Hello all,
I'd like to cut my own gearboxes and I've been looking, preferably 4:1. my gantry is very heavy, 1/4" wall tubes. the only confirmed boxes that fit the 72 tooth pulley that i could find are rischoof, chopper & mikes.
does JR's box fit a 4:1? I like the size and simplicity of it, I would only add a belt tension to it.
I also just realized that torque is effected at higher rpm that is needed to run the machine at non-monotonous speeds. should I be concerned with this using the pk299-F4.5A?
Where are you guys finding the kevlar XL belts? other then mcmaster @ $24 a pop for a 90 tooth 3/8":eek:

Pete, could you please tell me where you got those spindle mounts from? I likey.

Once I get this beast back together I'll hopefully be re-motivated to finish up the dreaded control box. A lot of holes and soldering to do.

Thanks All.

Stock drive products also carries belts that is another site to look at. I have a 4:1 reduction assembly that uses idlers and tensioners. It is for the Z but with some quick CAD changes you could make one to mount to the x, b and y. The spindle mount I made, if you would like to print let me know.

Pete, I would love to have a look your boxes and spindle mounts.

I did check SDP/SI but they don't have kevlar in that config, abut then again I don't even know which boxes I'm going with yet so...:confused: (they do have it in 88 tooth)

I just had a look at your Z box and remembered it.
can you tell me how you calculated belt length with those additional idlers?

will a 20 tooth spur gear with 4:1 reduction become too a slow machine for the typical cnc'er? better with 25 or 30 tooth?

Bilal, here are the parts from SDP/SI that I suggest if you are using a half inch shaft,

A 6A 3-72NF03716 (72 tooth)
A 6A 3-18H3716 (18 tooth)

if your stepper shaft is 14mm like mine you'd have to machine the small pulleys. I have mine set up as 3.6:1 with a 20t pulley and kevlar belts but am looking to change it real soon. I do have belt reduction plates that someone was kind enough to share that work great. I'll have to dig up the files and get to you.

Tom that would be much appreciated.

I also wanted to mention that B&B manufacturing is cheaper then sd/si, and Automation Direct is even cheaper then B&B. free shipping if over 50$, but they don't have kevlar belts.
I've used them a couple times so far.

Finally started assembling the machine last night, I'll put up some pics later today.

I have 3 different models of steppers and the 296 and 299 are 2 of those, I have found no problems so far. My rapids are 500 IPM because my ratios are lower so my steppers are turning fast. As far as the torque, properly sizing the power supply will help with that but torque/speed with always be an issue.

You can find the files I started with on Ross #74's (SURFCNC) Post#870. I think I modified them for my bearings, there is one of the support post (stand-off) holes that are real close so you may want to make modifications in that area. You can find a pic of the finished plates I cut with direct drive on my thread as well.

Pete, thanks for the dxf.
Tom, I will take a look at Ross's as well.
Than you both for the info.
Here is a pic from today.

Looking great!

Hell of a grinder stand :) !!

Looks great!!

Look at my thread, I have 4:1, and already fixed many issues I found with other files and have removable pulleys etc.. can supply some files when needed.

That's hilarious Mike:D, Thanks guys.

Fox I'll have to go through your thread again, too much stuff to remember;).
I still don't know what I'm gonna go with and last night I slowly realized how much more work I have ahead of me lol. I would love to see what you have.
Also wanted to ask for recommendations on spur gear tooth count. with a 4:1 box would you go 25 or 30? from what I've read a 20 tooth is too rough on the rack and probably overkill?

Hello All,

slow progress but coming along. Drag chains should be in tomorrow.
I didn't realize how bad my rails are until I recently looked at them carefully. I ended up milling the top of them and need to re-bevel, and i was able to bevel both Z's on the mill as well.

had a couple questions, but got a brain fart at the moment. hopefully I'll remember tomorrow along with a couple pics.

Hello all,

just some pics of progress(not much) and an updated album link here.
Also, mrosupply.com seems to be the cheapest for Boston spur gears free shipping no minimum. $16.87 for 30 tooth and $14 for 20tooth.

Looking good

Its coming along nicely

Forgot to say Happy Holidays to all in observance!

Thank you for all the help thus far!

