Next Project Lined up!

[activereality]

Well, i've gotten a few more small cuts made, just trying to get a better feel for fusion and getting more versed in getting a consistent X/Y/Z zero. I think I might have to find a Z touch plate pretty soon - for easier tool changes.

Next up is a dust shoe. After only 4-5 projects, I am officially tired of chasing dust haha. I see many different types out there, but since i have the spindle, I actually don't see many options for it. So, I guess the Ck is gonna have to makes its own upgrade .

Goals:
Dust shoe that keeps the surface area 'pretty clean'. (does not need to be spotless, but does need to help control it to the cutting area)
does not interfere with machine operation
is easily removable (for the shoe itself) and adjustable (up and down - when i need it out of the way)
is not a permanent modification - meaning no new holes or need to drastically change out parts.

Assuming you are all like me: I did what any other decent human being would do and stole everything i liked about other designs I have been able to find, to incorporate into this one.

1. A pair of supports attach to the front of the Z rails using some m5 t slot nuts (like used elsewhere on the extrusions) - this will keep it from putting stress on the Z plate itself - hopefully not messing with the spindle tram.
1-A. A set up m5 screws/bolts will attach it to the T-Slot Nuts - haven't figured out how to do that yet haha - except maybe a second nut on the screw which will get tightened to the t slot nut to hold the assembly in place
2. The attachment hole will be off set a bit - to ensure the sides of the Z plate are not contacted - since the Z plate edge does 'cover' a small portion of the Z rail.... Z
3. The bottom of the supports will have a 1/4" slot - fitted with 2 magnets (each side) - for the shoe to slide into and be held securely (a third hole will be milled at time of manufacture - allowing for future addition of magnet to really hold tight!
4. The Shoe will have matching arms, with magnets to slide into the slots of the supports
5. The shoe will have ~ 1" diameter hole to allow the spindle to move through it
6. This hole will have a .3" slot at the back to allow sliding the shoe in place with the spindle in the down position - allowing removal or installation at any time without moving the spindle with up to a 1/4" bit (largest the spindle can currently take)
7. The area, of the shoe, under the spindle will be narrower than the railed area, making it easier to remove/install
8. The shoe will have a 2 1/4 diameter hole cut through it - this will be the main 'suction hole'
9. This hole will have a 2 1/2 (ish)" lip so a coupler can be siliconed into it for permanent attachment (maybe rubber cement? - I want it firm, but flexible)
10. The coupler will receive a flexible 2 1/2 " hose, with clamp
11. Hose will be suspended above the CK, giving CK plenty of room to move, but not pushing/pulling to create stress on gantry/X/Z assemblies
12. Shoe will have brushes on the underside - maybe 2" ?
13. The hole for the Spindle might receive some brushes as well, if it is found to be a source of a large volume of chips/debris
14. Test run will be completed in 1/2 " MDF, with final in 1/2" acrylic
15. At completion (and through build) MO will stress .... a lot

Some quick pics of what i have built up in fusion so far (just the supports) and some drawings that were the basis  

Front of spindle area - "A" is the offset distance 


Side view of Support, with slot, and face of support attachment with offset hole - this would be the right hand support (with hole, closer to left edge)


current draft of the shoe - with slot at rear, both holes, arms for support slots, narrowed back end to ensure it fits between slots, with rough measurements (slots measure 4 inches for reference


Was able to duplicate the body in F360, but idk how to make them a bit more interactive - they are aligned to within a couple of degrees, but would like to 'assemble' them when i get the Shoe completed - more fun to figure that part out haha!


More to come as i figure out how I am going to do this haha. Already have all the base components - unless i end up needing to switch something out that is lol. 

[activereality]

Ok, after a few days to mull the idea over, put down some more lines on paper (since i am still fairly new to 3d modeling - I still find it a bit easier, if more onerous, to understand several drawings haha). Then going to F360, was able to make a couple of sketches and bodies to the dimensions i think are going to work. I am going to cut these from 1/2" mdf, for proof of concept, before i cut my 1/2" acrylic.

