Taking the CNC Plunge

[TomS]

Today I got the panels installed. Still have cleanup to do along with rerouting wiring and lube oil supply lines, and fab up coolant drains. I'll order the door material in the next couple of days.

Tom S

 

[jbolt]

Looking good Tom!

I am so envious of the size of your shop!!!

Jay

 

[TomS]

Looking good Tom!

I am so envious of the size of your shop!!!

Jay

Thanks. As they say the bigger the shop the more junk you collect. I've got lot's of junk!

The enclosure is huge. It's 43" deep and 88" long. Now I have to move my mill drill, lathe and work benches so I have room around the mill. It never ends!

Tom S.

 

[techbuilder]

Hey Tom,
Great build I really enjoyed reading the thread!
I know this is a little old but I had a couple of quick questions.

Did you end up going with the 1600oz steppers for the x,y and z or did you use the 4200oz stepper for the z?
Also what are your max ipm on your cnc mill?

 

[TomS]

Hey Tom,
Great build I really enjoyed reading the thread!
I know this is a little old but I had a couple of quick questions.

Did you end up going with the 1600oz steppers for the x,y and z or did you use the 4200oz stepper for the z?
Also what are your max ipm on your cnc mill?

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it. I used 1600 oz in on X and Y and 4200 oz in on Z.

Actually I don't remember where they are set. I recently installed double ball nuts on all axis' and I played around with the settings. I think I'm running X and Y at 100 ipm and the Z about 50 ipm. I'll check and get back to you. I did have X and Y up to 200 ipm but didn't want to run jobs at that speed. Keep in mind you have to have enough spindle rpm to use these kinds of feeds. Most of the jobs I run are under 50 ipm.

Tom S.

 

[techbuilder]

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it. I used 1600 oz in on X and Y and 4200 oz in on Z.

Actually I don't remember where they are set. I recently installed double ball nuts on all axis' and I played around with the settings. I think I'm running X and Y at 100 ipm and the Z about 50 ipm. I'll check and get back to you. I did have X and Y up to 200 ipm but didn't want to run jobs at that speed. Keep in mind you have to have enough spindle rpm to use these kinds of feeds. Most of the jobs I run are under 50 ipm.

Tom S.

Wow thank you for the quick response Tom!

Unfortunately in my case due to the stepper controllers I already have that are pricey they max out at
8amps peak so I was looking at stepper motor for the z-axis with that amp range but slightly lower and I came up with the next step down 3250oz steppers.
Do you think that is to far under powered and will need a pully?

 

[TomS]

Wow thank you for the quick response Tom!

Unfortunately in my case due to the stepper controllers I already have that are pricey they max out at
8amps peak so I was looking at stepper motor for the z-axis with that amp range but slightly lower and I came up with the next step down 3250oz steppers.
Do you think that is to far under powered and will need a pully?

I'm using a DQ2722 driver/power supply that is rated at 8.0A peak and 7.0A rated current. The 4200 oz in motor is rated 8.0A/phase but you will probably never get there unless you intend to run extremely heavy material removal rates. Another consideration is that the X and Y axis do most of the work while the majority of the Z axis load is raising and lowering the head. Another way of saying it you won't be loading the Z axis like you would the X or Y axis.

I would go with the 4200. It moves the head up like it isn't there.

Tom S.

 

[techbuilder]

I'm using a DQ2722 driver/power supply that is rated at 8.0A peak and 7.0A rated current. The 4200 oz in motor is rated 8.0A/phase but you will probably never get there unless you intend to run extremely heavy material removal rates. Another consideration is that the X and Y axis do most of the work while the majority of the Z axis load is raising and lowering the head. Another way of saying it you won't be loading the Z axis like you would the X or Y axis.

I would go with the 4200. It moves the head up like it isn't there.

Tom S.

Sweet! Thanks Tom

 

[TomS]

Sweet! Thanks Tom

If you haven't already done so you might take a look at the CNC builds by jumps4 and jbolt. My conversion is based on their builds.

Tom S.

 

[TomS]

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it. I used 1600 oz in on X and Y and 4200 oz in on Z.

Actually I don't remember where they are set. I recently installed double ball nuts on all axis' and I played around with the settings. I think I'm running X and Y at 100 ipm and the Z about 50 ipm. I'll check and get back to you. I did have X and Y up to 200 ipm but didn't want to run jobs at that speed. Keep in mind you have to have enough spindle rpm to use these kinds of feeds. Most of the jobs I run are under 50 ipm.

Tom S.

As promised here are my motor settings.

Tom S.