as always, this project is fun to watch in progression. thanks for the vid, very impressive. have you thought about laminating carbon fiber or fiber glass between and / or over the mdf?

No I havn't, sounds interesting, have any links to the proccess or examples? that would make a good projector case also.

Joe

Sorry if this is out of line...total n00b.

Joined the group to build a projector, but would love to build the CNC machine.

Do you have a rough estimate as to the total cost ?

I have access to an industrial grade 3 axis and cutting the parts should be easy enough, but I would be limited on funds.

Thanks.

A Word of causion, Wear safety goggle when using a dremel, I got a metal shaving in my left eye when i was cutting off the Bolts for the Z Axis, and after trying a couple of eye wash kits from walgreens and waiting to see it it would come out i ended up going to the med clinic where they say a metal shaving in the clear portion of my eye with a small rust ring aroung it. They used an eye scraper and got most of it out, so after 150.00 later i am typing this with one blurry eye, should be cleared up in a couple of days.

Joe

Hehe joe sounds like you had some unfun days. hope it clears up asap.

all i have to say is, "been there, done that" and yes....it sucked....
also, can you send me that video? eight.heads@gmail.com thanks

Yup had that happen too, got stabbed in the eye with a piece of plastic flying out of a table saw, I wasn't even cutting any it was under the throat plate setting on the trunnion. My eye ached for about a year every night when I went to bed.

"eye" too have had that unfortunate experience.

It took about a day and a half for that stupid little shard of metal to come out of my eye.(i think it was even my left eye!?)

I tells ya, It only takes one mistake like that to convince you to go out and buy a face shield.

hehe my dad made a mistake like this but its end result was much larger. and he lost eye sight in hes right eye. he build a air compressor and the tank he used rusted out and the end blew off and right into hes face.

i'd say that's a little bigger of a mistake than the dremel one's..... man!

Well I'm embarresed to say I made a mistake in my New Model 2006, I had put the bottom torsion box on 180° in the wrong direction if you look at the original pictures of the assembly and the original e-drawing you will noticed the Working bed in not centered with the gantry, you can kinda line it up with the ribs, in doing this it made me manufacture the CNC End Pieces Incorectly when measureing them in solid works, I have corrected it and will post the new E-Drawing reflecting it, I hope this does not cause anyone any problems (I guess everyone makes a mistake now and then. I am currently cutting my new end pieces and finishing the machine.

When I redesigned the machine to be a lighter version it was like starting all over again, but this will work out great.

Antone who wants the New DWG files I imported into Solid works just let me know by e-mail and i will send it to you.

joecnc2006 (at) yahoo.com

thanks, Joe

Here is the New E-Drawing

http://www.lumenlab.com/~joe2000chevy/CNC_...l_2006_R-2.EASM

Joe

hehe joe ive made about 15 errors on my router so far so dont feel bad.

what is the max cutting size for this design? will it cut a full 4' x 8' ?

25" x 49" x 7"

thought i would empty my camera out and post some build pictures.

1st ones are of the bearing blocks and motor mount for the Z Axis, notice the bearings are turned inward this way i will have double 1/2"-10 acme nuts on the inside top and bottomwhich will serve the same purpose as the Y axis and X axis on the outside to hold the lead screw in place and take load from motors. (4) 1/4"-20 x 2.5" bolt was used through the assembly and bolts into the motor mount walls.

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment


2nd set is the Y Asix bearing blocks and motor mount with bearings facing outward.

Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

Here are some e-drawings of different assemblies which I hope will help people visually to see in detail more of the individual areas of the machine. and can measure areas needed.

http://www.lumenlab.com/~joe2000chevy/CNC_..._Assemblies.zip

Joe

Hi joe seen your CNC project over at cnczone .com as well ... an excellent piece of work in every respect , i am currently inth last throws of my cad design for my own CNC router and some of the stuff you have down certainly made me re-think some ideas... your torsion box seems to be the way to go. I have all the parts i need Just have to finalise things before i start cutting MDF like a madman anyways was reading through your posts and saw the mention of a Video is it possible to let me know where i can download a copy , as i could not find it on this siite for direct download .. keep up the good work sou set a high standard which cant be bad Thanks again My E-Mail is Calvin.Hall@virgin.net

thanks, looking forward to seeing your machine. also i sent you the file.

Joe

Looking good joe. It's like my machine's MDF cousin

Thanks for the cyclone info btw. I just finished setting up the vac stuff router side, now I've got to get one of the cyclones built.

