CNC Update!

Here is where most of my projects start, a pile of metal on the floor!  The steel yard I got it from even threw in the rust for free!

Here I am cutting some of the steel parts out on my amazing Black and Decker workmate 300 worbench!  I like it because not only is it a work bench but it also can clamp onto parts like these steel beams so I can cut them with a sawzall.

Here I am starting to center punch the holes to mount the linear rails for the "Y" axis to the 1/4" thick by three inch wide angle iron.  After the holes where center punched I drilled them out and tapped them for M5 bolts to hold the rails to the steel frame.

I thought about using bronze bushings to support the ends of the ballscrews because they are simple to mount but I ended up using some ball bearings to help things run smoother.  They started life as some Team Delta pillow blocks meant for fighting robots to roll around on, but after some work on the bandsaw they where cut down so that I got two smaller bearings from each pillow block.

Here I am drilling the mounting holes in the pillow blocks and the steel frame.  The small 1/2" shaft in the bearing passes through the steel as well and keeps everything lined up while I drill.

Here you can see the Y axis really coming together!  The parts are just laying there right now but you can see the mount for the stepper motor on the front 2" square tubing. You can also see the two linear rails mounted to the steel frame and the ballscrew running down the middle of it all that will move the Z axis left and right.

Here you can see one of those bearing blocks that I made in an earlier picture mounted and holding the ballscrew in place. I had to turn the end of the ballscrew down from 16mm to 1/2" to fit into this bearing and the LoveJoy coupler that connects the ballscrew to the motor.  Turning the hardned steel ballscrew on my Harbor Freight mini lathe was no small feat!  But I was able to do it.   More to come!