Another thought that came up, was ensuring my work material could be removed, flipped, and re-secured, as I am wanting to do work from the 'top' and 'bottom' of the piece. Mainly so i can put a step into the piece for the hose coupler to sit into. I am still fighting if this is needed - or if it is better to just cut all the way through and use a friction fit for the coupler to fit into the 'evacuation' hole of the shoe.

So I made these (with my now advanced skills in F360):


I then used a square to attach these to my SB on the front Y and left X. Now i can, or should be able to, moderately trust work is aligned correctly. Not important for work on one side (unless the piece has been removed and reinstalled after an operation.
Note:  I am stilling cutting through my boards and into the spoil board. Since i have been using the double sided tape method, I have not been using an extra sacrificial layer between the work pieces and SB. My current method - I check the physical dimension of the piece and then ensure that is the dimension measurement in F360 is the same. In ugs I can 'see' the dimensional cuts, but not real values for a measurement (just the overall movement values). I am assuming there must be a setting I am missing or using an incorrect methodology to create the tool path. For Z zero, i use the paper method to .001". So I think I should be pretty close to a true Z zero. Need to work on this more.

For the current iteration of the Dust Shoe and Supports design, see images below:
These are the left right supports and then the dust shoe (from bottom). 



Small fry things in the real world, but as a first larger project - meaning it must be bound to other physical things as well as itself (as a completed assembly), really need to learn how to build things in F360 so i can check the physical dimensions.

Gonna try and get this cut later in the week in mdf, if that goes well, I might change the slot design and make that more of a curve from the top to bottom of the supports. To remove more materials and make it a bit less bulky.

More to come!

[Derek the Admin]

Looks like you are really thinking it through. I look forward to seeing it made!

[activereality]

Well.... almost a year later!! Haha.

Had a kid. Moved. Been super busy and starting to make some time for the CK1 haha.

Using (mostly) the above original plans - I went ahead and cut a prototype dust cover set of rails.

I screwed up the hole drilling for the screw going front to rear. So used a hold down clamp as a strap on each side of the rail. Works pretty good I think. Will cut the bottom later this week.

I glued in a few magnets inside the slot of each side. Matching magnets will be on the sides of the bottom to slide it in and hold in place.

Time will tell if this works out. Hahaha.

Quick note to anyone else that might read this. Careful how your homing switch for the X axis is adjusted. If you add stuff to the ‘right’ side of the gantry it could hit. Ask me how I know .

[activereality]

Got into the garage and made some more cuts tonight. Was able to cut out and mock up the Bottom of the Dust boot.

This was my first time doing operations on two sides of the same material - in relation to each other. I basically picked one corner and used it for each side. I am sure there are easier/better/other methods, but this one worked for this project.

First two operations were on the 'top' of the boot. This was to create a diameter with a 'top face' for the vacuum hose adapter (coupler) to sit on - this would be an interference fit for the coupler. The second op was a through hole smaller than the first diameter.

Flip the material - and get my new x/y zero, put in a 1/8 ball nose bit, and get my new z zero, then cut the 'channel' or slot that the brush bristles will be glued into. This went pretty well. (pictured)



Then i put in a 1/4 flat endmill, and cut the slots that will slide into the legs/sides of the dust boot assembly.

After that, it was just cut out the part from the material and then finish by hand.

pictured below dry fit - after some generous sanding.



So... anyone else ever painstakingly separate magnets and prep to glue them, drill holes by hand (that are less than 1/4" think in material that is ~ .26" wide) and then grab the magnets in the wrong order so that are literally all polar opposites the magnets already int he dust boot sides? Well, this guy has. Such fun. I had cut the channel deeper (longer) than i wanted, just in case of this. So i just pushed it in slightly passed flush so the magnets aren't really getting in the way haha.


After that mistake - just had to sand the ID of the diameter with the shelf a bit to get a good tight fit for the coupler. Got this put together, hung my vacuum hose from a hook under a shelf above the CK1, and viola, usable turd sandwich.



Now just need to cut out and glue some brush onto the bottom to have a working prototype. It isn't super robust, but i think i can use it enough to see if this idea works, or if i need to work on a modified design.

