Doug,
Have you thought about using a heavy copper braid for a flexible ground connection? We use that a lot when we need a good low impedance ground that needs to be flexable as well. How long do you need to run? Braid is much more flexible than say twisted copper.

Great idea Heath. Thanks. I'll start shopping for it. I planned to buy approximately 40 feet.

Aaah, don't forget Gerald, Doug and the rest of us have the reputable Mr. Richards to fill in for those pesky software/electrical/electronic questions. :)

I "dry" fitted my table (before weld up) this evening. My new gantry crane is a back saver. Geez, this is one beast of a machine. Hoping to post pictures soon. If I don't, have a joyous holiday!!

And you also have two Mach forums.

On the ground cable, our very first table was done with 3-core power cord with the 3 cores twisted and crimped together in yellow crimps.

The other day at one of the electrical supply businesses in the area, a salesman told me that I needed MTW grade wire. MTW stands for machine tool wire. Last night, I found it on the McMaster Carr site and ordered 50 feet of AWG 10. I think that's the last thing I need to buy.

Doug,
If you are thinking of using the braid for a ground strap, for a termination, you can just part a hole in the flattened end and then put a fastener with a washer through it and then bolt it on to your ground plate or whatever. if you need a smaller termination you can solder a wire of needed size to the braid (then shrink wrap it for looks etc if you want ) and then use your prefered termination on the wire you want, say like crimp terminations.

Doug,

Have you decided on a dust collection system yet?

I ordered the ClearVue unit yesterday. My decision was based on the lower cost, adequate performance curves for my shop, and, so far, good customer service.

Greg,

I'm thinking about building a system using Bill Pentz's instructions for a couple of reasons: 1) I'm cheap and 2) I like building stuff. Usually, I end up spending almost as much and taking 4 or 5 times longer that way but I enjoy the process. Let me know how you like it. I may end up ordering the Clearvue system too.

Have you figured out what kind of foot you'll use? I'm still thinking about using 6" duct that transitions to a long rectangle for part of it. I've seen the transitions at Lowes and Home Depot. When I finish connecting my cables, I'll start working on the foot.

This weekend, I finished bending the conduit (that connects the control box to the table) and constructing the clamping system that locks it all to the table. I'm pretty happy with it. And then I stuffed it all with cable. This week, I'll finish connecting them all.

What do you have left to do?

Doug,

My DC system will arrive this week (early Christmas present). I'm taking all next week off and the following Monday (day before New Years). Guess what I'll be doing? Relaxing, watching TV ... NOPE ... I'll be constructing an equipment room external to my shop. :D The DC and air compressor will reside there. I'll be using 6 inch main ducting to the router table. From the main, I'll transition to the shortest possible 4 inch run (flex hose) to the router intake foot.

As for the "foot", I'm keeping it simple. With a minimum of 800 CFM [cubic feet per minute], I really think a minimual skirt will be required. Check out the video on the Clear Vue web site. It shows a CNC router with the cyclon DC.

As for my progress, I spent all day Saturday and Sunday, welding on the table. I've got the cross members welded to the main beam, and the base (legs and cross members) welded up. I wanted to attach (weld) the base to the main beams, but my wife said I was working to hard and to call it quits. I'll weld the base to the main beams Monday and start attaching the rails the rest of the week. :)

You guys are all killing me.
I've been so busy at work that I haven't been able to work on the Mechmate.:(
It's great to see everybody making such good progress.:)

Greg M: I'm not moving that quickly. Insomnia has been taking its toll lately and by the time I get home from work, I'm usually too exhausted to tinker in the garage. I probably won't get 4 hours sleep tonight and once I get locked into these sleepless cycles, it takes me several weeks of exhaustion to get out of them.

Greg: Have you checked to see if 6 inch flex hose will fit your car? It appears that it will fit in mine. The way I have my Z axis plate and router mounted leaves me just enough room to fit it all in. Of course, I haven't actually purchased the hardware but I took some measurements. Bill Pentz's site says a four inch restriction kills airflow so I want to keep mine as big as possible. I think a 6 inch round to rectangular sheetmetal transition can be soldered to seal it up and fitted with some additional metal to make a nice DC foot. If it works, I'll post pictures and instructions for others to follow.

I wish I had room to spread out like you. When we moved here, I let my wife talk me into living in a suburb rather than out in the country like I wanted. So I'm crammed into a two car garage with no way to add on.

Doug,

Maybe I'm missing something (I'll re-read Bill Pentz's site again) but I don't think a short section of 4 inch hose will kill air flow. I'm guessing a 6 foot length of 4 inch flex hose from the router to the 6 inch main.

