psuedo home made, router was a 1988 vintage cybermation (8'x12') that I retrofitted a software based controller to. I've since done a half dozen retrofits and it's a respectable second income.
I am currently preparing to convert my minimill to CNC. I sent out requests for quotes to 5 water jet cutting companies and the cost of having two sheets of brass parts cut out exceeded the costs of converting my milling machine. Not to mention that if I ever move a hole location or anything, there would be another programming charge. So, it makes sense to mill the parts from stacked sheets at home instead.
I am almost certainly going to use Xylotex driver and 269 oz./in. stepper motors with a CNCfusion set of ballscrews and mounts.
I envision stacking some blanks of sheet barass clamped onto a fixture, then drilling the holes for screws etc. then screwing through the holes into the fixture. At this point the clamps can be removed and the periphery cut.
I spent about 400 hours making all of the CAD drawings for the camera parts, so pretty much just have to add toolpaths to the existing drawings and start cutting once the conversion is done.
The nice thing about a CNC mill in the garage is that it will also cut the wood pieces making the cost of the kits I intend to sell very low.
Quick update, I hate making bellows, and I've only got 1/2 of the stiffeners glued up. I've got a basically working camera, less focusing rack & pinion, as I can't find the racks I stashed away just-in-case. may just decide to go with some mxl belting screwed down and a couple of mxl pulleys engaging it. Total time so far, approx. 9 hours, I should have this pig done within 20...
I am almost certainly going to use Xylotex driver and 269 oz./in. stepper motors with a CNCfusion set of ballscrews and mounts.
I was keen for a stepper set up also but was going for a Unipolar system (not as powerfull no, but easier to find cheaper steppers for them) - ...but now I'm getting interested in DC motor/encoder set ups..
Very cool, but beyond my current electronics confidence level
It is being offered as a fully assembled unit by someone is that forum for about $100 US per axis ... but you also need motors and encoders.
Your Bipolars tho have a good torque rating so you should be goin for gold -
I am going to build a home-built 2D dremel style mill to begin with and then use that to make a 3D mill style mill and use that to build a stronger one ... and so on and so on
Cleared the bowel problem, working on the consonants...
Just a quick update, due to work, time spent since my last posting, 15 mins. Ground my glass this morning, only thing I could find was valve grinding paste (way too coarse, though if you add a little water and keep grinding, it gets finer.) got a respectable glass, then went to cut it and it cracked down the middle, 15mins shot to hell, this time I'm cutting it first. Zero progress on bellows, though a quick note on the material I'm using. I have some ripstop here, and I own a sign shop and have tons of 2mil vinyl, notably matte black. Now self adhesive vinyl won't stick to nylon, however if you lightly coat it with pliobond (or any other adhesive, I'd imagine), let it dry, then it sticks like there's no tomorrow, and the entire cover/vinyl sandwich is about 6-10 thou thick, ideal for bellows. Using index card for stiffeners, it should work well. (famous last words) That assumes that my quick figuring on the back of an envelope jives with reality, either that or the bellows won't compress and nest all the way, either way, I will have a camera done well within my 20 hour self-alloted time frame, and my not self-alloted budget of $30.00 above and beyond what I had lying about.
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Originally Posted by barryjyoung
