Were there no other options then to mount the Ycar motor that way?
It could interfere with some tall pieces or clamps

Yes,

You can rotate the flange as seen here.

http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showt...81&postcount=7

But a cut and reweld would be needed :(

I didn't know it was going to hang so low when I welded them up. I did have to change the A drive geabox because it only had about 1/8" clearance between the cable chain and the motor. Will go back and redo the Y car soon.

Gary

It's alive:D Got the motors wired up and the steps calibrated. Measured the movement with a dial indicator and the travle was off +0.008". Use the auto calibrate setting in Mach and got it dead on. Maximum speed with 25,000 kernal was about 750 ipm. I bumped the kernal to 35,000 and was able to get over 1000 ipm. The steppers even sounded smoother, so I left it at 35,000 and limited the top speed to 900 ipm.

I have to tell on myself. When I first pressed the arrow key for the X axis the accel. setting was too high. The grantry jumped off the rails and got my attention fast:eek: The gear reducers really give the MM a lot of torque.

Tomorrow I will wire the switches on the remote. I know how to wire the E-stop with NC switches in series but I dont know about setting the pause and start push buttons. I believe these are wired in parallel with momentary NO switches. Will check the posts tonight to see how to set them up and how to defined the pin setting.

Got a question.

I am planning on wiring my E-stop to control the mains contactor. This will kill power to the BOB, the router contator, and the power supply. Is there an advantage to using the E-stop circuit on the BOB? I believe the onboard relay can control the mains contractor to shut it down but what advantage would this give. It looks like more wiring just to use the BOB E-stop circuit. If there is an advantage please let me know so I can decide which way to go.

Gary

Hello Gary,
Great progress you have there. I wish you all the best.
AFAIK the only adv. for using E-stop circuit on the BOB is the feedback given to mach3 if the e-stop was pressed then mach3 makes an emergency stop as if you hit the Esc button in your Keyboard.

Ahmed

WELL DONE! Now you got yourself a runaway Mechmate!!! :)

There are definitely some advantage to have the E-stop circuit interface with the
BOB. but it also depend on how much blink-blink you want...

During my built, I just want to get to the point where I could have a functional Mechmate soonest... so I had all the bare minimum for safe operation & skipped the limit switches, the E-stop to BOB interface... etc. As time went by... It becomes more & more of a struggle to even look at these KIV items...:p
Especially after I found figured out a simple way to Zero my X-Y position manually with a battery operated cross-hair laser double-sided taped to the Y-car...

I also intended to integrate the PC mobo into the control panel... but I eventually swallowed my pride & have a separate PC on an old PC table on castors to save me from more sleepless nights...

BTW, with a separate PC, you only have to run a single length of printer cable instead of a whole bundle which made up of cables for the keyboard, the Monitor & the mouse for the least.That can be a huge PITA when you have wood dust flying all over the place.

Z assembly finished and installed. Still need to find a cylinder and make the router mount. Need to do a little touch up on securing the wiring and bolting the table top down. It won't be long before its covered with saw dust:cool:

Has anyone got the mounted deer head dxf (made like the dinosaur skeletons) or know where I can get it.

Gary

Open this list of all the files in a cnczone thread, look for Deer Head

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/misc.p...chments&t=5276

download as much as you wish :)

Thanks, thats a lot of files.

Gary

Been busy again. Brought a new router with speed control and 1/4" & 1/2" collets. It was on sale, saved $60. Built the router mount and set up the built in relay on the BOB to turn the router on and off with the g-code. I was planning on mounting an e-stop button on the Y car to diconnect the router while changing bits but I have now decided to just use the switch on the router. I straightened the wiring up some more and secured it. Still have to bolt the table top down and add the spoil board. Few more odds and ends to take care of and it will be ready to go to work. I couldn't wait any longer, so I tried it out.

Gary

More pics

Well done Gary, logo and dust, looks like we have another member of the family - time for a number!

Just be wary of using the BOB relay to switch the relativly large load of the router, its always safer to add another relay (seperate from the BOB so if anything goes wrong it does not affect the BOB) that controls the Router, this second relay is controlled by the one on the BOB but has a very small load. This second relay is also very easy to replace if the need arises.

See here in posts 182 and 203, the relay is on the blue din rail holder near the bottom of the box - that was when I still had the Bob Cambell board with the seperate relay board - that board did not work for me so I changed to CNC Direct board (this one has relays on the BOB) that worked much better.

Yes !! Paint, Logo, Dust !!! You get #86 !!! Congrats on a speedy build !! Keep us posted on the final setup steps and lets see some projects !! What did you do that sign with?

