Managed to gain some progress while waiting for the turn over party.
Got all levels done with the spirit level spot on the middle on evert surface as far as I could.
Attachment 8456
All diagonals which I can possiblely think off are within 0.5mm
Attachment 8457
After fitting & spot welded, I haul the gantry to my friend's workshop where he has a MIG welder. Got them welded by better hands then mine.
Deformation is inevitable, made a quick check on the largest diagonal of the gantry & it went off by 1mm... more detail check after I get the top coat on. hope there will be minimal welding deformation...
Attachment 8458
Welding is way less then desired...
Attachment 8459
Chinese New Year is only a few day away, & I think I can get most of the larger parts erected before that.

Found another careless mistake, I left one weld incomplete on all 4 brackets, will this be a problem?
Attachment 8460

I don't think it is a noticeable problem. (there is another member here without those welds and he is happy with his machine's performance - he doesn't even know that those welds were left out ;))

Great, That would save me the trouble to borrow a pick up & a trip to my friend's shop.

Gerald, I must salute your welding sequence design, there is hardly any welding distortion! Especially on such thin gauge material, MAGICAL!

That blue looked ok, why did you change it? :)

Now that I "discovered" I don't have the M130322 in my laser profilr pile... Considering to fabricate one, this will be faster then getting another pc laser cut.

As I'm not really that hard working & I know I can get the plate shaped by a guillotine shearing machine by my local friendly workshop. Filing down a straight slot is also a lot easier.

So I wonder if the shape is functionally important? Can I alter the original profile by a tat & a straight slot for easier job but maintain the hole geometry as attached?

#PS,
1. From the original DXF, the curve of the slot looks not much different from a straight one
2. Will grind of the sharp corners with a hand grinder.

:o:o

Careless me... again... :o:o:o
Attach file is here

Ken,

that shape will work just fine as far as I can envision my current machine (it's not in my garage :( ) For this piece we didn't follow the design exactly and we just used a bearing ball with a big M12 nut/bold system, no welding was done there.

Ries

Ries

Noone has this :D:D:D

You mean M130332 :D

Interesting, Do you mind showing more details?

ken,

not a problem, as soon as I am back to the machine I will make a picture, this will be next week (in 3 days I think).
However, the basic idea is just to use a big M12 bolt/nut to put the ball bearing attached to tart M130332.

Ries

Ries

Did not gain much progress over the weekend.
The Turn-Over party didn't happen, as I need to attend to other matter.
Even so, I could keep myself from foundering the build... just to show how addictive this build is.

Assembled the rails on the gantry. did not have time to level & align properly yet.
Attachment 8491

That hammer is about the right size. :)

Oh yes, 3 lb. sledge hammer, the real McCoy, feels invincible when I hold one ;)

A good size for demolition work :)

Don't leave home without it :)

I spend some time to visualize the whole process of aligning & levelling of MM. It gets a little fuzzy what should go on & whiich is the datumn.

Here is how I plan to get on with it. please do not hesitate to beat me up for mistakes.:o

1) flip the table, adjust the leveling feet to level up the main beams with carpenter spirit level + Al rectangle hollow section tube.
2) install only one side of the x-rail, shim the angle to get height level out using a spirit level + Al rectangle tube.
**question, should I also check if the Angle is perpendical to the horizon plane?
3) straighten the rail with my Al rectangle tube as edge guide. eye ball for light through gaps.
4) install the other x-rails,
5) level the height of second rail.
*Q, should I level the 2nd rail to the 1st using or should I use water tube level method?
6) While setting the 2nd rail straight, align it to parallel with the 1st rail.
7) Seat the Gantry on the x-rail, get all 4 wheel seated on the rail.
*Q, should I level up the top surface of the tubes to horizontal plane?
8) install Y-rails & align as X-Rails to horizontal plane.
9) install Z-slide.
10) align the Z-slide by cutting & shim the spindle square to the milled surface.
11) setting the x & y square. (very well described by Gerald in one of the post, will follow to the dot.)


Thanks in advance.

