Hi, I am new to the forum and CNC in general. I have been exploring to build a hobby CNC and after a lot of looking around, narrowed on Shapeko 2/ Xcarve type design. I wanted to check if anyone has built Shapeko 2/ Xcarve using 20x40 Vlsot? Other than simplicity, 20x40 & 20x20 is the only Vlsot available in my country, so the reason for choosing this design. Comments/ thoughts appreciated. thanks and regards
You might peruse the CNC build section for something along the lines of what you are looking for. The Stinger V and the Routy GT2 should give you some ideas on how to proceed. While both do include 20x60 sections, with a bit of JB Weld (or other good grade epoxy) and a handful of 3D printed V-slot Connectors you should be able to combine the locally available sections into something a bit more substantial. Let us know what you come up with.
Thanks for the response Rick.. will have a look at these two builds. At a first glance however, the Routy GT2 looks more simpler a build i.e. little or no machining to begin with. Will keep you posted.
Finally decided to try it out the design inspired by Shapeko 2/ Xcarve but using Vlsot. I got the parts laser cut in 4MM MS. Laser cutting was a lot cheaper than CNC milling. Also the accuracy seems to b e reasonable i.e. 0.1MM. The progress will be slow though. The past couple of months was trying to learn CAD i.e. Draftsight and look for vendors for CNC milling/ Laser cutting. Finally did the drawings and got the parts cut last week. Coming weekend it will be purchase of all the nuts and bolts to start assembling the things together. One question, is it OK to put his build on the site under "Builds" section? No copyright issues?
I really don't see any reason for copyright issues. The key word you used was "inspired" and as most of what's out there was inspired by something that preceded it, few are in a position to complain. Looks good so far. Go ahead and show us what you've come up with.
For what it's worth Bunty, I second what Rick said, these are "Open Builds" and what copyright may exist is only to give recognition to the source of your files. Like if you were copying side plates that Rick designed, you simply state that they were his designs and perhaps give a link to the files. That's it. You are really making good choices with this build and I suspect you are going to end up with a great machine! Congrats! If you don't mind saying, what country are you from?
Hi stargeezer, one of the reasons for choosing the design was the fact being my first project involving metal cutting/ machining, I wanted to have something working in the first go to keep my hobby/ interest going. I guess once this works, I would be in a better position to take on more creative development. Thanks for the good words, the motivation always helps. PS: I am based out of India.
Started with the build. The gantry and x axis is ready. Added shims and washers to make it perpendicular. Next step is to add the terminal blocks.. Kept it on tje glass table top to ensure perpendicularity because of the float glass.... Possible only because my wife was away
The Z axis on a trial fit. Had to put standoff in between the X carriage and the Z axis V-slot as the Z axis carriage bolts collided with bolts on X axis. This potentially makes the Z axis move away from the center. Need to find a solution for the same.
Things are nearing completion... T he controller box is almost ready. Though still need to wire the limit/homing switches opto isolated relays for the router The waste board is nearing completion. Now need to create a mount for the Dremel.
Hi Birender, surely I can provide you the design file for the plates. During my construction, I did notice a few shortcomings in the design, which I do plan to incorporate in the drawing but so far I have not been able to do so. Where is India are you based?
Not too much progress on the build since end November 14. Have been using it to do a few drawings for testing the movements. Additionally I am getting a metal frame fabricated on which I will mount the CNC. The purpose is to make the CNC stand up against the was as it occupies too much of space. Will upload the pictures of the frames in the coming weekend.
thanks for your reply i am from bathinda punjab i am trying to trying to make small 500x400mm ,20x40 vslot based cnc with brushless spindle i just noticed i.e you are using 6 v wheel for each plate can this be done with only 4 v wheel and its disadvantage? did you use vslot gantry plate dimension from part store as reference? actually i am confused which dimension to use ,as v slot gantry plate have 39.70mm distance b/w larger and smaller hole while 20mm v plate have 40.29
Hi Birender, I will PM you my number. We could talk over the week end. I had initially planned to use 8 wheels to ensure that I could cut light metals and the eight wheels would spread the load evenly across the Vslot. However since I got the sheet laser cut, there were small variations that made the eight wheels a very tight fit on the Vslot. I used 59.70mm as the distance between the holes to use the 40mm VSlot. However I feel because of the tight fit, the gave could have been marginally more. this could have been compensated by the eccentric nuts. Where do you plan to source the brushless spindle from?
Brinder, as a general rule-of-thumb, using extrusion depth + 20.0mm will put you in about the right place. I find most of my assemblies come in right around depth + 20.3mm in which using 20.0 gives me just about the right amount of adjustment to get proper pressure on the wheels. Of course this is all based on the V-slot coming from the main Openbuilds store. There is more than one manufacturer out there and there may be slight differences in the extrusion dies used. It would be prudent to set up a simple test assembly to verify the depth based on the V-slot you will be using prior to cutting any final plates.
thanks bunty and rick bunty if you don't mind i would like to go with your design ,can you email me at (email address removed by moderator - please send through PM) as for spindle i will try to make one using following motor NTM Prop Drive 50-60 Series 380KV / 2665W - Hobbysea.com http://www.rcbazaar.com/product.aspx?productid=1904 i will go with 2nd motor for chuck i will use a dremel chuck with shank machined on lathe for it For Fit Dremel Rotary Tool 0.5-3.2MM Faster Bit Swaps 7x0.75-Multi Chuck Keyless but not sure if 3.2mm bit will be sufficent for wood and acrylic work 2nd option is to use er11a nut DIY CNC make shank like this one General purpose ER 11 collet chuck 3rd and costly one is to order this http://www.amazon.in/C10-ER11A-100L...e_p_img_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=1T44E2SZMTNQD0BR4NBF and turn it to 8mm and for body i will go for this design Brushless DC Motor - CNC High Speed Spindle - Raynerd.co.uk
does angle of contact matter in gt2 belt? is 10000 rpm sufficient for wood and acrylic work? which type of bit is used for machining (i am new to this work)? which type of z axis is better moving v slot (like shapeko and ox) or moving plate (like xcarve ) ?
which type of z axis is better moving v slot (like ox) or moving plate (like shapeko and xcarve ) ? sorry for mistake
Hi Birendra, I am totally new to milling, so will not be able to answer queries about the milling speed etc. I am taking it a step at a time. I plan to use the trimmer router (RT0700C) as I do not have the time to create something on my own. Even my CNC machine has taken almost 11 months to get to current state considering all other more important priorities job and family . I have PMed you my number we could talk later. Wrt the Z axis, I went with the moving plate (like xcarve ) as my design was "inspired" by X carve. I cannot comment on which is better. Possibly Rick would be able to comment on it better. One slight disadvantage of my design is that the Neme 17/23 end plates on the Z asis Vslot obstruct the movement of the router if attached directly to the plate, so one needs to add a spacer for the same. It is not a big issue but I feel it till increase the bend in the X axis while milling.
