A
Anonymous
Guest
Well, here we go. There is a LOT of info here, some you will understand, some you wont. If anyone is serious about building one of these machines, you should do some background research first, and visit a few websites about the subject. A lot of money is involved, so this is not for the faint hearted!
I have explained how the motion works, a fixed nut, caused to move by the turning of a screw. The motor which turns the screw is controlled by the computer. Obviously the machine needs some nice bearings to run on, and I picked up some lengths of 40mm diameter linear bearing for a song. Used, but good condition. brand new you are looking at £2500 for these alone. Here I have stretchered two linear bearing rails about 2' apart, and bolted a couple bits of 1/2" ali plate between them to form he base.
The next stage is to build up the gantry sides, and add two more linear rails across the base, to form the y-axis. You will notice the linear bearings have been added to the base (x-axis) rails, so the gantry assembly is free to slide back and forth along it'slength.
Excuse the rust, it was a humid August when I started building, so I partly built the machine outside!
All of the aluminium came from the scrap-yard, and was cut on the tablesaw using a negative rake blade for aluminium. All the bolt holes were drilled then tapped, and the connectora are regular socket-headed cap screws.
Next job was to build the z-axis. This is the part which will control the height of the router itself. It rides on smaller linear bearings (25mm) and only moves around 8". Since I took the time to draw out this whole machine in Turbocad first, I knew the exact size it needed to be, and the exact location of each and every hole I needed to drill. Here is the mock-up iof the z-axis.
Once the machine was moved to the shed, the z-axis was fitted onto the y-axis linear bearings, and I began to add the motion parts for the router to move on.
Oh, excuse the mess! That blue dye is marking-blue. It gives a clearer line on aluminium if you use a scriber to mark your holes. As you can see, the z-axis can move left-right, and the whole gantry can move back and forth. No up-down motion yet, that is next.
Here you see the z-axis linear rails in place, and a little bearing at the bottom. The leadscrew will eventually ride in this bearing to control he motion of the router up-down.
Coffe break!
I have explained how the motion works, a fixed nut, caused to move by the turning of a screw. The motor which turns the screw is controlled by the computer. Obviously the machine needs some nice bearings to run on, and I picked up some lengths of 40mm diameter linear bearing for a song. Used, but good condition. brand new you are looking at £2500 for these alone. Here I have stretchered two linear bearing rails about 2' apart, and bolted a couple bits of 1/2" ali plate between them to form he base.
The next stage is to build up the gantry sides, and add two more linear rails across the base, to form the y-axis. You will notice the linear bearings have been added to the base (x-axis) rails, so the gantry assembly is free to slide back and forth along it'slength.
Excuse the rust, it was a humid August when I started building, so I partly built the machine outside!
All of the aluminium came from the scrap-yard, and was cut on the tablesaw using a negative rake blade for aluminium. All the bolt holes were drilled then tapped, and the connectora are regular socket-headed cap screws.
Next job was to build the z-axis. This is the part which will control the height of the router itself. It rides on smaller linear bearings (25mm) and only moves around 8". Since I took the time to draw out this whole machine in Turbocad first, I knew the exact size it needed to be, and the exact location of each and every hole I needed to drill. Here is the mock-up iof the z-axis.
Once the machine was moved to the shed, the z-axis was fitted onto the y-axis linear bearings, and I began to add the motion parts for the router to move on.
Oh, excuse the mess! That blue dye is marking-blue. It gives a clearer line on aluminium if you use a scriber to mark your holes. As you can see, the z-axis can move left-right, and the whole gantry can move back and forth. No up-down motion yet, that is next.
Here you see the z-axis linear rails in place, and a little bearing at the bottom. The leadscrew will eventually ride in this bearing to control he motion of the router up-down.
Coffe break!
