> Sounds like you are working the butt of that machine, in which > case it > sure ought to pay for good lead screws. I belong to some lists of > home > boat builders. I would really like to build a router about 4ft x > 16ft . > I could cut out complete boat kits and in a home shop there would > not > be much overhead costs. Even if the machine were a bit slow it > would > still be worth while. I would likely use wrack and pinion drives > or belt > drives. I have even considered chain drives of course that would > require > a more often calibrating of the machine. I have also thought > about > building the machine from wood with metal ways at least for the > bed. It > would expand and contract as moisture changes but so would the > wood I'd > be cutting so that would likely be a wash. An accuracy of 1/32" > in four > feet would be really, really accurate for boat building. That > would be > 1/8" in 16ft would be very perceptible. This would require > cutting all > the lengthwise lumber and all the cross frames together so if > there were > expansion and contraction of the machine, frames and longitudinals > would > all match each other. I have a work shed 20'x 30' that is heated > with a > wood coal stove. I have a cnc bench mill and south bend lathe so > I can > cast and make at least some special hardware. Don't know if I > will get > this done but I like to think about it :-) We'll see! > > > Doug
Doug, it's done a job or two :). It' still sit's idle more than I'd like but we'll see how things progress. Btw, I'd be glad to help out w/ your boat builds if need be [at least until you get your machine up and running] I agree that proper lead screws should pay for themselves in time. [Thats what I tell the wife anyway :)] I think for your machine a belt type drive [I'd recommend Eagle PD] would be your best bet. Your looking for a very easily attainable accuracy level. I prefer a steel frame [I'm biase as thats what I mainly work w/ :)] however if I was to do mine again, I'd get it stress relieved and machined properly when building the rail mounting beds. Long story but it will pay dividends in the end. [I'm in the process of designing machine #2 which will be similar in size to #1 yet it will be fully welded and stress relieved, then machined on a very large Horizontal mill [I've used them b4 for jobs @ work and they do nice work!] This won't happen for a couple years [gotta pay for Machine #1 first ] . [The ballscrews that I'm going to buy will be moved over to the new machine when it's ready.. so there won't be a loss of $$ due to planned upgrades on machine #1. You'd be suprised how fast that shed will fill up! I've got a 15 x 30 shop right now and it's packed.. hardly any extra room to do anything. The new machine will be installed in a new shop which will be built onto the first. Size hasn't been finalized yet but it will be more than twice as big as my current one. [It's gonna cost me twice as much as it should 'cause I have to spend some on additions to the house at the same time.. Democracy of a marriage....:-D] Have fun! J. Johnson ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Let Crystal Reports handle the reporting - Free Crystal Reports 2008 30-Day trial. Simplify your report design, integration and deployment - and focus on what you do best, core application coding. Discover what's new with Crystal Reports now. http://p.sf.net/sfu/bobj-july _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
