CNC ROUTER BUILD | projects

3-AXIS CNC ROUTER BUILD

SO I GOT BORED ONE WEEKEND...

... THEN SUDDENLY THE IDEA TO CREATE A 3-AXIS ROUTER WAS BORN,
AND SO IT BEGAN...

I STARTED BY PROCURING ALL THE NECESSARY PARTS IN-ORDER TO CREATE THE ROUTER (BALLSCREWS, STEPPER MOTORS, ELECTRICAL ITEMS. ECT)

AFTER THESE PARTS HAD ARRIVED I MODELED THEM ALL IN A CAD PACKAGE. I WAS THEN ABLE TO DESIGN A BODY AROUND THEM, FINALY PUTTING IT ALL INTO ONE ASSEMBLY (FIGURE 1)

FIGURE 1

FABRICATION

I COULD THEN EXTRACT EACH INDIVIDUAL PANEL AND CREATE ENGINEERING DRAWINGS FOR THEM. THE ORIGINAL BODY WAS DESIGNED OUT OF MDF BOARD AS I COULD EASILY CUT AND JOIN THE PANELS AT HOME

CUTTING OF THE PANELS & THE JOINING OF A LINEAR RAIL

STARTING TO COME TOGETHER...

ADDITION OF THE ELECTRONICS

AFTER THE BODY HAD BEEN CONSTRUCTED THE ELECTRICAL WIRING FOLLOWED. I ALSO ADDED IN + & - LIMIT SWITCHES ON EACH AXIS (FIGURE 2)

THEY SAVED ME FROM ACCIDENTLY DRIVING THE AXIS TO SELF DESTRUCTION QUITE A FEW TIMES…

FIGURE 2

FINALLY BEING TO IMPATIANT TO WAIT FOR THE SPINDLE I ATTACHED A DREMEL INSTEAD

(FIGURE 3)

FIGURE 3

HAVING WIRED IN THE BREAKOUT BOARD AND PSU (POWER SUPPLY UNIT) I WAS THEN ABLE TO HOOK IT UP TO A COMPUTER RUNNING MACH3. I THEN CALCULATED HOW FAR THE AXIS WOULD MOVE DURING ONE REVOLUTION OF THE STEPPER MOTOR USING THE SIMPLE EQUATIONS BELOW. AFTER SOME TIME MESSY AROUND WITH THE SETTING IT FINALLY STARTED TO MOVE, correctly!

FIND THE PITCH OF THE BALLSCREW:

PITCH = LEAD X NO’ OF STARTS

PITCH = 5 X 1

PITCH = 5

BALLSCREW REVOLUTIONS PER UNIT = GEARING RATIOS / EFFECTIVE SCREW PITCH

= 1 / 5

= 0.2

WE KNOW;

THE STEPPER MOTOR WILL STEP 200X PER REVOLUTION (1.8O PER STEP)

INPUTTING INTO MACH3;

MACH3 STEPS PER UNIT = MOTOR STEPS PER REVOLUTION X SCREW REVOLUTIONS PER UNIT

= 200 X 0.2

= 40

THEREFORE THE AXIS WOULD TRAVEL 40MM FOR EVERY REVOLUTION OF THE STEPPER MOTOR

IT'S ALIVE!

NOW THAT I KNOW IT WORKS I BEGAN TO NEATEN UP THE WIRING AND CONSTRUCT THE CONTROL BOX THAT HOUSED ALL THE ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS

LETS GET MACHINING!

I STARTED OFF RUNNING SOME TEST PROGRAMS USING THE DREMEL TOOL

AND THEN...

FINALLY THE SPINDLE HAD ARRIVED!

I SET OFF MILLING A POCKET INTO SOME PERSPEX SO THAT I COULD PLACE SLATE COASTERS INSIDE. THEN FULLY SUBMERGE THEM IN WATER TO AID WITH ENGRAVING. I ALSO DRILLED 4 HOLES THROUGH THE PERSPEX AND INTO THE MACHINE BED, IN DOING SO I COULD REFERENCE THE FIXTURE EACH TIME WITHOUT HAVING TO FIND MY COORDINATES EVERY TIME IT WAS REMOVED.