http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0RN_C-iosU

What dance music should one play for this? :)

Great video!

(Gloves recommended)

Thanks Greg. Keep up the good work!

Looks kinda like a ballet movement in double speed...

Greg... you make it look easy... thanks for the inspiration...

Greg,

Thanks for video and nice work.

I'm finishing up the spring loaded wheels for my new gantry crane today and then on to the skate.

I just have to sand blast and re-assemble the skate. Cut down my angles and grind rails tomorrow.

Thanks everybody:)

Still have to figure out what music for my "it's finished" dance.

Hello Gerald,

Just got back to work on the machine today. I'm working on the y rails and their attachment to the gantry. I marked my rails at 1.81" per the drawing however when I place that line along the centerline of the gantry tube it seems as though the rail hangs way to far out. I thought I'd check out J.R's machine to see what it looked like. To me it looks like his holes in his gantry tubes are closer to the inside. :confused:

What amount of clearance should there be between the back side of the rack and the gantry tube?

By the way I welded up my Y car and it turned out just fine. I used a couple of pieces of aluminum, clamped them to the sides to cover the gap, then welded into the hole just like all the others. when I removed the aluminum the weld took on the same shape as the original tab only longer. Afterward I put a slight filet weld on the inside no longer than the tab as you instructed. :) I'll probably use the caulk to fill the gap so it should look fine when painted. :)

More than what you might think! :)

Seriously. I left quite a big gap for the guys who can't weld their tables straight, or for people with odd sized tubes, etc. But, I don't want to advertise it - it lets me sleep at night ;)

Don't try to reduce the gap. If you do this you will pull the pinion gear off the shaft of the stepper motor. Remember that the width across the pair of motors is rigidly fixed.

I will look for a full-size cross-section for you later today.

When you print the attached, make sure that your printer is not applying any "scaling" to try and fill the paper page - it should print you a pic with the rect. tube 50 x 100 mm [1.97" x 3.94"] the rack in that pic is 16 x 16mm which is the max metric size.

Thanks Gerald !!:)

That is what it looked like. It just looked strange at first. Now I understand the thought process and it makes sense now. I'll drive on. Off to start tapping those holes.

Hope you feel better.

Greg

Hi everyone,

I've made some progress on my machine.:) Not as much as Fabio, Doug, or Sean (great job guys!). I took a few photos before I left town for the weekend. Unfortunately I was in a hurry and didn't get quality shots. I'll try to take more this week. Gerald, as you predicted the y rails turned out just fine.
In looking for a good vendor for the teflon washers I ended up at a vendor someone suggested on this forum, www.Fastenal.com. Great service / selection / price and they had a store about 15 min from my house. They also had the 12mm jam nuts and shim washers I needed.

I still have to order up the items needed to make my z assembly.



Glad to hear you're still around Greg J.

Looking great Greg. Feels good doesn't it?

Thanks Doug, Yes it does feel good....but the anticipation of completing the project is killing me!!:D

Gerald,

I can see your concern now regarding the placement of the bolts on the x rails. The car stoppers will just barely miss the bolts.:eek: I still need to attach my stop blocks on both axis' though

Something for everyone to keep in mind. An unintentional change or mistake in one dimension can alter the geometries of many other parts. "The butterfly effect".

Greg,
Nice to see your boat in the basement project getting done! Nice work. It looks like your almost ready to start cutting soon. I like the look of you rack on the gantry. Is that rack from McMaster or another supplier?
Sean

Hi Sean,

Late night Mechmate surfin? :)

I'm getting close...but the thing that worries me is grinding the z plate. I still have to order it. I had considered doing the table saw thing. I'm just a little concerned about the whole grinding dust/bearing issue but I can't think of a better low cost option.

I got my racks from http://www.stdsteel.com/gr_stock.htm
they were $28.8 each and only $24 for shipping. I made the mistake of ordering 6 racks and only needed 5 so that probably inflated my shipping. McMasters price for the same rack was $40.60. I still have to figure out what to do with the last rack. Maybe ebay....maybe offer it up on the forum...(offer it to Gerald for free if he tells me who in the states to send it to for his 3rd machine!!). When I ordered my din rail I also ended up ordering up about 12' too much. I thought about offering it to the Mechmate builders for free and only ask for shipping costs. I'm not sure if that will work or not. Postage for sending out an 18-36" piece of din rail might be more than the cost that people can get their din rail for.

Happy Mechmating!!:D

A nice chunk of steel! This makes me itch to get started with No. 3 :)

Thanks for the rack offer Greg, but you probably use that nasty inch stuff - I can get the metric stuff here quite economically.

Looking Good and thanks for the pic's Greg,

Hopefully I can have some rails in a couple of weeks, then I can post some pictures.

