Ross,

Did TEA indicate if they were going to be doing any more of the 3m long racks??

Cheers
Tony.

Hi Tony

Yes they did indicate that it was one of their stock items and that they would reorder now stock was out. I think the stock order may be done every month or so but you might like to check with them as xmas is creeping up on us.

Regards
Ross

If anyone there is looking to buy rack now would be a good time to commit. This way they can order enough for everyone in one order and maybe get you all a better price.

The 3m section of rack arrived today, packed in a very long and sturdy tube.
I have painted it this evening and will mount it tomorrow. Sure makes it easy in comparison to joining 1m sections of rack BUT the flip-side is that it is far more expensive.

As per Mikes suggestion, I will call TEA tomorrow and ask about some consideration for the MM builders if they identify themselves as such.
See how we go, if they agree I will post the full details of the company to act as a permanent sign post to their business here in Australia.

Regards
Ross

Mechanical Build Completed
 

All Right - starting to look the goods now.

I attached the 3m single piece of rack (3015mm for those who might be interested in the exact dimension) onto the machine tonight.
After rolling the gantry down the machine I heard a now familiar clunk as the pinion rolled over a small lump !!.
After a bit of cleaning of a few teeth with a carbide point the gantry finally rolled very smoothly - you beauty !

I have not called TEA yet as Australia was busy at the races today and nobody likes a call when the Melbourne Cup is on.

Any way the attached photos tell the story.
I am very happy with how the Mechmate has turned out so far.

Attachment 10556
Attachment 10557

Now to wire it up.

Regards
Ross

Well done Ross, looking good

PS watch those trolley jacks, they seem to be breeding under your table :D

Hi Alan

Your Fleischman Chair was really interesting, I read a number of chair blogs for further inspiration after seeing you perched happily on your creation.

Thanks for the comment about the machine and I will set some baits under the table for those pesky trolley jacks.

Regards
Ross

VFD Filter Box
 

Due to the position I intend to mount the VFD, dust filtering and cooling was a must.
My solution was to fix the VFD into an electrical enclosure then use a 240V AC fan and car air filter element to create a positive pressure enclosure.
After a few sums on passive heat radiation from steel enclosures there was no way the VFD could go into a sealed box.

My xray vision has become weak with age, so a window to see the VFD screen was also a must.
After pricing an enclosure window, it was immediately obvious that making my own was going to be far cheaper.
A piece of HDPE plastic routed into a "picture frame" and another piece of clear acrylic as the window did a great job.
After cutting out a hole, I just pop riveted the assembly to the enclosure door.

Attachment 10672
Attachment 10673
Attachment 10674

In previous posts I have discussed solid state lighting (High Power LED's).
For those interested attached are two pics of my DIY work light made up of 3 x 10 watt LED's.
This light draws a total of 60 watts and no other lights were on when the last photo was taken.
Imagine the same room lit by a 60 watt incandescent globe and you get the idea of how efficient solid state lighting can be.
It is also cool in front of the light, a nice change from the 150 watt floodlight I was using !
Attachment 10675
Attachment 10676

On now with some planning to mount the boxes to the side of the machine.
Some words Gerald wrote about the serviceability of the boxes on the side of the machines has made me think.
No promises but I will try to have them swing up to horizontal for servicing to avoid laying on the ground.
We shall see how that one pans out.

Regards
Ross

Neat VFD box and I like the light, but maybe I am missing something here, why do 3 x 10 watt LED's draw 60w? where does the rest of the power get consumed?

Hi Alan

The 60 watts was measured at the start of the lights 12 volt laptop power supply.
So the PSU loses some energy in inefficiency, plus I am using 3 simple 5 watt resistors to control the amperage.
The resistors only account for 2.7 watts lost in heat and the laptop bricks are generally pretty efficient.
The light has a 60mm cooling fan I put on it as it heats the alloy to the point where it is uncomfortable to touch.
My best "guess" is that the major proportion of the missing wattage is lost in heat.

As an aside, this waste heat is readily dissipated to the surrounding air.
The solid state lighting does not produce radiant heat in the infrared spectrum like a filament light does.
Despite the local heat losses, in front of the light remains cool.

PS Good question.

Regards
Ross

Ross,

lights are a great idea, those "work" lights get hot then you knock it and the globes blow.

Thanks for the explanation, I assume the fan is also being powered by the laptop psu? (is that the "block" at the bottom of the light stand?)
What was the cost of components and how does that compare to a "standard" work light - of course the life span of the LED light would be considerably longer.

Alan, with producers trying to claim high power outputs, the lifespans of these new LED's are not that good.

So, no free lunch hey.

What is their lifespan to cost ratio? better than incandescent or CFL? We are all led to believe these LED's are the answer to lower power usage and longer life.

I don't see how a LED producer with a new "hi-power" product on the market can claim a lifespan of a longer period than what they have been on the market??

And then their fittings and "drives" are not standardised yet either.....buy today, and in a year's time they are obsolete??

