Ski Builders Forum

@jono;

I am ordering the materials tonight. By the way would you like to choose a different color?

Email me if so.

Mike

Looks good Mike.

Z axis of motion is complete! I'll need to take it back apart paint the assembly and put it together for the final time. Notice the temporary manual drive system for testing lol.

The motion block inside has 6 1/2" of travel. There is 5 1/4" of clearance under the carraige. It looks as though I'll be able to get a full 5" of cut depth which is more than I had previously specified yet what I was hoping to achieve.





Outfitting the drive system and testing are next........

Mike

I will want one of these from you, if this build goes well. Looks great. Don't cut yourself short on pricing. And, definitely don't cut any corners to keep costs down.

Are you gonna propose a tool to cut base material (a sharp blade) to make some nice die-cut-style base graphics ?

Great job !

Outfitting the drive system finally after a few do overs....

The Z carriage was reworked after a minor flaw in the original design was discovered. The improved carriage is beefier and has lent a more solid platform to tuck the motors for the Y and Z axies neatly in place.







After the final motor placement it is time to start working the transfer of rotation of the steppers to linear motion in the axies. Both the X and Z axies use timing belts and ratioed pulleys for the tranfer of motion.

The Z is less complex than the X using a single belt and pulley systen at roughly 3:1 ratio (seen in the above pic). X axis is powered by twin racks that will be located on the table rails requiring multiple belts and pulleys as well as a direct drive shaft from the motor to the opposite side of the gantry assembly. Here are a couple of pics of the shaft assembly.





The Y axis is direct drive rack and pinion and powered by the second of the two motors mounted to the carriage. The motor placements are not the original design but were brought on by the reworking of the carriage. Changing the placements while a better look and function meant I had to order all new belts and pulleys for the X and Y drives.

Despite the hic cup I really like the way the motors are now incoorporated into the machine versus being bluntly mounted to it. An added bonus came form the twin mount motors giving the carriage a more balanced travel (once the router is in place).

Tomorrow I should finish up the X drive assembly completing all 3 axies. The vacuum table will be the last of the functional fabrications and most likely the machine itself will do the milling required for it as well as the final decorative coverings for the gantry and Z carriage.

Stay tuned folks.......

MC

looks very nice!

Outfitting the drive systems is complete!!!!!!!

Profiler One is fully assembled (excluding the vacuum table) with table surface blank loaded and ready to cut.



















The carriage top and fill strip behind the gear rack for the Y axis need painted black yet. And the vacuum table surface has to be milled and assembled which will be the first cutting test the machine will perform.

The next few days I'll be getting the computer station in order wiring the unit to the controller installing limit switches and motion testing the machine. The video portion of this thread should be coming soon.

Hope ya'll dig it. I know I do

Mike

Would this thing come with software to run it?
Or suggestion of open source stuff?

awesome btw.

The software options I have picked out are;

Controller Software; Mach3 by artsoft.

This is the program that actually causes the machine to move. The cost of a license for Mach3 is included in the price of the machine.
Check out more about it here........
http://www.machsupport.com/

Coding (communication) Software Cut 2D and Cut 3D by vetric.

These 2 programs take CAD files (from a seperate program i.e Turbo CAD) and convert the code into one recognized by the controller software (g-code). The Cut 2&3D programs are more suited toward milling and machining and not so much sign carving. These are purchased seperately.
Their info can be found here.........
http://www.vectric.com/

CAD programs

There are a number of CAD programs or drawing programs out there. I have found that most everyone in the building communities have one already.
I use TurboCAD v10 and have for years. Also snocad specifically for boards and skis http://www.grafsnowboards.com/index.php?url=snocad-x. Photoshop and/or illustrator files are supported by the vetric software as well.

Every one is different in what they look for in software choices and what they can afford but I feel these options are a valuable offering. Inside the CNC communities you can find older versions or free to use programs as well.

Hope that helps.

MC

Looks great!,

if you dont mind me asking howver, what size motors are you using? We just started building a similar style profiler (3axis grantee style) and cant decide if stepping up to a nema 34 framed motor is worth the extra money.

Here is the first video of the machine in motion.

It is of the X and Y axies returning to the home
position after being jogged to the maximum travel
limits.



I know. It's really grain-ey I am working on it.
New camera to me and still figuring out how to
transfer and compress the files properly.

Anyway should have more videos soon.

Mike

Latest motion test vid. It's a bit better quality this time.

MC

Will belt transmition affect precision much? My CNC has x-axis engines sticking out on each side of the bridge:
'
Your design looks a lot sleeker for fitting into small workshops, getting thru doors etc. I had a hard time:

You guys!
(I'm just jealous!)