Hurts my wallet everytime I snap one off.... Those "O" flute aluminum cutting bits are expensive... I bought one of those fancy spoilboard cutters awhile back for resurfacing my spoilboard, I believe I paid 125.00 or around that for it.. Hit a screw that broke off in the spoilboard, toast..... Live and learn....

 

With a different X beam yes it would, I wouldn't stretch that 4080 out that far, talking about a 5 foot beam or a little better. I'm retrofitting this machine with a 5010 gantry extrusion (50mm x 100mm), that should be sufficient for most people. Also it depends on what you want to cut, woods, sign foam, plastics, 1/4" 6061 shouldn't be a problem.

 

Yeah, you wouldn't have any trouble with that...

 

Here's one I just got in today and just had the chance to try it out, nice clean cuts, adding it to the list:

Good 1/4" 2+2 compression bit at a very affordable price 18.00 + free shipping !!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P04EDOU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Thanks !!

The machine is direct drive, no belts here.. Been there, didn't like it for what I needed...

 

No problem ... No prints or sketchup models yet... It's based off the Ox machine in size, it's 1500mm long and aprox 900mm wide. The cutting area works out to be 26" x 51". I'm working on making the plates available for purchase and i'll post some DXF files of the dimensions and hopefully a BOM soon, work is killing me right now.

 

The 2080 Openbuilds extrusion yes due to wheel hole placement. But honestly, check out Neils Frog build, he still has issues with the bonded together beams flexing. For the price of 2-2080 1000mm extrusions you could have 1 solid 4080 Misumi extrusion that's a lot more rigid. With all the people on here building it probably wouldn't be to hard to resell the 2060 and recoup some $$..

 

UPDATE 02/03/2015

The machine is working great !! No issues to really speak of, we are getting ready to change the gantry over to the 5010 extrusion, i'm pretty excited to see if that removes the little bit of chatter that's present when we use a generous DOC. I have to cut 2 more plates then we'll swap everything over, we are also going to try reducing the number of wheels on the gantry plates to 4 on top and 4 on the bottom of each plate, to make it easier on the wallet when purchasing the wheels. Also the DeWalt 611 router i'm really happy with it's performance, I run at about the same speeds, feeds and DOC as my other machine with the 3 1/4 hp router and I don't have any issues with it bogging or failing to keep a pretty steady speed.

The only negative thing I have to say at this point about it is the brushes wear out pretty quickly, go to ereplacementparts and have some spare brushes and bearings on hand. This is a good example of why you need to be with your machine when it's cutting. I had a 1/8 downcut endmill working on a pocket when I heard the router stutter a few times like the power was going out. I used feed hold in Mach 3, raised the router, DISCONNECTED the power cord and removed the top. Both brushes were about gone, I modded them to get a bit more life out of them while I have to wait for the new ones to arrive.

Here's the lesson, if that would have been a 1/4 endmill or one of my expensive tapered ball nose mills, they probably wouldn't break, the machine and software doesn't know the router quit and would just keep on trucking, who knows what damage would have been done to the machine if I wasn't present to step in and stop it before it quit...

Hopefully I should have the new store Area51cncparts open in a couple weeks, i'm trying to get ahead of my sign orders and get some plates cut to have in stock. We will be also carrying some custom parts for those that wish to upgrade/mod their stock Oxes such as new router mounts, end braces, custom axis plates and inner plate packages !! So stay tuned !!

 

Your absolutely right, I usually do. I purchased this router really as a low cost temporary option to test this machine out and make sure it was going to be able to do the work required of it. It has definitely proven itself to me so i'll probably be purchasing a 1.5kw or 2.2kw water cooled spindle with a VFD shortly. I might have 30-40 hours on that motor and just won't be cost effective to change brushes that often. Continually running a router motor for those long periods is not the best idea, a spindle would last a lot longer with less maintenance.

 

I have been using a Porter Cable 7518 on my other machine for the last couple years and it's been great, but I can run it for at least 2-3 months before changing out the brushes. The 611 just went through them rather quickly, i'll probably replace that router sooner then later. A 9 pound spindle would be fine, the 5010 extrusion will handle it easily and the z slide and Nema 23 with no problems. I was thinking the 1.5kw because it would roughly be 2 hp but a .8 air cooled might be nice, 1HP is probably more than enough for the work it will be performing. I like this one from Ugra, a bit pricey though. And at 7lbs that not too bad...

Edit just looked up a 2.2kw ... 12lbs for the watercooled, 7 for the .8 watercooled and 7 for the .8 air cooled.

 

Thanks !!
Here is a link to the electronics i'm running on this machine. Cncrouterparts Nema 23 If I do it again I will pick my own electronics separately and assemble them. I'm not real happy with the quality of the parts chosen in this package, so far it's working ok but time will tell.

I am using the 1/4" 380oz steppers...

Gerald

 

I have a 5' x 9' machine also that runs Nema 34s 960oz motors.

Your right about bit, i've had them hit the wall before... You only have one pair of eyes people, SAFETY first !!

 

UPDATE 02/18/2015

The machine has been cutting 6 days a week for the past few weeks with no issues other than having to replace the brushes in the router. We have probably cut 40+ signs over this period.

We finally had a moment to tear it down to redo the gantry with a 5010 (50 x 100mm) extrusion, while we were at it we took it down to the base and checked everything out, looking for any possible problem areas. While we had it tore apart we took that opportunity to create a complete BOM for the machine. I'll be posting that as soon as I get it entered into Excel.

CHANGES​

We cut all new plates from .375 6061
Changed out the rack on the gantry to 20 degree pressure 20 pitch 1/2 x 3/4 rack
Changed out the X axis motor to a low inductance 320oz Nema 23 with a .375 shaft with a 15 tooth spur gear
Back gantry plate now has 8 wheels rather then 12

We are cutting plates this weekend and offering plate kits for sale for both the 4080 and 5010 versions. Stay tuned for the Grand Opening of our store this coming week. We will be adding new items on a weekly basis for not only the F-117 but also the stock Ox machines along with upgrade parts !!

Here are a few photos of the completed Area 51 CNC Parts F-117:

 

Thanks Steve !!

I could tell a difference just surfacing the spoilboard, the bit sounded like it was cutting smoother with less chatter. I'll be uploading some new videos of it cutting a few signs this week !!

Gerald

 

UPDATE 2/23/2015

Well the electronics gremlins are at it again, had a NEMA 23 motor give up a couple days ago, motor was about 2 years old and worked hard most of those 2 years so I can't complain. My hat's off to CNCrouterparts for their awesome customer service, I spoke with Ahren late in the afternoon his time and he went out of his way to get a motor in the mail that day !!

Even with the motor limping along we're still cutting, although it's at about 1/2 speed we're still getting it done.

BIG ANOUNCEMENT​

Area51 CNC Parts is now OPEN !!​

Our website is finally open to the public, we are still working a few things out before we will be stocked, but we have plate kits for the stock Ox and F-117 available. We are adding content daily so please bear with us as we are a husband and wife team. I am currently working on getting the complete BOM for the F-117 added and rounding out the builds in the forums. If you have any problems feel free to shoot me an email @ [email protected]. Thanks everyone !!

 

Thank you Gray !!

Gerald