I suggest you look at the bus connectors that are in the Controll Box and I can get you more of them if needed. But what all are you powering?

These do not look like much, but are rated at 20amps / 600volts

I remember seeing those in the box Mike. I was not sure if that was what they were for. I will take a closer look at them this evening.

I will be pretty much following the 120V schematic in the plans. It looks like I need 120V going to
1. Torroid transformer.
2. 5V DIN power supply(I bought that)
3. Power to the router head
4. Power for the EStop loop
5. PMDX 126.
6. Possible external 120V outlets for computer and dust removal.

You can use the stuff in the box however you like

Or I can get you more :)

It looks like only a single 5 position bridge was included. Is that what is normally supplied?

Their were two in the kit actually.

Picked up my steel this week. I will probably need to pick up a few odds and ends, but I wanted to get all the big stuff I would need my trailer for.

Spent today pressure washing the steel. I am used to the usual mill scale, but I think this place used old motor oil for a cutting fluid. It was the filthiest steel I had ever laid hands on. All clean now though. Blew it all off with compressed air to minimize any rusting.

Working through final details on my CAD drawings. It will probably be another week or two before I actually start cutting metal.

What is used to mount the electronics boards inside of the control box. I have standoffs on order, but how do I mount the standoffs to the back panel.

Do I use captive nuts? I do not want to use plain nuts since if I ever needed to remove something, I would have to pull the entire back panel.

panel
 

Hi I use to live in Oklahoma City, and Ponca.
Does your electrical box have a removable metal panel. Drill and tab that panel as needed. Nuts work but I wouldn't want to remove the panel just to fix one item. The box is usually mounted on the wall and there is very little vibration unless you have another Oklahoma twister coming through. Best of luck.

Yes, the panel is removable. It is the one that Metalhead sells.

However I am not sure if the thickness is enough for me to want to trust tapping it. Especially that heavy power supply.

A progress update. All the steel for the sides is now cut and ready to weld.
I thought I would get to do it this weekend, but it rained on Saturday.
I have all the parts for the gantry laid out as well as the electronics.
I drilled holes in the control panel for the heat sink and will do the cutout next weekend.

Ditto on the Box
 

Yep I bought the same box from Mike. It is fine. I used various size screws and had no issue. You can do a search on mrayhursh and you will see mine.
I am going to go back and add a couple of items just for the heck of it. Keep in touch and if you have any issues please be sure to ask.

Finally some pics
 

I am almost done with welding the table sides.

Attached is a pic of one of the sides. The welds aren't pretty, but they should hold and the table is straight.

I still have a little more welding to do to attach supports for casters. After that on to painting.

Another pic attached of a handy tool for moving heavy pieces around. If you have a tractor with a front end loader, a set of light duty forks are worth their weight in gold.

Big Yellow Toy
 

Boy, I want to move out to the rural area here in Florida so I can get a Big Yellow Toy. I would probably start digging a big hole an cause a sink hole. Looks like your table is coming along. Don't worry about pretty welds a grinder makes them all shine.

Frame Painted
 

Got the sides painted today. The weathers been holding out pretty well, but I want to get all the big outside stuff done before that changes.

Hope I got the color right!

Another Big Blue Beast
 

I see that you have created another Big Blue Beast. It can feed on the blue grass you created. It is going good. Are you going to get it inside before the weather changes?

The sides will be indoors tomorrow. The big trick will be moving it without scratching up the new paint job.

Got the cross rails cut, drilled and painted. Not enough time to stand the table up for the first time.

One other problem I am seeing. Even though I have made the table a little smaller at 4 foot by 6 foot capacity, I have still going to have problems fitting it into my shop. I have a second shop building with plenty of space, but no electrical. I am going to have to decide what to move into the unpowered building before I can really stand up the table.

Table Standing Up
 

Got the table stood up today. Next is to get the cross bracing fitted so the table will not rock from side to side. Not going to happen this weekend though. Too cold and icy to drag out the tools to cut metal.

Looking Good.
I feel your pain, 19 degrees here this AM.....
Not worth heating the shop to tinker.

Weather
 

When I moved from Great Falls to Oklahoma City the only snow I saw floated down and melted on the hot asphalt. I couldn't believe how hot it was. I celebrated when the temp dropped below 100.

You guys should come up to Canada. Was 11 degrees here and I worked in the shop all day. Had the woodstove going, but that is a mild winter day up here! :)

It doesn't look cold in there...too cold that is...:)

Lucky you.
I can't even get below 20C with the air conditioner going full blast here...

Finished constructing the cross supports to keep the table from racking from side to side. Took way longer than I thought it would. With the long holiday weekend I thought I was going to get into cutting the rails.

Next weekend is predicted to be much colder again. So it will probably be a couple of weeks before I can get into rail grinding and cutting. Anything involving grinders is done outside. I have machine tools that would not appreciate all the grit being thrown around.

