Thanks Johan - most of us have problems - and we solve them too - I just share them so that no one repeats the mistake I have done :)

thats it :)

Have copied the water cooling posts to Water cooling a spindle

some updates
 

Ok made quite some prgress in the build - had all the gearboxes mounted and most of them wired too - here is what we have


Attachment 4461

The above picture shows the mounting of the proximity switch for the long axis - its very near to the estop box on the gantry so wiring it would be simple.

Attachment 4458

the above pic shows the proximity for the Z axis - though it seems will interfere with the dust evacuation hose - at present I feel we have plenty of space still.

Attachment 4463

the above pic is of the relays which wire the limit switch in series and is the main interface to the proximity switches, e stop - pause - start - auto z-zero connections

Attachment 4456

I did go out to purchase a gas spring- but I was so tempted to use the spring as it was very cheap - just INR 35 - that's for a one footer. (under one USD)
I just attached an angle piece to the spider plate with a couple of screws and
got the spring attached -

Attachment 4457

after a couple of adjustments it was just fine to carry the weight of the spindle - I got an extra for any replacements required

the above pic is how it is attached to the Z tube

and here are some other views

Attachment 4458

Attachment 4459

Attachment 4460

any comments suggestions are welcome.

Good progress, you should be cutting by tomorrow!

hope so G' - but my controller is in a mess and I need to get the hard stops for the x and y -

list of things to do (for myself - to look over at office :) )

1. get the wiring plate mounted on the controller cabinet
2. route the wires to the contols
3. test the proximities
4. chk wire continuities
5. chk resistances on the gecko's
6. attach control cable from spindle control board to the VFD
7. Copy SSC dll to mach folder
8. make mounting for internal circulation fan
9. Make 220V available for water pump.
10. Design a simple flow switch and wire it to e stop on machine
11. get a tank for coolant
12. make hard stops for x and y
13. chk for spindle straightness to the gantry
14. make holes for the proximity to sense.
15 wire the computer switches to main panel
16. add main relay firing to key on CP
17. wire the VFD
18. CHK earthing (grounding) to all parts of the control cabinet including the CP facia.
20. chk for abnormal touch screen heating
21. add additional fuse to coolant pump.
22. remember to take wireless keyboard dongle.
23. Grease the Racks
......


most important have to tighten all bolts and also bolt the MDF sheet to the machine.
Hope I can fire up tomorrow - have to yet go to office in the after noon.

some more progress

Finally I have motion on all three axis- G' kindly don't yet move this thread to the completed machines thread - I want to complete it fully and once I have "Mechmate" on my machine - then it will be appropriate - I have some questions to ask i will ask in the trouble shootong section.

RGDS
IRfan

If you don't want the thread moved, then don't cut (or write) anything under control of G-code. A little cursor movement is something we do on kitchen tables. :D
But yeah, any progress on your project is welcome - congratulations!

Ah - thank you :D

but still I request serial number 33 to be reserved for my machine. I am very near it and certainly not cut anything until I have the complete controls including the auto tool zero setup :)

RGDS
IRfan

Hi IRfan,
I like your idea for the cabinet and the touch screen is a professional touch.
I did not understand if the cabinet is provided with holes for ventilation, I am sure that a sealed cabinet would preserve from dust but if you close a PC in a sealed cabinet you will have troubles, PC and monitor are electronic devices that need to dissipate a lot of heat. It's mandatory to provide enough dissipation, the easiest way is to let air get in and out of the cabinet possibly in from the bottom and out from the top ....
perhaps I'm obvious .... a good air cleaner filter or a car air filter could help avoid dust .... but if you like a more complicated solution .... maybe liquid cooling ? what kills electronic it's not dust but heat (dust create heat because avoid dissipation).
ciao
Sergio

I undertand Sergio - but as I said earlier the enclosure is fully sealed and bcos of the fan there is enough heat dissipation thru the enclosure surface - and as you can see the enclosure is pretty big. If there are problems I would have noticed already since I run the machine the whole day some times.

as far as the air filter idea goes - I will do it some day - but for now its working and I will leave it at that.

I know I need it bcos the servo drivers get pretty hot too while running a 3d relief file.

RGDS
IRfan

Hi Irfan,
I don't want to bore you but all the electronic equipment when not properly cooled will have a significant shorter life ( I have a good experience in electronics), I did not built the MM already so I don't know the value of the things you have in your cabinet and its sure that your cabinet will dissipate heat,but monitor and a PC have something between 500 to 700 watts sometimes more (if that's all you have in the cabinet), I'm afraid that this could be too much considering also that you are in a hot climat I suppose ..... anyway sorry if I disturbed you it was not my intention
RGDS
Sergio

Sergio - I am sorry if I offended you - but I will take your advise on this one - for sure !

will show it to ya soon :)

RGDS
IRfan

Irfan, I didn't feel any offence, it's just that I am the last who joined this forum and did not started yet anything so ... maybe I still feel me a bit insecure to give advice to someone like you that did that wonderfull job.:o
Anyway, this argument seems to me not fully developed but could be helpfull to many.
This two link are interessing and explain much better than I can. ( I was experienced with the problem but never thought that each 10° over 25° the MTBF will be cutted in half ! :eek: )

http://www.easydeltav.com/pd/WP_Heat_Airflow_Encl.pdf
http://www.hoffmanonline.com/stream_...169&pRID=16168

Sergio, we have discussed this subject in some other places before. We work in a very dusty environment with our electronics, so we have 2 choices:
- let the dust get into the electronics, or
- let the electronics stay clean, but be about 15 degrees warmer than ambient.

