Hi all,
I’ve spent the last few months building an enclosure for my journeyman and I thought I’d share it with you now that its mostly complete. I’ve also created an Instagram page (@wildmountaincraftworks) that has videos detailing all aspects of the machine. My goal is to provide answers too all of the questions that I had during assembly to help others in a way that would have helped me. If you find that there is missing information or something that I skipped over please let me know and I will further elaborate. In the future I do intend on creating a series of YouTube videos however at this point I am more interested in learning how the machine works vs. learning video production.
The Journeyman sits behind a large lexan window for full visibility with a reasonable amount of sound dampening. The utility room has a 3/4" plywood door with a rubber seal on the bottom. All doors have magnetic latches. Underneath the machine room is open storage. I will most likely add shelving and drawers to it in the future.
As this is in my basement I wanted to ensure that the dust would not pollute the air in my house. In line with the vacuum is a dust deputy on a 30gal drum. Behind the controls door you will find the Bosch dust extractor and a vent above it. The vent is used to evacuate the hot air from the utility room and maintain negative pressure in the utility room. Above the vent on the exterior of the enclosure is the filtered exhaust box. This box has baffles in it to reduce sound (works really well!) and a final stage HEPA filter. The exhaust box was one of my first projects on the Onefinity.
Dust Deputy & 30gal drum:
Vacuum & vent:
Filtered exhaust box during construction:
Filtered exhaust box:
The control panel has several devices for control and automation via an Arduino microcontroller. The panel is also home to the Huanyang VFD (2.2kW) and the Onefinity controller. I had a hard time finding contactors/relays that are driven off of 5VDC so I used 24VDC interposing relays. The Arduino turns on the vacuum, water pump and vent when the spindle is turned on. There are also safety interlocks to prevent said devices from being shutdown when the spindle is on. Other features include water flow indication, temperature monitoring, and system health monitoring with the allowance for audible alarming if conditions are not met.
Panel overview:
Panel temperature probe (3d printed housing):
Vent speed controller:
Incoming 240V Supply & Ground Strip:
Main breakers, split by functional purpose:
24VDC - 120/240VAC relays & contactors:
5VDC - 24VDC relays, Arduino & RF antenna:
5/12/24VDC power supply unit:
Behind the control cabinet we have the custom blast gates. I bolted together two blast gates and used a servo to toggle between the two positions. The blast gates are used to switch from the suckit dust boot to the external vacuum port. The external port is very helpful for cleaning the machine room and vacuuming the basement.
Custom blast gates:
External vacuum port (3d printed to look like the outlet above it):
Also behind the control cabinet is the water cooling pail. The pail has both a temperature probe and a flow indicator in it for monitoring & alarming. Automotive coolant was used for the anti-corrosion properties. The radiator is made of aluminum to prevent corrosion as well. The fans on the radiator automatically turn on with the water pump. The air intake for the utility room is located behind it so cold air cools the water instead of hot vacuum air.
Pail exterior:
Inside the pail:
Radiator & fans:
In the machine room is a push button station for enabling the system (VFD & Onfinity), lights, vacuum & vent. This was a 36 hour 3d printed part that I immediately put a scratch in. We’re going to ignore that scratch 
Pushbutton station:
As previously mentioned there is an RF antenna connected to the Arduino. This allows for wireless HMIs (screens) that display alarm status, temp & flow indication & controls. This device is also used for silencing alarms and testing alarms. The device is powered by a cell phone battery bank and sits in a 3d printed housing. The USB can be plugged into a PC instead of the battery to program its internal Arduino and Nextion display.
Alarm page:
Indication & control page:
Programming page:
Rear of the device:
The machine room has a ton of 3d printed parts for cable management. Each clip was custom built for the diameter of the cables that it holds. The cables go through an air tight wall passthrough so dust doesn’t escape into the utility room. I used a 40mm drag chain that houses the coolant lines, X axis power, Z axis power & spindle power. The spindle also has a few custom 3d printed parts to prevent the vacuum hose from colliding with the water hose.
Wall passthrough:
Drag chain & cable management, top view:
Drag chain & cable management, bottom view:
Spindle & spindle accessories:
This project has been an incredible journey and I’ve learned a great deal from it, as going into it I was not familiar with Fusion 360, 3d printing, CNCs in general & only had a basic understanding of woodworking. As with any major project there are many things that I would have designed differently if I could go back in time, however I am still very proud of what it has become. As I mentioned in the beginning of the post, the main reason I’m sharing this information is to help the community. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions, comments or even improvement ideas. Feedback is much appreciated and will most definitely help others too.
Thanks for reading!
) we see one with the recommended 
