Monday, April 18, 2011

Z-Axis Leadscrew upgrade - 3D Model

It has been quite a while since my last post.  I've been rather busy with work to spend time in the shop to do anything meaningful.  But I've been thinking of completing the Z-axis leadscrew modd; should I continue to follow Graham's or his modified design created by Tang Kee.  I've already completed the stepper motor mount and the anti-backlash nut mount following Graham's plan, short of working on the Z-axis saddle to adapt.  If I'm still using the 5410 column, I would not be in this dilemma as the spindle can still be lowered enough to allow endmills to reach the table.  But mine is now a 2010 8-direction column, which is known to not being able to move the spindle down far enough.  And so, I've decided to scrap what I've done and start over.

First thing first, to put Tang Kee's plans into 3D models.  The next task was to model the essential Sherline parts to see how things fit together.  The following is the result:


I'm leaving the 2 raiser plates floating at the moment till the leadscrew model is done.  This allows me to determine the length of the stand-offs so that the stock length of the leadscrew can be used without sawing - a very good idea from Tang Kee.

The nut mount:


 
A little on the 3D models.  Tang Kee was so kind to provide what he did using Alibre, which I imported and tried adapting to the software I'm using.  I encountered some problem which I do not have the knowledge to resolve and therefore, created the models from scratch.  The parts were disassembled from the mill and armed with the Mitutoyo Digital Caliper, an 6" steel rule, and a gauge to measure angles.  Some of the dimensions were taken off Tang Kee's models due, again, to my lack of knowledge in measuring some features.

Ok, I'm done with this post.  Hope to have some time to complete the planning stage and move on to the actual machining work.  Stay tune...

12 comments:

Rahman said...

hello!

May I know where you'd get your acrylic, wood and aluminium from? I find it hard to find around in the internet that's accessible to me. Which part of Kelantan Lane do they sell these stuffs?

Wongster said...

Hello,

You can get acrylics here:

DAMA ENTERPRISE PTE LTD
Acrylics / Polycarbonate
Blk 3029A, Ubi Road 3, #01-98/99 Singapore 408661   http://www.dama.com.sg

Will get you the address of the alu suppliers later.

Regards,
Wong

Wongster said...

Hi Rahman,

I've my steel from:
Hiap Leong Metal Pte Ltd
336 King George's Ave

Aluminimum:
Teck Leong Industries Pte Ltd
Blk 28 Kelantan Rd #01-129 Singapore 200028

No source for wood except the one shop near the famous Laksa place in Kelantan Road.

Regards,
Wong

Rahman said...

alright sir! thanks for your help! I'm obsessed to your blog. haha.

Wongster said...

Hi Rahman,

Are you also a hobby machinist? Do share your work with us, if its possible.

We've a small group of 4 which started our own group, SherlineSG, in Yahoo! Groups. A little quiet for the past 1 month as we're busy with our day job.

Regards,
Wong

Rahman said...

I'm actually not really of a machinist, I'm more of a robotics hobbyist. So currently, I'm building a robot. That is why I'm looking around for materials. I came upon ur blog through Mr Mike's SGTooling website. I do have an interest for machining but CNC is really an expensive hobby for me right now because I'm still young to get money to fund this.

So currently what I'm doing is either get my own hand power tools or get a fabricator to help me fabricate.

Wongster said...

You're a student?

Let me know if you need help to fabricate some stuff in aluminium, as long as it is not too big both in size and quantity. It should be quite a fun to side track from what I'm taking forever to complete. But you must provide me with a detailed plan/drawings and how the parts fit each other.

Regards,
Wong

Rahman said...

I guess I'm still a student. I had just completed my final year in Aerospace at Singapore Poly. So basically now I'm waiting for NS.

And oh wow! That's really great! I have drawings in my hands right now though I still would want to confirm everything again.

And regarding the material, I saw at Dama's website that they sell these aluminium composite panels which I think should work better than my original plan of using 12 mm thick plywood. Though I'm not sure if I can specially request from Dama for 12 mm thick aluminium composite.

It's really an honour to get to know someone like you. I look forward to hear from you again.

Wongster said...

Forward me your plan/drawings, preferably in some popular CAD format or detailed PDF. I'll do up the 3D model for your confirmation before starting work on the machines.

In exchange, maybe you can teach me a little about robotics. I'm interested in getting started with PIC.

Write to me at wongsters production AT Gmail dot com. Easier to communicate.

Regards,
Wong

Rahman said...

I'm using SolidWorks for my drawings and I actually already drew the robot in 3D.

Do you accept SolidWorks CAD format?

And also because I would want to use the aluminium composite panels, I will need to alter my drawings again.

And regarding PICs I do learn a bit about them but usually avoid using them due to the fact that its really troublesome getting work done with it. I use Arduino which is also well known for CNC applications.

I will email you my 12mm plywood based drawings soon. Thank you Sir.

Wongster said...

Solidworks files are fine. Send it over. I'll check out this aluminium composite panel you mentioned. Have not tried working on this before.

Rahman said...

I had emailed you. Hope I emailed to the right address.