Are you satisfied with this nearly vertical position of the machine?
I also ask because if you don’t catch all of the wood dust with the dust collection system, it would fall directly on the one Y ball screw, and ball screws are incompatible with wood dust!
Hi @Aiph5u, thanks for the follow-up! I was pretty surprised to see that many chips in the controller box! I thought it would be pretty safe mounted behind my spoil-board since the only through-holes are the tiny threaded insert holes! I’m thinking in the very least i’ll add a side deflector baffle so chips can’t bounce directly in through the controller air vents.
I’d love to have more room for a floor mounted setup, but i’m working with really limited space in my shop! Without the wall-mount option from Onefinity it probably wouldn’t have been possible at all!
I use a modified Harbor Freight dust collector with a cyclone and a 55 gallon drum that’s vented outside. I’ve been using the basic Suck-it with the short brushes, and that has been underwhelming at catching the bigger chips that come off the larger bits while surfacing or 3d contouring guitars. It does have a 5" port and i’m using a 4" hose reduced (bad i know) to a shop vac hose that fit the suckit… It’s pretty beat up so I started 3d printing a new boot design last night so i can use the 4" hose.
I’ve been pretty happy working in the vertical wallmount orientation. I did have issues with the machine “letting go” during probing that i resolved with a spring balancer cable (i posted here about that) for the vertical axis mounted to the ceiling. That also makes e-stops less dangerous when the spindle free falls… Of course, i’m using a heavy 2.2kW HY water cooled spindle, so that is an “unsupported” configuration… Last week I upgraded the vertical axis stepper to the larger 3Nm size and run it at 4amp, 2amp idle. I need more testing to see if that helps with the missed steps i get with large bits sometimes.
The .25” threaded inserts and .75” oak dowel dog-holes make work holding pretty easy. Placing stock on the dogs aligns it and the 10deg angle of the QCW wall mount keeps the stock leaning back enough to not fall off during clamping.
I also recently did maintenance on my ball screw nuts and blew a lot of dust out of the lower nut. I also rotated the nuts so that the lubrication ports are oriented facing up instead of down, so that should be helpful for future lubing… This month I also installed a clear vinyl dust cover running over the two Y-axis thread and rails. (I actually redefine my X and Y axis in the controller motor settings and postprocessor, so it’s confusing to talk about without confusing others!)
I got my machine in May of 2022, so i’ve been drinking from a firehose lately. Fortunately I love learning new things and combining my love of building/inventing/projects/computers/tech!
Hi,
New to CNC (had one 340 years ago).
Pretty proficient with my laser 24x40 Boss.
I too have limited space so I bought a new Journeyman Pro. with a 1.5 110v spindle.
Ready to cut my test onefinity sign.
I see a need to speak with others regarding approaches to working vertically.
Best methods for:
Hold Down
Dust collection
Dust enclosures
and more.
For example:
Now that my machine is homed.
My idea is to set up aright angle for a 2’x2’ overlay 3/4 plywood centered on the table bed.
Once I find the coordinates of Lower Left I should be able to direct the head to that exact spot (What I call a Home Away From Home.).
I can then cnc from that location, so as not to be on my knees.
Do you do that?
Also I can leave attached additional hold downs for the tool setter in that location confirm x, y and the new X.
Your thoughts?
Enclosure,
I’m in the process of using flexible clear vinyl mounted to a window shade to pull down or across.
I may use a window shade from my old SUV which covered the trunk/cargo area.
In this way it will retract and I will only need it when cutting.
Also I am exploring counterbalance systems for the Z axis with a spindle mounted on it. Why put stress when it can be alleviated.
Care for a chat?
Dan Stein
Bellmore, NY
516-582-5437 abriteguy@aol.com
It sounds like you’ve got some useful ideas already. As you can can see in my photos, i’ve landed on using dogholes and threaded inserts for material locating and holding. I like your idea about attaching the toolsetter (more likely you mean probe block since you mention X/Y too?) to use with a known offset from your fence work coordinate system. I would want it to be easily removeable so you could also z-probe the material top-height for certain operations where that is critical, like v-bit carvings.
I also used a spring cable balancer to help support my spindle. I’ve posted about it here in the past.
In addition to an enclosure, i’d strongly suggest something to block falling debris from landing on your lower ballscrew assembly. I’ve shared pictures of that too.
I have ideas to prevent chips from the lower y ball screws. It involves thin rolled pvc
I’m new to cnc. So I’m looking to get vcsrvd test files to run.
I like your idea of threaded inserts and dig holes. Please send pics files if b possible.
Next a good dust shoe. Leaning towards making one with brackets and removable front to easily chang bits without it getting in the way.
Also an idea for enclosure is to use a 5’ window shade noted vertically to pull it closed like a patio door.
