Yes, it is plastic (PVC). PVC pipe is very common here in the US, it's used primarly for plumbing.

Here's a YouTube link......it shows the 4th axis in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIk-41dQYzg

Wayne - can you tell us more about your mach settings on this one - probably detailed snapshots would help. - and did you set any backlash settings? - what is the reduction you are running

I am planning for a 1:16 reduction using double timing belt setup.

btw - very nice work

RGDS
Irfan

Hi Irfan,

The settings for Mach3 are pretty straight forward.....I have a few screen shots that should help.

Be sure to slave your "X" axis on the MechMate to either the "B" axis or the "C" axis. You need to use the "A" axis for the rotory table.

Setup your ports and pins to support the "A" axis. (see ports and pins photo)

Make sure that both your "A" and "B" axis are enabled. This is done on the "Settings" tab. (see axis enable photo)

Setup the "toolpath" to enable Mach3 to display your rotory work. (see toolpath photo)

My rotory axis is built from a Sherline rotory table, I just mount a stepper motor. The Sherline table has a gear ration of 72:1 (5deg/rev.)

Hope this helps,
Wayne

That looks nice, might have to try that.

Thanks, glad you like them.

I made some more today, they will be the table center pieces at our end of the year banquet.

The details with backlighting is amazing....take a look at lithophane of the guy holding the plane(me :D)

They look great Wayne. The detail certainly comes through.

What sort of tool and stepover are you using?

And what is the range of thickness of material left?

Greg

Wayne,

these look absolutely awesome.
I`m impressed of the details which are possible with this technique, especially the guy holding a plane!
These are the things which push me more going back to work...

How thick is the PVC tube (wall thickness )? I see you have machined it in some places up to 2,5 mm - 3 mm ? Is that corect?

Great work.

Greolt,

For the rough cut I am using a Onsrud 1/8" tapered ballnose (77-104). The rough cut is up to .180" deep (in areas with very light features), with a 50% stepover @ 50ipm.

The finish cut is with a 1/16", 2 flute, ballnose cutter. The finish path takes an additional .02" material. The stepover is 15% @ 40ipm.

The total cut depth of both passes is .200", the PVC is ~.240 thick....so the lightest areas have a material thickness of about .04".

The cut time is about 2hrs......15min. for the roughing and 1hr 45min for the finish cut.

Wayne

Claus,

I appreciate the kind comments, thanks. The PVC is ~.240" thick (~6mm), some areas are as thin as .04" or about 1mm.

The MechMate is a great design! For me, these fine details sure highlight this machines capablility to hold tight tolerences.

Wayne

I like I like.. Well done and keep them comming, I like to see this kind of stuff.

Wayne, thanks for sharing these, they are an inspiration to those of us who are following along in your footsteps.

Thanks Joe. Greolt gets the credit on this one, his YouTube video got me started.

Defiantly nice. An inspiration to keep in mind when my indexer will be ….soon !
Good work and thanks for sharing those, Robert ;)

Been awhile since my last post, so I though I would provide a quick update.

Been using my Mechmate like crazy, logged nearly 100 hours of cut time in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Most of this time was spent cutting lithophanes. They have turned out to be very popular, seems that everyone that see one, wants one. We have sold about 40 of them....most for Christmas gifts. If the orders keep up....the Mechmate will have paid for itself in no time:)

In an attempt to drum up some more business, I created a website. Although not quick....webpage creation was certainly easier than I first expected. The page still needs some tweaking, but am pretty pleased for a first attempt.

If you got a minute, check it out, let me know what you think. www.radcut.com

I am currently working on a new RC airplane. It is a scaled down version of an RC airplane build in the 70's. Of coarse, all the parts will be cut with the MechMate.....he's my buddy:D

Wayne,
The website looks good, I did have some overlapping text issues with firefox and my font settings though. I really like those lithophanes.

It all looks good Wayne :)

The site looks great on Google Chrome, Wayne. Very nice.

