semperfikurt published a new build:

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As far as performance goes I am not totally sure how much direct affect the braces inside the Y axis rails have. I can say for certain they do make the entire gantry end plate assembly much sturdier by itself though. It keeps all the bolts squared because they are linked together and there isn't as much assembly fatigue from use. I had this problem a lot on my old machine... lots of sagging bolts that loosened up because the holes in the plates didn't provide very much moment resistance.

Fair disclaimer though, I am no mechanical engineer. I just prefer the "belt and suspenders" approach to things. After all, Why Kill?... When you can Overkill!

Can you elaborate on your Z axis question a bit? What are you referring to with "real action?"

 

Thanks Mark! This project has been going for so long it feels great to finally have stuff for "show and tell." Lots more content still to post though.

 

I positioned my router in its mount so that the average length of my tools in the collet was the measuring gauge (so extending from the collet about two inches or so). In this case, I can get all of the 4 inches of travel with the tool end, from it being even with the lowest point of the gantry, to touching the surface of the bed with maybe .25" of elbow room in the Z axis travel.

 

yeah I can upload them, I finished grad school and am in the process of moving so lots of things in upheaval right now. I will get those uploaded soonest for you guys!

 

No I haven't posted it yet, I want to upload the plate files and some more stuff but just haven't gotten to it yet. There are a couple of things I would do differently which I have been marinating on for a bit before posting it all. It's in the process but should be coming shortly!

 

Hey just wanted to touch base, i havent been able to get the part files and assembly models uploaded yet, life is still pretty crazy these days but i havent forgotten about you guys! I should have the part files up to share as soon as i can get my computer set up again!

 

I do all of my 3D modeling in Rhinoceros and use the RhinoCAM plugin to generate the cnc programs. For all of my floor plans or topo drawings I basically just pulled linework from my architecture project 3D models and went from there. In order to achieve the different line thicknesses, I adjusted the linework's height in Z by a few thousandths of an inch. The lower the line work the fatter the line (hence more downward pressure on the brush tipped pen.) Run that through RhinoCAM and presto.

Now the hatched pictures were a bit more involved. I used a Rhino plugin called "Grasshopper." It allows parametric definition and scripting within your 3d models. I essentially created a script that converted an image input file to hatched linework, and then created a single continuous undulating curve from these hatched lines. This way, when I fed that linework into RhinoCAM to generate the cnc toolpaths, it yielded a single toolpath line with approach and retract only at the ends of each line at the edges of the drawing rather than the up, down, up, down, up, down motion I would have had if it was drawing each little dash individually. It saved a truckload of machine time.

 

Yeah the KOMO is a sweetie. I was working in the RPC at the time so I got all that machine time for free!

The bed has been an interesting mix of success and failure; there are a couple of problems with it all that I have found through use. The design of it all is not quite matured yet, I think the next iteration of the bed will be the one that really sings. I have been marinating on it for a good while and am thinking about writing all that up, but I haven't modeled it all out yet.