CNC wich one

RBC

Deceased
.
Here's a machine that can be built for under $5k - I know because I built it just over a year ago. I used high-quality linear tables found online and a Chinese indexer (which I had to completely rebuild). The cuemaker who owns it provided the NSK air spindle. He loves the system, and now uses it for his main CNC machine station. Jake Hulsey and Royce Bunnell have both seen it in operation, and could give their own assessment regarding self-build vs turnkey-buy.

TW

P1020320_zpsab1cb321.jpg

Thomas

That picture was taken from almost the exact spot I was standing in when I first saw that machine.

I was impressed by the machine. Nice, clean and simple.

I was also surprised at the use of the import index fixture. Of course, I wasn't surprised when you said that you had to completely go through it to straighten it out.

I'm sure you remember, but I was down there with my business partners, Don and Anita Owen. Don ordered a cue from the owner of that little machine you built. He has since received the cue and absolutely loves it. I'm sure much of it was made on that machine.
 

pescadoman

Randy
Silver Member
Thomas

That picture was taken from almost the exact spot I was standing in when I first saw that machine.

I was impressed by the machine. Nice, clean and simple.

I was also surprised at the use of the import index fixture. Of course, I wasn't surprised when you said that you had to completely go through it to straighten it out.

I'm sure you remember, but I was down there with my business partners, Don and Anita Owen. Don ordered a cue from the owner of that little machine you built. He has since received the cue and absolutely loves it. I'm sure much of it was made on that machine.

Thomas...bring me one next time you visit Jerry McW... Thanks! I'll buy you a nice Chinese dinner!
 

Thomas Wayne

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Thomas...bring me one next time you visit Jerry McW... Thanks! I'll buy you a nice Chinese dinner!

Prefer Japanese and would like the restaurant to be Aragawa in Tokyo, Japan - plus you include airfare (wife will be coming too). Otherwise we'll need to negotiate further.

TW
 

LGSM3

Jake<built cues for fun
Silver Member
concerning the x & y axis on that machine, you can't purchase ANYTHING turnkey for less than 50k that will hold the tolerance that those stages will. Both have high end ground screws and short travel. That combination is hard to beat.

If you spend 10k on a turnkey machine you might get 3k worth of parts. The short axis on the machine in the pictures retails for $3k plus.

You can buy the stages on Ebay but be diligent with stage model #'s as some of them have cheaper screws and are made to run with linear encoders which afford you the luxury of a lesser quality screw.

Not sure how i feel about the chinese rotary but i have stockpiled rotaries that i've bought on ebay. They retail for 6-10k and i have some brand new still wrapped in plastic that i paid from 200-400 for. I like to work on the cue while its in the machine With the chinese rotary "like 6:1 ratio" i'm afraid i'd rotate it by accident when putting inlays in. I like the 60:1 holding torque.

I think that machine can be built with electronics, motors, rotary and tailstock, vacuum table, computer and mach for less than $5k. That leaves 5k to buy a real spindle and cadcam
 

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
concerning the x & y axis on that machine, you can't purchase ANYTHING turnkey for less than 50k that will hold the tolerance that those stages will. Both have high end ground screws and short travel. That combination is hard to beat.

If you spend 10k on a turnkey machine you might get 3k worth of parts. The short axis on the machine in the pictures retails for $3k plus.

You can buy the stages on Ebay but be diligent with stage model #'s as some of them have cheaper screws and are made to run with linear encoders which afford you the luxury of a lesser quality screw.

Not sure how i feel about the chinese rotary but i have stockpiled rotaries that i've bought on ebay. They retail for 6-10k and i have some brand new still wrapped in plastic that i paid from 200-400 for. I like to work on the cue while its in the machine With the chinese rotary "like 6:1 ratio" i'm afraid i'd rotate it by accident when putting inlays in. I like the 60:1 holding torque.

I think that machine can be built with electronics, motors, rotary and tailstock, vacuum table, computer and mach for less than $5k. That leaves 5k to buy a real spindle and cadcam
True that.
You can get Pacific and THK actuators for 1/4th or less of the original price often at Fleabay.
 

Thomas Wayne

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
[....]
With the chinese rotary "like 6:1 ratio" i'm afraid i'd rotate it by accident when putting inlays in. I like the 60:1 holding torque.

[...]

Actually, on that particular rotary it was advertised as being 8: 1 ratio, but the ratio numbers the seller gave mathed out to 10: 1 - so I had no idea what to expect until it arrived.