I should have the last of my miscellaneous bits and pieces to do the kitchen table test of the electronics though.

Also got my bearings ordered from Superior Bearing.

Mike, are you still selling cable?

Which grinder for skate?
 

I have a DW402 grinder, but it does not quite fit the skate.
There are a couple of little protruding extrusions that are keeping me from being able to mount the grinder properly. I do not want to hack up my grinder to make this fit.

I have seen references to the DW818 being used, but apparently that model number is no longer sold. What other current model number grinders will fit the skate without a lot of modification.

Grinder that Fits Skate
 

here is what I found: Ryobi grinder AG403 4 1/2 inch grinder ($29.99) is a perfect fit for the rail cutter/grinder. Someone else also replied to the post and said the Harbor Freight 9.99 grinder also fit. I am sure there are others. I am sure the makers of that model Ryobi also change the color and sell it to other companies.

I have a Makita (not sure the exact model) but the modification to the plate was minimal. the hardest part for me was finding the 4mm screws/bolts long enough to work, ended up getting them from Fastenal. Don't be afraid to modify the skate, if you mess up just weld the holes back, grind the welds smooth and do it again, a lot cheaper than going out and buying another grinder.

I had to modify my skate.
Like Tom said it is better than buying a new grinder, unless you are a toolaholic.

Got the cross supports attached as well as the casters. The table is rock solid now.

I have usually just bought the cheap casters from HF, but decided to go with a little higher quality for the table this time. When up on the casters, the table glides around with almost no effort.

I do not expect to move the table too often, but in the tight space of my shop I know I will have to move it.

I bought a Ryobi AG403 as recommended above. The AG403 is almost a perfect fit. I did have to grind a little bit from some corners on the 45 degree plate to clear a couple of screws. When I get the longer 4mm screws, they will line perfectly. As long as the grinder lasts through the rail grinding process, I will consider it $30 well spent.

Also spent a bunch of money ordering items from Mike, McMaster Carr and ebay. I am going to go with the 2.2KW spindle sold by
qiandingzhensatisfaction. He seems to be pretty well referenced on cnczone.

I have 9 days off over the Christmas break. I want to have everything I need together by then. I am not sure if I will have everything running at the end of that time, but I am sure going to try. I want to get back to building my airplane.

Weather is supposed to be a little warmer next weekend, so hopefully I will get my rails cut down and beveled.

I am trying for the same thing, get everything in place before everyones (I use) closes for 2 weeks.

Good luck with your build, I know I am having fun with mine! :)

Ground wire too stiff?
 

I got the ground wire I ordered. It is 4 gauge, as recommended in Gerald's wiring post, but it is seems very stiff in comparison to the 4 conductor 14 gauge wire I ordered for the spindle.


Specifically I ordered McMaster Carr part number 7125K694.

I am just wondering if I ordered the wrong kind of wire to use in the cable carrier.

I decided to order 4 gauge welding cable, which should be much more flexible.

DB, changing to welding cable is an excellent call. Stiff cables are torturous to work with.

First Rail Cut Down
 

Cut down my first rail today. At first Tried to see how far I could get without cutting down the 2.5" side. I was able to get about 1mm, but had to stop.
I took my plasma cutter and lopped off about 1/2" inch. I was a little concerned after the cut because the angle iron bowed from the heat stress. However after cutting down the rail, the stresses from the heat affected region were cut away and the rail laid flat again.
This first rail took about 4 hours. Of course a lot of that was figuring things out. I am sure the remaining will go a little quicker.

Attached also are pics of how I set the spacing for the cutter. I cut some scrap 2x4 down to form a spacer block and bolted that onto the grinder top plate.

The I-Beam worked real nice for a good flat surface to work from. If you ever get a chance to get some big I-Beams cheap, get them.

Remaining three rails cut down today. Overall I would say about 5-6 hours was spent cutting all 4 rails down. 8 cutting discs were used. The were the DeWalt branded disks.
Next step is to get the rails beveled.

Joining Support Board
 

I would like my support board to fully cover the cross rails. I only have access to 4x8 sheets of MDF. Since the center section is 61 inches, I would need to cut the boards down. The question is how do I join them in the middle?

Would I use a biscuit joiner?. Pocket screws maybe? I am going to use elevator bolts as the hold down. Should I try to catch the seam in the middle of a hole and hold the seam down that way?

You could cut a strip of mdf or ply 4" wide.
Glue and air nail it on the underside of your base board overlapping the joint.
Simple but effective.

That would only work if the seam ran parallel to, and in between the cross bearers.
The table will hold a lot of sawdust without the open spaces on the sides.

With adequate dust collection, dust to the channels is not a problem. I have my spoilboard extended the whole way to the channels. Maybe a touch at the end of a run of a full sheet of plywood but nothing a quick run of the shop-vac will not get rid of. I did this because it helped 100 fold with dust collection versus before the dust would fall to the floor and not go where it should. In the collection bin.