Wayne you 've done a fantastic job !!!
congratulations, you have inspired a lot of us in this forum.

Just another example that multithousand cnc machines
doesn't make you a better crafter.
Imagination, creativity and a Mechmate could do the job.

Great Site, great Work! :)

Inspiring this lithophan.
Another trick thing I’ll want to make when I’m up & moviing axis :D
Web site look good, keep on tweaking it, nice marketing tool !
Good luck. Amicalement, Robert ;)

Thanks everyone, I appreciate all the kind comments and feedback on the webpage.

Wayne, when you use your indexer, is the X-axis stationary? Once in position in the centre of the workpiece, does it ever have to move?... Just thinking for the time I do indexing I can make use of one of the X-axis Gecko's...will be some plug and play system.

Kobus,

Yes, once the X is in position, it does not move until all the A-axis work is complete. See no reason why the plug-n-play method won't work.

Be careful when you hot switch your motors, not sure how well the Gecko's tolerate this.

Don't know how tough Gecko are but switching in inductive load like that is BAD for the driver (though motor is stationary, the chopping/switching current is flowing through coils)

Wayne, the site looks very good on Firefox, not problems noted. Your product is also very impressive. Can I send you a photo for carving?
Joe

Thanks Wayne I thought that would be the case. Therefore my thought is to bring my X-axis in position while power is off. Lock the gantry in place. Undo the one X-Axis Stepper, connect it to the indexer...configure Mach-3 and do my indexing work. I know it sounds like extra work, but if I can save on another Stepper and Gecko to try indexing so be it. If I find it works for me, I might consider another stepper and driver at a later stage

Kobus,

You may want to shop EBay for another step driver. I have purchased\used the Centent brand on my other mills with good success. I believe Centent's were designed by Marius (Gecko creator) in a previous life.

Look for a CN0142 or CN0162 unit. The primary difference is the max voltage. see www.centent.com for details.

I have never paid more than $50 USD for a controller. Not sure about shipping....it may not be practical for you.

Wayne

Wayne,
I believe Centent is now designed / operated by Mariss' brother. I remember Mariss speaking of Centent on some of his old posts.

Charging power supply boxes
 

I designed these boxes around some surplus power supplies that I found. These are industrial switching supplies that will work perfect for charging the Li-Po batteries we use in our RC airplanes. I decided to built boxes for all (5) of the powersupplies....thinking my RC buddies will want one of their own;)

The tab and slot design makes the boxes self-aligning....and really easy to assembly:D The first two boxes were cut one at a time to test the G-code, the parts of the last three boxes were nested, so they could be cut in one operation.

Very nice, I like the fan cover I might steal it for some of
my future projects!

Awesome! No nails! love the fan cover too!

Nicely done Wayne.

Ken, I really like designing with tabs. They allow you to assemble the whole project, make sure it is square, then hit each joint with CA glue (or other) to make it permanent. No nails:)

Glad you like the fan cover. Although it looks cool, it isn't very strong, so I changed the design on the remaining boxes so I could use a traditional wire fan cover.

Great boxes, I like the tab design. I'm working on wine boxes with those tabs...

Wow, those will be some classy wine boxes. My wife likes wine in a box.....but the box is usually cardboard.:D

My latest project. It's a foldable flightstand or table to be used at the RC flying field. Saves you from working on your knees.

The design is based on a picture I found on the internet. The entire project was designed in 2D, then modeled in 3D so I could determine how the assembly would foldup and check for proper clearances, before cutting any material. I find this technic not only saves time, but it saves a lot money because I do not need to makes parts over because of design mistakes :)

The material is baltic birch plywood. This is a high quality plywood, often used to build cabinets or furniture.

This project was cut in two operations. The first op used a 1/8" endmill to cut the pockets, grooves and holes...the second op used a 1/4' to cut out all the parts.

Awesome! Having a few of these in the workshop would really come in handy too...

What are you drawing these plans in?

Wayne, that looks awesome!