Interesting suggestion, I will take a look at that. I also have the parts to increase the bed size of my micro mill but have not installed them yet. Thanks for the suggestion.

Edited: Amazon has it for $92.99 with free shipping. maybe an option for some, I think I am going to use my mill which has more travel and it needs to start paying for itself. Had planned to put steppers on it just never got around to it. In the past it has always been easier to use the drill press.

 

Thank you, Sir. James Newton @massmind has been very forthcoming in explaining to me how to use the 6064. He has built a PCB based on his own knowledge and various suggestions from folks at CNC Zone. I am grateful to him. I have ordered 12 x 6064 and 1x blank PCB. I just want to get my hands wet (or burnt) assembling a board and then use ExpressPCB to do my own layout. He requested me to credit his massmind.org if I used his design or a modified version. I have told him that I would have no problems with that following the open source approach.

 

Very true! People like me who is viewing all these with fisheye explicit description will go a long way; but I may be in the extreme minority with such high levels of ignorance.

 

This may sound like a very amateurish approach born out of impatience.
Amazon sells precut 80/20 extrusions. I ordered 4 pieces of 20x40 – 305mm long (20 series). My plan is to use cross coupling straight plates to join two 20x40 extrusions for each side. Mount the V-groove wheels using the T-slots with the straight plates as the aligning guide. So, the gantry support plates will have an overall 80mm width and 20mm thick. The straight plates will also allow me to use the eccentric spacer to tighten the wheels to the V-groove.
(don't know how to insert a sketch here)
I could have used the 20x80 (40 series) but that would allow me to mount only two wheels. But I will use that to reinforce the X axis plate with 20x80 V-slot plate.

So goes my thinking ---

 

Here is my sketch!!!

 

If I understand you correctly, the T-slot is used as temporary plates somewhat like the Routy vertical extrusions minus the plates mounting the wheels directly to the T-slot. Then use it to cut the actual plates and then install them. I like it, a self enhancing router. You just need to make sure the wheels are tight enough so that they do not move in the slot, or you could mount the wheels using corner connectors as in some of the example videos. You could do the same thing with V-slot, using a washer over the V grove and it never hurts to have a few extra pieces of V-slot around anyway. You always find a use for them especially if you hang out in the Build's area of OpenBuilds for a while.

Edit: Putting the straps on the outside ends up against the spacer connected to the wheels will keep them tightly against the slot they are riding in.

 

I am not sure I follow your statement here or the implied consternation.

I am using two blank T-slotted extrusion plates joined together similar to the Routy vertical extrusions just like @wrdutcher has understood. I had no idea that buying standard Al extrusions from 80/20 Inc directly or thru Amazon would be interpreted as "going to a competitor's site". Neither of them design or build OX like units!!!
I am exploring the possibility of using a different approach to supporting the X-Z axes and the spindle motor. I did that because I have no machine tools to cut and shape that part to size; besides these are temporary support structures for the gantry. It has NOTHING to do with V-slot extrusions or the wheel or the belt&pinion design. So I wonder what prompted this remark "V-Groove from here on the extrusion from there - Cool" from you. Aluminum extrusion is a process and many organizations do that, the well known is the 80/20 Inc. V-groove is a design approach used by OpenBuilds to come up with a linear slide. Others use guide rail shaft with slide bearings, V-groove rails bolted on to Aluminum T-slotted extrusion, steel V-groove bearings etc.

 

As I said, it is a loud thinking process. The straps will be certainly thinner than the spacers that support the wheels. They will be used only to align the wheels and provide a fence to push against for the eccentric spacers. I am considering this approach as I might need more Z-travel and also the design can easily be borrowed from Routy.

I already have ordered several 20x60 and 20x80 V-slot pieces from the Parts store but I think they are the Lite versions - meaning thinner walls. I wanted to make sure that the end plates have thicker wall extrusions. Besides, I can get them in 305mm, 610mm sizes from 80/20. Parts store has them only in 1000mm or 1500mm lengths and I don't even have a good hacksaw to cut them to size!!!! I also have the several gantry plates, L and corner brackets, 3mm belts and pulleys, six Nema23 steppers and 3 Nema17 steppers - so I am all kitted up waiting for Mark to make his final approval on the OX.

Once Mark is happy with his design, I can perhaps ask him a favor to increase the height of the plate (assuming that is mechanically appropriate) so I have about 4"-6" of Z-space. This will be my FIRST cutting machine which will be dedicated to making parts for my other pet project.

 

Choosing a material for a certain aspect of a design is an engineering and personal choice. Both have there advantages and disadvantages. I don't think anyone was trying to fault you on this. In the end we are all here to make the best CNC router we can make. How we get there is not as important as the fact that we were able to get there. Gopal, I like your solution for making the plates. Its like Mark's router tywrap solution to get up and cutting fast, then machine something better. I may use your approach unless a better idea comes along, or some offers to make plates for us at a reasonable cost. Hint, hint...someone?

