Re: Wood Duck redux

Dave,

Thank you for the comments.

You will definitely want to have a look at k2cnc.com. They offer
aluminum machines sans electronics at very fair prices.

A lot of folks say they want the room under the gantry; IME few
actually use it. Making tall gantry's very quickly changes a machine
from works well to something often less suitable. The forces and
material demands go up geometrically.

I've set the material thickness as that suitable for working on a
4x4 post. More importantly, with this on the table you CAN either
work all the way through it with special tooling... or work from
each side to the middle with standard tooling.

There are more than a few designs which have poorly implemented z
axes. Often this is a result of saving the Z axis for thelast part
of the design process. You read that all the time on CNCzone "build
logs".

I believe you should START with the expected material sizes and
thickness ranges, then design the z travel and its relationship to
the spindle tool, material and machine, THEN the XY and all the
rest... The z axis is the heart of the machine.

We won't be offering incomplete kits, but we will offer parts and
bits for those who want to go that route<pun intended<G>. There's
already some of that available; with more to come...

Ballendo

P.S. I've only recently been considering increasing the space under
the gantry of the wood Ducks to accomodate a ROTATING 4x4, since my
rotary units will work with these machines. But a lot has to change
to do that; and the current setup can "swing a" 3-1/4 square
workpice in rotation, which will accomodate most furniture needs.
So it'll likely stay as its been during the last year of testing and
use.

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, Codesuidae <codesuidae@...>
wrote:

>
> ballendo wrote:
> > What if you could just buy a FULL, COMPLETE kit for a 12x12x4-

1/2"

> > travel Gantry router CNC machine, with plug-together

electronics,

> > and pre-configured PC-based cnc controller for $995?
> >
>
> While I'm not currently in the market for a machine I will be in

about

> six months. This sounds interesting if it can do some light work

in

> aluminum and brass and I can get it sans- motors and controller.

The Z

> axis 3-5/8" height sounds limiting, but I think the majority of

the

> items I work with fit into that. I would prefer to be able to fit
> thicker items on the table, even if the working range was the

same. For

> example, I'd like to be able to put n 8 inch plank on it, work to

a 3"

> depth, then flip the plank and work on the other side.
>
> > If I post pictures[...]
> >
>
> I'd sure like to see some pictures :)
>
> > The product now arrives fully ASSEMBLED in a 24x24x24 box, and

is

> > made of Phenolic-faced Baltic Birch plywood. BUT it NOW costs

$1450.

> >
>
> Not for me, I like assembling things, provided the documentation

is

> reasonable.
>
> > OR... What if it was the same as described above fully

assembled;

> > BUT has a frame of 1/2" aluminum, and VXB linear bearings on

18mm

> > rods in XY, and 16mm rods for Z. All else remains the same. But

now

> > it costs $1995.
> >
>
> I'd be most interested in the aluminum version, unassembled

without

> motors and controller. This gives me the best machine at the end

while

> utilizing my time and skills to keep the cost down. It also helps
> satisfy my desire to put stuff together and better understand the
> machine, without frustrating me with too many details of parts

selection

> and fabrication.
>
> Dave K
>