It might drone or amplify sounds, depending on the thickness of the sheetmetal.

 

Yuck....I didn't think of that Rubber leveling feet it is

 

You might consider adding a plywood top to the cabenet. I have my lathe mounted on an old sheet metal office desk with 3 sheets of plywood for the top. Before I added the plywood, it was considerably louder and less ridgid, with the majority of the noise comming from the desk itself. Then again, my lathe dosent come close to the higher pitched spindle speeds of a router. Your mileage may vary.

 

I'm just getting started and gathering up parts. Neither of the stepper motors or the control are available from the store or the supplied links. I was looking at this combo available on e-bay.

http://goo.gl/4AWKDF

Any help or point me in another direction is appreciated.

 

Yes stay clear of the TB6560 controllers they are not friendly to mistakes and the IC requires a power on sequence that the maker did not account for, so each time the board is powered on your risking blowing the stepper IC's.....
I had to take mine apart and build stand alone drivers, then get a BOB and in the end payed twice the money.
Really the kits on the bay are simply motor, power supply packages with a paper weight TB6560 PCB

 

Thanks everyone for all the great info. I ordered all the available parts via the part store yesterday. I'll continue to pick up items as they become available. If the steppers become available here before I gather everything else up, I'd rather just buy them here. I've seen a couple people order the 400w spindles off e-bay rather than using one of the router options. What are the advantages / disadvantages of the spindle rather than router? Looking forward to getting started on this project!

 

An Ox is in my future. I just purchased a Makita TP0701C Compact Router (on sale for $89 at Home Depot). The motor body is a 65mm diameter, 85mm tall cylinder. I want to use the "hose clamp" mounting technique until I can cut my own motor mounts. I had an idea for an mounting aid that fits over the cast 90 degree corner brackets. The first prototype is being printed at Shapeways and should be here is a couple of weeks. You can go here to look at the design. http://www.shapeways.com/model/2067340/makita-mounting-aid.html?li=shop-results&materialId=95

Chaz

 

And as soon as I posted the last message...the link broke. http://www.shapeways.com/model/2069388/makita-mounting-aid.html?li=shop-results&materialId=95

I forgot to explain why it's an aid. This piece holds the router parallel and centered on the Z-axis V-slot extrusion...while you are tightening the hose clamp. Since it's a permanent addition, it also adds some stability.

 

No problem. As soon as I get a couple in my hands. It would help if I had dimensions for the 2060 extrusion and the cast 90 degree corner bracket. I'm starting with the Sketchup drawings and hoping nothing has changed since they were created.

 

Your plates worked like a charm with the NEMA 23s I got from StepperOnline (lots of choices, China).

I'm using a 20x60 instead of the 20x40 for the third X axis back piece (don't ask). So the opening for the cables lines up with the inner chanel of v-slot which could allow one to completely hide some wiring (would need to drill a nice hole in v-slot to poke wiring directly into controller box), but it leaves little space to pass wiring through and top of V-rail. You might want to make the opening a bit taller ?

Is there room for doing a triple span X-axis beam ? Would need extra holes there.

As anyone thought of trying an H beam type configuration for the X-axis ? 20x40 sideways between the 20x60 (or taller for wide spans). The horizontal "spanner" could be fixed to the "beams" with corners (whether 2 or 3 hole brackets or corner like those used at gantry plates every 10" or so, top/bottom). Extra width would be to give a wider base for X-axis wheels which should limit the front/back flex in the Z-axis assembly (maybe ?). There would not be a need for the back X v-slot ...

How about a triple 20x40 sideways or double 20x60 for the Z-axis itself (instead of a single 20x60) ? It's tad thicker but might limit flex in the Z-axis as tool pushes in work piece ... The plates of Z-axis would need to be redesigned. A single design for all three options should be possible, at least for top plate; bottom plate might need two design (standard and "hefty") not to get in way of router/spindle ...

Just thoughts as I look at my OX ... Still waiting for time to install electronics ...

 

Thanks for the info Serge.
Hope the electronics installation goes well.
Chris

 

Hey guys, I just wanted to share my interpretation of the OX https://plus.google.com/113540974329909454794/posts/fuzVktMAuhf
It is fully functional but I smashed the USB connector of the TinyG and I am waiting for a replacement ... after that I might actually be able to use it

 

Nice build @Franco Ponticelli I hope you are up and running soon.

Tweakie.

 

Hi, I'm new here. I bought a OX CNC router kit, after being assured it was easy to build (I'm a crafter, not a builder) & after going through the contents of the box & the instructions forwarded, now I'm concerned Ive made a big mistake & Im out of my depth! although I'm quite a practical person. I wondered if anyone could offer any advice for the best place to start for someone so new to this?

 

Start with watching the build videos

 

Thank you I just started watching them

 

Everything is ordered, just waiting for boxes to arrive. Thank you @Chris Laidlaw for stepping up and making parts.

@kram242 , I'm really looking forward to starting on this project. I sincerely appreciate your hard work and contribution to this community! CNC has been an interest for awhile, nice to finally work on a project.

Reading all about controls, software etc. while waiting for parts. Setup an old pc with linuxcnc today. Probably give that a try and also trial of Mach3. Looks like the new version of Mach is right around the corner so will probably wait for that.

 

Hi Todd,

You could be waiting a long time for Mach4 - It has been " just around the corner " for the last 3 years.

I have been doing some testing with Mach4 and the overall smoothness of the motion it produces is just brilliant. However, there are still the inevitable bugs to be found and resolved which is, I think, taking a lot longer than expected.

This is just a short video of my last test run with Mach4, the Darwin driver and my laser http://www.graytel.talktalk.net/Mach4.wmv

Tweakie.

 

Working on this build and am about to start building the frame. I bought limit switches, but am not sure exactly where to put them, when to add them to the build, and how to wire them. Has anyone built the OX with limit switches?

I'm part of the build group with Jeff Balderson (see p.28) and I'm supposed to tell him how to do the limit switches when I figure it out. That's why I'm turning to you guys! lol! Can anyone help?

So far the build is going great!

 

I will take photos of my limits later today when I get home from work....

For now just a little bit of a teaser .... I did my best to cut the Vslot square with my drop saw but in the end found a bit to much induced stress in the frame when squaring so went all out and milled the critical ends of the vslot. All sticks that needed to be the same length were bolted together and milled as a pair as well. So far it is MUCH closer to being true, not perfect but very close. I am hoping to use duel switches on my slaved axis to resquare the gantry to bang on.

 

My Nema 23's from cncrouters worked fine

 

Bmoz,

I'm the one that asked Chris the question about using NEMA 23's. His response to me was 'I think they may be too heavy' and might slow the speed of the axis travel. What size 23's are you using for the X / Y axis and are you using same for the Z? What are you using for a spindle motor on your build?

I found some 130 0z-in NEMA 17's that I may consider instead of 287 oz-in NEMA 23's. Your opinion and experience would be of value in my decision making process.

Rob

 

I have only been running them for a few days. I haven't done any heavy work with them yet and can't really venture an opinion on how it will go long term. Having said that my OX is all aluminum and is feels steady as a rock with the 23's on the x and y axis. For the z axis I am running a Nema 17 for no other reason than I didn't want to have to re-engineer the plates.

 

I thought 23's on the x and y were the stock size? I'm running 270 oz/in on the x any y and it zips around just fine at 48v.