The same to you Bilal!:D

Hello all,
slowly its been coming along.
I ran into some issues with the rails and main beams, turns out the flanges of the C-channel aren't very perpendicular which in turn doesn't let the rails sit straight in the V-wheels. I've been belt sanding the outer part of the beam to try and level it out, im pretty sure this has been discussed somewhere here, i think i remember reading it. I was thinking of running some shim stock along the length of the rail for leveling but didnt think that was the best in the long run. I'll put some pics up tomorrow about this issue.

Hi there, Bilal.

Flanges of C-channel not perpendicular to what? The C-Channel web?

This has been addressed in many machines.
Personally, I have done the following:
- tipped the Channel and welded the "leg" of the channel plumb when I build the machine \_/ or /_\
- Thin Layer of body filler (bondo) on top flange and sanded flat.
- used metal shims to plumb the Vee Rail.

All worked with varied success. Shims are quick and a soda can is a perfect thickness

Yes they aren't perpendicular with webbing. I guess never assume the obvious????? Unbelievable...

Thanks Sean, I ended up belt sanding them, one beam is almost done , just needs some finishing touches. Had to use 24 grit alumina zirconia to see any progress but it's coming. Annoyingly coming along..

I belt sanded them to close enough to be shimmed and then shimmed the rails.

Hello all, just chiming in.

not much progress in the past 2 months, but should be getting back on it now. I'll update that photo album as well.

Hello all,

Can anyone recommend a ethernet smoothstepper that has plugins for both mach and UCCNC? or do they exist? not sure why since i dont know either of these programs yet, figured i might switch over to UCCNC down the road because of some very positive hype about it.
And if it doesnt exist then what is the recommendation for an ESS for mach3,4? I already have mach3.

CNC drive has a motion controller with ethernet which works with Mach or UCCNC

UC400ETH ethernet motion controller
http://cncdrive.com/MC/UC400ETH%20da...ETH_manual.pdf

Thank you Danilo,

Discovered Warp9 tech seems to be very popular as well and a lot more options, and they said they will be developing an SDK soon for it to be more versitile.

http://warp9td.com/index.php/products

At the rate of mach updates and bugfixes some of us may not live to use more versatile SDK :D

Don't know what could be supported on smoothstepper that is not on other devices which work with Mach3 or 4, so the performance is similar. UCx00 devices work with mach3 and UCCNC. others will work only with Mach3,4

I personally have Usb smoothstepper and pokeys57e and couple of CSMIO devices, just look at the update rate and bugfixes for each and it will show you which device is in development which is buggy and which is mature.

For me CSLabs CSMIO IP/M for machines not needing lots of IO is perfect... works with 24VDC IO and has analog IO no need for interface boards or anything like that, nice package not a board which is awkward to mount or fragile, no interference whatsoever and no bugs to speak of in plugins.

Ok I'll look into those Danilo, Thanks for the advice.

Hello All,

Just wanted to chime in, I'm still around.
here is a link of photos of where I'm at. https://goo.gl/photos/b2YK7z6tCxumeoKT8

Thanks for the visual update. Looking great! Looks like there's a serial number in your future.:)

Very thorough..getting close ! Good luck on the last bit !
Are you a brainsurgeon during the day ? :D

Thanks Fox,
Definitely not a brain surgeon.:eek:

That thing looks YUGE>>>What are you planning on building?

Hello All,

I'm finally back at it..... although it will take a bit to wrap my head around this thing again.
I Moved and took the machine with. got it leveled in the garage.

I've been wanting to ask if I should weld the two Z's together for additional support?

Thanks guys.
here's a link to the latest pics.
https://goo.gl/photos/b2YK7z6tCxumeoKT8

Hi Davey, I missed your post.
Was planning on cutting acrylic and aluminum sheet for custom computer case builds, but that kinda fell through... So anything that comes my way now.:)

Hello all,
I haven't got too far since my last post, got both Z's mounted and the table bolted to the beams. plugged the control box back in and now both of the Z motors are too weak to move the axis's, they sound like the gears are jumping out of the teeth but aren't, just jumping steps.

any suggestions?

I'm trying to catch up here. Where are the motors moving the axes before and now they're not?

Correct, maybe its been a year since but nothing has changed. Just disconnected control box and plugged back in the other day.

Check wiring, if one wire of four is loose you get the sound just like jumping gears.
most critical are the drives connection, inspect the connector for heat traces