Thanks Fellas

Sean and Pete,

You guys nailed it. Loose set screw on one of my X drive reduction pulleys. Going to double up the set screws.
When I first saw the bad cut I knew it had to be some mysterious design flaw or control configuration instead of a simple set screw. The teeth on the cut gears are perfect now.
Happy you guys are here listening.

Thanks again

Use a knurled point set screw and blue loctite

I also use Blue Loctite. I even put it on the shaft and pulley. It doesn't stop the pulleys from ever coming loose but makes it much further between tightenings. I have thought about putting tack welds on the spur gear and shaft so I could remove them from the trouble shooting.

I roll pinned my pinions to eliminate set screw problems there.

I'll give the hollow (jam nut style) set screw with a knurled one a try.

<- put a tig tack weld at the end of the shaft and pinion after using the knurled set screw.

I trashed one 40 hour foam cutting job in the 38th hour due to it shifting.....welder got turned on after that one!

Another option is LOCTITE 680™ Retaining Compound. We use it on flywheels to retain bearings that even when press fit would spin after sometime that are on press gearboxes. I can tell you that when applied right, we have to heat the flywheel for 20 minutes to compromise the compound enough to press the bearings out even after 20 months of 24/7 operation.

Loctite is great and bit of heat will release it.
When I put a tack on that pinion - on the z - it was 3am and I wasn't keen on waiting til morning! LOL.

Thankfully it was a foam cutting job, so I able to save the part by using HILTI 2 part foam to fill in the overcut....restart the machine and recut the area.

"foam is a bit more forgiving when you mess up"

Finally got around to hanging the sign on my garage (dog house).

Nice!!

I like it!

Are you in the doghouse aga John?!?! ;) looks cool.

Mechmate with Laser?
 

Past couple of weeks I've been installing a Laser on the Machine. The circles were cut with Mach3 moving the machine and me pushing the button to fire the laser. The holes were made with me hitting the button as fast as I could. all done at half power.
Did some research last night and found out how to interface with Mach3 and Aspire's post processor. Thanks to a guy named Tweekie.

That's some Mad Scientist looking stuff right there.
I'd love to know more.

Holy Christmas! I hope you have great eye protection. And I thought my 48" Z axis was pushing it!

The laser tube is 47" long.

What are you using for a focal lens?

Without the addition of safety glass to defuse or block the wavelength, be careful of scattered radiation from reflective surfaces.

•Zinc Selenide (ZnSe) - transparent in wide spectral range from yellow (visible) to far IR. ZnSe material is a chemically inert, non-hygroscopic and highly pure product that is very effective in many optical applications due to its extremely low bulk losses, high resistance to thermal shock and stability in virtually all environments, easily machined. To obtain superior transmittance, ZnSe crystals are grown by Chemical Vapor Deposition process . Zinc Selenide is polycrystalline material, demonstrates superior CO2 laser transmittance and is employed in the transmission optical components used in CO2 laser processing.

Standard stuff off the shelf. The one I'm using has a 2" focal length.

Pete,
No doubt on the eye protection. You get two shots as long as you keep one eye closed. This frequency of laser burns the lens off your eye and it is invisible.
Thanks for watching out for me.

Wow! That's awesome, Star Wars home defence! I have soo many questions.

What's the power rating
Does it need cooling

For starters

Crazy ! But in a good way. Be Safe !

Do you know: http://www.lasersaur.com/

Dale,
Power is 80W. The Acrylic was cut using 40W. Could maybe do 1/4" with less. Cooling is done with a pond pump like the spindles. Setup is as easy as a spindle except for the mounting.

Fox,
Really crazy, I powered it thru my contactor so it will shut down if I hit the E-Stop. problem is finding the E-Stop with my remaining good eye.

Got a plug gauge and measured the holes. Supposed to be smaller than that. Once I get it connected to the controller I can shorten the on time and they should get smaller.

On the circles the ID of the hole is .526, the OD of the plug is .514, the kerf is
.012/2 = .006

My goal is to make the Dragon Fly (found on CNCZone).

I think that all the lasers I've seen have had the tube mounted horizontally, with the beam redirected with mirrors. Are you seeing any issues with the tube swaying back and forth with direction changes?

The advantage of the horizontal mount is that the moving head is really lite and can move like an ink jet printer burning graphics onto things. The X and Y rails need to be even an straight to use mirrors.
With the tube vertical I decreased the acceleration and deceleration to reduce the Gs on the tube. I have not found a definitive number for the max Gs the tube can take. My mount is solid to the Z plate. The risk of stopping or going too fast is breaking the internal structure in the tube. Mach3 adjusts the power with speed when burning graphics.

Very interesting!

Cool Stuff - Have I mentioned lately how much I love this platform !!! . MechMater's are a great bunch for sure !!!!

Now you've done it Fox, a DIY laser is going to bug me for weeks! :)

BECAUSE YOU CAN!!!
Loving it!!!