Hector,
Looking good! I was looking at your table pics and was thinking there was something missing. Are you adding diagonal bracing later? Just wondering.

Since lateral (diagonal) braces are intended to add stiffness and to keep squarness in the table...I though that it was better to achieve squarness first and then after having it...as shown in the pictures...add the diagonal braces to the lateral frames...In case of the lateral frames, the upper part of the brace will be bolted to the legs, and the other end will be welded to the bottom brace, so ill present the braces first bolt them and then do the welding this way the braces will have the correct posicion and will preserve the squarness of the table.

Hector,

I did the same as you, waited to put the braces in. I don't think it matters in the big picture. Even if you main rails are off a little, level wise, but still parallel, your cutting surface will follow the rails. So if they're twisted slightly, your cutting surface will also be twisted, producing a flat cut. The only time this doesn't work is when your material your cutting won't flex with the table.

Really a great design.

MIKE

Day 9 of my build
 

Well, today Im posting Days 9,10,11,12 and 13 of my build. Some days I had an hour other more...
For Day 9 I spend about 8 hours, full day, cutting rails for x and y and grinding most part of them...
My angles for the rails, are 2-1/2, althought is not recomended cutting them with the Jr skate, I cut them using about 12 cutting disks swaping them for new one when the skates hits the rail, then when I start to cut a new rail I swap back the used ones, and this way I managed to cut all rails.

Day 10 of my build
 

This day was a wasted one :mad: I tried to unbend the rails with the welding method, I though that rails should be straight perfect...but this is far from the reality...rails will be straighted while assembling them to the beams:p not a necesity to straight them before...good lesson learned...$60 dollars wasted of rails and a day of frustration. So..please dont do this...;)

Day 11 of my build
 

3 Hours spend...cutting new Y rails...they truned nice better than the first ones...

Day 12 of my build
 

This day I spend 8 hours (full day) drilling & taping X and Y rails. I assembled X rails and align them width jigs.

Day 13 of my build...
 

Spended a morning, about 6 hours...this was a good day...I welded the gantry, turned out pretty square and parrallel, assembled Y rails, and did a test...So up to today...I have the table & gantry assembled...Next to do...The Y Car:)

Gantry sliding test
 

Just wanted to post a little video...of the gantry sliding :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a7Lt4UDGhk

Thanks for all the feedback Hector. Interesting that you managed to cut down the 2.5" angle iron using 12 disks . . . .
How did the 45 degree grinding go?

Actually there is some grinding more to be done, as you can see I havent cut the tips of the X rails jet...Although the Skate does the job it is ineficient. I started risking the rails doing some grinding by hand with the grinder, then the skate got in, but there is much of cristalization in the disk, even setting some inclination with the height screws the disk doesnt attacks the metal as it should an this causes cristalization in the disk and it becomes wasted. One should have a 30 degree angle of attack to eat the metal fast so I think there has to be a redesign in the skate. Other thing, I cosumed a lot of time adapting the skate to my grinder, I think It will be better to leave just the center hole of the grinder in the plate, and leave the mounting holes for us to drill, the drilling of the 6mm screws for the grinder was matter of a minute...welding the holes that came alone with the parts from joe and adapting the plate plus grinding and taking some parts of the skate was hours of work.
I think that the grinder should be mounted in a position regular to the used by hand instead of 90 degrees perpedicular to the xy plane that is actually has.
PS...can you please update the title of my thread ;) I like the numbering of the day thing :D
Thanks....

Gerald,
Does it matter wether tube or box section is used for cross bracing the table.
The tube has to have the ends flattened, is this not more work?

Has anyone considered using electricions uni-strut for the base. This is quite cheap in the UK and every imaginable bracket to join it you could wish for.

Regards Danny

Danny,

It should not make too much difference between tube or box section, both are pretty rigid. The flattening of the edges is a bit more work, but dust wont collect as much on the tops of the tube. I notched the ends of my tubes to make a neater join but then again I can be a bit pedantic :rolleyes:

Stay away from unistrut, it is way to flexible. The first Shopbots were made using it and the main reason we have a MechMate today is to overcome the inherent weaknesses of unistrut.

Alan,

Thanks for the usefull advice.

I see from some builds that some people have chosen to weld plates to the ends of box section and bolt the frame together. Is there any advantage to this? Or is this to make it easy to disassemble?

Danny, it's for ease of disassembly and transport. Arguably, you give up some stiffness, and introduce the possibility of misalignment.

