Mechmate - Neighbors envy owners pride.

South africa friendly product
 

Alan get one of these

Thats not a nokia, thats a Glockia :D :D

The Glockia needs you to be there. Alan build yourself one of these and use pepper balls that the police here use.


Sentry Project. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QcfZ...eature=channel

Or better yet, put up an electric fence around the MM when you leave. :)

No heath, They would steal the electric fence:)

Machine back on line
 

Spliced in cables and fitted new plugs - everything working and no escaping smoke.:) Thank goodness I had documented where every wire goes along with its core number on my schematic, it was just a matter of following the numbers, hey even a monkey could do it...

Total cost to replace stolen items: R1200.00 It would have been a little less but the cable supplier now only sells cables in multiples of 10m :confused::mad: so if you need 11m you must buy 20m (on the positive side, I suppose its still better than having to buy a whole drum as some others have had to.) I managed to get the plugs at a better price using some connections...;)

Now to catch up on the work waiting for the machine...

Well done Alan, now for some more dust...:D

Glad you were able to fix your machine. Yet another great thing about the MechMate. We can fix them ourselves. If you were insured I'd tack a heck of a labor charge to that repair. If you have to pay a vendor to come in and fix that it would have been expensive !!!

Since having to replace some of my cables acquired by parties unknown, I mounted the control panel on the side of the machine to shorten the cable run. This made stating the machine a bit awkward as I had to move around the computer to get to the panel. The computer itself was on a mobile trolley that I had to wheel to and from the machine every time I wanted to use it.This was getting a bit tiresome and I am sure that the rolling backwards and forwards on the very bumpy floor was not doing the computer much good and the amount of dust getting into the computer was becoming a bit of a worry - so a plan had to be made to house the computer SECURELY at the machine as well as give me acces to the panel mounted switches to make starting and resetting easier. The result below is a pressurised and filtered box mounted on a swing arm that holds the computer, screen and switches. The sides, bottom panel centre divider and doors are machined from 18mm shutter ply, all the other faces are done in 12mm MDF.

Attachment 10635 Attachment 10638
General front and back views of the cabinet, the doors on the sides are held on with furniture screws screwing into rumper nuts fixed into the sides - these need an allen key to loosen and fasten. The door on the computer side has a window to enable viewing of the front panel lights. The door on the electrical panel side has a filtered outlet and mounting hook for the remote. The electrical warning sign still needs to be painted in red.

Attachment 10636
Support arm attached to the leg of the MechMate, there is a swivel plate below the cabinet with a central hole to allow the cables to pass through.

Attachment 10637
Filter and fan supplying positive pressure into the cabinet, filter is a small truck unit.

Attachment 10641 Attachment 10640
Views into the electrical panel side, all the switches that used to be on the main electrical panel are now on the cabinet as well as an addition of a spindle light and hour meter. The only switch left on the main panel is the master switch/isolator. The back of the Dell computer can be seen through the centre divider inside the cabinet.

Attachment 10639
Front view close up showing the angled keybord support and level mouse pad area. The small hole next to the mouse allows the cables for the mouse and keyboard to enter the cabinet as well as an extension for the USB port for the flash stick. The cable for the remote enters below the cabinet.

Attachment 10642
While I was busy I thought I might as well use the MechMate to its potential and engraved the button and light functions into the front face of the cabinet. I still need to fill the text with a contrasting paint to make them stand out more.

Overall a succesfull project that has made operating the machine a lot easier and quicker to get going.

very nice

I love it!:D

This should be a on ALL MechMates. I like it. Well done Alan

Very Nice Alan! :)

Fantastic!

Hi Alan

Got to admire how you have turned a setback into such a positive.
Design wise your previous experience has obviously spoken loudly to you and what a great result.
From the built in grab handles to the pressurised box, I just love ya work.

Regards
Ross

Alan,

I wish I had 1/10th of your creativity.

Maybe I'll start drinking some SA beer. :)

En praat van Kobus wat lekker speel, dit lyk goed

Thanks for the comments guys.

Greg & Ross, you make me blush, strong praise from such a creative group.

(South African beer is to be recommended!)

That looks fantastic.

My biggest problem with the MechMate is that I have a multitude of jobs ready for it but none of them are paying jobs.

Computer control box, remote control boat hull for son , panel doors for wardrobes for wife, belt reduction box, Victorian wall panelling for guest bathroom, Company Signage etc etc

Basically I could keep the MechMate and I busy for a month, but I'd be broke :D

You mentioned painting Alan. That reminds me of something i want to experiment with, cnc colouring in like a glorified printer plotter. Starting with markers and moving on to small air brushes using water based paints.

More non profitable time :D

John

Looks great Alan ................... and someone once said I had way to much spare time :D

JR...Gosh, I apologized for that remark a dozen times! ;)
Alan, nice work!

