John,

Thanks.

I have 17' of 4" PVC Sewer pipe from Home Depot and 10' of 4" clear flexible hose from Woodcraft. I think I could have used a little less flexible hose but it is working.

I am getting a little dust left on the table. I am going to resurface my spoil board for the first time so that will be a good test.

Today, I resurfaced my spoilboard for the first time.

Particulars.... Router set at 16000 RPMs, Depth of cut 0.0625", Bit Onsrud 91-000 1.25" Carbide Tipped, Feed Rate 200 IPM. Time to cut 55 min approximately, I stopped it a couple times. Size of surface 61 x 121"

I don't have the blazing speed that J.R. does but I am happy with the time it took.

The dust collection system worked very well. I dropped the foot down so there was about 1/4" between the bottom of the foot and the table. There was some dust left on the table but not much. I suspect that any time you cut MDF you are going to see some dust left over.

Short video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFtLBlWhH0c

Wow That works awesome.. no dust getting past the foot..

Last week, Jimmy from Pensacola stopped by to see my machine. He was in town with family visiting the Mouse that is Mickey Mouse.

We had an opportunity to visit with Sean and see one of the foam forms he is cutting. Top secret stuff so we couldn't take any pictures and had to sign 20 pages of Non Disclosure Agreements.

We also had an opportunity to visit Skycraft Surplus.

Here is the proof he was here.

What are those jaws attacking your PC screen?

Gerald,

When you cut stuff they take on a life of their own. I think they were trial cuts for Barracuda Boy's mouth. If you look close, there is some thing between the Y motor and the Y push button box.

All I see are some pixels . . . . .

Nils,

Just making sure you saw this post on Sean's thread ...

;)

I had a vistor at the begining of December, just forgot to post Regnar photo.

It was nice to meet Russell and to talk MM. We dropped in at Skycraft which is a part of the visit to my machine.

Nils, It was nice to meet you and check out your machine. After finishing some Christmas shopping I came home and started ordering parts. Already have the laser cut parts and sent out for a few quotes for all the steel. To bad I leave for the next few weeks because I am ready to build.

Did you ever figure out your touch plate?

Russell,

I was happy to provide some inspiration. I am looking forward to seeing your build.

I have not fixed the touch plate problem because I have been too busy cutting Reindeer and grills but I think I know why it is happening. I just don't use my laser macro.

Nils: Good to see someone take my place in front of #12. Now Russell needs a notepad and pencil ( camera would be helpful also). Jimmy

Nils is becoming the de facto welcome wagon! A perfect concierge to the MM community.

Merry Christmas Nils.....I have been far to busy to stop by lately.

See you soon.

Sean

arkadaşlar download bölümünden dosyaları aldım fakat cad dosyasında supply.dfx var o dosya varmı yoksa supply adında dosya oluşturup ordaki metallerimi lazer de kestiricez? :confused:

ingilizcem yok hep ben çevircek değilim birazda siz çevirin :D

Tufanca,

Are looking for some one to supply laser cut parts to build your MechMate?

There must be some one local in a country or near you that can help you.

If that is not what you are looking for, please add to this reply.

Regards

It is hard to believe that the last post I had on here was in December. I have been cutting a few things but not posted much.

It is time to start posting. I have some things in the works but the most recent thing I cut was for a company that supports the Silk Screen T-Shirt Printing industries with parts and equipment. I cut some platen's.

Nils,
Nice work for our friend. Good to see you are busy.
Call me soon, I think I have a few more parts like the above for you to cut out. I am without a machine. Funny, I have helped build 4 machines and I don't have one for myself anymore :0

This weekend I cut some framing parts for a client building a 24' Mahogany Run-About Motor Boat. The Mahogany was 1.5" thick. These pieces were the first from two boards that were 16.25" x 84". I used a .25" Upcut Spiral O Flute at 100 IPM.

How did you hold everything in place while cutting?

I used some clamps along the outside. The material was heavy and it didn't take much to hold it down. I also only cut .25 each pass. I used climb cut but next time I am using conventional. I used two tabs on each part but I didn't use large enough tabs - .125" long and thick. Because it was only a .25" bit much of the waste material stayed in the path which helped hold things even with my dust collection on.

That is some good looking wood. I like the grain pattern.

Every time I see pictures of these Mechmates cutting, it is very encouraging. Makes me where I cannot wait until mine is finished. Good job Nils!

Prototype for display company
 

Today, I cut a prototype of a display. It is cut out of 0.1875" Acyrlic material. The picture shows with the paper still on. I will let the client take it off. The top circle turns to lock the pieces together. I used a 0.125" bit at 100 IPM with the router running at 20,000 RPM. Took about 10 min to cut it out.

