I'll bet replacing motors every 6 months is a huge expense. It would look like they could come up with some type of enclosure, that used positive pressure, to keep the dust out...

I ordered the new SEALED bearings last night along with the 8 bearings for Leo's belt drives..

A heads up for a Discount............

I ordered bearings from VXB.com and was pleasantly surprised to receive a 20.00 discount when I used the Google Check out... I think Google is pushing their service and they were giving 20.00 off on orders over 120.00

Houston.... We have BLUE!
 

The first part ready for paint was finished up last night... All that is left for this baby is a trip under the bearing press and she is officially the first completed part!

Steve,

Ok, Blue is a good sign.

Finished the cutting of the X beams tonight... My table is going to be 100 inches long and a 20 foot section was just barely long enough to make both beams... The sharp "pointy" ends were just "a trap waiting to be sprung" so I wanted to blunt the ends, as others have done. The only way I could make the top blunt and still have enough material for both sides was to make a different cut....

Here is a picture of the beams after I finished cutting and dressing the ends...

Steve,

Slick ogee design. I like it.:)

Hey, what's that John Deere doing there? Do you farm, or something?

That is a John Deere 1958 Model 730 Propane 2 cylinder tractor I am rebuilding... It's not mine and is being restored on a cost plus basis... It's a cool tractor that has been used very hard.. Almost everything leaks or is very worn...

I just finished rebuilding the PTO clutch , that's the assembly below the beams on the floor, and will install it tomorrow... Somehow water got into that housing and rusted everything together :( Its been a long hard road getting it back in shape as parts are hard to come by and I have had to make a few tools along the way. I have it running and after I rebuild the power steering system it should be a nice tractor...

I live in the country and lease my land to a man that runs cows on it... Great for tax purposes :)

Gee, I got worried when I realised that I am older than that tractor :D and in similar condition :(

Nice touch on the beam end.... So nice to have a plasma cutter in hand.

I'm right there with you Pal :D I am one year older than the tractor.....



Ken I wish it had been with a Plasma cutter.. Still doing things the old fashioned way,, With a torch :(

Made the bushings tonight....
 

Took about an hour to turn 6 perfectly good bolts into something they were never intended to be! Chucked them up, drilled them out then cut them off....

My little parts drawer is starting to look good :)

I just realized I don't have that M1 30 332 in my laser cut pack...

Ken I sent you a PM, but I see your not in the states :( . Check around you shop to see is it was dropped or under a flap on the box.
Also contact the cutter. They may have cut it and it fell on the floor or through the slats on the table.

No worries, I'll just hand make one, it will be faster then getting them laser cut. Problem is I need to find a piece of scrap plate.... some where... some how...:(

Wheels are finished!
 

Tonight I pressed in the bearings... I went ahead and ordered 28 of the rubber sealed bearings ...
Attachment 8495

I used a small amount of loctite, just to make sure it was a "lasting" fit :)
Attachment 8496

Because I hand made all of these tires on a lathe there was a little variance in the sizes.. After machining I measured all the tires and grouped them according to size.. It worked out that I have 6 of the exact same size and I will use them on the Z... 4 are .004 larger and 4 are .002 smaller. This works out well in that x, y and z will all have V wheels that are really well matched.. All the cam bushings and spacers are now ready for the Z plate and I have the bearings and screws ready for the skate as well...

Attachment 8494

Working on the Z plate next!
Attachment 8497

Steve….
Hate assuming.... could you tell me what those tires of yours are made from ?
Thanks, Robert ;)

Robert - I think he used a Brass Bar he had on hand for the V rollers.

Finished the part I have been dreading!
 

Today I worked on the Z plate... I have not been looking forward to grinding the edges on this part, But it only took an hour and I think it turned out pretty darn good!

I have an old 10" Sears Craftsman table saw that Is nearly 30 years old.. It is a good saw but just a back up, now that I have a cabinet type saw, so I didn't mind using it to grind the z plate. I put a metal abrasive blade on, tilted the blade to 45 degrees and started taking light passes... I tried very hard to make the edge of the blade do the cutting because the blade is not designed to cut on the side.. Here is a picture I took about half way through the job...Sorry for the focus.