People say to use filters on the external fans, but then we forget to service those filters and we actually end with a fully sealed cabinet.

So we say a big cabinet, that is fully sealed from the beginning . . . . .

(I don't believe that figure of 10C = 0.5 MTBF. It is not my experience and I have never seen it mentioned anywhere else before)

Sorry Gerard but still I didn't read all the topic even if I searched for the argument. :o
about 10C = 0.5 MTBF, yes I think too it's a bit catastrophic even though it's not the only source I fondes and not the 1st time I hear about (the incriminated link is about some that sell cabinet for living if I'm not wrong ;) ).
My experience was with delicate electronics, (I worked for an international factory of broadcast TV electronics ), and most of the problems had a relation with hot temperaturesand not cooled rooms (the summer in Italy is a bit hot) , and even if I do not believe that from 25° to 35° there is such difference, with some other temperature differences and with some kind of electronics ( PC Hard Disks, processors etc ) the risk is high (this seemed to me the case).
ciao
P.S.
I'm sure 15° above ambient temperature it's not generally problem unless you live in an hot country where you can have 35-40° during the summer and maybe you go even above 15° more.....

problems at large
 

here is the video of my problems :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPHF909dGqg

well for a start I have to confess that I screwed up big time - in getting the length and width matching - say I took too many things for granted :( and here are the results

jagged cuts at large :(

now to get back to think on how to get things right - ANY HELP?

some more of mine :(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3TmCBIba_U

Looks like mechanical "slop" - see the things mentioned in this thread:
Circles are not cut round - loose pinion gears

Ok sorted out that -

and the MM is working like a wonder now!

I still owe a review between my ball screw one and the Mechmate

I also ran into a new problem today

While cutting a lot of 1x1 squares ( using profile cutting) of 4 mm thk MDF, when the pieces jumped out they got sort of entangled witht the spindle and that causes the spider to twist and the pinin jumps the rack and we have the Z at a height more than the pre set zero -

I have read a section where suggestions are provided to beef up the spider - lkindly readers let me know if this is a known problem or needs some tweaking by me.

RGDS
IRfan

What would you prefer to break first, when you don't provide a strategy for controlling the trapped off-cuts? :confused::)

What you could do is to leave a tiny thin tab (bridge) at the end of the cut, or you can turn the whole piece into dust so that it doesn't fly out, or you can have a very strong vacuum table, or you can hold it down with a stick, etc., etc

Anyway, I wouldn't expect permanent damage to the MM.......how thick is your spider? (the cutter should snap before anything else does, but I don't know if you have super strong cutters . . . . )

Yes Exactly - I was expecting the cutters to snap - and it was a 2mm carbide one-

I did not leave any tabs bcos there were a couple of thousand's of those and i did not want to file them all near the tabs.

- there is no visible damage and the x and y hold their postion very well -

I think i should be more considerate while setting the feed rates - this was going strong at 150 IPM and I was testing things here.

the spider is like 5 mm thk I think - I will measure it out tomorrow

while comparing it to the ball screw one - IMHO - the spider probably needs a look thru for a further up revision - or its just me and mine who is having this problem due to my setup?

I donno - well I think I need some plan - to mitigate this in the future!

RGDS
Irfan

Newton's first law of CNC cutting: A 2mm cutter cannot cause damage to a 5mm spider. Something more complex must have happened. Where did your spider bend?

:D LOL newton's first law :)

Actually the MDF was hitting the spindle and not the cutter - it was mostly like a twist in the entire z assy,

also when my Z axis is plunged into any board it does not plunge in - instead it just bounces after touching the surface - this is very strange behaviour i saw more than once - i will chk for it today also.

RGDS
Irfan

G' the above was due to low torque on the Z motor - I have posted my Q in the trouble shooting section.

http://mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1769

HI some pics of how the machine looks now and though the problems - some work was done on the machine today - it held extremely well to the all X,Yand Z zero's.

Good stuff! The bucket reminded me that you have a spindle. . . . . Newton's second law of CNC says that the spider must bend before the shaft of the spindle. :)

Nice Irfan, I like the last photo. Would you share the DXF or EPS file for that. My wife has being nagging me to make a fold-up screen and something like that is just what the doctor ordered.

Irfan,

The panel you are cutting. It does not look like plywood. Is that solid wood that you buy that is already glued up in panel size? If not what is it?

Kobus its from the weblink you had given us earlier
http://www.craftsmanspace.com/
http://www.craftsmanspace.com/Patter...20ornament.zip

I have edited the file and its on the workshop comp - will get that to ya later - PM me your email id pls.

Nils - its the same ply wood as seen on the MM, its called veenered ply here (mostly pine) -look at the second pic and you will understand.