Here is my control board. I am so glad I got this part working with no bad misshaps.

Yep...looks like a kitchen project.
Great job Ed.
Is that a Programmable Relay I see in the bottom of the cabinet? Nice.

You stole my next best idea to consolidate the control inside the cabinet.:D

The far right on the DIN rail is a 12V 2amp power supply from factorymation. I may want to add some lighting (LED's) under my gantry since the area my MechMate will be in is like a bat cave (kinda dark). So I decided to seperate my power supplies, I don't like the idea of running everything off the motor supply. On the far left of the DIN rail there is a Magnicraft SSR to control the on/off of the router.

Sean when I drew the little wiring diagram earlier on the relay switching for a router, the area in red is what I thought you were saying to do. Did I missunderstand what you were trying to say? The way I drew it..... when the relay on the PMDX board closes it will engage the larger relay, and turn on the router. Or maybe not, I have built alot of electron tube amps the last few years but they use High voltage/low amp circuts with no relays to speak of, so my understanding of how relays work will take some time and head scratching myself.

That clears it up. Thanks

Ed, the full wiring diagram for your type of relay is at post #7 of this thread:
http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?t=290

It is a different approach to that what Sean is suggesting, and this approach will only work for the solid state relay. It is simpler because you don't have to find 12V power.

Okay that is simple.

I see what he has drawn up but I am confused still on his pin numbering does he mean to use the 5v+ aux. out pin and J8 pin #14 or one of the others if #14 is taken already?

Kind of a dumb question but I just want to be sure.

nevrermind i read further and you explained my question.

Ed,
I think I missed something....are you okay with your wiring? It looks like your using a SSR, which would be the solution Gerald linked you towards.
The hard relay contact is what I am using, thus, does not apply.
Just chime in if you need something else.

Sean, yes I have it all working good, just need a little more set up in mach. I know now, how to wire the relay for the router now but I have been busy making a place to put everything, so I haven't had time to get back to it yet.


I am hoping that I can have this thing all together by early to mid June.

Zslide
 

I used 6" channel on my table, and I am not sure which of the slide plate and tubes I should use for my table.
Should I go with the 10" slide, or would there be any advatage in making it longer since I didn't use 7 or 8 inch channel?

On plan drawing 10 40 330 there is a metric option on the 10" slide that is about 2-3/4" longer. So I wasn't certain which one of those to go by, the short or long one.

I guess it really depends on what you plan to cut. If you know you will only cut 3/4" sheet goods, there is no need for a longer slide. On the other hand, if you think you might like to do some 3D work, the ability to go higher will definitely come in handy.

I built the Classic MM and I didn't realize that in the uppermost position, the bottom of my bit would only be a few inches from the top of the table. That's my fault because Gerald was very clear from the beginning that the MM will carve 3-4 inches. I guess it just didn't sink in. No big deal in my case because I don't expect to cut anything thicker than 1" or so.

Hope that helps.

Well said Doug.

There is no harm in building the longer z-slide - it might increase the re-sale value one day :)

On a serious note, I added the longer versions as options so that folk could see what is involved when they kept on asking "How can we extend the z-axis?" Hopefully I have left enough warnings around that things will flex a lot more in this case. But Ed, with your 6" channels on the table sides, you can can only use a short end of the slide, the longer bit sticking out the top doesn't cause you any more flex.

Gerald,
If you build the longer Z slide, do you need taller side rail to take full advantage of it? Or does it just allow you to retract the Z farther up than the shorter one? :confused:

I wanted to make sure that I understand how the cable trays layout and work. I think from all the photos and plans I understand it to have a layout as in this picture. Is this the correct layout for the cable trays when router is at 0,0? Both cable trays will be fully extended?

Also having problems finding anything close to the 5" springs with 25lbs of tension. I tried local hardware and grangers. Where are you guys finding those?

I could not find here so I got mine from local spring maker. Easy for them and are perfect. And are cheap < than $5 ;)

Ed,

I think you are talking about the springs and not the gaslift.

McMaster-Carr 9654K324 Spring-Tempered Steel Wire Springs
S-597 Century Spring Alternative
25 lbs when extended 5"


Gaslifts McMaster-Carr 9416K2 15lbs for router version


Hope that helps

thanks I will check with McMaster Carr.


Does the layout above look correct as far as the home position for the router and the cable trays?

Ed, unfortunately your layout looks very mixed up.

If you look at your computer screen, 0,0 is bottom left.
y=0 is the bottom horizontal edge of the screen, y=max is the top edge.(long edges)
x=0 is the left vertical edge, x=max is the right vertical edge (short edges)

Ed, if your drawing shows the green bands being the cable chains folded to the top (hanging under their own weight), then they are correct in relation to the off-center cross-bearers. So I think you have the table assembly drawing correct.

But then 0,0 in your drawing must move vertically down to the bottom corner.

And most people locate the keyboard & screen convenient to the left side of your drawing.

When the router is in the home 0,0 position, the y-chain is lying down on the support bracket, while the x-chain is pulled up into the air.

Okay thanks.

motor mounts
 

Hey Gerald,
I am intsalling the Y motors and I am thinking that the only way they will fit without the motor cap screws hitting the gantry endplate is to countersink the two top holes in the motor plates. On the drawing M5 10 200 you can see the geared motor mounting bolts protruding past the nylon bushing. The direct drive look like they mount from the opposite side and the motor plates are tapped, so there is no problem there with them.


