[Graham Prinn]

HI folks, here to hang out with you guys, and maybe learn a thing or two, maybe more. Hope too help you too if I can.
I'm out in BC Canada 54 years old and still alive. Big plus there. still got 10 fingers and toes but yah they get a little stiff at times along with the back, knees, well you know how goes I'm sure.

So I'm into the CNC router scene and looking to build one, I had built a soylivia many ears ago and just loved it, anyone who wants to build their first cnc router I highly recommend that one, very easy to build and you learn tons off it. I used the xolytex drivers and 425 oz motors with regular acme rod, got a whole 40" a min rapids lol. Then I changed the acme to a 5 start screw and got me to 100" a minute, phew that was fast lol. I still have my drivers and motors, well not they xolytex but a cheap Chinese driver, actually they did a bit better.

I love wood working and just building things. Had a business in intarsia, I did whole selling to gift and art shops, did well then I got a bit sick, built my machine to help me work on it but by the time I figure out every thing it was a bit late and just couldn't do it, But now I'm better and want to start over again.
I'm a big believer of if you want to do something you can do it, no matter what it is, Hey some one made a million or more bucks selling pet rocks. So everything is posable right, and if you say I can't do it I ignore you, so don't bother telling me I can't. This is not me being a dork just I believe I can.

I enjoy 3d modeling and building 3d signs, I live very close to Dan Sawatzky from imagination corporation, if you guys like 3d signs check him out, The best in the business if you ask me.

I also like playing around with my little 3d printer, kind of cool but no were near as cool as a cnc router, damn their so slow, I can carve out something in 2 hr's compared to the 3 days it would take on a printer. I was planning on doing a large spider for Halloween but just to do the body would have taken 3 days so I said screw it I'll do it in polymer clay. Has taken me about 10 hrs total and just need to bake it, paint it and add hair.

So I have a few questions about drivers and motors, not sure if I should start another thread of ask here, I'll ask here anyway and start a new thread if need be, I'm looking for a half decent 4 axis kit to power a 4X4 machine, I don't have a ton of money, I need it to be some what fast and accurate for cutting out inlays an inch thick. I know about geckos 540 but they seemed expensive for a 3 amp driver. Don't know much about the cheap drivers they sell on ebay. I've seen kits for around 400 Canadian which is about what geckos cost for just the drivers.

I was looking at the openbuild workbee but living in Canada the cost just to ship it here would be killer. So I decided to build my own.
What do you guys think of the belt driven like they have in openbuilds machines?

Some of my cnc art.
Thanks: Graham

 

[RainMan 2.0]

Welcome to the forum fellow BC’er . Curious what part of the province your from ? I’m in the east , a little hole called Cranbrook.
I’m in the same boat , bought an Avid cnc , special ordered it with a 4’ X axis and a 5’ Y axis .
I am wanting to build the electronics myself , as theirs is a lot of money that I don’t have , and I’d love to have the experience.

 

[DesertRatTom]

WOW! That is some really nice looking work. I think you may have a lot to say to our CNC folks. It is always good to indicate CNC in your title so it won't be missed. We have a couple of skilled CNC guys here and I look forward to reading those conversations. I am tempted from time to time, but getting old enough now to not want to take on that kind of learning curve and expense. So I'm a spectator. Happy to see you join in the fun here.

 

[Graham Prinn]

Thank you and hi Rainman, I'm in the west part, 20 minutes east of mission in dairy land Deroche. We have a variety store and a gas station lol. Your way east, close to Alberta. That's some were my Wife and I would love to live.

Your good with electronics? That's a bit over my head, not saying I can't do it lol. Must be nice to have that talent. plus it will help having the cnc to do your boards. You know I believe gecko has the plans they will give for their drives, at least they did at one time. Maybe you build me a set. At least the shipping won't be 200 bucks.

does your machine use rack and pinion? I was looking at their rack and pinion, not bad price. No way I can afford ball screws, not yet anyway.
Mind if I ask what was the shipping's like for your machine? I heard all kinds of stories, some say almost as much as the machines they order.

 

[Graham Prinn]

Thank you DesertRatTom, and thanks for the advice, never thought about adding cnc to the title. I forgot this forum is more than just cnc. I belong to cnczone but theirs just to many voices in there, when I joined it years ago there wasn't as many people, now it's crazy and most of the time they tell you, you need the highest grade of parts. I don't want to spend $50.00 for a machine screw or a $150.00 for a bearing.

I'd love to convers on anything anyone want's to know. And hopefully I can learn things as well, one reason I joined.

 

[RainMan 2.0]

Thank you and hi Rainman, I'm in the west part, 20 minutes east of mission in dairy land Deroche. We have a variety store and a gas station lol. Your way east, close to Alberta. That's some were my Wife and I would love to live.

Your good with electronics? That's a bit over my head, not saying I can't do it lol. Must be nice to have that talent. plus it will help having the cnc to do your boards. You know I believe gecko has the plans they will give for their drives, at least they did at one time. Maybe you build me a set. At least the shipping won't be 200 bucks.

does your machine use rack and pinion? I was looking at their rack and pinion, not bad price. No way I can afford ball screws, not yet anyway.
Mind if I ask what was the shipping's like for your machine? I heard all kinds of stories, some say almost as much as the machines they order.

