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?