then fill the remaining gaps (between the welds) with caulking to prevent corrosion.

You could seam-weld the whole thing, but then you get distortion issues from the heat.

Michel

[Gerald D]

There is only one thing worse than a weld that has been ground, and that is a weld covered with Bondo!

My logic with my production workers at my factory is that the welds must pass inspection without grinding. But, if you are the inspector, then you can do whatever you want with your welds

[Surfcnc]

A reasonable match for the Mechmate motor springs were hard to come by here in Australia, so a local spring maker did a custom for myself, Aus Maddog and Skippy.
They were made as per M3 19 100 KB and came in to within 5% of the 12 Kg force at 128mm extension specification.

Not important to be that exact I know but as they were making them ...
For those of you not wishing to go blind counting the coils their are indeed 35 as per the drawing.

IMG_0728.jpg

For reference you Aussies, the details are...
Gibbens Pty Ltd
37B Manton St
Morningside Queensland

If you refer to Job order 43028 they can reproduce the same spring for you.
Call them re pricing.

Regards
Ross

[AuS MaDDoG]

Looking good Ross!!
Need to catch up soon!! all we need now is the machined parts to turn up for the Z and we are almost their!!

Good work

Cheers
Tony.

[Surfcnc]

Got my support board today for the mechmate.
As previously stated REALLLLY looking forward to having a flat work surface.

It is a 32 mm humidity resistant MDF sheet.
To protect it, the underside and sides are coated with a super tough undercoat and then a coat of gloss black enamel has been rolled over that.

IMG_0731.jpg

Regards
Ross

[skippy]

Looking really good Ross

Just one quick Question do you think that will rust or are they of no rusting metal or do we need to coat them with something that stop them from rusting?
Can't wait to fit them the our Mechmates.

Regards

Paul

[Surfcnc]

Hi Paul

Thought the same thing myself. It is a an alloy steel but it would rust in a corrosive environment.
They can be painted or powder coated but to do a good job they would need to be painted extended as the coils are very tight.
Personally mine won't get any paint at least until they show some sign of corrosion as I don't think it is a major issue judging by the number of unpainted springs used on the machines displayed in the forum.

Regards
Ross

[Gerald D]

Do you have any "electroplaters" around? Common procedure is to send springs to an electroplater to have them zinc-plated (electro-zinc). The spring maker could have offered you this option.

[Surfcnc]

Thanks Gerald - I will ask the spring maker.

Regards
Ross

[KenC]

drip a few drops of oil (any oil) on the spring.

[Gerald D]

From the Gibbens website: "Plating springs causes some distortion in the spring, so when possible choose a pre-plated material, this will once again save both time and money"

The pre-plated wire option is not known around here, and we regularly have that size/class of spring sent to electro-platers without problems.

But, back to basics, you can spraypaint those springs as well......just extend them while painting.

[Surfcnc]

Checked in with the manufacturer and he confirmed over the phone what Gerald has quoted from the website.
He also gave me his source for electroplating but mine will get a coat of paint at best.
In the end they are cheap to replace if one should break, rust or meet some other fate.

Skippy, a few bolts anchored in a piece of steel with the springs stretched between them will do fine as a painting jig.
Put your eye protection on, or with your remaining eye, it will be much harder to stretch them over the jig when the spring flies off !!!

Regards
Ross

[Surfcnc]

The cable chains for the X and Y axis' arrived today.
I used a combination of the forum guide and the manufacturers brochure to get the length figured out.

Bit of a mystery this cable chain thing to me, but once you see them they are like a plastic blocks, just clicking together with the blue pivot pins
The system "CPS" uses is quite simple with each component clearly marked.
The side on shot here shows a 55 mm wide chain with a bend radius of 70mm, all very clearly marked out by the manufacturer on every component.
IMG_0732.jpg

The other shots below show how the various plugs and bits clip together.
Also wrestled my painted support board up on the table ready to be drilled and bolted into place.

Regards
Ross

[AuS MaDDoG]

Noicccceeeee!!

They will look great on the finished MM, had confirmation today ours are also on the way. Cheers for the info Ross.
With regards to the springs, some regular maintainance and some lanolin spray should take care of them for quite some time

Cheers
Tony.

[Surfcnc]

Today was a bit of a tidy up on the machine.

After checking my base board, it came to light that the upper table was about 10mm out of square.
I borrowed my neighbours porta power, backed off the bolts on the X beams and gently pushed on the Y cross bearers.

The table was squared using the support board as a guide.
Of course the support board was meticulously checked for square before using it as a guide. It all come together within a millimeter.

IMG_0817.jpg IMG_0818.jpg

My Z slide support bases came in the mail today from a unnamed source. That unnamed bloke did a really good job, so thanks.

Ross

[Surfcnc]

Today I mounted the support base after one more "final" adjustment.

I used a long 8mm drill bit to drill from underneath the table.
In order to get an accurate counter bore for the cuphead bolts I made a jig and used a pattern following router to route a nice flat recess for the cup head to land on.
That took a fair bit longer and made a pretty decent mess a my dust extractor is still on loan for the time being.
Here is a pic of the bolt grid, note I put two in on the edges to take either a 1300 or 1200 wide base board.

IMG_0819.jpg IMG_0820.jpg

regards
Ross

[AuS MaDDoG]

Ross,

Sorry to hear about the hassles you have had with the squarness of your table, but good to see you have it all under control
I like your support board good and solid and well protected on the underside.

Did you manage to get your replacement ends for your E-Chain yet?? if so have you got any photos?? of the ends.

Cheers
Tony.

[Surfcnc]

Hi Tony

No problems really with the squaring issue as I just had to unbolt the beams then re tighten them in the correct position - if it was welded then THAT would be a different story.
It was just fun to use the porta power, you know the sledgehammer walnut analogy.

The ends came and I fitted them up, so now they all point to the right places on the machine. Images show the details.

X Chain
IMG_0826.jpg

Y Chain
IMG_0827.jpg

Regards
Ross