....and look how nice that edge is on the circle. NICE NILS!

Sean

Nils, Looks nice. Did you end up making your vacuum hold down. If not how did you hold this down?

Thanks

Russell, I have not added vacuum hold down.

I clamped the outside edges and the weight of the material holds it in place. I did not use my dust collection. Because I am using a 0.125" bit, the chips remain in the slot cut by the bit and they help secure the pieces after they have been cut. I apply a little pressure when needed. Most of the time no pressure is needed.

The edge is very smooth.

I'll say. Very nice edge Nils. Maybe its time to upgrade my beast.

Greg,

The right bit for the material is also important. The bit I am using gives a really good edge. I have been using the same bits to cut all my Acyrlic. I have cut some at 200 IPM.

Agreed.

I think I'll read thru your build again and refresh myself on your setup. I'm still happy with my configuration, but I do allot of sanding on the edges due to the line from each pass (pass depth). You would think the last pass would clean up the previous cut lines.

Also would like more speed. My motors are the PK????A1A with corresponding power supply. I rarely go over 100 ipm due to lost steps. Just need to start re-reading again, and do the homework.

You can do a final pass using the full length of the cutter, without changing the program you can accomplish this by using cutter cutter compensation, say for example you used a 6mm endmill, in mach3 tool table set that tool to 5.95mm and do the final pass again, this will tell mach to cut slightly closer to the material.

Some CAM programs have this option as a parameter and you don't need to use the cutter comp trick.

Thanks Pablo,

I'll try on my next project.

Thanks Nils for the use of your thread. :o

Greg, I also had that line thing.The issue in my setup was that the cutter was`t cutting square with the table so every time it go one step deeper the tip of the cutter would cut the line.Maybe check that as it resolved my line drawing on the edges.

Some people reverse the last toolpath to clean the lines....

If the first passes are clockwise around the part, the leftward cutter deflection makes the part slightly oversize. Then, with last pass counter-clockwise, the cutter deflection tries to make the part under-size, but in real life it makes it on-size and clean. Or so they say . . . . .

Greg,

I would suggest that you look at the Pinion Gears be sure the grub screws are thight.

Last week end, I removed the motors and cleaned the gears, checked the grub screws, and cleaned all the dirt and junk and added new grease to the gears. I also did the same with my X VWheels. I would do the Y if they were easier to get to but the Y runs so smooth and they are a little more protected, I have not done them. I am not removing the Z VWheels. If I could weld them I would.

I could tell a difference in how things sounded and cut.

I regularly clean my rails and V Wheels with Boeshield T-9. It helps lubricate and keep the rust away.

I am also finding that the better quality bit makes a difference. I pretty much only use Onsrud bits. I don't always agree with the bits they recommend. I am using a lot of the 65-000 series bits for a variety of materials. They give me a very good edge.

Greg, if I can help you give me a call.

Thanks men,

I think Gerald may have it. The lines are 360 degrees around the part. So if the cutter was not "plum" (true vertical), the lines would not be on all the surfaces (360 degrees). For example, on my Cherry bench (showroom thread), I cut the leg and heart profile on the MM. The lines were on all the surfaces of the leg. Same with the heart profile.

I went and checked all my cut files, and they are all conventional (clockwise). Easy enough to run a test where I do a climb (counter clockwise) cut on the last cut.

As for a loose grub screw, I always check the gantry and Y car for "tightness". I had a loose grub screw when first starting up and spent way too much time looking for the problem, that I'll never forget.

Now taking the motors off and doing a good cleaning, new grease, ..... well, guess what I'll be doing this weekend. :o

I'll report back on the proper thread. :)

We don't use the last_pass_counterclock method because that runs opposite to the reason for clockwise cutting in the first place; tearouts on sharp points in the profile. We run the first passes about 0.5mm too big and the last pass on size.

Thanks Gerald,

Been having too much fun cutting, that I can't see the forest for the trees.

New Dust Foot
 

The last couple days I have been working on a new dust foot. Since I cut so much Acrylic, I decided to make it out of that.

I have discovered a couple things that I will change on this new one but I like the new design. I need to enlarge the hole for the router nuts.


Attachment 10268


I used magnets to allow me to easy take it apart when I want to change bits. I will add another set of magnets at the front of the foot.


Attachment 10269

I love the magnet idea !! I saw that somewhere and was wondeing how it would hold up.

Nils, Nicely Done! Let us see some pics of it mounted! How do you like the performance?

Some one on here did one with magnets.

I only did a test cut, I will see how it works on a real job.