Dave Lag wrote:
>
> Nice machine!
>
> The Parker (80/20) pieces were selected for ease of initial adjustment? 
> (they look lonely by themselves :)
>
>   
Thanks. The TSLOTS were used because they were what I had on hand at the 
time, to be honest. They are really nice for fabricating this type of 
project, though.
I built it pretty much out of scrap I had in the garage at the time. I 
purchased the stepper controller and steppers as a kit from a guy online 
(I can dig the link up if you want it), and then I purchased roughly 
$250 worth of materials - mainly the large pieces of aluminum you see; I 
almost never have anything that large that doesn't have a hole or 
something in it from another project.... I was lucky enough to find the 
Thompson shaft at a local hardware surplus store for $10 a bar (they 
didn't know what they had!) and then I purchased the bearings from a 
local supplier. It was a first go and I was happy with it. The revamped 
version will have some improvements, such as the larger motors and a 
standard tapering for the drive spindle (along with variable speed). I'm 
also going to use T-rail to support the linear shafts and move them in 
closer to the centers to allow me to support larger pieces of material 
without flexing. This machine gave me 16"X16"X5.2" of workable space at 
12 IPM. I've purchased some real lead screws and some more Thompson so I 
should get a 18"X18"X9" with roughly 50 IPM out of the next incarnation. 
And it'll have a wet bath so I can work more with plastics and metals.
Cuts a nice proto board though. And I get the copper clad sheets in a 
20"X20" sheet, so since my typical proto board is 4"X3" I can cut 
multiples in one pass.
Guess the point I was getting at is that a CNC machine can be had for a 
reasonable price. Sure, I worked on a $250,000 Fanuc in the family 
machine shop, but the average person can have a decent CNC machine in 
their garage for the $1500 range. For some it's worth it (even for those 
like me that just wanted to do it!), but for others it will still be 
cheaper/easier to outsource it.
-- 
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist