- Mechanical
- Steel
STLCutter 2 - Day 1
I'd left the plans for the CNC machine with Keith, who told me that they'd made the main frame before my first day. And there it was!
![#](https://tribbeck.com/application/files/cache/thumbnails/b00b7bc8065fac7a7f240b5ad90243de.jpg)
![#](https://tribbeck.com/application/files/cache/thumbnails/451639d334b71da73535a4530882f5de.jpg)
You can just about see the plan on the far left leg!
I decided that the first thing to make was the Z-axis, since this would give the separation for the Y-axis, and also it's the most complex part.
To do that, I needed to strip the router - this is the Trend T10 router:
![#](https://tribbeck.com/application/files/cache/thumbnails/4895fc4cd85ee81d98980bd14bdd8509.jpg)
Removing the limit screw (front left as you look at it) allowed the base to be removed:
![#](https://tribbeck.com/application/files/cache/thumbnails/d1dc0d1723e4440fd65ae9ab2b4ac46e.jpg)
And then the handles were removed:
![#](https://tribbeck.com/application/files/cache/thumbnails/8c47affda4a54e893bf670e7e1f10b6c.jpg)
This is the rough layout for the Z-axis - the two 400mm long supported rails either side of the ballscrew (a fairly standard arrangement):
![#](https://tribbeck.com/application/files/cache/thumbnails/d80d08b8a5b2cc127d5311dfa470f30a.jpg)
The router would be mounted to those three:
![#](https://tribbeck.com/application/files/cache/thumbnails/b8464eefe2c82971dd52705fe194361d.jpg)
![#](https://tribbeck.com/application/files/cache/thumbnails/fc9ae7de0261054be8e069e7b397de79.jpg)
I made some plates and drilled them to take the M5 bolts (Keith's supply is not very good for small bolts - he mainly makes crop sprayers where M16+ are the normal size; I could only find button-head screws in his supply, and no washers).
![#](https://tribbeck.com/application/files/cache/thumbnails/4cdcfd52f6ebc4b07cb857e1144edb17.jpg)
I decided to mount the router using the handle mounts - there is space underneath for a circular mount, but the locking mechanism for the shaft would need to be cut out, and it's not a nice angle, nor shape.
![#](https://tribbeck.com/application/files/cache/thumbnails/b3f1d7d00137bac0bf2518d7cf8bc944.jpg)
This is then bolted it to the two plates off the shaft blocks (note that only two bolts have been tightened in this shot):
![#](https://tribbeck.com/application/files/cache/thumbnails/b26e761898fcf9cb29d5ca79ebef4882.jpg)
The ballscrew nut would need to be attached to this as well, so I made a mounting plate for it.
![#](https://tribbeck.com/application/files/cache/thumbnails/971d6ec0f58501e98233e34dad69f993.jpg)
There was then a bit of an accident in the workshop (not my doing!). While cutting some steel plate, one of the guys accidentally dropped a plate onto the power feed for the machine he was using - straight through the 3-phase power cable. This only caused the fuse to go, but it meant that it was out of action, and I found the drill was no longer working (although after packing up, I found out that it had only been turned off because they thought it wasn't being used).
So that was the end of day 1 - I would've liked to have got the Z-axis ballscrew attached to the router mechanism, but that shouldn't take very long tomorrow. I hope to finish off the Z-axis tomorrow, and the day after then start on the Y-axis (which should be easier, but it is larger).