Again, check out the video. It shows a 4 inch hose at the router.

Give me time to re-read, and if I change my mind, I'll let you know.

Greg,

Which Clearview system did you buy?

Doug,

I stand corrected. After reading the duct design section on the clear vue site, it recommends as short as possible run of 4 inch (3-4 feet), but 6 inch diameter is better. Let me think about this some more. :)


Nils,

I went with the LH Combo. Model CV 1800 cyclone and 15 inch blower housing. I'm just a one man shop, so didn't require the MAX model.

Here are some pictures of how I have my control box mounted and the conduit layout. I installed four pieces of 3/4 inch conduit hoping that I would have enough space in the tubes to pull the cables out with their pin connectors on them. The second picture was taken from up under the table. Those pieces of angle iron are not visible if you are standing beside the table. I plan to paint the mild steel brackets MM blue once the weather warms up. The two aluminum plates in the bottom of the control box are there to seal up the hole I had to cut in order to be able to run the parallel port cable into the box.

Doug,

Nice job with the EMT, but you should consider placing threaded bushings on the ends of the conduit. These are little plastic rings that thread onto the very end of the connectors inside the box - they prevent the sharp edges of the conduit/connectors from cutting the insulation of the wire.

McMaster-Carr sells them and I'm sure you can also get them at HD or Lowes.

The stock number for 3/4" bushings for M-C is: 7513K212

Brian

Doug....and you said you did "junky" work. Nice conduit runs. If you decide to move to Orlando, your hired.
Sean

Thanks Brian. I'll order some.

Thanks Sean. That is my second set of conduit.:) The first set didn't suit me.

I'm so close to finishing up I can't believe it. Unfortunately, due to my work schedule, I don't be able to touch it for the next 6 days. I knew that would happen!

Last night, I finally set up my shop computer and loaded Mach3. It ran perfectly with Vista. I hope I don't run into problems when I actually try to cut something. The computer was on sale at Office Depot for $249. It has 1GB of RAM, 2.6Ghz operating speed, and a 250 Gig harddrive. No monitor though.

The control box is finished I believe. I want to go over it one more time and double check the tightness of all the terminal screws. I still need to connect three of the motors to their cables and the router to it's cable and that will complete the electrical portion. One of my daughters helped me run a check on the E-stop, pause, and resume circuits using a multimeter and they worked perfectly. Just in case that last sentence was misinterpreted, my arms weren't long enough to press the buttons while I was standing at the control box. I didn't need her assistance in figuring out how to make the connections with the meter. :)

In regard to the mechanical portion, I need to reassemble the Z-axis and check to see that the V-rollers will tighten up and then set it perpendicular to the table surface. I finally found the bearing I needed for the car so I need to press it on the stub shaft and assemble that motor mount to the car. Oh yeah, I still need to fabricate and paint the small bracket that attaches the Z-axis motor's tensioning spring to the car.

Finally, I have to get the Mechmate logo. That's it. Next weekend, I'll have 4 days off. I hope I don't jinx anything but I expect to be cutting something then. This whole experience has been a blast. Thanks again Gerald.

Hey, why didn't I see this thread since I got back? There are some nice pictures here! :)

*turns off lawnmower for the weekend and settles in for some reading*

Thanks Gerald. It has been too chilly to paint those brackets on my conduit but I'll get around to that when the weather warms up a bit. I wish it was mowing weather around here. The wires in my control box are pretty stiff in these temperatures and the other night, I worked until my fingers couldn't feel anything.

This thread took me back exactly a year to this post. My reply to Fabrica (Udaya) is mostly still valid.

Let you into a small secret; we never the closed the hole where the parallel cable enters the box. My excuse was that it was a very scientific test to see the amount of dust ingress. Well, the dust ingress is very little. The big worry is that it doesn't look "professional" to leave it open - so I keep it as a secret ;)

It's alive!!! :D I couldn't wait any longer. All day at work, I kept thinking about it and reading the Mach 3 manual when I had the chance. Near the end of the day, I decided that I had enough info to finish configuring Mach so I ran home, jumped on my computer and finished it up. Then I told my wife that I was going to see if it works. I carried the computer out into the garage and turned the control box on for the first time ever about 1 hour ago. Then I hooked the parallel port cable to the computer and booted it and started Mach. I didn't have the springs installed so I hit the down arrow and I could see the pinion spinning. The right and left arrows made the gantry motors spin and my wife confirmed that the front side was spinning in the right direction so I decided to install the springs. Man, she's FAST!!!! Since I don't have any experience with CNC gantry routers (just a Hass mill in night technical school) I guess she might be slow compared to everyone else's but she seem FAST to me. :p