When I took it apart it turned out to be 127: 17 ratio (no shit!) - which is why I rebuilt it to get to a more suitable 60: 1. I contacted the seller to inform him of the discrepancy, but there was enough of an accent/communication barrier that I wasn't sure he actually understood. He did, however, offer to have his assistant "love me long time". I declined.

TW
 

pescadoman

Randy
Silver Member
Prefer Japanese and would like the restaurant to be Aragawa in Tokyo, Japan - plus you include airfare (wife will be coming too). Otherwise we'll need to negotiate further.

TW

Finally!!!! Someone who uses further/farther in the proper context. I'll tell Jerry to grab some takeout and bring it home while he's there next month. What should he pick up that will satisfy the requirements?
 

BigDon

DESi Customs
Silver Member
Anyone have any experience using these IA actuators? The one shown looks like a IS series and they are supposed to have an integrated motor onto the ball screw. Are you able to take off the back cover, strip the motor off and mount a stepper?

I sent Thomas a PM a couple of days ago but he is probably a busy man. Anyone else have any info on these? Thanks for any help!
 

LGSM3

Jake<built cues for fun
Silver Member
Anyone have any experience using these IA actuators? The one shown looks like a IS series and they are supposed to have an integrated motor onto the ball screw. Are you able to take off the back cover, strip the motor off and mount a stepper?

I sent Thomas a PM a couple of days ago but he is probably a busy man. Anyone else have any info on these? Thanks for any help!

IA = Intelligent Actuator

Yes, most all of them are too old to actually cross reference to a model # but there website is useful in defining travel, leadscrew diameter and pitch based on the spec #s on the stages.

Rule #1 is they are almost always smaller than the pictures on ebay show:grin:

All that i have seen came with thk or iko linear rails. There also not skimpy with size. The smallest linear rail i have seen in one of these is 15mm where as the parkers will sometimes have 9-12mm. Huge difference in rigidity and pc of mind.

Most of them have very fast (16mm on average) rolled thk ballscrews but have very nice end support bearings. The one TW got was lucky, as it has a finer pitch ground screw. The higher pitch sucks for us because it means resolution will be lower unless we gear reduce.

Best bet is to ask the seller to remove the top cover and take pictures of the screw. They come off real easy with 4 little screws.

The safer bet is to go with the parker 404xr as they are fully enclosed and much more available. Still use the same caution as above.
 

BigDon

DESi Customs
Silver Member
IA = Intelligent Actuator

Yes, most all of them are too old to actually cross reference to a model # but there website is useful in defining travel, leadscrew diameter and pitch based on the spec #s on the stages.

Rule #1 is they are almost always smaller than the pictures on ebay show:grin:

All that i have seen came with thk or iko linear rails. There also not skimpy with size. The smallest linear rail i have seen in one of these is 15mm where as the parkers will sometimes have 9-12mm. Huge difference in rigidity and pc of mind.

Most of them have very fast (16mm on average) rolled thk ballscrews but have very nice end support bearings. The one TW got was lucky, as it has a finer pitch ground screw. The higher pitch sucks for us because it means resolution will be lower unless we gear reduce.

Best bet is to ask the seller to remove the top cover and take pictures of the screw. They come off real easy with 4 little screws.

The safer bet is to go with the parker 404xr as they are fully enclosed and much more available. Still use the same caution as above.

Yes, I see what your saying. The IA's have 10-20mm pitch screws and the Parker have 5mm but much smaller rails. I had found some IA precision model actuators but they had 20mm pitch screws. I would have thought the precision might of had a finer pitch but I guess not.
Thanks for the help!
 

LGSM3

Jake<built cues for fun
Silver Member
some of the parkers have quick screws too. Don't assume they all have 5's or ballscrews for that matter. Some have a kerk type screw
 

BigDon

DESi Customs
Silver Member
Hey Guys, I have another question if anyone has the time. I found some actuators for my Y and Z but I will be using a gantry setup running on rails for my X. What size rails would you suggest running? I will be using two bearings on each side. Would 15mm be enough or do I need to bump it up to 20-25?

Thanks!
 

GBCues

Damn, still .002 TIR!
Gold Member
Silver Member
The gantry will end up weighing more than you might think at this point. I assume you are using square rails and not round or supported round rails? Unsupported round rails sag and bend - even at 20mm - and I've used them. Supported are better, but still I think square/rectangular are best.
Circling back to the original question, is your X-axis the long axis? If so, I'd say 20mm is the minimum, 25mm would be better.
Now if your X axis is the short axis and 600mm works for you, PM me, I've got a pair of brand new 45mm that I'm not going to use.
My 2 cents,
Gary
 
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