Machine

[ned]

Here is a drawing of the legs, i wanted them to extend to the ground so im covering the levellers by recessing them up into the legs. I've realsed ive got to add wheels though as well... hmmm. Im using M16 bolts for the levellers, they look right, but it cost 17 euros for 4 bolts, 4 rod connectors and 4 nuts. fackin hell. ill have to go and buy the same again now to build the wheels on.

the legs are 4mm wall. Its nice to cut through.

I had this 10mm plate lying in the pile so ive put it to use. these are not perfect but they will be welded in level so they will be fine. Not going to kill myself over stuff that wont be seen. I rather do things by hand and by eye but the projects im choosing these days genrally dont permit that.

power supply tripped at the below cos the compressor kicked in. I think the plasma is at 40 ish amps. Its all the supply can manage without tripping constantly.

this as far as i got last night.

 

[ned]

M16 hardware, chunky! never used them before. will have to find excuses to use them in future.

soldiers lined up, these are the inserts for the feet with the adjusters welded in.

the legs are a mission in themselves. I'm not yet consistantly getting good welds in the vertical, so have to do all the work before the legs go on, welding horizontally.

did my best to clean the insides of the legs before welding. A grinder in the shape of an electric toothbrush would be ideal here. I need to look into smaller grinders.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

grinder in the shape of an electric toothbrush would be ideal here.

What you need is a power file, see https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_...Xpower+file.TRS0&_nkw=power+file&_sacat=61573

I bought mine from Amazon for under £40, can't recall offhand which brand but it's not Silverline or B & D.

One of the most useful tools I have.

 

[ned]

heya, looks good man and a reasonable price too.

i did some more work and then got stopped in my tracks when i melted this too much, and the bolt would not come out.

Making adjustable wheels on the outside, and then machine leveling feet in the center of the box section.

maybe easier to visualise

The wheel does not have a full range of motion, however, this castor has a brake that locks its orientation and presses against the wheel to stop the wheel turning.
.
I have disabled the wheel brake, but the orientation can still be locked, so i can get the table to move whatever way i want.

 

[ned]

so i put a belevon on them and tried to weld into the thicker part of the rod connector. pretty skimpy item really. yah i melted them. I got new 2.5mm rods that work well at 100 amps but 120 / 130 is more fun. I love arc welding. i was terrible at it not so long ago, im getting better, not neat at all yet though.

the slag off the weld below pinged up and hit me in the face.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

....can't recall offhand which brand but it's not Silverline or B & D.

Had a look yesterday - it's an Evolution one.

 

[ned]

cheers man )

I got the wheel adjusters completed last night, so tonight im welding in the levelling feet.
After that I'll weld on the wheel adjusters.

When they are done, ill start welding the legs onto the table.

I have gifted the cast iron base of the existing table to my step-sons father. We dont talk, but by some wierd co-incidence he is building a CNC router.
So i said hey, I have this table, do you want it. My logic being, if he does well with it, we all benefit.

He can collect it on saturday, so that means I am trying to get my table standing by saturday. dunno will i manage it. I'll try.

All this stuff takes a lot of time! im pretty tired at this stage, for weeks now I'm working 9 to 5 and then working on this every night.

 

[ned]

Oh! I had an idea about what fan to use. I'm thinking of using a kitchen cooker extractor fan. They are a centrifugal turbine fan, so the motor isnt in the airstream.

They are 230v and they can handle dirt. I can use the stainless steel hood to fabricate my funnel.


This one is on an Irish classifieds site for 20 euros. I've asked the seller for the specs on the fan unit.

I'm on the hunt for a reasonably powerful one. I cant get one that uses 13 amps, it will hog my whole supply.




This is definitely going to be a stupid question - I want a fan that will draw about 3 amps at 230V

so how many Watts is that, is it 700 - ish?

 

[Hood]

I want a fan that will draw about 3 amps at 230V

so how many Watts is that, is it 700 - ish?

Yes, P=IV or Power (Watts)= Current (Amps) x Voltage

 

[ned]

Cheers Hood )

I'm after committing to buy two identical fan units, got the two for 40 euros, the fans are 250 watts, which is on the more powerful end of the spectrum for this type of fan, most were 180 watts or so.

We will see whether it was a mistake or not, i think perhaps it might have been. The motors are in the airstream on these models, so probably they will run for a while and then kark it. but hey ho, lets see. gonna put one on either side of the ballscrew.