Okay, I am a sceptic regarding this dramatic change. The CFL only just started to make economical sense in the last few years. And now we are expected to join the new hype. The few LED's that I have used, I have de-rated the power input to make sure that I get longer life. The poor producers are forced to claim high power ratings otherwise they won't sell anything.

Hi Alan and Gerald

What you buy today is obsolete before it arrives, so never pay too much for a "high tech" LED product.
Gerald's point on overrating is correct, as always beware the headline specs and the suggestion on underrating is a wise one.

To put it in perspective all 3 10W LEDs were 27.48 AUD incl delivery.
5 x 5 watt resistors were 3.60 AUD, making the electronics all up around 31 AUD.
To complete the light a 12 volt laptop PSU, some alloy for the body, some epoxy and thermal grease mixed together to bond the LED to the alloy, a $2 60mm fan and connectors are required.
All a bit MacGyuverish, but it allowed me to experiment with the technology.

An Update

This evening I tapped some threads into a 40x40 SHS to swing my control boxes upwards from the side of the machine.
I have found three heavy Stanley gate hinges that should take the load to hold the boxes out horizontally for servicing.
Will send a pic once some more is done.

Regards
Ross

Swing up Control Box
 

Hi all

My design for the control boxes is now largely done.
The idea is to have the boxes swing up to a comfortable height of around 900mm for servicing.

First picture is the 15mm HDPE backboard, the stainless Stanley gate hinges and the 40x40 SHS the assembley swings from.
The 15mm standoffs provide an internal channel to route the cables back up towards the hinge.
Attachment 10715

Second pic is the control box being fitted.
Attachment 10716

Third pic the VFD box goes on.
Attachment 10717

Fourth pic is the boxes swung down again for normal operation.
Attachment 10718.

I still have to work out the cabling fine details and to put in a few more standoffs to ensure the internal routed cables do not rub on any exposed bolt heads.
My original thoughts of gas struts have been shelved as the workbench and a block of timber will work just fine to hold it up for the initial wire up and any infrequent subsequent servicing.
The cables will come out of the bottom of the boxes and so I have allowed some extra sheet overhang to protect them as they do their U turn back up to the hinge.
The final thing I need to make it all work well is a block of something to absorb any vibration and fix the bottom of the swing away to the machine.
The 40x40 will be painted black and the ends capped with some knock in plastic inserts.

Cheers Gerald, I took that "lying on the floor fault finding" comment you made on the forum to heart and this was my solution.

Regards
Ross

....heck of an ingenious way of mounting. Each build, something new and innovative - just enough.

Ross,
Our penal is mounted almost identical position but your hinge is ingenious!! Love it! (mine is on a piece of scrap plywood which I bolt on the cross braces).
I'm in the process of adding a belt reduction box & after some measurement I realise the control penal is in the way.

Hi Ken

Are you referring to my control boxes or yours?

I have had a look at how the belt drives hang and by my calculation my design was clear of the belt drives.
If clearance is an issue then the belt drive can be modified so that center of the larger pulley for the 4:1 reductions is moved upwards from horizontal to the center of the stepper shaft, this will retain near existing clearances.

Regards
Ross

Opps that is not correct !! My apologies Ken.

The 3:1 reduction at http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showt...p?t=366&page=9 post 252 would fit. That is what I loosely based my design upon.

BUT a few quick measurements of the common 4:1 reduction drives indicate the assembly would be forced down past the clearance area of 27mm I have allowed.
My assumption that the larger gear could move up is wrong as the pinion the larger reduction gear is centered upon, needs to mesh against the rack causing gear diameter to control the fitment.

I have a comfortable 45 mm further the existing hinge assembly can drop using my existing fixing method.
I have not used this "yet" as I was trying to preserve the clearance under the board for jacking the table to move it.
If I was to borrow some of this jacking clearance and use a plate to connect the X beam to the 40x40 SHS another 60 mm additional to the 45mm is available.

Regards
Ross

Wow. I feel like such an idiot watching some of these machines being put together. Very nice job.

Ross, no apologies required. we just wanna save time for more fun :)
Incidentally, I'm also working on 4:1 BR box. my max distance is ~80mm from my present motor center to the top of the cable trunk... the 72th pulley has Radius of 60mm... give a 100 extra for the 34th piion & I get a real tight 100 clearance... not really a comfortable clearance.
BTW, I did jacked & pushed my MM around the workshop a couple of times (alone), using 3 normal car jack trolleys (borrowed), one at the center of leading end bottom cross pipe & 2 at the trailing end cross pipe near the legs never have to put anything on the sides where the penals are locate. & the mm is as light as feather when pushed on wheels ;)
Eric, I felt like the biggest idiot on earth during my build...

sorry, it should have been 10mm instead of 100mm... must be the flu pills working with my finger-eye-brain coordination

ooohhhhh Panel .... I was wondering :D

Hi Ken

Just bit the bullet and modeled it all in CAD and yep I get around 10mm clearance using a common 4:1 belt reduction design from the numbers you have given me.
Mine is a little different but not that different, so the fix is to move the 40x40 SHS down 40mm or so and everything will miss regardless of if a 3:1 or 4:1 reduction is used.