1) Use the spirit level on top of the main beams only. After adjusting the feet, put the level away - don't confuse yourself by using it during the shimming. (No need for later water-tube either - put your alu in y-direction across main beams in beginning only)

At step number 2), Install both rails using G-clamps only and follow instructions on drawing 10 10 300 D. Do not try and drill holes for only one rail at a time - your rack might not fit on the other side!
** check that angle base (where rack mounts) is horizontal - don't worry about vertical.

3) my eyeball would not be good enough - slide a feeler gauge in between.

4) remember gauge rod mentioned drawing 10 10 300 D

5)*Q only check second rail for straightness - do not worry about level because you already levelled main beam in 1).

Thanks Gerald,
Will visualise through the process as many times as I could before I attempt the assembly tomorrow.

BTW, no football team will come to turn the table over, I got hold of a forklift & we will turn it tomorrow. I don't foresee much photo as there will only be 2 of us working on it, the driver & me...

This is a triva question for the experienced, I don't have any shim but some soft drink cans. should I buy some brass shim & what thickness should I buy?

Soft-drink cans make great shims. We also used some 0.6mm and 1.0mm scrap tin plate. Don't waste money on brass for this dry, non-corroding application.

Thanks Gerald, I also found an straight cut aviation snippet & 1/4" & 3/8" hollow punch at the bottom of my junk pile, should come handy for shim making from soft drink cans.

We use strips of shim about 10mm wide and 50mm long. We put them on each side of the screw, sometimes only one side of the screw. We do not put the screw through the shim - that will be very hard work!

Autobody shims are good also.

They come in a lot of different sizes.

Finally got the table in proper position.
Attachment 8518
Couldn't resist to dry fit everything up...
Attachment 8517
I have to confess to another blunder I made..

I drilled all the hole on all the rails before welding (x-rail beam & y-rail beam)...

For the Y rails, no serious damage as I managed to get the V-wheel to seat almost completely on the rails just need a few more shims to get them seat down nicely.,

Not quite so lucky with X-axis, distance between the 2 inner wall of x-rails is ~13mm shorter then the guide rod length... From rough measurement, the rails are fairly parallel but will carry out more elaborate measurement tomorrow. Will adding washers on the wheels do the damage control or should I go the long way by drill bigger holes or slots on the rails?

After staring at the table & rail for a while. I realised it would be best to re-do all the hole & tap...

As you realise, you cannot simple move the wheels under the gantry. (The rack will be too far from the motor.)

Slow down a bit Ken, and think if you can maybe shorten the gantry......? I don't think that is so difficult.

You can also move the rails a little bit (10mm) in the x-direction to find clean space to re-drill and tap.

this is the shape I intended to make with hole punchif it is call for. Also, handy for making washer shim for the roller.

Gerald, didn't see your post earlier...

I wish I could build slower but I do have another job commitment coming up by the end of the month... Just want to clear the major portion before that. I can go slow on the tuning bits later as I foresee I'll can only affort 1~3 hours each day for this. Worst yet... I wasted a few days to turn the table over....

Just wanna make sure work don't get in the way of fun:)

Back to my blunder...
I would op for the re-drilling, I don't have the confident to rework the gantry with good end result welding skill & facility is limited hack I don't even have confident that I can the chop the gantry square enough...

I just checked before this & clearing the tap holes on the beam as you mentioned is definitely possible.

I can use the holes on the rails to mark on the beam by turning a exact size drill in reverse, then remove the rail & drill + tap the beam.

OR I can drill fresh holes all together by drilling pilot hole through the rail & beam while they are clamp in the streighten position then enlarge the holes & tap.

What size are the holes in your rail now?

I drilled with dia.9mm drill bit but my veneer caliper tells me they are 8.8~8.9mm

Then I wouldn't drill new holes in the rails.
Clamp both rails down at the new correct location (within 1mm), start a 8.5mm drill pilot in each hole (cutting normal direction - not reverse), remove rails, drill beams 7mm (or even 7.2 if thick material), tap beams 8mm, enlarge holes in rails to 12mm for a little adjustment.

Can I drill 9mm through holes, bolt through with bolt & nut?

I only have 7 F-clamps that are big enough for the job. they are only enough to line up half of a rail. I'm thinking of lining the rail, bolt down, remove clamps for the other half of lining up.

EDIT,
Can't do. the nut won't clear the channel web... :(