Thanks for the encouraging words. As this will be my first precision capable tool, maybe I'm just fretting over the small stuff too much. The entire reason I decided to go with the micRo instead of some other companies cnc gantry unit - a small company that still takes pride in their work.

Also why I'm waiting for your flex drive spindle holder - I don't have the tools (yet) to get the best precision possible at the start.

Still hanging in here, waiting for the real fun to start when my micRo arrives ...

I really appreciate your attention to detail and quality. It seems to be rare nowadays. I hope you know a lot of others feel that way too. I don't want to slight others as well. From what I can gather, you could look a long time before you would find a right hand like Robin. I also know that the obsession you put into your work, although it comes from a love of what you're doing, must find tremendous support and sustainability from Lustra (a great handle, I might add).

I guess you could look at it this way, your doing the right thing and producing a precise, well designed product has left you with some really fun toys, and expanded the range of your future products. Although, I would hate to think how long I would have to exist on Ramen noodles if I had to pay for them myself.

Question: Was the choosing of a standard spindle meant to inform the placement of the holes in the Z block only, or are you producing the tool holder for the Grizz handpiece (I assume yes)? If so, is that holder included in the package or should we order it separately?

And...how far off is a holder? Will it be available at shipment of the micRo, or should I send in some special instruction to hold off shipment pending the tool holder?

If a spindle mount is being included and a design already exists a picture would be great..

BC if your still open to this I'm thinking I will take you up on the offer to ship my micro with a grizz because of the international buying issue. How would I go about organizing/paying for this? Need some idea on how much it will effect shipping cost.

^ That would be interesting to know. Shipping to the Netherlands is already expensive. Would be ordering a 'grizz' and sending it combined with the micro be possible?

Thank you!

I will call Grizzly to check their inventory. Also, you'd need 240v? I found the factory that produces the spindle, and they offer the motor in 240v. I will check on the leadtime.

Ah nice find, yeah 240V out of the box would be nice!

i'm also interested in the Grizzly (110v) + spindle mount/holder please. plus, i'll still need an aluminum baseplate.

and, an all metal micRo certainly sounds interesting... what's the pricing difference?

Heyyy, a long long time ago from the last post. I am reading on the background without closing my eyes .

First of all, BC, don't you need another child at your home?, despite my beard and 78kg you can have a new 33 years old adopted child.



Well as some here, I am also interested on the spindle and on the aluminum base plate too.

And, ummm here 1:40 am, time to dream about the micRo flying/sailing to home. Bye best regards to all.

Ah nice find, yeah 240V out of the box would be nice!

2nd that! and holder aswell.. and perhaps baseplate.. and..

/Tobias

BC--I'll throw my hat into the ring for picking up a mount + spindle kit ( If i read your previous postings correctly you are considering importing and setting up a spindle 'in-house'). Just let me know if there is someone else I need to tell and who to send how much cash ;-)

The price difference is about $200. Materials and machining take about 2.5x more time for Alum. I feel myself going into debt, so let me stop until I understand this! ...

... The Griz spindle is made by Kingwin, the most known of the Chinese Foredom clones. They offer the tool in varieties like; bad, good, best....but the nature of the spindle is dependent on the bearings.

My notion is to import the basic tool sans China bearings, and "supplement" the bearings with ABEC 7...

The way I see it, BC is going to stock the spindles because the trouble for international orders so I guess he is thinking he might as well offer them for everyone. Obviously we are putting up more $$$ for this.

What I'm not clear on is if the spindle mount is coming standard or as an extra. Are we are putting up more $$$ for the spindle mount?

*poke* *poke* So, how're things coming? I just watched the feature length videos from the Rogr thread and was wondering if all this has finally driven you to insanity. I'll admit, I half expected BC to do a shot of the hot sauce.

Looks like Rogr should be on the frame by the end of the day, then with the screws and servos tomorrow? Wired up with the controller computer by the end of the week? Machining micRo parts next week? Eh? eh? Not trying to put dead lines out there, just throwing out a plausible timeline? The three axes sitting across the horses was pretty inspiring.

With the upgraded motors and the couplers, unless I missed something, everything should be on hand, right?

Hi mas, I also don't yet have the material for the spindle holders, and some of the screws. (The world has gone mad!) Otherwise we're loaded up with micRo parts. Every time I make a prediction.....well you know. RoGR has to build the micRos though, I tried to calculate the time by to make them all by hand; let's just say we'd be waiting a long time.

HA! Too true. Not to mention I think your wrists would fall off from spinning the dials on the Sieg X2. Rogr does look to be coming along nicely though. Too bad about the screws though.

But I'll hold you to that ETA. Since Rogr will be machining the micRo parts it should be safe to assume that ETA < Long time.

