3dPrinter frame conversion to Xtreme Rollers, Half a ox??

FIRST OFF< I LOVE THE XTREME ROLLERS.. I can blow on the track and it moves.. the 3D printer stuff I bought before is crap, going into a box and get tossed into the corner.

HOME CNC drilled Ox plates, just the holes, not the outside contours.. you could do the same thing CHEAP by printing on paper 1:1 and then punching the centers, and using a drill press.. I used to do that for IC chips all the time, then drill right through the paper.



Planning on Running 8 rollers on the Z axis, 20x60 rail. Checking measurements on holes, how I got those hole locations is kinda nuts, converted Dxf to autocad file, drew circles on the HOLES with the circle 3p function, then took it into Lazy cam (comes with mach3) picked the big drilled holes, then made a second file and picked the small ones after a M06 call to stop program to change tools.

I am moving the 400oz motor to the siderail, planning on using the 12mm rail, it is the one good part I bought for my 3d printer build. When I decide to expand my travel I will buy the big siderails. Whole router-printer unit will Crawl down a 20 foot Ibeam on a trolley and pneumaticaly lock in each position. I am working on carving 20 foot parts here for some unique things I am building. A plasma torch will go on-off the unit as needed, as will a scanning probe, and the plastic printer nozzle-head. Basically I want a LONG axis travel high tolerance gantry machine that is a fit-all.. I will be welding the Ibeam up over the next week here, wish me luck on not getting crippled working alone..

Planning on using the Sainsmart controller w/lcd thou so far I am still puzzled by the chinglish translation, could use some help getting the lcd to work. It seems to work well with the Rasberry pii and the grbl controller software. as it does with a homemade program. Right now it runs with Mach3..

THIS frees the computer up to do modeling and run the other shop toys.


Checked the cross travel holes too.. they line up too.. I was tickled considering how I created the G81 drill file.. I thought it was a risk to even drill a piece of aluminum flatbar with a possibility of failure.


My wrecked shop, old converted bridgeport from paper tape programming to Mach3, computer (about 2001)

THE drives, Geckos, 400 oz motors by Geckodrive.com and a sainsmart TB6560 3 axis drive, actually works pretty well, just limited current on them..

MY 3d printer ran so fast back and forth the big box I had it in was rocking a foot in both directions.. the sliders were crap thou, and I started looking for a upgrade before I put it into use. My wife gasped when she walked in while I was moving it back and forth under G0 Commands.

I am very happy I found you guys.. If I can help anyone else, holler..

 

I Downloaded Cambam software , really loving it for the milling machine.. A simple drawing interface, and gcode production. I am a old school guy, the drawing interface just fits, fixing to go try the first Gcode on my bridgeport cnc. Fushion 360 would not run on my 32 bit OS.. IT choked right out of the gate.

MY wife and I discussed it, NOW I AM NOW BUILDING TWO OX'es.. a small one to go onto a square container using the Good Slides and Opensource rollers, cross slides, "SMALL" 3d printer belts and cogs, a single 23 motor for X, Single for Y, Single for Z. I'll post the code and the pictures later.

I have two of those Sainsmart TB6560 Drives, ONE is going on the plasma table. She (my wife) did not think it is a good idea to mix hot sparks and wood chips.. and I am a terrible house keeper in the shop..

I am now heading to the shop to push more on the plasma cutter parts, then later today make up a new order to Openbuilds for more rollers and extrusions. THEN, back onto the 20 foot router project as the parts are on the way. That is the main money maker here in my future I think.. the plasma just solves a temporary need. I am working 3 shifts here.. somedays so scatter brained you'd swear I am a blond..


So far, it already is more friction free than the 3d printer was.. belts, cogs, z motor mount tomorrow.

 

Hi Buddy..

Had a rough night-day here.. woke up at 2am, could not go back to sleep, went to the shop at 5am, ran a cambam program doing a nema 23 motor for the Z-slide.. it was on before six am.. all the Z bolted together like Mark designed it to (the holes) with the new Nema 23 top plate with 4 holes.. then I busted a tap off in the ends of the plain extrusions I mounted the linear rail on the sides with.


