Dankie!

I just got mail from RS to say that the chain will only be delivered to me on the 3rd February. This is way to late. The machine have jobs waiting. Does anybody have alternatives for chains with 75mm and 100mm radius?:(

Do what kobus did.

Hennie, I already tried that route. It will take 4 weeks. Thats even longer. That is to say if you are referring to the Magquip people.

Igus always seems to have stock on hand , , , , at the highest prices. Their main office is the Durban one. Tel 031-461 4824

Marius, you can always make a little basket to hold the cables on the gantry until your cable chain comes. I have been running like this all along. The X cables just follow and lies on the floor. Where my MM is standing in the corner there are no interference from people walking / tripping over it. I know in a factory environment it is different, but get it running and add the cable chain later.

You could also hang the cables from overhead

I am speaking to the chap from Igus this morning. If not I think I like the idea of haning the cables from the roof for now.

Gerald,
Can I use the same grinder bracket to cut the rail as what is used to grind the bevels or is there another barcket? If so, where do I get the files for it?

It is the same bracket - or at least, just one half of it.

I found a local chap that makes a chain that cost effective and available. He only makes one size but it is good enough for most machines. The best is that it only cost R250-00 per meter. His name is Raymond, 083 283 6715.

Thanks for Raymond's info - have copied it to the cable chain thread

Marius

Regarding the gap on the spider, that is normal. I used washers on both sides between the spider and the flange face of the Y car to centralise the spider in the space.

Yes, fill the gap with washers or bits of drilled flat bar.

Every bender ends up with a different dimension across the spider from day to day, and so I left some "tolerance" in case one ended on the wide side.

You don't have to fill the gap snugly - the last millimeter will pull closed as you tighten the bolts

Gerald
I am using the 350mm travel slide plate. I found that the measurement of the last three sets of holes is 10mm short on the plate compared to the rectangular tube. IE the holes that are spaced close together are correct. The next set is 10mm short and the sets that follow as well.

Marius

Looking at drawings 10 40 334 DA and 10 40 364 DA (both dated 10-10-07) those three sets of holes have the exact same dimension from the bottom (left hand side on drawing) namely 305, 415 & 545mm, that is indeed incorrect as the plate should hang below the tube by 10mm. I think you are the first to make this item, that why its gone un-noticed before

Sorry for the hiccup Marius and thanks for reporting it.

Thanks Alan for the note on my "To Do" list.

Gerald,
No harm done. I tested my markings on the tube to the plate before drilling so I picked it up in time.:)

Gerald,
Do you have artworks for the MM decal that I could use?

Check this thread: Official MechMate logo and colour within the first 8 posts there are 3 or 4 different formats (.dxf, Corel, . . . )

I can cut you a set if you want. Tell me the quantity and size

Kobus,
Did you mean cut me a set of decals? If so the same as yours two off.

Ready for painting
 

Well finally it is ready to be painted. All the brackets, chains etc has been done and fitted. Some work left on the Z axis.
I decided the colour will be Ford blue after I saw the colour on a machine on one of the forums this morning.

Will do it this week

Marius,

Interesting table design you have.

Nils, if you look at my first postings you will see that the table had I beams and was a bit smaller. We had the table part already (bought with some other equipment) and had to fit the rails and gantry. During the process I discovered that the cutting area was too small for the job that we are building the machine for. Hence the overnight change and the strange design. What I did score was some extra Z movement. The whole gantry can move completely over the edge of the table. This way it is easy to do tool changes.

Gerald is there a colour code for the Ford Blue colour? Maroons will mix the paint for me but I need a code or sample to give them.

See the link I posted yesterday - right in the first post of that thread.

Sorry about that:o

Here it is better known as Traffic Blue - the colour you see on our freeway signs.

Gerald, is it also known as Ford Tractor Blue or is this another colour?

That is the colour. Tremclad and Rustoleum also have a very similar colour. I believe the Rustoleum is Sail Blue and the Tremclad is Light Blue. We have the Tremclad here in Canada and that is what I will be using. :) Ford Tractor blue is the same thing and can be had at most farm type stores. If the Mechmates keep up Ford will have to start calling it Mechmate Blue. :)

Marius, the paint companies work with the RAL numbers in that link, they don't really work with names. Just pick yourself a nice blue!

Gerald
I found a company just up the road from me that will mix the exact RAL number for me. I will get some paint from them tomorrow.:)

Marius i like your emergency plan, Nice machine.

It is possible see the extruded beam coupled to base details?

This is your rail system?

Ros,
Almost like your drawing. The rail still protrudes over the edge of the extrusion as to fit the rack below the rail. The extension pieces were laser cut and put together as a box of sorts and then slipped over the 75x75 tubing of the table. I laser cut the mounting holes so that we have a perfect match. We also aligned the extension pieces with a laser. The end result (with the extrusion) is a very true linear section.

I always wanted to build my entire project with t slot extrusion. Its seems the way to go. Quick and easy to modify. Keep up the good work.

Tim

Tim,
I am actually busy developing a full set of extrusions for our own use. We will be building custom machines with these extrusions in the near future. Mostly small footprint machines but the extrusions are very heavy so they will allow for building of large machines as well. The costing however will not be the same as the MechMate. It will be difficult to beat the MM on price. But the manufacturing process and time will be less on the extrusion method. The site is not up yet but keep watching for www.mastercut.co.za .

I look forward to seeing your website up and running. Are you planning on any plasma cutting or lazer on your current build? With that size of machine you could build anything :rolleyes: Ah, the posibilities!

Tim

Tim,
We are planning to make a crane gantry high over the machine with a water box so that we can do some plasma cutting with the same machine. For commercial plasma machines, I have a slightly different aproach. The machine must have a very heavy base to ensure that it can carry at least 1.5 ton. The linear sections and gantry will be the extrusions.