One of the interesting aspects of this project is the local interest in my MechMate. People are amazed that this is not a hobby machine. My favorite saying when someone sees it in the shop for the first time is "ooh, that is quite large" or "very substantial".

This machine is designed for work! (not that you can't have fun with it also) :)

Greg,
Nice work on your machine. Keep the pics coming. They inspire the rest of us. :)

Gerald,
How many machines are you planning on building? Do you have a link to your machine for sale?

Heath, I am only going to build one MM. The machine for sale is the original ShopBot, but I think that Sean actually did sell it today.

Darn inch people :rolleyes:

Building a MechMate Mamba
 

Greg,

I north of you near Milwaukee. I would be interested in your spare rack. I'm building the table this spring and I'm accumulating parts for now.

Thanks,
Herb

Greg,

Is looking very good!

Keep working!

Welding gaps
 

I noticed in post #47 you had to fill in a gap in a joint. When I was a welder in a steel foundry, I used a chunk (piece) of graphite as a backer on the back side of a hole or gap, and welded the front side to fill it in. It doesn't blow through. The graphite will not stick to the steel. Thought this might help the readers out there.

Cool. Thanks Gerald. I heard you could use copper but graphic has to be cheaper these days.

Welcome Gerald - hope to see more of you around.

You guys are far too exotic - we use aluminium for this. But you have to spell it right. :)

Gerald, Gerald and Doug,
Yeah I have used copper as a backer to fill in welds, but unfortunately I don't usually have graphite around my shop! :eek: I have never thought of using aluminium, is that the same as aluminum? :) Must be the same just different continent. :rolleyes:

Greg, I know I'm a little late with this post but.... I used full nuts behind the guide rollers everywhere instead of half nuts, therefore my racks are bottomed out in some places. I will now go back and turn these nuts down a little in thickness (maybe 1/16"). This will allow the rails with racks to be moved out a little making the rail adjustment better.

Thanks J.R.

Glad to have you back. :) I used half nuts from http://www.Fastenal.com. That might save you the time and aggravation of turning your own down. I wish I had time to get back to work on my machine. For now I guess I'll have to satisfy my MM craving by watching others build theirs.:D

Greg, I think I know what a half nut is but when you go to the website and type in half nut, the search doesn't understand. Can you provide a part # or a better link. Thanks

They are probably talking about jam nuts, They are about half the thickness of regular nuts

The correct fastener nomenclature is jam nut...or hex jam nut. So, if you were to order say a Stainless Steel 1/2" threaded jam nut with course thread you would ask for a SS 1/2-13 UNC hex jam nut. A great book to pick up when your at your local ACE or True Value hardware store is a small book called the pocket reference guide. Very helpful in everything you do from ordering hardware to booking an airline ticket. Sean

My bad. Jam nut it is.:D

Hello everyone. Sorry to be gone for so long.

Had a little free time so I tried to pick up where I left off on the beast.

So many changes and so many beautiful running machines. SOOOO many new posts to catch up on.:eek:

I started working on the cable chains and chain mounts. For the gantry extension I used a section of wire shelving. For support between the angle brackets I used angle iron. Probably overkill but at least it won't bend.

After reading all the comments on grinding the z plate I made the decision to take the plate to a knife grinder. They did a great job for only $40. Plus I don't have to worry about the bearings in my table saw.

Sorry no pics for now. :(

Welcome back bubba. I was wondering what happened to you.

Thanks Doug,

My job keeps me on the road most of the time :( but it's great to be welcomed back. :)

Good to have the original Raildancer back! :D

LOL :p

Here are some pics of the unfinished cable chains on this Classic style Mechmate.:)

Attachment 2174

Attachment 2175

Attachment 2176

Attachment 2177

Good stuff Greg!

Those are nice trays/ladders you found there.

I like you cable chain setup also.

me too, the cable chain - nice idea - and looks neat too!

Thanks Guys!

Got the chance to work on the machine tonight for a few hours.:)

I decided to work on the z assembly.

I made my 4 support bushings (classic design:() I picked up a small metal lathe a couple of months ago. It came in handy for making the bushings. I have a lot to learn but they turned out ok. Wish I had it while I was making my skate.


welded the motor plate and bearing nuts to the spider plate. drilled, tapped, and counter sunk the slide plate/slide tube. I was a little disappointed because while I was counter sinking the plate, the limit lock on my drill press slipped and I over counter sunk one of the holes. :mad:

I got the rack cut and drilled but I don't have a bottoming? tap. Off to the tool store.:D

Got the Stub axle plate made drilled and tapped. I'll give the lathe a workout tomorrow and make the axle. I'll have to counter sink the bolts because I put the cable chain too close and the bolts hit it.:(

Sorry, no pics again. I'll get something together tomorrow.

That's all for now.