I can't wait to order more rollers and parts to do the next one. It's the one I want, this one I need to work to plasma cut parts for some other projects here. It will be more "openbuilds design" conventional.

THE electrical is the easy part for me, I suck as a machinist..

(this is the old pattern torch "swing" I had mounted on a 55 gallon barrel at one time, now on a stainless old commercial dishwasher base to catch sparks) THIS Is what the cnc plasma is replacing, now in pieces on the floor. I've tried to give it away now twice. THEY want the "new stuff" not the old..

 

IT runs.. way too fast.

I am using the gear belt for the 3d printer, at 1500 ipm and it changes directions it slips (inertia is a *****). THE 25 pitch chains did the same thing on the printer.

THE Fix, not run so fast. THE Y axis has about 270 degrees of belt wrap, it does better.

Not calibrated it, nor connected the plasma torch to it yet, nor moved the burn table back to it..

THEN IT HIT ME last night.. with the swing-arm pattern cutter I demo'ed.. I could have just built a X-Y stage, put it in place of the pattern on top.. nothing to build.. not much to buy.. This one may hit craigslist before too long, when I get caught up here.

 

Video of the machine running, still to build a trapeze for the cabling, and put the electronics in a box to protect it. Onto the next build.. I am getting the old plasma cutter frame out of the corner. Making a list for parts.

 

I just thought I was close to cutting parts out.

I tried to calibrate this rascal, whereas, you tape a ruler down to the bed, shoot the machine back and forth at G0 Speeds, stop on (0) then run to max travel and "check to see if you lost any distance", shoot back and forth at controlled speeds, then G0 speeds, each time stopping, pausing on the ends of the ruler.. IT WAS FUNKY.. losing it's way, place.. Not good.

CHUNKED THE CHINESE Tb6560 drives in a box.. I tried moving the decay rate, moving the steps divisions, it kept loosing steps. read the chinglish translated manual, SMOKED ONE Board, and Sixty dollars worth of electrical smoke didn't do me any good like the old $20 three finger bags did when I was young and did that stuff. Replaced the drive, #2 smoked ,same axis.. replaced CHINESE motors with Geckodrive dot com 400 0z nema 23's..

Replaced drives with 2 Geckodrive 203's @ $147 each, replaced power supply with a 200 amp transformer and 35 amp bridge rectifier, huge capacitor there at the transformer, smaller capacitors in the box where the drives are..

Replaced PUNY stripped belts on the Y axis with the 25 chain, sprockets, now just 850 steps per inch resolution...
Replaced Puny belt across X axis with Mark's heavier belting, sprocket..

Z now has a "knob on it".. to adjust torch-height.. it will work till UPS brings me another gecko drive and motor.
Will build the torch mounts tomorrow and light this thing up. (Smoke test #2)

I ordered a Bosch Router off ebay in confidence this thing will work. To use on machine 2..

 

Purchased another Gecko 203V. Installed it, the 280 oz Z motor back onto this machine. Purchased that factory reconditioned Bosch "palm" Router off ebay for $80 and made a mount for it by "wrapping" a piece of sheetmetal around a 2.75" tube, tack welding it to a flat plate, then drilling the V-slot track holes to mount to 5mm Slot-nuts.

Despite the "seemingly" poor resolution the chain and belts give, this machine is now kicking butt. I plan on moving it from the center of the floor into a location between the 1951 Leblond lathe and the 50 ton H-press, hanging shower curtains around it to redirect the chips into one local pile.

First job, to cut a wood hammerform to shape gas tank sides for my Board track racer project. I probably will try to Emboss-press the sides on the press using the rubber-urethane method.

I may post this machine locally and start the next build, the IBEAM is hung in my main shop bay for it (I did not lose any fingers or toes putting it up, standing on a ladder grinding and welding is not my idea of fun thou). I learned a lot during this gantry build, wish to carry that knowledge on to the next one.

 

And it looks like it will work as a 23"x24"x6" 3d printer.. note the new mods, Hardy-concrete backer floor board with nichrome wire insert in sandwich layers, the screw adjustable home limit for Z to vary print height. This unit was too light in my opinion as a 3d carver.. now rebuilt into a stainless bread rack with plenty of storage room for the future. (possibly a abs pellet to filament extruder also)