Joe can you send a copy of the video to Idor84@gmail.com

First, this has been very informative and I think I found new project.
You are going to make me spend more money

Can you send me the video also? ryuandwings@hotmail.com

Thanks

it came to my attention that the g-code i had on my laptop had an older version of the left side of the gantry, the right side g-code was updated the reason was because i was able to shorten the height of the overall gantry by one inch, all my drawing files and g-codes on the cnc machine computer was correct, i just forgot to update my laptop... here is the new left side.

Joe,

A few questions if you don't mind. How big will the cutting area be? Lenght with and height? I'm hoping to build a CNC router that can cut pieces 3'x6' feet long but it would be worth it to make one that can cut 4'x8' sheets. Do you plan on selling the parts to make the CNC, how much will it cost if you are.

Thanks
Tim

the cutting area on this one is 25"x49"x6.5", I will be designing a new 4'x8' router soon should have it finished this summer.

joe

Hey joe how you doing? just wanted to say hi. Ive been away awhile and will be for a few more months. realy the entire summer. I probly wont get anything done on my router during this time. Kinda a winter thing for me.

Looking forward to see more progress in your plog when you get back and able to work on it.

well i'm gonna wait for your 4x8 to get started

joe hope im not too late in req. a copy of your video? tnx
ne0o@hotmail.com

Hey Joe-amazing work. I'm a big fan of your projectors and cnc machines but I was just wondering if you have that parts list available? The link earlier in the forum doesnt work and I'm considering building a cnc but I need to know a rough estimate before I can get more serious about it. Also my woodworking skills are only moderate, and my tools somewhat limited. I've already build two wood framed projectors but do you think this project is duable for someone like me? Are you still planning on selling a kit? Any idea what the price would be on that? Thanks a lot

You can email me, The lumenlab email has been taking up to two days for me to recieve, do not know whats wrong there.

Try: joecnc2006 at Yahoo.com

Here is a Complete Kit cut out showing all the parts, Only when you see it all together you can see the magnitude of the parts involved. It is quite abit of work to cut out all the parts and keep tract to make sure everything is counted for.

See if you can count or guess the total number of parts shown.

Joe

Looks great Joe!!

Where can i get one? and how much?

I'll quess 86 parts! 300+ with nuts and bolts

lmao what did you sit and count? lol
comon now we BOTH could think of better things to do....


lol

the picture shows 84 parts.

Do I win anything for being close???

only if you're close without going over..... so sorry, but NO!

I spent the last two days making a detailed hardware list, with an assembly manuel for the CNC Model 2006 R-2, So i can send it with Anyone building it and order a kit.

here is the cover page.

nice!

joe,

that looks great.

have you come up with a price for complete kit yet ? just wondering.


keep up the good work.

cheers

Very nice Joe... will this cover a start from scratch parts or will they details parts that need to be cut by another CNC?

Ok, i have been bombarded with requests, so here are the files, dwg's, e-drawings, part list and assembly manual, I will have them Up for one week so if you like to have them here is your chance.

http://www.lumenlab.com/~joe2000chevy/CNC_Model_2006_R-1/

Let me know what ya'll think so far.

Joe

thanks joe that is awsome! I am still working on the panel saw and am planning on ripping off your z-axis design... a quick software question - how much did you pay for SW? I figure I'll be tinkering with this stuff for awhile and that it might be worth the investment, I was looking around and the student editions are $75 and only work for one year! Furthermore, do I need any of the expensive plugins to get the solid works drawings into g-code for the router?

-Rob

solid works is about 2,500 i think full version, I have the advantage of using my works copies on my laptop, you can use alibre, it is a free download and up to 25 parts in assembly i think. also there are alot of freeware progams to generate your g-codes.

Joe

Aright, So can you do primitive 2.5D designs using only a cam program like lazycam?

Yes you can and they will be improving it alot more, there will be a basic program which will come with mach3 and they will have a pro version which will sell for 150.00, way cheaper than anything else.

Joe

I was looking at hobbycnc.com, i remember you saying you paid about 280 for your kit from them. I guess i dont know what you bought. Maybe they changed theyre prices. It looks like they might be cheaper now. The 3 motor kit is only like 255 or something. Mind taking a look?

3 Axis Package
With (3) 200oz-in Steppers
$255USD + $17 USA S/H

Yes that is correct.

joe

I got all of the ACME Thread Clamps From Dumpster, and installed them this weekend, so far they work very well.

On the Z Axis i put the leadscrew bearing facing inward and used two acme nuts to extend where the Clamp is placed top and bottom so i could tighten them, and on the X And Y axis they are just installed against the leadscrew bearings.

http://www.gonebowlin.com/dumpsterCNC/

Joe