Actually came out a lot better than expected - due to the mdf and operations performed by hand. 

I plan on adjusting the final design:

1. remove the .25" slot idea, and just cut a .5" slot into the leg material. This means the bottom of the legs/sides will be lower than the bottom of the boot, but that wont make much of a difference - it'll be about .2-.25" of 'hang'.
2. this will also make the bottom .5" thick where the magnets go, so it'll be easier to drill the sides by hand (no drill press). 
3. might cut off some more material from the legs. making them just a bit more light weight, so less weight on the gantry (this is mounted on the outside of the Z-rail, but not attached to Z-axis- so the z-0axis is not bearing any of this weight, just the gantry (or x/y axis).
4. will probably keep the strapped on from the side method used here - vice a hand drilled through a .5" face - that has to be .2" favoring the inside edge (to fit o the rail and not hit the Z plate). Plus, i can do all the ops on the mill at that point too. Going this way - i will also pout in two points of contact for the straps - so the boot is held a bit more firmly.

That's it for tonight. Might be able to get some hot glue action from the wife tomorrow, and then maybe get some more chips cut by this weekend.

I did notice that it seems like the Y axis might be higher in the rear than front.

I plan on loosening everything again, settle it, then retighten. At that point i'll probably need to re-face the spoil board  then re-tram as well. 

After that i can make an attempt at cutting the dustboot from the acrylic. I'll need to study up on cutting acrylic and make sure to 'tune' my cut settings in fusion before running those ops.

All in all, i might even make something usable by the end of this.

[activereality]

Well, got the bristles for the shoe hot glued in. That was a chore. Not the prettiest, but should work.

I plan on giving the spoils board a quick facing to see how well it works. After facing, I need to tram and then I’ll be working on rev 2 of those shoe.

I am thinking I might follow suit of some others and mage the legs a slightly lighter profile. This is going to be heavy enough as it is haha. Crossed fingers for good suction and dust mitigation!

[activereality]

Well, looks like I am on hold for a bit.

I got the machine squared up last night, and ensured everything was snug, and wheels readjusted, man that thing was crooked!!

When I went to plug everything back in, it seems the Controller board for the Spindle decided that it was done. Kaput. Let the smoke out. Pushing up daisy. Johnny Five Dissasembled!!

I tested the Power Supply, and it is still pushing 48 VDC. Tested input at the board, so wires still good. The output of the board remains zero when I adjust the potentiometer. Take the Pot off and measure resistance and it is variable as I adjust the pot position. Test out of the board with Pot installed and open wide, the power supply on, and no Output.

So looking into a cheap replacement Controller for now. This is the push I think I needed to throw on a more power spindle/router. More to come - after I find a shovel and dig myself out of this mess.

[petek]

Email support at millrightcnc.com
They will help you out.

[activereality]

Mar 13, 2021 2:36:03 GMT petek said:

Email support at millrightcnc.com
They will help you out.

I wrote them asking about compatible controllers.

To be honest. Ive had this machine since the 2017 launch. Didn’t put it together until last year. Ran it maybe 100 hours. Then moved - and basically had to redo everything on the machine - square, flash, set up. So the 20$ board letting the smoke out really doesn’t hurt my feelings. Little dude was a trooper!!

I ordered a EECO controller from amaze-0n. Hooked it up this evening and seems good to go. Cheap, but seems effective so far.

This one has a fuse - if anything pops up - like the power supply surging or something - I can service this device.

I am surfacing the spoil board now - to the ‘new’ square haha. After this I’ll check the tram and see what I can do. Post tram. Maybe surface it again by .02 or so.

Then maybe make some more useful chips later in the week.

I have some aluminum for the touch plate and a 2 flute end mill for aluminum coming.

Btw- the dust boot is working awesome!! Can’t wait to make this thing out of more solid material and let it rip!! Just ripped the surface up and had almost zero mdf dust of death around anything!! So awesome!

Note: 1” facing mill didn’t fit into my slot cut into the shoe. But, turn the spindle on - and walk up in .01 increments and cut the hole bigger haha. Not how it was meant to work, but worked none the less.

Also got to figure a better way to suspend the vacuum hose.