I bought the 20 pitch pinions and the 7.1 geared motors. Will that be okay or should i order larger pinions? Speed cutting is not necessary to me but I also don't want it to be like watching evolution happen. haha

Ed,
The 20T and 7.2 gearbox combination is what I have on my machine. I have been very pleased with the cutting speed and performance of the machine thus far. I am averaging (per book value for the bits) about 120 to 180 IPM. Rapid moves are set at 225IPM. The larger pinion would allow for quicker rapid moves, but I haven't noticed a huge difference in total cut time since I tend to optimise my cutting files for the shortest moves. I must say, it's far quicker that my old 1000 series Multicam with the 3:1 belt reduction units to the rack & Pinion. Yes, Gerald, I will be doing a pro/con shoot out based on data from both machines here in the near future. I still have access to my old machine, thus, I am setting up a benchmark test to perform on both machines for an accurate analysis.

Ed,
The countersunk heads are exactly the right solution. As Gerald mentioned, be sure to NOT exceed the length of the machine screw when replacing the OM cap screw. Bad things will happen if that screw is too long and cracks the gear case. Use caution.

Ed, you discovered my error a couple of hours after someone else - it was discussed on this forum only hours ago. Your countersinking proposal is the correct solution. http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showt...0590#post10590

When you say you "bought the 20 pitch pinions", that would be correct for everybody. The diametral pitch must be 20. . . . . . but I think you meant to say that they have 20 teeth. (similar numbers but different property/meaning).

Start off with the pinions you have, and take it from there. Sean sounds happy with them. Realise that your PC must send pulses 50% faster than for a 30 tooth pinion, so don't skimp on using an old/slow PC.

I picked 30 tooth as the main design point (motors hanging level, middle of slots) so that there was some leeway to either side from there. 20 teeth would be the minimum one could go, and already I would then be nervous of the slots are long enough....

Okay thanks Gerald I was confused as to where exactly 0,0 was supposed to be. the crossbearing channels on the bottom of the table were a throwing me off as to which end of the table was the 0 end of the table. I studied the drawing yesterday and I think it finally sunk in and what you are saying here confirms it. It takes me a little longer to wrap my mind around this stuff. I guess that is a good think because it keeps me thinking.

I will countersink the top motormount screws today, funny that I decided to use all metric bolts for my MM but the Oriental motors which I would have guessed be metric, are actually 1/4 20 screws haha.

Sean,
I found some tapered head 1/4 20's at lowe's that are 3/4" long which overall length looks to be about 1-2mm shorter than the threads on the ones that came with the motors. I think they will be perfect, I started to get the 1" but remembered that the ones that came with the motors threaded in quite a ways before they tightened so I went with the shorter ones.

Feel like I am on the downhill side of this project now.:)::D:)

some progress here
 

Making a little progress. Seems like more time waiting for parts than actuall work on the machine. I made a little box for my computer home. I used furnace filters on both sides so that the computer can stay cooler. I couldn't get the cable chain to make a tight enough bend mounted to the 6" channel so I made a little bracket out of 1/4 x 3 flat to deepen the area, so that the chain is flush with the top of the rail.

little more
 

couple more pictures. This red paint is heresy.:D:D Probably will cost me a couple gold stars ;)

Looking gr8 Ed.
Red Color, it means U R out of MM # Race ;)

Nice pictures Ed!

qestion on layout
 

Gerald, I am trying to decide if it will be easier to just move my cable chain support and turn the table 180 degrees from where it is sitting or add a support channel.
I got to looking at how far the gantry travels on the rails and I need to ask you something that will help me decide what to do.
My table looks exactly like the drawing 10 10 000. the stops and proximity holes look like in the drawing. When I slide the gantry down to the end of the x axis the center of the gantry are about 1-3/4" from reaching the end of the MDF board. Is the router offsett that much on the z-slide or did I make a mistake there also?
If I did everything correct (on my crossmember layout) I will just move my cable chain support to the opposite side and turn my table around, if I totally screwed up and got my supports wrong I will just add another support channel on the 0,0 end and move my support board to the added channel.

The center of the router sits about 4" off the center of the gantry, away from the side that has the cable chain, towards the y-motor.

The center of the router should run 2" off the spoilboard to both ends.

Adding a channel is not a neat solution - the spacing will be uneven underneath and you could curse it when you want to add a vacuum system under the table.

I count 7 screw holes in the side of the one main beam (for x cable chain support) to be moved to other side.

You made my day, I was hoping you would say that :D:D.

Double-check what I said - I am making too many mistakes these days. :(

Missing washer? M5 10 200 A
 

Part #17 - 20 x 8 x 2 Teflon Washer

http://www.mechmate.com/forums/attac...1208560509.jpg

HI David,
I used the teflon washers between the motor plates and the gantry. I used them in two places, they are on both the swivel point bolt and the slotted hole bolt. Hard to see them from that photo.
Thanks for asking, you never know when I will miss somthing or fail to notice one part of the plan because of being so focused on another part.

Are you guys spacing the router mounts away from the z slide plate to clear the bearings, bushings and bolt heads? My router mount for my porter cable is about 1-3/8 too wide. I have some aluminum flat bar I can make a spacer out of. I could cutt the part that is too wide out of the mount but I think it would weaken the mount alot to do it that way.

Ed,

The short answer is no. I cut and modified the cornors of my router mounts so they wouldn't interfer with V-rollers. Lots of meat on the cornors.

I'll try and post pic when I get home.

Ed,

Here's a pic of the router mount. I cut/modified the corners interfering with the V-roller hardware.

Attachment 1369

Yet another professional work in progress:)

I forgot to mention that the power cord to the router will change. The gray shielded cable will terminate inside the router.

I was just experimenting with the shielded cable, shrink tube, etc. :o