And I suppose by the estimate of how long each Big Robot Nut took, that each micro will take more than a little bit of time to produce. I can't wait to see a picture/video of an army of Rogrs turning out micRos and micRos turning out Rogrs.

I've been considering an all-metal aluminum billet micRo, is there any interest?

I keep tossing this thought around in my head. Have you worked up something in CAD, or is this a thought at the moment? I guess i'm wondering what changes would be made to the basic micRo?

cheers.

Please forgive my mechanical ignorance--I'm trying to work this through in my head--, but how does flipping the micro give you more headroom? However you place it your Z has to reach your sacrifice...seems like the issue is more of travel?

One of my plans for M2 is an 'inversion' of micRo into RoGR's baby. You'il note that since the Y ways and screw enter the gantry blocks symmetrically, it is simple to turn the gantry blocks upside-down and create a hanging gantry ala RoGR. When a small square tube frame is used with the gantry as such, 12" of pass-through open up, as well as headroom for bulky pieces or other automation, like rollers for making those 19" rack panels.

Ooh that does make a lot of sense. In that case it doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility for some of us 'early adopters' to take this on as a fun side project. From what I can see the only new requirements would be a suitable inverted mounting scheme and a new Y block...all of which can be made with the micro itself! .

One of the other benefits to a nonstationary surface that I can see would be for pick/place. It drastically increases the amount of components that can be used by placing the bins further down from your workpiece. *drooling*

As it is now, are there any technical reasons against hanging the tracks for the X axis upside down ?

My thoughts are to eventually mount the existing X tracks on a square tube frame, so a 4th axis could be slipped up into it.

I've been AWOL for a week or two working on another project, (and learning electronics by jumping in feet first), but I see things are getting closer on the micRo. One thing that I haven't quite been able to keep up with is what we're getting for our money. I ordered a complete kit a while ago, and damn you brainchild, but you keep teasing us with goodies and I've lost track. Can we get a run down of what we're getting in our kits, and what optional extras might be available when the first batch is ready to ship out? I'm not even sure if I'm in that first batch or not, so clarification there would be cool.

Awesome!!!! And many thanks.!!!!

Not much else to ask really.

(Unless you know where I put my EMC2 CD?)

Can I sell base plates for cheep?

Umm, I will be selling them; we were actually just adding it to the store...

I found about 4000lb of used 1/2 AL plate for a low price. I thought you were going to have everyone orrder the plate from online metals but if you are stocking them I wont bother.

There is not too much room for profit anyhow on bare stock.

How are you going to cut them to size?

Hi Dave, Welcome back. Everyone is in the first batch.

You are getting:

Engineered and machined bloks.
Precision ways and bearings.
Machined alum flex couplers.
4 motors with upgraded Y and Z.
4 8x micro stepping drivers.
Machined leadscrews; 3/8x12tpi
Spindle mounts.
Hardware.

Baseplate not included.

How difficult would it be to double the y/z parts using the same X ways. Instead of a complicated tool changer you would have a machine with two tools working on your part. With 3d printing you could have one laying a new layer of material and the other depositing the building material.
Or any other task that will need two tools.

In real cnc work does that happen often, or is it that most of the times the tools you use are very universal and can make the part in one go.

So with RoGR coming together (looks impressive) I take it we're not all that far off seeing videos of its first steps into machining? Will we be witnessing the big fella machining micRo parts within a week or 2 or am I getting ahead of myself?

Okay, I am pretty well sold on the idea of a micRo, however since you *seem* interested in the idea of customizations....

The working area is a skosh small for my liking. Mainly the X and Y travel. I noticed earlier someone mentioned a longer X-axis. Has a longer Y axis been explored using the same gantry rises? My ideal is something like 20"x30". I imagine doubling the travel the Z module would required the gantry to be beefed up. Possibly even a candidate for the aforementioned aluminum micRo.

Of course I would expect increased price and probably time of delivery. Would this even be something you would be interested in constructing?

Also, like some others I'd be interested in a spindle/mount/etc, and depending on if it is possible, a base.


What do you think?

Hello everyone.

I’m a first time poster here after ordering a micRo yesterday. It seems to me it offers the best starting point to get ones feet wet in the world of CNC. Being a flightsim fanatic, I intend to use it on a future cockpit build. Obviously it will be put to other use as well.

Here's another idea for a future Lumenlab roBLOKS project: an affordable 3-DOF motion platform.... RoGR could get his/her bit right into that.

I've got a question for Brainchild.. Will you guys be able to test all the electronics and motors before shipping things off to us? With international postal rates (Netherlands) being this high, I'd like to avoid having to send things back and forth across the pond.

Regards,
Gerhard

I'd love to have "a la carte" materials available at your specified length. Please, PM me with your required dimensions, and I can make an attempt.