After reading JR's post, I decided to bump the speed up to 35,000 pulses and she seemed to operate fine. Of course, I understand that I'm not cutting anything and everything will change when I do but right now, I'm floating on a cloud. The pause and resume buttons worked perfectly. I also loaded the roadrunner code that comes with Mach and she simulated cutting it out. I say "simulated" because I don't have the router or the Z-axis hooked up yet. I still need to fabricate that small bracket and connect the router power cable. I did see the Z pinion spinning when the program told it to.

Whew. I bet I don't get a minute's sleep tonight.

THANKS GERALD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been dreaming about this day for years and you made it come true. I really owe you man. Thanks again.

Doug,
What great news! It looks like you have one fine Blue Beast on your hands.
Congrats on making it your MM come alive....Nothing sweeter than watching that gantry fly across the table.
Funny how you mentioned "fast". I attentively watch all the "how fast you can make it go" threads it calculations never really seem to do it justice.
Good luck on the rest of the build! + stay warm in the shop. (now only if those Geckos and steppers would get warmer you might have something :-O
Sean

Doug,

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As soon as I saw that you posted, I new you couldn't wait any longer. :)

Can't wait to see your first project.

Happy for ya, bud! :D

Thanks Sean and GregJ. I forgot to thank all the other people that helped me along the way with great advice. I especially want to thank Mike Richards for being so patient with me.

Next weekend, after I finish working my long hours, I'll be cutting something.

Congratulations Doug!:)

Great job.....I haven't even had the chance to even look at my machine in over a month. :mad:

Looking forward to your pics and seeing your first cutting.

Okay....GregJ and Sean.....who's next?

Greg M,
It will most likely be Greg J. I have a 2 year old and a newborn to be here any hour now....so, It looks like I will be on hiatus soon-but not for long.
Sean

:D:D

Congratulations Doug! Glad to hear it's alive!

John

Doug do you want to slow it down a bit. I'm over here busting my butt trying to make chips first and this extra pressure is not helping. Just so everyone will know if I make smoke while wiring this thing, it's Doug's fault.:D:D:D:D:D:D Congratulations



Doug I think I hear your wife calling you. She would like for ya'll to go to her mothers for about 3 days........ right now:p

Doug,

Congratulations!! All your effort and work has paid off!!!!

So where are the PHOTOS. You can't have a new Baby with out the photos and the first cut.

Thanks guys but I'm not finished yet. Still a few tiny details that have to be attended to. Hopefully, I'll post pictures of my first cut this coming weekend.

Congrats Doug! :D:)
Its great to hear all those completing their Mechmates, some of us are just starting the gathering stage. :)

Great Doug!! Can't wait till my day comes!!!
Stefan

Congratulations Doug!!!

It's nice to see our effort results...

Hey Doug,

Just curious why you went with the 35 tooth pinions versus 30 tooth.

I think I'll order my rack and pinons, and gas spring tonight.

Thanks,
Greg

Greg J,

Around the time I was about to order them, I had read a couple of posts on this forum that conflicted. One of the posts spoke about using a 30 tooth and the other a 35 tooth pinion. I think the post from Doc Tanner said he ordered a 35 tooth pinion. His machine seemed to be working correctly and he appeared to have researched the matter and seemed to know what he was doing so I ordered what he did. I'm happy with them so far but I haven't cut anything.

I just returned from a trip last night. This weekend, I plan to conduct some speed tests on my machine. I'll let everyone know how fast the rapids are. I'm thinking I'll try the 45,000 pulses per second setting to see what I get out of her. As they say, speed is addictive.:D

Thanks Doug,

Look forward to your test results.

Greg

I applied my logos today and fabricated and painted the Z-axis spring anchor bracket. Unfortunately, I'm still working on the spider plate and I don't want to hook up the router wires until I have the Z-axis plate bolted back into place. It's a long story but last weekend when I moved the welded on nuts, one of them didn't move enough so I had to grind it back off and relocate it. This time it is in the right place but I had to repaint the spot welds again. I also had another set back. The outside diameter of the hold down bearing for the car was too small. Dang it. At least the stub shaft I turned on my lathe was a perfect press fit. I'm still going to try cutting something tomorrow. I'll just use a low feedrate and shallow passes. Will post a pic if it works.