Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Newbie has alot of questions.....

Make it from steel, and about 5x heavier than you think you need.

The heavier the better.
You absolutely cannot make it too heavy.

I made a big mill, with a moving portal mill design.
I used a Bp m-head as a head ie spindle.

At the moment I am making a high-end 7-axis lathe.
Commercial quality, ie I will use it in production, 7 days/week.
I started with a Chester Craftsman, a 400 kg 12x32, last november. Ready
in 4 weeks. 5 servos, 2 steppers. 1-2 second toolchanges. Indexed
spindle and subspindle, live tooling, 0.002 - 0.004 mm resolution (I aim
for 0.001 mm).

5 axis gives you lots of deflection ie chatter ie will not make a good
surface finish and will break a lot of cutters!
Unless-
you only use hi-speed milling with small (under 3mm) cutters.
And even then only so-so.

A 3 axis will work with alu- many have been built.
It will be *very much better* with steel, and again as heavy as possible.

I can advise you on parts, costs, time -
if you know the work envelope, and your budget.

For a good 5-axis, after 2k$ you will be able to produce excellent
results, depending on the size of the machine you are making.
Unfortunately, next week I will be very little on email, as my
commercial paying client needs my time ;) - which is by no means a bad
thing.

Deflection is directly related to quality - and a cube of distance ie
work envelope size.
What size do you want ?

These are some guidelines;
Ie 12x12" is easy and cheap- about 200 kg is good for alu (ok for light
steel).
12x40" needs about 1000 kg.
40x40" needs at least 2000 kg for milling steel, maybe 1000 kg for alu
(depends on spindle hp).

Mechmate is an excellent gantry style (steel) router design, free,
google is your friend, www.mechmate.com.


dmickey0576 wrote:

>
>
> I'm planning on building a 3axis and then a 5axis gantry style router.
> I program NC's for a living.
>
> I'll be cutting wood, plastic, foam, composites, light aluminum.
>
> I want to make a 'database' of rails, 80/20 or rexroth extrusions,
> gearing, belts/gears, ets.
>
> I'm really week on the electrical side of things and would like
> suggestions on where I could start and the where to go from there.
>
> Any advise is really appreciated.
>
> ALSO....getting around the postings here seems a little cumbersome.
> Is there a trick to doing searches that most new folks dont know
> about and such?
>
> Again...thanks for any help.
>
> Dan
>
>