Attachment 8547

You can see the blade setup on the saw and the edges of the plate need just a little more grinding to make the depth correct... Over all it was a great finish and I didn't even have to use a stone to dress it...

Next up was laying out the holes...
Attachment 8548

Because I don't have a CNC mill ( YET :D ) I still do things the old way... Layout ink and scribing the parts on a granite surface plate.

Attachment 8551

One of my most used layout tools is an optical center punch.

Attachment 8549

It's very simple to use and consists of a metal base with two precision holes. There is a hardened steel center punch and a plastic magnifying target that fits the holes in the base..

You first place one of the holes over your marked line. Insert the plastic target into the hole and look through the end.. You will see a small dot in the exact center. The plastic target rod is polished in such a way as it magnifies the target end and lets you see the fine scribe lines with ease... It also lets light in through the sides of the rod so that it is well lighted at the surface..

Once you have have the small dot over your scribe lines you hold the base firmly and remove the target rod. You then insert the center punch into that hole and give it a bam with a hammer.. Perfect alignment every time!

Attachment 8550

Here is a shot of the plate after starting to center punch. I caught a mistake here... I was a little confused on the drawing measurements and made one line too far over... I looked at the stiffener bar drawings and found the distance between the two rows of holes and corrected the layout before I drilled the plate...


And the finished plate and tube!

Attachment 8552

My counter sink is not wanting to make the hole deep enough for the screw head to be flush. I think the holes are at the outer limit for this sink and the next size up is just too big... I tried using a drill bit to sink it deeper but there was too much chatter and the finish was not up to standards.. The screw heads are just a little proud so I might end up grinding them a little....

Nice work Steve! As you say, this part is actually enjoyable :D

Professional tools, professional work! Looking great Steve.

Thanks guys :)

I am working hard to make this machine the best it can be... Gerald allowing me to place the Mech Mate Decals on this machine is an honor and the craftsmanship needs to be something he would be proud of.

Working on the car and spider now...
 

I have all the parts for the table cut but I am a little short on space so I though I would finish up all the small things before I assemble the table...

Been welding on the spider...

Attachment 8675

Attachment 8676
After letting everything cool down I placed the spider on my surface plate to check for twist... I spent about 20 minutes filing the posts so that they all touched the surface plate.. It's as close as I am going to be able to make it :)
Attachment 8677

The car is all welded up and ready for painting ..

Attachment 8678

Looking Good Steve!

Steve your work is inspiring! thanks for posting pics :)
I haven't read the whole thread but what is the purpose of the rectangular standoffs on the spider?
oh and I like the custom cuts on the ends of your X beams... looks like some of the trellises I have built.

Thanks John :)

The rectangular blocks are there for mounting the dust collector. I noticed that Gerald had add them to a spider shown in one of the threads and thought it was a darn good idea. Doing it now will make it easy to add some kind of bracket for the dust pipe later on..

Time for an update...
 

As usual life keeps getting in my way :) Having to work 70 hour weeks and trying to fit in time for building the machine is tough right now so I have been making little progress..

BUT there is progress!

Attachment 9175

Been working on all the little assemblies and making all the adjustments to make them work smoothly..

Had a few clearance issues on the spider and the stiffener for the Z Plate. The stop tab on the spider was just a little angled and it dug into the paint. A few minutes with a file took care of that and I'll repaint the stiffener when I touch everything up...
Attachment 9174
Also had to add a spacer to make the gear drive mount bolt on.. I made it out of a slick plastic so it should be strong and let it pivot easily..

The Spider is mounted in the car and everything is adjusted and working well now...

Attachment 9173

I have been getting all the parts together for the electronics.. Power supply, BOB and 203's are here.. Working on the list for the buttons and all the other assorted contacts.. Been reading too much and getting confused so I'll post my list soon and ask you guys to double check it for me :)

Steve,
I know a little about 70 hour work weeks. :) What line of work are you in?

Website Desiger/ Home Builder / Paramedic In that order now. The 48 hours on an ambulance and all the other stuff was killing me so I have cut back to just the 70 hours :)

The first big order of control box parts arrived today from FactoryMation... I already had the bob , 203's and power supply so this was all the other stuff...

