UPDATE (12-1-14): I was going to build this machine geared toward milling aluminum plate. After much thought and discussion with some knowledgeable people here I have decided that it would be more trouble than it's worth to get this design to machine aluminum accurately enough for my needs. Therefore I have decided to scale back this design a bit and use it for cutting plastic and wood. It will still be "slightly beefier" than the original OX design but a lot less "beefier" than I was initially planning. In the mean time I will be designing and building another machine for my aluminum milling adventures.
Warning: This is a build in progress, therefore dynamic, and subject to revision.
The "Parts List" below will be dedicated to the parts I order from the OpenBuilds Part Store. Everything else will be documented elsewhere in this Build Log.
Mechanical/Hardware:
I will be using the "standard" OX plates and 4 Nema 23 Steppers for this build so I ordered a set of CNC'd Aluminum Gantry Plates, 2-Nema 23 Z-Axis Threaded Rod Plates, a set of Aluminum V-slot Spacer Blocks, and 4 CNC 5-hole Joiner Plates from Chris Laidlaw on Ebay (chrisclub1).
I decided to go with a taller Z-axis X-plate design that Mark Carew (kram242) came up with, as well as some custom made 4-Wheel Aluminum Spacers that Chris Laidlaw designed to go along with the taller plate. I have been working closely with Chris on this part of my build. He does top notch work and I have been very happy with the results thus far. He is located in California and ships very fast.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Openbuilds-OX-CNC-Aluminum-Gantry-Plates-/261475896332?hash=item3ce12d8c0c
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Openbuilds-...Rod-Plate-1-/261633294385?hash=item3cea8f4031
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Openbuilds-OX-CNC-v-slot-Spacer-Blocks-2-/251692338053?hash=item3a9a084b85
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Openbuilds-OX-CNC-5-hole-Joiner-Plates-4-/251693452486?hash=item3a9a194cc6
Total: $210.00
- Openbuilds-OX-CNC-Aluminum-Gantry-Plates $150.00
- Openbuilds-OX-CNC-Z-Axis-Nema-23-Threaded-Rod-Plates $ 24.00
- Openbuilds-OX-CNC-v-slot-Spacer-Blocks $ 12.00
- Openbuilds-OX-CNC-5-hole-Joiner-Plates $ 24.00
- Custom Super-X Plate (taller Z-axis X-plate) Original design by Mark Carew (kram242) modified for my use, and machined for me by Chris Laidlaw (contact him at [email protected] if interested in pricing/availability)
- Custom 4-Wheel Spacer Blocks designed and machined for me by Chris Laidlaw (contact him at [email protected] if interested in pricing/availability)
- 3 Custom 1/8" Aluminum Nema 23 Spacer Plates (My own design, machined for me by Chris Laidlaw)
Y-Axis Frame:
The Y-axis frame consists of:
X-Axis Gantry:
(3) 20x60 V-Slot 750mm in length bolted together for rigidity ($15.50 ea).
(1) 20x40 V-Slot 750mm in length ($13.00)
(2) Custom 1/8" Aluminum Nema 23 Spacer Plates (see above)
(10) Cast 90-Degree Corner Brackets ($1.50 ea.)
(10) M5x8mm Low-Profile Screws
(12) Tee Nuts
(10) M5x10mm Low-Profile Screws
(18) M5x25mm Low Profile screws (taken from wheel kits)
(10) M5 Nylon Lock Nuts
(2) Nema 23 Custom 1/8" Spacer (see above)
(2) X-axis Gantry Plates (see above)
Z-Axis:
(1) 20x60 V-Slot ~300mm in length (Left over from X-axis Gantry Frame)
(1) T8x8 Metric Lead Screw ~300 mm in Length ($10.00)
(1) 1/4"(6.35mm)x8mm Flex Coupler ($5.95)
(2) 688zz Bearings
(2) 8mm Washers
(1) 8mm ACME Nut Block
(2) Nema 23 Motor Mount Plates (see above)
(2) Z-axis Gantry Plates (see above)
(1) Nema 23 Custom 1/8" Spacer (see above)
Electronics:
Stepper Motors:
(4) Nema 23 175 oz-in Stepper Motors from the part store $25.00 ea
Power Supply:
Stepper Drivers:
E-Stop:
Spindle: Bosch 1617 2HP Router $124.00 on amazon
Software:
Control Software: I will be using LinuxCNC(EMC2) software on a purpose built PC.
Credits:
This section is dedicated to the people who helped me along the way.
I would like to thank:
@Robert Hummel for answering questions about Water Cooled Spindles and VFD's.
@kram242 (Mark Carew of the OpenBuilds Team) for his wonderful designs.
@Travis for sharing his experience with the challenges of milling aluminum on his OX.
@Chris Laidlaw for machining my plates and custom parts.
Angus : A Slightly "Beefier" OX
Build in 'CNC ROUTER BUILDS' published by Nugz, Dec 1, 2014.
This is where I will share my attempt at building a slightly "beefier" OpenBuilds OX CNC Machine using commonly available parts in the spirit of OPENBUILDS and Open Source in general. I have a tendancy to over-build things so I will be balancing that tendacy against budget constraints and common sense as much as possible.
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- Build Progress:
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- Build in Progress...
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Special Notes
1. When using 1/4" Gantry plates, the standard 25mm M5 low profile screws in the Openbuilds V Wheel kit need to be replaced with 30mm M5 low profile screws.
2. The double wheel construction on the X axis requires 70mm M5 Screws. In my case I will need 90mm M5 low profile screws.
Chris Laidlaw, Welder68, Karl Miller and 3 others like this. -
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Build Author Nugz, Find all builds by Nugz
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Build Details
- Build License:
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- CC - Attribution Share Alike - CC BY SA
Reason for this Build
I need a machine capable of machining 24"x24" Aluminum Plate. I'll be using this machine for machining acrylic, garolite, and wood.Inspired by
kram242's "OpenBuilds OX CNC Machine" http://www.openbuilds.com/builds/openbuilds-ox-cnc-machine.341/ -
Parts list
Qty Part Name Part Link Comments 34 OpenBuilds Xtreme Solid V Wheel Kits http://openbuildspartstore.com/openbuilds-xtreme-solid-v-... Link A wheel made of polycarbonate designed with strength and longer wear in mind. 2 Low Profile M5 Screw - 30mm Length (10 pcs) http://openbuildspartstore.com/low-profile-screws-m5/ Link These are used to assemble the V-Wheel to the X-Axis Gantry Plates