Hector,

I am in Monterrey on business. You have a great city. We had dinner last night along the river in the city. Tonight we may go to eat a baby goat. I hope your build is going well.

Best regards,

Jeff

Hector, you had better go and count your goats! :eek: :)

Jeff,
Feel free to call if you need something...my phone here is 11574516. Good to have fellow mechmate builders around. If you are staying for more days try dinning in "El gaucho" thats the best beef youll get around here. And for baby goat ("Cabrito") I imagine you are going to "El Rey del Cabrito". Youll find that Monterrey has a lot of night life ;)
Gerald,
Now i get it...one goat is missing, maybe it will apear in Iowa ;)

Hi...
Since my wife gives a dam of my mechmate build :D and my kids are to small to share my exitment...just wanted to let you guys know that tomorrow I´ll be picking up: geckos, antek power supply, cable chain, pmdx...and almost all the stuff to continue with mymechmate build. Taked a 1 month break, so Im exited to regain the project in the upcoming days. The only 3 more things i need to get are motors, rack and pinon, and Im done with getting money out of the pocket :) Didn´t have some much fun since science fairs at school when I was just a kid...

Then can we add some more days to the 13 days in the title? :D

:D Look what i got for the Second Round....
Went to the States to pick them up on Saturday, I didnt make it on time and missed the postal service office, so I have to wait for them until this Monday morning...that was great because it gave me a excuse to take a trip on Saturday to the beach with my little daugther, got into a pirate ship, and on Sunday visited the Zoo...So beside the mechmate parts i got a super fun week :D

IGUS Cable chains and Brackets for X,Y & Z
Geckos
Antek Power supply
And
BOB...

And besides I got the gecko toy! :p

Hector,

Your on the home stretch, It won't be long.:)

Hector,

Really enjoying your build log. Keep up the great work and the pictures. Fantastic job!!

Jay W

Thanks to MM and Hector
 

Hi Hector:

Just to tell how grateful I am for you to tell me about this great community MM. I wish you the best on your project, the funny thing you should had finished the project before I did, because you started first. But all know about priorities, right? Fortunately, crisis gave me the time to get this project done.

Richy Ricardo
Chile

Congratulations Richy for you machine...Unfortunatlly i havent had the time to get some advance in the project. Last months i had to finish the construction of my new home, that inplied a very big human effort, money and time :eek: Frustration is growing having geckos, power supply, bob, chains and other thing sitting in box in my office :(, Hope I can see some free time comming in the next weeks or so...

My Mechmate Build Resurection
 

Hi...there
I have to say that in a short time, a couple of months passed and Im amazed about how many mechmates are done before mine. I thought I was going to be in in the range of 20-25 serial number, no way :eek:.
Im short of budget right know for the motors but I have managed to obtain some parts here in Mexico and besides some time to continue with my build. Im planning to finish everything and just wait for the motors and gears. I leave you with some recent pics of my advnce...
Greetings...
Hector

Hey Hector, great progress I’d say.
There’s always going to be faster ones to build this nice beast. Look at me, +/- 3 years thinking & drooling about it, lurking in the background of this forum and only know I’ve actually & physically started it. I too feel it is slower than I ever imagine :o.
Wishing you fun while doing it….. & more phots !!
Later, Robert ;)

Hey Hector,

I like your work. Just let it come to you...and it will come in the right time.
By the way I also dreamt of #33 but ...I`m still building a bit and learn a lot meanwhile, I also wanted it a fast build from the beginning, then the Steelguy didn`t finish the job in time ( actually I`m still waiting for the table steel).
Meanwhile I`m preparing my workshop to be comfortable for the MM and getting my stuff together for the dust absorbtion a.s.o. So probably you won`t get bored ...;)

Luck.

Thanks Robert and Claus for your comments,
Today I worked on the control box...All the power for the machine is ready. Insolator, Contactor, ON/Off switch and e-stop circuit are working properly. DC power supply is working giving aprox 40v DC and 12v DC.
Next step attach BOB run cables to geckos and power them.

Some questions I have:

My isolator is 32AMPS, and the contactor is 25A. The contactor is powering the 40V DC power supply, Router, and Dust Extractor. Im planning to run the router and dust extractor at the same time maybe with the same SSR to turn them on and off at the same time. I left 3 terminals blocks with 115V for them all wired with 14AWG.