Attachment 9251

A lot of little bags!

Sad part is they didn't send the cabinet so all that stuff is useless until I get the box :(

Steve,
on your Z assembly, why don't you flip the plate that holds the motor so the motor is towards the spring side, this will make the assembly longer but it would eliminate the need for the spacer, and it would also put a little more force into the rack, with the extra weight added to that side, and then you could move your pinion in so there is less stress on the bearings on the drive shaft, I see you may need to re drill some of your fastener holes,
just a thought,...
//chopper

Chopper that would work... The one advantage of the current configuration is about .375" of extra clearance for the router.. I am making the mounting rings for the router now and as soon as I get it assembled I will look into changing the motor plate...

Thanks

Time for some more pictures..!


I have been plodding along on my control box... Lots to think about and consider so I have not been in a big rush..... Almost everything has arrived and I finalized my layout and started making the parts this week....

Attachment 9335

This is a shot of what I am calling the Stage... The Geckos and BOB are on this plate. The only metal I had laying around was a piece of aluminum diamond plate. I figured the extra bumps would be OK and might even help it cool faster :) The stage is sitting on 4, 2 inch standoffs that lift it above the fan...

Attachment 9336

This is the other side of the plate with brass standoffs installed for the BOB. The standoffs are extras I had laying around and are used to mount Motherboards in computer cases.. Worked great for the BOB...

Attachment 9337

Here is the control box layout as it is mounted on the back plate.. I have the front door switches on a temporary wiring harness..

Attachment 9334


Another shot...

Attachment 9338

Here is a close up of the BOB area...

I was planing on grounding the shield of the wire that runs to each of the Geckos, from the BOB, at the BOB end. I have noticed others have grounded the shield at the Gecko end but was thinking that was because the BOB was not on the plate... Does anyone see any problems with this?

Another question I have concerns the Computer cable attaching to the BOB.. I have found a few references to grounding problems when using the type of cable I have. I have noticed other using the same cable type and was wondering if I need to do something different with my cable or if I will be OK...

Steve that's a very good looking box and a very well organized layout.
Makes me wanna rebuild mine :D.

Regarding your grounding, you could ground the cables from BOB to the geckos at BOB end but you would need some holes close to the geckos for grounding anyway, (for the motor cables that coming from your MM).

Sergio

oops. forgot your 2nd question.

Your PC cable is fine as long as it doesn't get grounded at the box.
If you are going to use a ribbon cable to attach the parallel port to the side of your control box then you should probably need to isolate this connection.
Take a look at this post which is also what i did in my box.
http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showt...6&postcount=14

By the way what are the 3 circuit breakers for in your box ?

Steve, The control box is looking good. Looks like we have the same power supply. Might want to look at the instructions as Red wasnt postive on mine and Black wasnt Negative. Just a helpful hint before throwing the switch.

Thanks for the heads up! Mine didn't have any instructions included.... I will check it out :)

If you are using Kelings 5020 the connections are hidding in the PDF.

Russell I had seen that PDF when I was looking for the reason my power supply only had a 5v and the main output! I was really disappointed when I figured out that they used the same picture for all their supplies :mad: that's the reason I went with a 12 v DIN mount like you did.

Did you mention that you had to buy 10 of those ribbon connectors? Want to sell me a couple if so?

Sergio

Thanks for the compliments :) I love your work also!

Like Russel I also have a 30 amp 220 Volt supply where the machine will be installed... 2 of the breakers are rated at 20 amps and will supply my dust collector and router.. the third breaker is a 1 amp and takes the place of the 1 amp fuse..

As for grounding the BOB wires at the Gecko..... I had forgotten about the motor wires when I asked that question :) You can't see it in the pictures but I have a longer screw installed under the Gecko's front... I plan on grounding the shield from the motor connections there so I will just double up and ground the BOB wires there also... Thanks for jogging my memory, I need all the help I can get!

Steve you can get away with unshield cable between the driver & BOB. I used cost effective ribbon cable for this & I shielded the cable from the driver to the motor.