Monday, February 22, 2010

Router is mounted!


When I was figuring out how to mount my Dewalt router to my CNC machine I ran into a little "What came first, the chicken or the egg?" Scenario.  I could have hacked together some router mounts but I really wanted some nice and uniform mounts made from UHMW that where beyond my capabilities to make by hand.  So I cheated and went over to my cousins house to use his CNC router to make the mounts =) They came out great, and seeing his machine cut them out really motivated me to get mine done!  The picture above shows the two mounts fresh off the machine.


I wanted the mounts to clamp the router tightly so I machined two pockets into each one so that a bolt and nut could be used to clamp the router in place.  I put a slice down the center of the two pockets and drilled hole in them for the bolt to go.  It is a very solid mount!


In this picture you can see the motor mounts mounted to the Z axis and the router inserted into them.  Even without the two bolts in place to pinch the router it is a very solid and tight fit!


Here is the machine from a distance.  All that is left is installing the motor and ballscrew for the X axis, building and installing the cutting table.  After that it's just a little paint and wiring up the electronics and I'll be able to try it out!


Speaking of the electronics, here is my controller box.  You can see the Breakout board, three stepper drivers, relay board and power supply in the lower half of the box.  The lid contains two fans, the on and off switch, some fuses and a speed controller for the router.


Here is the electronic box with the lid installed.  The white household plug on the lid is used to power the router and the dust remover.  They are each independently controlled by the relay board from the computer to turn each device on and off automatically as needed!

2 comments:

  1. you forgot to tell everyone that I made the holes for all your little spark plug things and that i made all the holes for the fans and screwed them in and threaded the fans.... rude!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey! You used my idea! (CNC to create a CNC!) Spontaneous generation totally works.

    ReplyDelete