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Sea-OX

Discussion in 'CNC Mills/Routers' started by Steven Bloom, May 29, 2015.

Sea-OX

Sea-OX

Discussion in 'CNC Mills/Routers' started by Steven Bloom, May 29, 2015.

This is my first CNC build. The Sea-OX is a machine built out of three 1000mm C-Beams. I plan to have a Y length of 1000mm and a X length of 650mm. The Z should have the ability to move approximately 100mm.

CNC
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  1. Steven Bloom

    Steven Bloom Journeyman
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    I was planning on using the standard 8mm screws that come with the C-BEAM. To make it stronger I am using 2 nut blocks per C-Beam. If this is not strong enough I will have to maybe think about a custom size lead screw from Misumi. The good thing is you can get a 12mm that tapers to 8mm on both sides. The only problem would be to find a nut block that fits.
     
    #31 Steven Bloom, Jul 8, 2015
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  2. Paul2991

    Paul2991 New
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    #32 Paul2991, Jul 19, 2015
  3. Steven Bloom

    Steven Bloom Journeyman
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    Well I have not updated anything in a while. So I figured I would so some sharing. I have gotten my first batch of openbuilds parts and they are great. I now have temporary plates built from MDF , my temporary spindle now has a bracket, a computer is coming in to run Mach3 (cheapo style, only $250) and I am now trying to get my cnc breakout board to work.

    I am creating this CNC Build to continue my work on 3D Prosthetics for kids. Here is my gofundme site and please help if you can. The money is to finish getting the CNC machine built and for parts for the kids prosthetic hands.

    http://www.gofundme.com/gtszhvc8

    Thanks Steve
     

    Attached Files:

    #33 Steven Bloom, Aug 14, 2015
  4. Steven Bloom

    Steven Bloom Journeyman
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    Have almost all of the main parts now. Things are starting to come together with the temporary plates. Stainless Steel is coming in today.

    20150909_225129.jpg
     
    #34 Steven Bloom, Sep 10, 2015
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  5. Steven Bloom

    Steven Bloom Journeyman
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    Another new picture after another few hours of work. 20150910_235850.jpg
     
    #35 Steven Bloom, Sep 11, 2015
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  6. Steven Bloom

    Steven Bloom Journeyman
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    More work but its starting to look like a CNC machine.

    2015-09-11 21.37.40.jpg
     
    #36 Steven Bloom, Sep 11, 2015
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  7. Mark Carew

    Mark Carew OpenBuilds Team
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    @Steven Bloom What are you planning on cutting that would need a Z axis that tall? Keep in mind that lower you make the center of force the more rigid the machine will be. With your spindle that far away from the X axis rail you are creating leverage that can flex.
    As a suggestion I would say to think about realistically the maximum material thickness you will be milling and lower the Z to allow for say 1/4" over that. This way you will have a lower profile machine that will be much more ridge. If you are not sure you want to go this route or are undecided about the material thicknesses you will be working with. You could keep the same side plates and perhaps make new holes at various locations to test the machine at lower heights.
    If nothing else you should at least make the X rail at least as low as the brace you have on the back because you cannot process any materials under it anyway so having the X axis rail above this brace is really not serving any purpose. Just a few suggestion that may help.
    I believe this is the first use of the double set of wheels on the outside of the C-Beam, I think this will make this machine super strong.
    Keep up the good work its looking great. :thumbsup:
    Mark
     
    #37 Mark Carew, Sep 16, 2015
  8. Steven Bloom

    Steven Bloom Journeyman
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    I was building the machine to be able to cut several things but I did want to be able to cut wood up to 4 inches thick. While the Z is big right now, I don't have the build plate on the machine yet. That will bring it up around 20mm. After that I will cut the Z down a bit so it does not have to be as long, I am hoping that with the use of double wheels and using 3/16 stainless steel for all of the plates, that I will be able to fix any flex issues. But I could be wrong since this is my first build. I made that second X Rail that low so it matches up with the minimum bottom of the spindle holder. That part is very thick. Enclosed is a pic. If you have any suggestions, keep them coming. This is all new to me.

    2015-09-16 06.18.44.jpg
     
    #38 Steven Bloom, Sep 16, 2015
  9. Steven Bloom

    Steven Bloom Journeyman
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    Oh, by the way, I am also using two nut blocks for each acme screw. I was hoping this would also create more stiffness as well as anti-backlash.

