Building my own design cnc saw machine

JC

JC

Coos Cues
After getting my feet wet with the Blud beast for a year or so I have decided to build my own and improve many of the shortcomings.

Linear rails for accuracy

Move the lead screw to pull from the tail stock end so it's not getting blasted with chips and clogging up all the time.

Open design end to end for efficient dust collection.

A stepper motor and lead screw between the head and tail blocks for adjusting span between centers. Will control this with the Z axis on mach. No more unbolting anything to set up for different lengths.

Increased wood capacity at the limits. Will be able to turn stock from practically zero to 34 inches. Blud's was barely able to reach a 30 inch span and no hope for short stuff.

X axis on saw pinion height adjust instead of a taper bar. Did this to my blud and it worked great. This Delta saw has .002 backlash which mach can manage easily.

Home switch on X axis for blade height for repeatability.

Tail stock will be spring loaded but will not rotate. A dab of lube in the wood seems to work more accurately.

That's what I have for now and here's a couple pics of where I'm at. Will update as the project progresses.

Thanks for looking

JC

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Thanks for posting. I like seeing progress of what people make. me I'm often too focused to stop and take photo's etc.
 
Progress

Here's where I'm at now. The lead screw on top of the carriage will adjust distance between centers using the Z axis on Mach. This should be a huge improvement as it will be more precise and quick. Also the lead screw for the carriage run is mounted at the rear, out of the chip blast. Will post more pics as I progress. Thanks for looking.

JC

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Post a video, when it's up and running.
Looks like a really well made setup :thumbup:
 
Here it is on video more or less completed. I need to finish the dust collection coffin before I can really give it a good test but everything looks straight and tight. All the motors tuned up nicely and run smoothly.

https://youtu.be/y07j7FgXkxc

JC
 
Just one thing JC, and this comes from experience with this style of contractor saw: watch the play/movement in the trunion (the thingy that holds the motor and blade). After a while, they can wear and loosen up considerably, and give you all sorts of mysterious problems.

I had one dedicated to slotting fingerboards, and eventually had to dump it because it got so bad. It was relatively easy to spot on mine (only ruined a few parts) because I could see the problems at the beginning of the cut. It could cause all sorts of very difficult to track down issues in a CNC style setup.

Anyhow, I just wanted to give you a heads up so you know what to look out for. Neat setup. :)
 
john coloccia said:
Just one thing JC, and this comes from experience with this style of contractor saw: watch the play/movement in the trunion (the thingy that holds the motor and blade). After a while, they can wear and loosen up considerably, and give you all sorts of mysterious problems.

I had one dedicated to slotting fingerboards, and eventually had to dump it because it got so bad. It was relatively easy to spot on mine (only ruined a few parts) because I could see the problems at the beginning of the cut. It could cause all sorts of very difficult to track down issues in a CNC style setup.

Anyhow, I just wanted to give you a heads up so you know what to look out for. Neat setup. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks John,

Trunion on this saw is really tight right now but you're right, it's probably the weakest link of this setup.

JC
 
With what you have built so far, repairing the saw latter on will be a walk in the park with the skills you have. Well done and thanks for the postings etc.
Neil
 
JC said:
Here it is on video more or less completed. I need to finish the dust collection coffin before I can really give it a good test but everything looks straight and tight. All the motors tuned up nicely and run smoothly.

https://youtu.be/y07j7FgXkxc

JC
Click to expand...

I've got a PM66 that is a bit beefier, but it's 3 phase and 5hp. It's just sitting here now after I sold my Blud.
 
pescadoman said:
I've got a PM66 that is a bit beefier, but it's 3 phase and 5hp. It's just sitting here now after I sold my Blud.
Click to expand...

That would be a slight overkill for my setup. Would hate to butcher a high dollar table saw like that. Plus this little delta can run right through the 20 amp relay in my controller box for m8-m9. If I were to go to a heavier duty saw I would need to run the saw on-off through a secondary relay. Not a big deal and If the mechanism on this Delta doesn't hold up that may be my next move.

JC
 
Dust Collection

Finished the dust collection "coffin" today and mounted my monitor. I found a good use for a section of the bludworth aluminum taper bar I removed from my old machine :smile:
This box is really tight with just enough ventilation at the tail end so my dust collector pulls the top down snug but not too tight. 4 bolts on each side at the bottom and the whole thing slips right off for working on the machine.

I need to finish enclosing the saw box dust collection underneath and build shelves for the electronics. Route the wiring and Install a home switch for the y axis and this baby will be done!

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JC
 
Great project JC.
WTG on that design. You have solved the overhang problem that plague Blud's design .
Love the computer controlled length adjustment too. Absolutely genius work.
 
All dialed in

Here is the completed unit and a short video of turning a cocobolo square into a forearm/butt sleeve in one pass @ .150" oversize. This thing works as well as i hoped as it will hold tolerances of .001-.002". Does a really good job on shafts too.

The video is sped up, elapsed time was about 5 minutes to make the cut taking that much off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Saqis9s4iOg

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Good stuff. I never thought you could beat a 14/40, taper bar and router until I put spindle and tailstock on the CNC router table. Infinite taper profiles at the touch of a button!
I did hear these saw machines cause sugar marks.
 
"I did hear these saw machines cause sugar marks."
So you apparently believe it if you choose to repeat it.
Do you know what a sugar mark is?
If so, do you care to explain how that could possibly happen?
Gary
 
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PRED said:
Good stuff. I never thought you could beat a 14/40, taper bar and router until I put spindle and tailstock on the CNC router table. Infinite taper profiles at the touch of a button!
I did hear these saw machines cause sugar marks.
Click to expand...

I have heard that a router is the way to go but I have one question? What happens to all the chips and dust that thing throws out? I have this machine in the back of my auto repair business and it's really clean and tight. No external cleanup to speak of.

It's funny you mention that sugar thing because I did recently have some dark marks on a shaft I turned on it. I'm really worried now. How does it cause those sugar marks? Is it the angle of the blade? Or magnetism from the bearings? Ionization or osmosis of some kind? The heat? Does the centrifugal force of the spindle cause it to come out of the core layers? Would it help to turn the spindle the opposite direction or move south of the equator? Geez this is really bad! :(

JC
 
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