Thanks Allen. I had installed a seperate relay on the dins rail for the router but after reading the PMDX manual I decided to use one of the onboard relays. The one I'm using is rated for 30 amps and has MOV to suppress the arc when closing and opening under a load. Time will tell. Still will have to wire up a dust collection system and may use the relay on the dins for that. I looked at some collectors yesterday while at the Woodcraft Store. Couldn't bring one home because I was on a motorcycle:D

I did discover that I will need some type of pendant or maybe a wireless key board to zero the material on the MM. Anyone got any suggestions. Would also like to try a touch screen monitor, is anybody having any sucess with these?

Gary

Thanks Mike. It was cut out of a piece of the cheap grade 3/4" plywood. Kind of like luan with a very thin outer skin. I use a 1/4" downspiral end mill for the pocketing and a 90 degree V-bit. It was drawn up in VCarve Pro. The design under the lettering was take from one of the demo files and modified to fit. The sign was cut out on the MM with tabs being cut loose by a box knife.

I'm going to cut some Harley Davidison coasters out this afternoon from some of the man made decking boards and also some from cypress. Will post some pics. I better not get too carried away with cutting or I'll never complete the MM. I don't need to leave loose ends undone because I'll just keep putting them off as I'm having fun now:cool:

Gary

Allen, forgot to mention that is one really neat control box. I going to go back through your posts and read more.

A big thanks to Gerald too. I was having trouble with the pause and start switches and did as Gerald had posted and was able to get them working. A big thanks to Gearld for the great design and for him sharring all of this. And to everyone who takes the time to post and share their knowledge. With out this group the MM would not be what it is.

Gary

Happy days!

Gary
If you are using Mach3 I can recommend the xbox 360 wireless controller with great results. Plugin and instructions here
You will also need a xbox wireless controller receiver that you can get here. I'm not related to or suggesting you use this particular vendor. I had a good experience when I ordered from them.
Install the xbox wireless controller receiver first then follow the plugin instructions.

Builder's Log Update
 

Gary,

Congratulations on completing your MechMate and earning Serial #86.

Here is the Upated Builder's Log.

Please review your entry and let me know any changes you want to make. Also, please let me know the dimensions of your MechMate for the record.

For pendant you can look in PoKeys, with it you can connect lots of switches buttons leds mpg and lcd display, also analog stick from joypad as I did for jogging x and y and mpg for Z.

Nils and I use a shuttle pro for control. Works really well and has removable buttons you can label.

http://retail.contourdesign.com/?/products/5

Hi Ken, it's going to be hard to leave the shop and go into the house. Just too many projects and things to try.

Gary

Thanks for the number John, the cutting area is 49" X 97". Glad to be a part of the MM group.

Gary

Thanks guys, I'll look into all the pendant ideas. I really need a way to move around the table and use one for zeroing my material.

Got the table top bolted down today and all of the grounding done. Next it was play time:)

I cut some coasters out of cypress and out of the manmade decking board. The cypress was scraps left over from siding on a friends house. The decking board was just scrap cut offs. I planed the boards to 1/2" thick. As you can see the decking board gave a better cut. The MM is doing real good on the fine cuts. Cypress is real soft wood and probably the reason for not cutting as smooth. This will make nice gifts for my fellow riders.

Gary

Builder's Log Update
 

Thanks for the dimension info., Gary. Here is the Updated Builder's Log.

John
After reviewing the status page, I think we should throw out the 2 high and 2 low for a better average! That 23.1 month build is skewing the heck out of the page.

Best,
Sean

Congrats Gary! :)

Sean,
That sounds like a good idea! :cool:

I agree with Sean also.

I wish I had all those nice HD Pendant's. I could give them as a downpayment on the rental of a HD to do the Route 66.:D
I will be attending the Vectric Meeting in Las Vegas in October and plan to ride part of RT66 back to the East Coast.....If I can afford the rental fees of a bike over there.

Kobus, if you get lost on the bike ride and end up in Alabama give me a call. I meet you on my Goldwing and give you some HD coasters. All my friends ride HD's but I let them ride with me anyway:cool:

Gary

If anybody is interested in making coasters I have found a good supply of material at Lowes. They had some cork flooring plank samples so I brought four at 25 cents each to try. Worked real well. A shiny cork finish on top with a MDF inner layer and a bottom layer of cork. They are about 3/8" thick. I don't know how long a plank is but you will probably be able to get 9 or more from one.

Gary

Gary thanks for the "Heads-up". It is much appreciated indeed.

Respectfully,

James

How I wish I can get stuff like these here.... Envy....

Thank's Gary, but I see it's a BIT off my track I plan to ride. I would also rather ride a Wing than a HD, but when you want to do RT66 I suppose that is what you are suppose to ride.:p

Hi everyone,

Cut a full 4 X 8 X 3/4 sheet this past week. Worked out well. Also cut a sign for a friend.

Gary

I want to be like Gary when I grow up.. hahaha! :). Nice work!!.

Signs all over the place :) very nice

Mike here are some pic's of the control box. Let me know if you need some others.

Gary

You can route your cables behind the base plate to make things tidy.