1. Should I run wires this way Power Source---12AWG--->Insolator---12AWG--->Contactor---14AWG--->DC Power Supply, Router, Dust Extractor
2. Will the 32AMP Insolator will be OK?
3. Will the 25AMP contactor will be OK?
4. And what capacity should the SSR have for the Router and Dust Extractor, will the 25AMP be ok?

5. Im confused if 9V or 12V should be used to run the PDMX Card?

In the pictures the 2 ligthed bulbs are simulating the Router and Dust Extractor. The switch box in the picture is the one that will go in the CAR, there you see: e-stop, pause, resume, and cut off switch for router.
Thanks in advance for any help....
Hector

Hector, good going see…IT GLOWS man, it glows….

As for your SSR, I’ll pass this one to another one who as study them, have one or know about them...cause I don’t know anything about them aside theoretically... :o
BUT, for your PMDX….look in your manual on P-4, top left at “ Power Supply Input”…it will tell ya, “7 to 12 Vdc or +/- 9 Vac “….
Good luck ! and thanks for sharing those pics….
Robert ;)

Robert,
I can see that spec..but I quite dont understand to what pins to plug in the 12VDC an if I have to change some pin configuration, and besides in one earlier post Gerald dicusses with some person at PMDX that the best option is to supply a 9 VDC, so that what made my confusion arrise...

Hector, can you give me a link to my post that is causing the confusion?

Hi Gerald,
This is a copy of your post:

Mon 14 May 2007, 09:53
Gerald_D
Just call me:

The PMDX-122 requires a nominal 9V AC input, but small transformers measure a lot higher when there is little or no load connected to them

I asked Steve Stallings of PMDX a year ago:

I have just learnt that a nominal 9V transformer in the 2VA range has an off load voltage of about 1.35 times higher than when fully loaded. I was going to ask for a better transformer this morning, after measuring 11.4V at the output terminals, and 11.2V when connected to a "naked" (nothing connected) PMDX-122. The sales guy hauled out a couple of supplier's data sheets and showed me that this behaviour is typical for transformers in this range.

Can I carry on using this transformer?

His reply:

Yes, that is normal for small transformers and we try to take it
into account when specifying units for the PMDX-122. After
the PMDX-122 has been running for 10 minutes or more,
feel the heatsink. To assure a significant load, try to turn
on the relay. If you can touch the heatsink and count to 10, then
it is not too hot and the transformer is OK even though the voltage
is high. If it runs too hot, no damage to the PMDX-12 will occur
but the overtemp shutdown of the regulator would cause the
control signals to do strange things.

Then:
Thanks Steve, I will use a popular local transformer that is nominal 230V/9.5V rated 2VA
Regards, Gerald

He replied:
The nominal 8 - 10 VAC supply should work OK. We had allowed
lower voltage supplies earlier and most worked, but a
few were weak, so we said 9 VAC. Greater just creates
a bit more heat in the regulator. We didn't want people
using nominal 12 VAC, so that left 9 VAC as the only commonly
available value.


Well, we passed the touch-the-heatsink-for-count-of-ten test and a year later we are still fine.

So after this I dont know if I should use my 12vdc power output provided in my power supply or go to a store and buy a small 9vdc transformer...:confused:
Regards,
Hector

Sorry....my mind got confused with DC´s and AC´s...never mind the last posts!!!! :o
So know that Im awake :D Could some one tell me how to power the PMDX with a 12VDC source, I dont want to blow it up!
Thanks....

Ok...I figured out J8 for 12VDC power and GND for neutral...:)

No offence and NO attack intended to Hector nor Gerald, But I figured this is the way it would end up :p
Main reason why I so often refer this “ How to ask questions the smart way”.
I figured hector would read just a little bit more in the PMDX manual and maybe, to his advantage, read some post he was referring to...then everything would line up !:rolleyes: :o!!
Amicalement, Robert ;)

Robert,
Sometimes my head is so busy with a trillion bits of information waiting to be discrambled that when I read I do it in a ligthing fast way, after that, I think that everything was understood but NO WAY...I assumed it was digested but then I tell to my self, Hey! Hector you are really not a smart ass...so go and read again one, two or three times more, so after several times of going through the stuff and slowing down my mind I get the idea... :) Sorry for not taking more time guys to figure out my self.

Not to worry Hector, some of us, me for example :o,
did almost the same….fast seemed not fast enough back then :rolleyes:
No offence taking, it’s a pleasure.
Good luck, Robert ;)

Hi,
This is my current advance until today, the control box is almost done...

i can see you are well on your way