 

Thank you!

 

I got my hands on 1/4 Alu plate but am wondering if it will be to heavy?
I don't have all the parts needed, need more eccentric spacers so I may stop and try to get some 6mm Dibond, I can't find a local supply for Garolite.
Really till I mill a plate I won't know how heavy it would be but I would think the added weight may help with flex or torsion.

Another issue I'm having is opening the sketch up files to generate the code to cut them.
When I download and try to open it in sketchup 8 , it says the file was made with a higher version and can't open it

 

Nvm when it comes to Garolite for me. It seems it's has bin band in Canada for safety concerns when milled.
When I figure out how to get the g-code out of scetchup I'm just going to mill the plates from aluminum and I guess be the ginny pig lol

Aluminum vs Garolite

 

Ty, I can order it but the odds of it making its way here through customs is low.
Mcmasters won't ship and from what I have seen I think I will stay clear of milling stuff with such fibers.
I have 2 little ones and my mill is in the basement.

Thanks for the links I'm on that now and I'm going to use 1/4 6061 Econo plate.
For the size of the plates I think things will be fine and I only see benefit's using it as the extra weight should help keep things stable.
My desktop mill I built at first used 1/8 but I had to upgrade to 3/8 due to chatter caused by flex when cutting in Y axis directions.
All of the parts I milled for my mill lol, where really not that heavy and I have NEMA 23's running it so 1/4" at what I'm guessing are about 10x 8 plates? Should be cake walk and benefits all around
Sure glad I got the solid wheels

 

once I get my ox up, I dont mind cutting plates for people.
Im already doing one for one of my work mates.

I'm planning on some router mounts too, 3d printed, with screw tension.

If its a "off-the-shelf" router that popular, let me know and I can design it.

My intention is to do a parametertised scad, so should be easy for me to customize for differnt routers.

 

This is what I plan to do in my OX design:



Since there is about 1.5" dead space next to the side rails that the router can not reach. I plan to put a 20x40 piece of V-slot there and use a piece of 1" x 2" 1/8 aluminum angle to connect it to the side rail. The angle bracket will also provide support for the edges of the mdf board. A piece of 20x40 will be installed in front and back to provide a place to secure the mdf to the router as shown in Mark's 4th video. The advantages of this modification is stiffer side rails and a V-Slot channel on top of the table to attach clamps. The disadvantage is that cuttings will get into the V-Slot channel and it will have to be cleaned out from time to time. Leaving one side of the 20x40 open and using compressed air will make this easier. I had looked into using TTrack recessed into the mdf but it is more expensive than V-Slot, harder to install, and has to be reinstalled every time the mdf is replaced.

 

Would there be any interest in an alternative set of plates that you could have cut on a laser out of 1/4" MDF? The design would be changed as is appropriate for the material. It would be like a mini torsion box.

I ask because most hacker spaces have a laser cutter that can get though material that thick but no thicker. You could have an initial set of plates cut on the laser and then cut your own replacements from Alu or Garolite after the machine was built as an upgrade. This would also give you a way of customizing your build without having to buy plates you don't want.

E.g. I also want to tweak the design of the machine slightly for my needs: I need 2+ inches of Z for some 3D foam carving I want to do. I can design my own plates in CAD but I have no way of having them cut in Alu or Garolite. But I know where a handy 100W laser cutter is... http://www.metrixcreatespace.com/

 

What a great link Gareth. Thanks.
Nice to see it all coming together as a team.

 

I posted one awhile ago, might be useful. I printed two and spaced them as much as possible. Seems very sturdy holding the cheap-o HF trim router, but I haven't actually cut with it yet...
http://www.openbuilds.com/resources/router-mount.10/

 

Hey if you want to make the OX plates you can just use a printer to print a template/guide and then stick it onto some aluminum, drill and cut. If you use a center punch to prime the holes before drilling your bit won't slip. I'd imagine this method will give you the same results as a CNC machined part.

 

I used this method to make carriages and motor mount plates (nema17) from 2.5in X 0.125in aluminum plate you can pick up at Home Depot. That said its fairly difficult to get the punch location exactly correct. Variance in angle and minor imperfections in the print result in holes that aren't precisely aligned. This is fine if you are using eccentric spacers to take up the slack, but not acceptable if your not. YRMV, but that was my real world experience.

 

I've done similar things with model airplane parts but the results are usually not ideal. Even with a drill press, brad point bits and a center punch. YMMV of course.

 

Gotcha. So if I instead went about modifying the table I could have the option of cutting maybe 4" thick foam at somewhat reduced tolerances but I could still cut harder materials (Alu) up closer to the gantry with better stiffness.

 

If you need a good bit for aluminum go with destiny tools
If you have a hard time I have a local supply of the bits I use, let me know I will shoot 1 out to ya