    Thanks Steve
     
    #39 Steven Bloom, Sep 16, 2015
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  10. Steven Bloom

    Steven Bloom Journeyman
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    @Mark Carew - I did a little sanity check. I got nervous after you talked about flex. So I put down approximately what would be 20mm of waste board and then put my router in place with an approximately 1 inch bit. I only now have 3.75 inches of movement. I will be able to cut the C-Beam down by at least 2 inches. Do you think that is too much ??

    Thanks Steven

    2015-09-16 18.49.06.jpg
     

    Attached Files:

    #40 Steven Bloom, Sep 16, 2015
  11. arc1979

    arc1979 New
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    This may be a dumb question, but, how do I cut stl files using sketchup and sketchucam? I have imported the sea ox stl parts but when I try to phlaten the model nothing happens. I would love for this to be my next build.
     
    #41 arc1979, Sep 16, 2015
  12. Steven Bloom

    Steven Bloom Journeyman
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    Don't use those parts. They are not the finalized ones. I will upload the dxf files in a little while. The ones I will put up are near finalized.
     
    #42 Steven Bloom, Sep 16, 2015
  13. Steven Bloom

    Steven Bloom Journeyman
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    Ok, I have uploaded the almost final parts. They will now work, but I might make some tiny changes. I will post if I send up new parts. Please take a look.
     
    #43 Steven Bloom, Sep 16, 2015
  14. Mark Carew

    Mark Carew OpenBuilds Team
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    I see your wanting to cut wood up to 4" thick and it looks like you have the cutting depth, however I still wonder about the back brace being to low or do you have enough room there for the 4" material to fit under?
    It really looks like a super strong machine and if your cutting 4" thick wood you have to have the gantry up high. Not know that your cutting that thick of wood I just wanted to let you know that the gantry did not need to be so high up which could cause flex. So that being said the best thing to do is to try it and see how it does, then you will know if there are areas that need to be adjusted.
    It's truly is an awesome machine, I can wait to see it in action!
    Mark
     
    #44 Mark Carew, Sep 17, 2015
  15. Steven Bloom

    Steven Bloom Journeyman
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    A nice fresh pic from tonight. Getting things done. Maybe in a week or so, I will be ready for the final plates. I also installed some nice rubber feet.

    Thanks Steven

    2015-09-20 21.55.37.jpg
     
    #45 Steven Bloom, Sep 20, 2015
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  16. dakman

    dakman New
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    Nice work Steven! Will leverage much of your design when you're done...
     
    #46 dakman, Sep 21, 2015
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  17. dakman

    dakman New
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    Steven...When I open your dxf files..The scale is huge. . Can you give me a reference on the drawing so as to re scale to the proper scale? Thank stephen
     
    #47 dakman, Sep 24, 2015
  18. dddman

    dddman Journeyman
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    @dakman I suppose your work in inches?
     
    #48 dddman, Sep 24, 2015
  19. Steven Bloom

    Steven Bloom Journeyman
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    its all in millimeters. What are you having a problem with ?? Thanks Steven
     
    #49 Steven Bloom, Sep 24, 2015
  20. dddman

    dddman Journeyman
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    probably that it opens 25.4 times too big for him:)
     
    #50 dddman, Sep 24, 2015
  21. Steven Bloom

    Steven Bloom Journeyman
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    I use those DXF files all the time on our laser at our maker space. I don't scale or touch anything. And they are not quite final yet.
     
    #51 Steven Bloom, Sep 24, 2015
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2015
  22. Tom Allen

    Tom Allen New
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    Steven,
    You deserve much credit and thanks for you dedication and willingness to share your build. You are a testament to the OpenBuild concept.
    Regards,
    Tom
     
    #52 Tom Allen, Sep 28, 2015
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  23. Steven Bloom

    Steven Bloom Journeyman
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    Finally the Stainless Steel plates are done. And they are BEAUTIFUL !!!!

    2015-10-15 19.51.00.jpg
     
    #53 Steven Bloom, Oct 15, 2015
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  24. CapnFailBoat

    CapnFailBoat New
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    Dang your machine checks almost all of the boxes I'm looking for in my first design.

    Cool machine for a great cause.

    Edit; I am also getting a huge scaling thing going on when I try to open those files as well. I'm opening them in Fusion360 set to mm and it's showing some of those plates as 1300mm across.
     
    #54 CapnFailBoat, Oct 16, 2015
    Last edited: Oct 16, 2015
  25. Steven Bloom

    Steven Bloom Journeyman
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    That's kind of weird. But the guy who cut them out said they acted weird as well. But he had older software. It was in inches to him so he simply scaled every thing to 0.0393700787401575. That cut the pieces perfectly. Well almost I actually still have a problem. I think when he cut the pieces he said "Don't cut the line". So anyway all of my holes that are supposed to be 5mm are 4.9mm and non of my screws fit. So I bought a few cobolt drill bits to fix all the holes. It only take just a few seconds to fix a hole when its off by that little.

