My 1st CNC Project

5' x 10'

Stepper Controlled

Plasma Torch and Router Table

Combination.

 

Click on any image for a larger view...

Camtronics 5amp Chopper Driver
for the controller.

Back view of the controller.

Inside the controller, good thing the case was
not smaller. I have a 32 CFM fan mounted to the
top panel of the controller blowing down on the boards
and heat sinks.

 

The individual driver board.
This was the first time attempting a electronics
project this large. The instructions were good
and everything worked .

The full view of the table. It is 5' x 10' and
at least 600 pounds. Maybe I should have
started with a smaller table, it almost takes
to much room..

View of the carriage. The carriage is a 4" x 4" piece of
aluminum H beam.

Side view of the carriage.

Another view of the carriage.

X axis Leadscrew & Nut. I chose a
1/2 x 10tpi screw, it will give me a .0005in. per step.
But I should have used a leadscrew with around
2 to 4 TPI-- lesson learned...

I used bearings on each side of a 3/4" piece of
steel. Each is adjustable. It is pretty strong, using a
dial indicator I do not get any deflection.

Motor mount.

The Thrust bearing were bought from McMaster-Carr 106
catalogue. They are 1/2 inside and approx. 1 1/8 outside.
Only one side of the bearing is free, it is sealed and has a
grease hole. Worked great.

Support for the far side of the Y axis. If you grab the H
beam and try to move it, it will deflect a little.. I am
thinking of using a cable system to tie this end to the
other side of the carriage. Lesson learned-- should
have used two leadscrews and two steppers
in sink with each other.

Y axis mount

This is the carriage I built to hold the Plasma Torch.

Side view of the carriage.
I made the slide out of stainless steel flat bar and
used delrin for the slide..

End view of the table.

My homemade CNC-PC station.

This is the Z axis. I got the slide off of Ebay and adapted it to a leadscrew.

Here is a sign that I made for my shop with the router mounted in the table. I let the router cut the outer edge also and all I had to do was paint the letters and finish it.

This is a Ultrasonic Cutter that I built at work , I made the brackets for with the router mounted on the table. Using a 1/4" solid carbide bit I cut the 1/2" aluminum in about 6 passes. This was the first time I used it on something other than wood.

Update 01/26/2002
I have been cutting a good bit of parts out with the plasma torch. It will cut a full 4' x 8' sheet of metal. The last order was for a few hundred lift kits for golf carts. I have been using the router on the table a little more lately. I think am going to pass this table on to someone else, it has work great. It's main purpose is for use with the Hypertherm plasma cutter. I now want to build another table. I love building these machines!!

 

Links

CNC Information

Great photos and other information

Dan is very helpfull and has plenty of well priced components.

McMaster-Carr
any thing you need.

 

salterc@frontiernet.net

 

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