Completed Build
 

Completed my control and wiring this weekend.
The cut isn't pretty but I think it qualifies.
I have a video that I'm trying to get it uploaded to some where.

Looks like serial number time. Congratulations on your first cut and building a very nice machine.

the cut is pretty enuf for a number. :D
Congrats!

I was able to find a way to upload the video.

https://plus.google.com/100047914379...95/posts?hl=en

Thanks for all your help on getting this built. Thanks to Gerald and all of you for your investment in this community.

Congratulations John!!
That looks beautiful, you should be one happy camper about now.
If I could offer one suggestion, please throw some sawdust around that shop...I feel like I would have to take my shoes off :D
Mark

John,
Congratulations. Nicely done.

Congrats.

Very well done. Congratulations, nice machine.

Thanks guys.
I don't think I'll have a problem covering the floor with chips

YouTube Version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS9Wj8rNcSE

Nice job, very professional looking beast! Congrats on getting her all done :)

:( ahhhh man, you win ...
( I think i am about 3-4 days away from this moment, but it could well take me 3-4 weeks to get those hours in.)
Congrats ! :D

Great Job!!!
Now the fun truly begins!

Congratulations John! Exciting Moment isn't it?

Nice location for the VFD. A gentle reminder, do have a dust guard or something to avoid direct accumulation of wood chip/dust on the VFD.

Just noticed something, is that tub with the blue lid your water supply for the spindle? If so, brilliant idea!

Congrats! :)

Congrats on gettin er done !!!

Well done #121.
Have fun.

Congratulations on completing your machine.

Builder's Log Update
 

John,

Congratulations on earning Serial #121. Nice job.

Here is the Updated Builder's Log with your entry added.

Please let me know the cutting dimensions of your MechMate for the log.

Thanks All. Now that it's done I need to finish it. The water Tub needs to be mounted on the frame. The VFD protected from dust. Fine tuning. . .

The guys at work are already dreaming up things for me to cut.

The spoil board is 49" X 97" but the stops and soft limits are further out.

Looks great John.

John,

I've updated the Builder's Log with your spoil board dimensions. Let me know any other changes you want to make.

Congratulations ....A fine looking machine..

Ever since I saw the Aztec calendar being cut on a CNC I wanted to do it. Last night I tried it. I figured it would shake out any problems that may be lurking. Looking around the garage for something to cut I found a piece of Acrylic. After about 30 minutes of cutting without issues in I picked up my iPad and started reading about other stuff. Little known to me the sleep timer on the computer was set to 1 hour. When the cutting stopped and the spindle didn't return to home I realized there was a problem. All sleep and power saving activities on the computer were then set to NEVER.

I wasn't ready to try and re index and finish the cut. It's good enough for a first time.
The hottest motor was the Z-axis at 155F (68C).

I varied the spindle and cutting speed during the cut to try and find a cleaner cut without success. The cleanest cuts happened on the long circular cuts around the outside. About a 1/4 of the way around the cut would clean up. Maybe it gets thru the acceleration.

Good cutting experience.

Before gong much further I need a dust collector. Collected up the information for a Thien Separator. The MechMate handled the parts with ease and I was able to get some practical experience with the software and hardware.
Now I need to get the overhead piping figured out.

Nice ! I also have this on my 'first-things-to-do-with-mm' projects list ( and the accompanying dustfoot ) :D.

Is the top part ( besides the lid ) a standard part you took of your dust collector ?

ps. I am currently knee deep in wiring... never made so much crimps in a day, glad when that's over ;-) Was looking at the forum for some motivation to finish that this week. I could be running next week, can't wait !

I got my 6" flex house from Wynn environmental. S & D pipe works fine. Spiral wrap with aluminum strip, aluminium tinsel, or wire braid for static control

Fox,
The Motor and Blower(top) and the Center cylinder came off the stock unit. The pieces above and below the cylinder are the pieces I made.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Maki...-dust-collect/

Thanks Pete, I'll check them out.

Nice work!
A point to ponder, at some point you will need to empty the barrel, what is your strategy to make life easier when opening the heavy top?

thnx John, that's clear...
@Ken, my guess is you even open your beers with the CNC nowadays? Nothing wrong with getting off your arse and do some manual lifting every now and then ;-)

Ps. I know what your aiming at, your setup for example is easier to empty...but occupies more space, I like the compact state of this ... guess it depends on how often you have to empty the barrel what one will decide..

I read somewhere you can use a flame torch to go over that acrylic to get rid of the fuz left behind. Test it on another piece first !!! Nice work !!

Ken,
The only thing bolted together is the motor to the blower. The stack of parts seals with gravity and the weight of the motor. I put foam weather strip between the barrel and the first disk.

I'll try that Mike. I was able to get a much cleaner cut using dish soap/water mix and tuning the speed.
John

imo the bad cut is due to melting. So can indeed cool ( water is ok, but air is also ok and les messy ) But yes, more likely tune your parameters ( and use the right bit, you have special bits for pmma )
Flame polishing is more for milled edges to get transparent again, large surfaces are hard to do nicely.

Note on Flame Polishing Acrylic.
Try to use a Clean burning fuel like:
Hydrogen or propane.
Acetylene - like used in a standard torch setup will leave nasty carbon inclusions in the edge.

Also, fan the torch with the clearest part of the flame and quickly for decent results.

The acrylic should be sanded to about 120 or better for best results.

....carry on.

A barrel packed with saw dust is heavy.... Just highlighting a practical factor.
One can have a compact foot print while having easy access at the same time if one put enough thoughts into it. I was lazy to think, lucky that I have enough space to indulge my laziness... :D

##PS, if I am a hard working person, I wouldn't had use CNC & power drills... LOL

That's another thing .. but the cool thing about barrels... they roll.
Just clip on the original lid back on, and roll it to the place where is needs to be emptied :)
k.i.s.s.
But John got fancy pancy wheels to make the travel to the dumpster easy.

I use a barrel trolley, gotta be tender with me back. :D

Soon there's going to be nothing more left of you, then a jelly pile of brains Ken :D

Following up on Ken's wisdom I'll figure out a way to lift the motor and swirl assembly enough to roll the barrel out. But for now I'm working on a way to fill the barrel.
Decided to make my first dust foot with a removal body so it could be easily removed to expose the cutter for changing. Also made it with acrylic so I could see what the dust was doing. The side is open to allow the air to enter the side and speed around the same direction as the cutter is rotating.
Once installed a door on the side will control the amount of air entering. The hole around the tool will need to be adjusted.
Then adding bristles around the tool opening.
Want to make it so the body can clip on to the top plate. Then it can be changed to make it work.