Six weeks ago my new toy arrived

[Chrispy]

First I have to apologize, if I only new then what i was in for I would have made a WIP and recorded the progress.
Six weeks ago my new toy an old Rye CNC router was delivered, now I was prepared for a week or two to wire it in connect up some compressed air and sort out the software but over six weeks and it still aint working

Here's a few problems so far:-

A week before it was delivered I get notice to quit the workshop (next year)

While I waiting for the sparks to wire it in I have a little poke about and realize the air lubricator has been fitted backwards! and needed a good clean out so took it off cleaned it and then realized that it wouldn't go back together, it had also been fitted with the wrong sized O-rings, so the shopping list starts, order up a service kit and fit.

This is where I had planned on getting a engineer to take a look over and show me how to use the thing, well he came and looked and showed me how to grease and oil things and change the filters and vanes on the vacuum pump etc.

Then I mentioned that it looks like it had taken a bit of a wack (hammer) as one of the cast iron bearing mounts had a corner missing, :shock: so investigated and found the Y axis ball screw was worn and a strange clonking noise was found when rotating the said screw so thought this needs investigating so took things apart to find that the servo motor on the Y axis had started to de-laminate, ie three of the twelve magnets inside had come loose and were now sticking them selves to the rotor, this is where the engineer has had enough and goes home.

Do you want to here the next episode? :?:

 

[Adam9453]

Sorry to hear about your woes chris, its such a minefield buying second hand machinery.
Hopefully your perseverance will pay off with a machine in good working order that will provide you with years of trouble free service (if only eh).
Good luck with it and keep us updated as the saga continues

 

[donwatson]

Extremely sorry sorry to hear of your troubles with this machine. I hope you can see this this through as it looks a very useful piece of kit.
That's a bummer having to quit the workshop, would it be a better idea to get another workshop first before refurbishing this machine ?

 

[Chrispy]

That's a bummer having to quit the workshop, would it be a better idea to get another workshop first before refurbishing this machine ?

I'd been looking for 3 or 4 years so once I found this one and put my money down I wasn't going back on it!

 

[Chrispy]

I seem to have missed a bit of the story sorry, :roll: while I was waiting for delivery (about five weeks) I did a bit of research on CAD-CAM software and kind of settled on Vetric V-carve pro, it does what I need doesn't break the bank and more to the point I can understand it, BUT it doesn't come with a post processor for my machine :roll: but a few emails to them and they thought they could cobble one together but advised me not to buy the program until I could trail it. But seeing as I had no machine to try it on it got put on hold.

Mean while when I fixed the air supply I also fixed a problem that the seller told me about which was a sticking valve for the vac table they gave me the new part it was just that they never got around to fitting it. that was an easy one. :lol:

I also tracked down some brush seal to replace the dust boot around the router head, replaced the short piece of extraction hose within the machine and connected it to the main workshop extraction.

And while the engineer (who happened to work for Rye before they closed down) was here on his first visit we changed the Y ball screw and nut as the seller kindly gave me the one they got but never fitted :roll:

You want more?

 

[Eric The Viking]

Oh heck, Chris!

I hope it's going now, but keep on with the story.

Gripped.

E.

 

[Bm101]

Of course we want more you tease.
As much as I'm befuddled by everything you say I have a genuine interest in that machine getting sorted so you can finally get started working on my Giant Death Robot (with Lazoor eyes).

Seems like you're due a massive dose of good luck Chris.
Any news on the new workshop. Hope things are moving along a bit better.

 

[Chrispy]

Well after a bit of advice from a local motor rewind company I reglued the magnets and reassembled the motor fitted a new set of brushes as the old ones suffered badly from the metal grindings from the damage.
Now because of replacing the ball screw and the servo the y axis needed re calibrating to the tool change holders, this is a bit beyond me so call back the engineer who finished fitting the servo and encoder (the bit that tells the controller what the motor is doing) and time to fire it up, only to find out that there was a problem with the z axis encoder, right off it comes have a look just to find it's full of oil or wd40 so cleaned it all up but it still wouldn't work so again had to call it a day, send it away for repair.
While that's happening I thought I may as well as replace the two switch covers on the controller as they were cracked and letting in dust .

 

[Bm101]

If you need any advice on doing up second hand tools, I recently bought some rusty files on ebay for 12 quid. I left them in some salted vinegar for 5 days then today i hit them with the wire brush and a bit of bicarb. Job done Chris. Just saying. I'm always happy to help mate.

 

[PeterBassett]

:lol:

 

[RobinBHM]

I do hope you manage to get somewhere with the machine. I have heard that cnc machines need a lot of maintenance, but its a shame not to able to fire it up and have a play.

Ive just had a look on the Vetric site - the software looks great, lots of features. Lets hope it can work with your machine.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Obviously this thing has had a troubled past, but I think your decision to go for older is probably a good one long-term. First-generation kit always tends to be better engineered, as the priority is to get it to market rather than optimise production costs. There's also the matter of software compatibility - more likely to be good with something that has been around for a while than the very latest thing. And, although it seems horrid now, you'll come out of this knowing the innards of the machine fairly well for the future. With something brand new, you daren't take the covers off because of the warranty.

Do the x- and y- axis bits work as they should, or are you unable to test at the moment because of the z-/toolchange parts?

Either way, hang in there - it sounds like you're almost on the finishing straight.

E. (who runs and maintains a big, 20-year-old laser printer very happily)

 

[RobCee]

As a VCarve Pro user, I can attest to it's suitability with CNC Routers - it really is excellent. The post processor should be relatively straightforward to resolve and the Vectric guys are very helpful.
My work is on a much smaller format with a home built CNC Router, but the output is what matters and it's great.

It does sound like you understood what you might be getting yourself into with this machine, but the older CNCs can be a bit of a challenge (Speaks the owner of some heavy metal machinery with dodgy old 80s circuit boards). The engineering on them will be generally good, but the electronics may well be a challenge.
Having seen what can be achieved (CNC wise) with £50 worth of Arduino/R-Pi and some stepper controller boards, it really is amazing to see how the field of electronics has changed over even just the last 10years.

Good luck with it all!

 

[Chrispy]

To-days update re-fitted the encoders re calibrated the Y and Z axis and made a few test cuts to find the post processor still has teething problems :x
But it has drilled two holes and routed out a plaque.

And I feel another bill coming. :roll:

 

[Wuffles]

As a VCarve Pro user, I can attest to it's suitability with CNC Routers - it really is excellent. The post processor should be relatively straightforward to resolve and the Vectric guys are very helpful.
My work is on a much smaller format with a home built CNC Router, but the output is what matters and it's great.

It does sound like you understood what you might be getting yourself into with this machine, but the older CNCs can be a bit of a challenge (Speaks the owner of some heavy metal machinery with dodgy old 80s circuit boards). The engineering on them will be generally good, but the electronics may well be a challenge.
Having seen what can be achieved (CNC wise) with £50 worth of Arduino/R-Pi and some stepper controller boards, it really is amazing to see how the field of electronics has changed over even just the last 10years.

Good luck with it all!

Just had an Arduino kit delivered from Honkers today as it happens - sort of passed me by all this stuff, although I use Pis as media centres. Looking forward to having the time to unbox it and try it out - total novice with this sort of thing.

 

[Chrispy]

Well still a few problems with the post but as the picture says:-