Alan, Nifty looking console.
Like the idea of need meets new design !
Robert ;)

The next generation...
 

Not CNC work (yet) but a small project my Daughter cut on the scroll saw for ACE senior convention. Getting her going with the woodworking bug so she can learn to operate the MM :) (so proud of her achievement, had to brag)

Attachment 12151
Cutting on the scroll saw

Attachment 12152
Routing the half lap

Attachment 12153
Checking the fit of the half lap

Attachment 12154
Applying oil finish

Attachment 12155
Finished product

Our kids are sure growing up - great job Stephanie!

(I had to remember this post)

Nice one there show the old man that you can!

Nice, I see Cape Watchmakers are also featured.:D

Stair Stringers
 

Doing a quick favour for my best bud, staircase stringers for his loft conversion, solid Oregon (Douglas Fir), indexed down the centre of the table either side of a reference edge (strip of pine screwed to the table and machined to size on both sides by MM). Job had to be done in two stages as the stringers are almost 5m long.

Attachment 12206
Neil watching his staircase appearing out of two large beams (He still can't believe I built this machine :) )

Attachment 12207
Those beams are loooong!

(please excuse poor quality pics, had to use my phone as my Daughter has annexed my camera and it doesnt look like I'm getting it back :mad:)

Time for Dad to treat himself to a new camera - I have used that excuse often....

Alan, That is one nice project.I got a showroom in JHB to go and kit out when I go back from my Family visit and it`s all in Bamboo.Can`t wait to see dust flying.

The machine is very busy at the moment working its way through a large pile of ply, but had some time today to do a quick sign for a client (the cutting was quick but the layout & computer work took quite a bit longer)

Attachment 12597
The wany edge board was as supplied.

Attachment 12598
Locating and clamping was a bit of a challenge.

Getting the text to fit on the waney plank caused a bit of head scratching but after the lightbulb went on, I grabbed the camera took a shot square on from the maximum distance at full zoom to fill the frame (to minimize any potential distortion) and brought that pic into my CAD program - then it was easy to trace the edges and layout the text (as individual letters so I could resize and rotate each one to suit the space available). When it came time to machine, I drilled dowel holes in the table top to act as locators - these holes were placed adjacent to the traced lines of the plank edge.

Lekker. I am watching you guys. Tonight I am in Chicago. Finished RT-66 this morning. My route was 2247 miles. Tomorrow with Amtrak to NY and then Sunday back home.

Hope your having a great trip !!!

I miss making dust but the Vectric training was SUPER.

Good job Alan. That was really creative thinking!

Christmas comes early to No 11
 

A friend is moving overseas so has to empty out is garage and accumulated goodies - among the treasures was this Alitvar66 high frequency drive (2.2Kw). This has now found a new home on my spares shelf waiting for a suitable HF spindle - better get onto E-Bay :) Thanks Roy

Attachment 12644

Now you are going in the RIGHT direction.
Just wactch out for SOLAR-JEAN on eBay. They list ...on their site...transport cost to SA for the 3kW as $99.00. When I contacted them to ask for a collet set to be shipped together I was told that shipping to SA will be $199.00 ?????:mad:
I am in the process of bringing one in for Uncle Ray Buck.

While we are on the subjecs of Inverters. Can anybody help me with and ENGLISH version for a HL-3000-2015T Chinese Inverter.

Yes Kobus, already discovered that little trick of his, cant seem to find Lovehappyshopping anymore - seems to have dissapeared.

After doing a bit of research last night, my head is a little confused (not an unusual state mind you) Nobody on E-Bay seems to make or are able to supply a 2.2Kw air cooled spindle, only water cooled in that size and I dont particularly want to go with water cooled - not wanting to add more complexity with water systems etc... (I know Fimec and HSD make them but the cost is quite a bit higher :eek: )

Units available are 1.5Kw and then 3Kw, now the 1.5 is the same size as my router and not big enough for my needs so would like to get the 3Kw unit... but will it work with this inverter (rated at 2.2Kw) I know that I will only get maximum 2.2Kw out of the inverter and as such will not be using the full capacity of the motor but will it not cause any damage to the Inverter? - will have to give Schneider a call on Monday.

If it cant work together I will have no option but to get a water cooled 2.2Kw spindle or use this inverter for some other machine in the factory and get the correct inverter for a 3Kw air cooled spindle - seems a pity not to use such a great gift.

Your 2.2kW inverter will happily drive a 3kW rated spindle, but your spindle will not be allowed to go over 2.2kW. Your inverter is the one that makes the rules - you set it to limit current at whatever point you decide. I reckon a 3kW spindle is a better match for your inverter than a 2.2kW spindle.