As for electronics,I was merely going to buy stepper drives and the other components and figure out how to assemble it all .
My shipping was over $700 . Anything ordered from the US you can expect to be double by the time it’s on your doorstep .
6K worth of gear cost me around $11,600 . The electronics , spindle and their vfd and controller would probably be close to 8K here .
Here’s the link for their Pro version I purchased, and yes it’s rack and pinion .

http://www.cncrouterparts.com/pro-cnc-machine-kits-c-47_54.html


I did end up buying their Nema34 steppers ,as I didn’t see anything with better specs at a better price .
$1700 US for their spindle and vfd would end up costing me around $3300 , so I’m ordering a liquid cooled spindle vfd package from amazon.ca for $500 . Good enough for me .
The stepper drives are the expensive part as I’m going pretty high end on them and want a spare .
Leadshine EM806 Stepper Motor Drive with Stall Detection

Anyways I was hoping you lived closer as it would have been nice to have a Tudor close by , but I assumed you were in the west.

 

[RainMan 2.0]

Here’s an enclosure that was built by a member at Joes cnc forum . I prefer this ,as it’s a large enclosure and things are well laid out and accessible, and I’d like to build one similar .

 

[CAD-Man]

Your CNC results are fantastic but I must complement you on you beautiful artistry in the finished design. The painting is what makes your designs come to life.

Well done!!

CAD-Man

 

[Graham Prinn]

Wow that's a lot of money, that's why I'm building my own, Most of every thing I can get here and I have the tools. Thinking of 2x4 aluminum tube would work, build it like the solsylva design but metal and bigger. I know it looks cheap and goofy but I ran that thing for hrs 6 days a week with no problems other than the odd bearing crapping out.




Hooking up the electronics is not to hard, there's a ton of tutorials on youtube, youtube is my best friend.

Those geckos look nice, bet there's a ton of money in there, looks like it's all placed in a computer case which is a good idea. Cheaper way to go than buying a large project box.
Guess I have to have 10 posts before attaching any URL's. There's a few stepper kits from longs motors on ebay I am looking at.

 

[Graham Prinn]

Your CNC results are fantastic but I must complement you on you beautiful artistry in the finished design. The painting is what makes your designs come to life.

Well done!!

CAD-Man

Thank you CAD-Man, those intarsia pieces are natural colors of the wood, they are inlays no painting other than the racoons sign I did.

 

[roxanne562001]

Welcome to the forum

 

[Cherryville Chuck]

Hi Graham and welcome. That's some beautiful work you've done. You're in between Rick, then me, and Daninvan. I'm east of Vernon in Cherryville and Dan is on the Sunshine Coast.

 

[David Bradford]

Welcome to the forum Graham. I might be interested someday in the not too distant future in building a CNC for home. As for now I play with some big CNCs and am headed to training in 2 weeks to learn a new 5axis we are buying.

 

[MEBCWD]

Welcome to the Router Forums Graham. I look forward in seeing some more of you work.

 

[ScottyDBQ]

Welcome to the forum Graham. Absolutely excellent craftsmanship on those projects. It would be interesting to see if some of the folks at the cnczone and their high priced screws and bearings can match your workmanship.

 

[DesertRatTom]

Man, you got a warm welcome. I just want to add a pdf of an article i wrote on making a living with a CNC. I'm a marketing person at heart, and that's part of what fascinates me about CNC. Any way, here's the article.

 

[old55]

Welcome to the forum Graham.

 

[jw2170]

G'day Graham. welcome to the forum....

great display of work,,,,,,

 

[Graham Prinn]

Wow thank you all for the warm welcome, That's so cool. And there's so many BCers here, that's cool. And thank you for the complements on the intarsia and carving, Intarsia is a big passion of mine , Ever since I seen Judy Gale Roberts art I fell in love with it And I wanted to expand what she has done, add the extra detail that can be done by hand but would be too much time to do, Plus what takes me a day or more by hand can take only a few hours by CNCing.

@ DesertRatTom, I read your post on the forum and I am going to order that book you suggested, Looks like something right up my ally. Hopefully I can hit you up on a few questions, Things have changed since I did trade shows, so much can be done on the web.

So one of my goals when I finish my work shop and build my machines is to give you guys some free files so you can try your own intarsia, I'll give the pattern too so you can do it all on a scroll saw and sanders.

Oh incase anyone wants to know the software I use is silo 3d to make a simple base mesh then take that into zbrush to sculpt the model, blender is good for that too, then I take a screen shot and take that into a tracing program and trace out each piece like a stained glass pattern, I get the size I want then open the 3d model into cut3d and size it to match the pattern size, then cut out all the pieces glue them on a backing board then carve it on the cnc machine. There's a few steps I missed but you get the idea, I'll show you all when I'm ready. Hope I can pass the passion of this art work.

Thanks again for the welcomes.
Graham

 

[CAD-Man]

Thank you CAD-Man, those intarsia pieces are natural colors of the wood, they are inlays no painting other than the racoons sign I did.

Then I must admit your layout is impressive. You have to picture in mind what the end result will be when you glue up your design.

CAD-Man