I hereby surrender my jacking clearance under the control boxes and move on, haha.

Now for the small matter of those four holes in the side of the X beam.
Maybe some mystery bolts, those bolts that hold nothing on to anything for no apparent reason might be the fix there !!!

Regards
Ross

A few days on and I have made some more room for the 4:1 belt reductions in my design for the tilt up control boxes.
To get the clearance, the hinge point was dropped by 40 mm.
Why are those four bolts along the top of the hinge point ?
Surely they must be holding SOMETHING up hey Ken !

The sloped standoffs are designed to head the cables towards the cable exit holes (these have not yet been cut).
Attachment 10769

On the other side of the plastic panel I modified 4 rubber door stops to act as bumpers where the panel closes against the frame.
The bottom of plastic panel straightens up nicely when the boxes are bolted to it and it has a bit of weight on it.
Attachment 10776


Although I announced the mechanical part of the build was over a while back !!!
I had not mounted the Z cable chain, so put that on this evening.
Attachment 10770

Regards
Ross

Nice job!
I honestly have no idea what the 4 holes are for... My best bet is that they are in the best location for the positive chi flow path in your room feng shui... :)

These holes was the former location of the hinges bar, see post 297.

Finished the Swing up Control Boxes with some cable exit holes through the back of the panel.
Forgot to take a pic but will put one up when I next post into the forum.

Added a larger junction box on the machine to make the "busy box" wiring a bit easier. Put some Mechmate logos on a well.
Attachment 10852

Also made a bracket, painted it black and put some cable tray across it as I just could not find a suitable 40 x 40 mm conjuit here in Australia.
I have just copied other machines such as us Maddog, Skippy and Geralds machine(s) that use this cable management system.
Attachment 10853

Regards
Ross

My local electrical supplier has a range of shrink tubing. so here is the end result of my cable mock up.
Due to the number of cables, marking them is a priority.
My final result is these simple, cheap cable ties with a marking area.
These are available on ebay from an Aussie HiFi store.
Might make sure I have a better marker for clearer lettering as the test one was blunted and running out !!
Attachment 10854

Some things are hard to photograph well, the cable management at the back of the control box support board (for those that can figure it out)
Attachment 10855
Attachment 10856

My glycol and pump tank has had a hinge added to it for access.
A little more dust sealing (somehow) and it is done.
Attachment 10857
Attachment 10858

Last thing was putting a piece of 4mm acrylic under the junction box to stabilize it - worked a treat.
Attachment 10859

Regards
Ross

The 40 X 40 conduit is available from NHP Electrical Engineering Products who have branches all over Aus.
Part no.: T14040BX
Description.: BOX CABLE DUCT.PVC W40XH40

The local NHP branch is no more than a few kilometres away !
Cheers Gerald.

:D Nice work Ross !! When is the big day?? first cuts ??
Cheers
Tony.

Hi Tony

Lining all my ducks up but it has taken quite a bit of time to acquire the materials this week.
Still one part short for the VFD that I just keep forgetting to buy !!
Sure will be a good day when the machine moves, so I should not put it off too much longer.

Regards
Ross

It moves - and fast too !
 

Hi All

My latest news is I have my machine moving autonomously.
Over the past few evenings I have been able to look at the relationships between motor tuning and the microstepping in fine detail.

So far I have the machine running at 35k in Mach3, firstly 1/8 then 1/10 microstepping for the X and Y axis and 1/16 microstepping for the Z axis.
By tuning the motor acceleration, speeds and microstepping I have been able to achieve either a wickedly fast machine (boy those rapids are something) or a very sedate and smooth machine.
It is nice to have a working Mechmate to test on, quickly the tuning side of things becomes quite intuitive.
The Logitech wireless rumble pad controller works well (so far) and it certainly surprises onlookers when they see it in use.

I have wired the 2.2 kw water cooled spindle and the VFD.
The VFD lights up on power on but I have not yet set the PD parameters.
I can not yet claim a working machine as I have not cut something yet but once I figure out the VFD menus ... well, watch this space.
Also got the pump and cooling pipes installed so not long now.

Still lots of control buttons and proximity switches to get going along with general tidying up to do, but in time, I might just make something, haha.

Regards
Ross

Man that looks great. Your very close !!! Strap a pen on that thing and draw us a picture :D !!

Got my Machine Cutting Today !!
 

Hi All

Attachment 10893

Attachment 10894

A bit dusty, a bit rough on the carving but still a tick for the life list today.
Initially the sign cut as a mirror image, so a few more tweaks were required in Mach3 for those of you that don't always read the forum in the mirror. haha.

Once I sort out a video of the machine cutting my thank you to Gerald and Mike, I will post up a link so you all may see the latest Mechmate on the block in action.

Kindest Regards
Ross

Video
 

Visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWMEpaKEYJA for a look at my machine cutting the sign.

Regards
Ross

Well done Ross!