    Thanks Steven
     
    #55 Steven Bloom, Oct 16, 2015
  26. Mark Roberts

    Mark Roberts New
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    Love your build. Think I'm going to copy it as I too want to do both plasma and routing on the same table.
    Just a thought on space efficiency. If you keep the center of your router spindle inside the footprint of your Y plates you maximize use of your table in the X-direction. I'm guessing that your center is about 30mm forward of the Y-plate wheels. If you move your Y C-Beam back about 50mm you will be inside that maxed out zone with plenty of room for a fat cutter in the spindle. Could be done by a slight redesign of your Inside Y-Plate. See pics below.

    The light blue line is the front of your Y Plate. The yellow circle is the center of your router spindle. Yellow arrow moves it back inside the footprint.

    It's now mid-October. I'll bet you have made a lot of progress. Could we see some of it? Keep up the good work. I'm inspired. Sea-ox4 fr Overhead Projection.png Orig Inside Y Plate.PNG Modified Inside Y Plate.PNG

    Mark
     
    #56 Mark Roberts, Oct 18, 2015
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  27. Steven Bloom

    Steven Bloom Journeyman
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    I like your idea. I am not sure though if it would give you any more room on X or Y. But since all my plates have been cut out of stainless steel and the cost of the stainless was 130 and the cutting was like 300, I really don't have anymore money right now for the experimentation. This week I need to clean up the pieces a little and work on my workbench. Right now the CNC is on a plastic table and I am afraid that if I introduce 40 lbs more weight to the table from the new plates, the table might break. But within two or three weeks everything may be built (I hope). I send out some more pictures by the end of this week.

    Thanks Steven
     
    #57 Steven Bloom, Oct 18, 2015
  28. Ronald van Arkel

    Ronald van Arkel Veteran
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    Mark and Steve,

    It will give more working area on the Y-axis with the same length of V-Slot/C-Beam. You can even let it stick out further back so it's easier to change tools. The negative side is that the front-wheels, the ones on the left of your drawing, will have a higher load on them because of the weight of the X and Z axis. Reducing the height of the Z-axis/gantry will help a lot there. If the space is needed I would do it else I would keep the plates as they are now.

    -Ronald
     
    #58 Ronald van Arkel, Oct 19, 2015
  29. Mark Roberts

    Mark Roberts New
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    Steven,

    First, I am defining forward as the side of the gantry that the router is affixed to. I was assuming your X-forward and X-rearward wheels align with the forward and rearward ends of the spoil board when they reach their respective stops in X. When the current design is at the forward stop your spindle center is dangling off the end of the build. Conversely, at the rearward stops your spindle center is left with extra spoilboard to the rear that it can never reach. One could design the build so the spoilboard sticks out slightly beyond the forward X-end of the build. Then one wouldn't have any concern about this "within the footprint" stuff.

    The Y-axis won't be affected. It still has the same working range. The length of the gantry C-Beam would be the same. As to weight you shouldn't see any more than a few ounces increase in the weight of the gantry since the mod replaces the original inside Y-plates. That's what I meant to say.

    I understand the expense of changing mods. Perhaps the "within the footprint" concept will help in a future build.

    Ronald's reply stimulated another thought regarding Y-axis travel. If you move the taller inside Y-plates to the outside and the smaller outside plates to the inside you may be able to see some increased Y-travel. It would mean cutting a new longer C-Beam, lead screw, and horizontal stabilizing brace. That sounds like too much work and expense to tackle now that you are at the stage of the build with all those things finished. It all depends on what pieces of hardware collide at the ends of the Y-axis first, for example the Z slide against an inside plate, Z wheels against either plate hardware, etc. You'd have to look at your setup to see what would happen first. Really this is just another thought for future builds.

    Best wishes and I am looking forward to seeing your build in action. I love that your C-beams are facing out and giving some debris protection to the X lead screws.

    Mark
     
    #59 Mark Roberts, Oct 20, 2015
  30. Ronald van Arkel

    Ronald van Arkel Veteran
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    I also would keep the build as it is, those few inches/cm will not give this build more value. It's already nice as it is! :d It was just a comment on the drawings you posted Mark.

    -Ronald
     
    #60 Ronald van Arkel, Oct 21, 2015
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