 

[Hood]

€40 is cheap enough so if they don't last it is not a major loss.
250W is probably about right, I wouldn't imagine they are very powerful fans in these hoods.

 

[ned]

yes, your right. I reckon what will happen is, they will shift the air, but silt will collect on the bottom of the ducting, that ill have to clean out regularly. But yes worth a shot and the steel alone will be useful, im just kinda inverting its original purpose.

 

[ned]

welded in the leveller platforms

spent about 5, 10, 15 mins per leg getting it all level and then said weldit, you could be there all night getting it perfect.

low power for tacking, small rods, 2.5mm at around 80 amps

then 130 amps with these 3.2mm rods. was unsure whether I would burn through the 4mm wall of the legs, but it didnt.

weld the wheels on tomo and then start sizing up the mission to weld the legs on to the table.

 

[ned]

more progress, slightly behind schedule now.

someone said theres lots of threads about finished machines, but not many showing the process of getting there, so yah, ill document the whole thing.

poor heat pattern on first weld.

i like this, but not getting it that nice consistently. just need more practice, time, repetition.

 

[ned]

made adjustable machine feet using ice hockey pucks, all in I think they cost 25 euros? including the M16 bolts and nuts. They turned out well, im happy, they will work.

kitchen looking interesting

the old table was removed today. I didnt get the legs welded on. Rather than rush I'm going to take my time and get it right.

the cuts on the legs are not perfectly square, the bandsaw needs to be alligned again, so i gotta do that then weld the legs on.

I stood in the middle of one of the long beams, and had my girlfriend judge whether or not it was bowing, at all - its not. I was worried it might. good news.

 

[ned]

hi all

question for you guys. Looking at grounding / shielding the machine. Doing a bit of reading about it.

So the main one is to get a 6 foot copper plated rod and drive it into the earth under the floor of my shed, thats fine.

Then ground all the components to that earth, thats fine... I think I get how to do that.

One bit I'm unsure about, is isolating the desktop computer. The following excerpt is from hypertherms website , link here to article

Owners of smaller, non-industrial CNC tables experiencing interference issues can most likely address the problem by adding a ground rod and an input line conditioner to your computer and drive electronics. This is easy to do by purchasing a common UPS (uninterruptible power supply) from most any office supply store. As mentioned earlier, entry level machines that use an office PC or laptop are far more susceptible to electrical noise and safety issues, so it is important to have a dedicated, properly designed grounding system.


I dont understand the setup they are talking about. How do I isolate the PC, whats an input line conditioner, and where does the UPS fit into the scheme?

 

[knighty]

a UPS is just a little box with a battery and some electrics inside it, a plug for power in and a plug for power out (plugs like the 3 pin ones in the back of your PC / end of your PC power cable)

I think they're saying if you add a UPS it'll stop any interference and you won't need to do anything else ?



there's 2 types of UPS I've always called them online/offline but I'm not sure if those are the official names for them

offline, power is passed straight through and nothing happens until there's a power cut/problem - then the output power is fed from the battery (battery charges once mains is restored)

online, power comes in and charges the battery, outgoing power is always fed from the battery - so you have a disconnect between the mains in and power out - the power out is always perfect


only mentioning this incase you specifically need the online type?

 

[ned]

thanks Knighty , i did not know the difference, appreciate the info.

 

[ned]

got the two rear legs welded on. Its a learning experience, literally! figuring it out as i go along. going okay so far.

 

[henry Kadzielski]

a UPS is just a little box with a battery and some electrics inside it, a plug for power in and a plug for power out (plugs like the 3 pin ones in the back of your PC / end of your PC power cable)

I think they're saying if you add a UPS it'll stop any interference and you won't need to do anything else ?



there's 2 types of UPS I've always called them online/offline but I'm not sure if those are the official names for them

offline, power is passed straight through and nothing happens until there's a power cut/problem - then the output power is fed from the battery (battery charges once mains is restored)

online, power comes in and charges the battery, outgoing power is always fed from the battery - so you have a disconnect between the mains in and power out - the power out is always perfect


only mentioning this incase you specifically need the online type?

These 'online UPS'S' are classed as double conversion, they have the ability to accept a wide variation of input power and frequency and always provide the same stable output. The ones I use are pure sine wave output and are brilliant in operation. There is no interuption to the supply and as said before are very tolerant of input voltage. If you are using such a UPS for power supply to a computer in a plasma situation, it will give the best power and should result in the least power problems.