RF-45 mill almost done

Well, this week, I worked on my Rong Fu RF-45 mill/drill and have the CNC
conversion almost complete. All that's left is to bolt down a few of the
Rube Goldberg counter-balancing springs and mount the home and limit switches.
Here's the run down on what's running this little machine:

1. I'm using the ServoLite package from Dan Mauch. It took me about 2.5
days to get it together. The amps went together pretty easily. Dan
supplied most of the needed connectors and cables that go between the
modules. He also supplied me with the logic power supplies and an
Opticoupler board that goes between the computer and the amps.

2. The motors appear to be from a tape drive unit that a friend gave me
about a year ago.

3. The software running the whole thing is EMC. I tried Maxnc first-
since the opti board was set up for it, but switched to EMC after testing
everything out.

4. The ballscrews are Nook and Thompson out of the McMaster Carr catalog.
I made a double nut block for the X and Y and a single nut for the Z.

So far, I've just cut a few things out of some scrap wood. It's time to
put it to work and see how things really work. I noticed that when it was
doing rapid moves the welded up frame of the machine stand seemed to shake
a bit. I'll have to take care of this with sand bags in the base and by
bolting it to the floor. I don't have to run the table really fast for the
small parts that I make, but it's always fun to push it hard just to see
how far it will go (without tipping over :>). If anyone's interested in
seeing this machine, I'll take some photos and post them soon. ( on an ftp
site )

Dan