Video of one motor turning.
 

Check out the smoothness of the motor, can't get over it. Most of our problems in getting the motor to turn came from not having the jumper pins on the PMDX 122 in the right spot. Remember, there are more than just 1.


http://picasaweb.google.com/Tadeo.Luna/MechmateProgress

nice pictures

Hi Justin

Glad to hear that you have your motors turning smoothly now. How are your jumpers different from this post?

Gerald

My mistake was only moving JP1 down and not moving any of the other pins. We now have it just like your post. Did any one watch the Video?

Great pics Justin.

Couldn't find any video though.

Justin,

Nice Pictures, but what's that big eagle in the background?????

I want one. :cool:

Justin I watched the video :cool: it's picture 41 of 49

feeling dumb now:o

Justin,
Watched the video and looks great. You have a nice set of pictures on there as well. Will be a good reference.

All right! some feed back on the video. The shop you see in the pictures is not ours. It is my brothers friends dads shop, his name is Larrry and he is a metal fabricator and artist. The Eagle is his sculpture that he will bronze. Thank, God for exsperienced old guys! Only poking a little fun on Halloween.

Drilling Pinions for grub screw
 

Has anyone drilled their pinions for grub screws? We got our pinons from McMaster Carr and they don't have the keyway or grub screw hole. I am not sure if drilling the holes and taping them is easy or hard to do. Any procedures that I need to be aware of before moving forward.

Thanks

I purchased mine from a company called Kaman. They are made by Martin and have a beefy hub... they come with the screws already...
$25/ea. I didn't want to take any chance with the gears (30 teeth)

Justin, I personally find tapping to be very easy today, but 40 years ago it was nerve-wracking! :)

First you need to buy the right tap, plus the right drill size. (I don't have the experience of the names and sizes used in your part of the world, so I'll hope that a "local" fills you in).

For the small quantity of pinions, it could be more economical to take them out for someone else to tap, since a decent quality tap is not so cheap, and you are unlikely to need it again soon.

In this thread: Tapping threads into metal the discussion is more for tapping the rail screws, rather than the pinions, using power tools to drive the tap. For the pinions, you won't use a power tool, but the other comments there are mostly valid.

Hi Justin,

I was worried about tapping the pinions as well. As it turned out it was easier than I expected. Just set it up in your vise and away you go. I wouldn't give it any worries.

I had the same concerns as you and GregM above and I just tapped my pinion gears on Sunday. It was really a piece a cake and, given your ability as shown
in your photos, this will be trivial for you.

Here's a tap-and-drill guide for US sizes:
http://www.boltdepot.com/fastener-in...rill-Size.aspx

I've been watching (Lurking) your build as I'm about a month behind you.

Good luck! Can't wait to see the finished photos!

Cheers,

-Jeff

Hey Justin,

I bought the same pinions from McMaster. Tapping is not that big of a deal.

In fact, I screwed up (no pun intended) the first hole. I just rotated the pinion 180 degrees and proceeded with a new one.

You will see some discussion about tapping two holes for two set (grub) screws. Just for reference, I tapped one hole and used two set screws in the same hole. I have not had any problems with pinions coming loose. Just the way I was taught.

It finally clicked! "two set screws in same hole" . . . .

I have been used to working with 1" diameter pinions and just couldn't figure what 2 screws in one hole meant - but you are talking of bigger 30T pinions where the hole is deep enough to get 2 short grubscrews one behind the other. Good idea! (must admit that I had never seen or heard of it till now).

The ungeared, direct drive stepper motors from Oriental Motor have 2 flats on the shaft, 90 degrees opposed. The geared motors only have one flat. We are grinding a second flat (short) for 2 grubscrews to mate with the shaft. Backing them up with 2 more grubscrews (for the 30T pinions) should be extremely secure.

The last couple of posts on grubscrews will be copied to a new topic in the technical sections. Photos and illustrative drawings will be welcome! ;)

Thanks guys,

I will take lot's of pictures and give feed back on our procedures.

Pinions drilled and taped
 

Pinion gears were purchased from McMaster Carr. It is a Boston Gear with 35 teeth. The set screw is 6mm. They were very easy to drill and tap. I don't even remember why we were nervous about drilling them!

Feed back needed on contactor wiring.
 

We would like to get some feedback on how we have the disconnect and contactor wired.
Thanks!

http://picasaweb.google.com/Tadeo.Lu...C8&feat=email#

That doesn't look right. What diagrams are you using?

What you are trying to connect, should be like this:

Gerald,

This is the first post I have made. I'm Tadeo, the brother of Justin of "Brothers Build Mechmate".

I Thank you very much for your feedback. I'll make the wiring changes to match your diagram. I'm new to wiring, so I used L3 and T3 instead of 13 and 14. Also, I left off the jumper that feeds power to L1 in order to simplify things for my own understanding.

Thanks again,

Tadeo

Welcome Tadeo!

Been to cold to finish painting!
 

Slow progress, hope to finish by the end of the month. Controller all put together need some warm days to paint table and x rails.

wow that is a MASSIVE Z-Axis.....your's are bigger than mine...:D

OK! you got me so I left a few extra inches on top for show.

must be a MAN's thing..:p

Finally got to paint the table!

Nice progress Justin & Tadeo!

Good Progress Justin, hope we can see your first cuts this week.

Vishnu

My brother, Tadeo is a field engineer and has been in the Congo for a month. He should be back this week and hopefully we can get this beast going before my third baby gets here.

Justin,

It doesn't look like there is much left to do. Table looks good.

Control box mounted on wall with fresh paint. X rails painted and logos on.

I can smell that fresh paint from here! :)

Did you leave an air gap between the control box and the wall so that cooling air can convect up the back surface as well?

I hope that is enough room for a draft?

I am sure that will be okay - these boxes don't get as hot as I first thought. (My boxes are mounted on 40x40 [1.5x1.5"] vertical "studs")

Now for the wiring!
 

Loosely assembled and ready for the electrics.

Justin,

Looks great and it looks like you have a great helper and future MM builder.

Now, slap on some motors and wire that baby up.