I’m just speechless. I have no words adequate to properly describe my admiration for your vision, your fortitude, or your capabilities. I’m going to be studying and referring to this video many times. Thanks for putting such extra effort into your build that it took to create it.
ive watched a lot of youtube builds. and i dont think ive ever seen something quite so ambitious , well constructed, ingenious, meticulous, stoic, thrifty, inspiring, fun, inventive, educational, quirky, bold, haphazrad by design and therefore excellent and cheap. there are some words. i too cannot blow enough smoke up this fellas arse. just brilliant. the video making isnt bad either?!?!?!? you would usually trade off bad editing or a little confusion of how the rabbit came out of the hat for such technical insight, but nope. i just want to see the look on the scrap mans face in 40 years when it finally gets scrapped. lol he will swear at you like no other human has ever done
As a Fitting and Machining apprentice (I'm in my 50s and retraining after doing CAD work for years), I work on CNC machining centres quite a bit, (look at Okuma products about 20 years old; MC66, MC60, MC55, etc), which use G-code to drive them. We do machining of metals (Aluminium, cast iron, mild steel, and some tool steels) routinely, and it's generally done with slower feeds and speeds than what you showed here (and jets of coolant for some of these) to enable the bits to last through a production run. All power to your machine, it is absolutely brilliant what you've achieved.
@bivingtons the kind that doesn't have any fabrication experience, it is pretty normal, engineers don't learn how to square two beams and weld it without heat distortion at college, they learn how to calculate the weld stress limit and the structure stress limit.
Dude... For not having "formal engineering education" you really killed it. That was some next level (no pun intended) of attention to detail. It's an awesome machine, and you are an awesome craftsman.
It's amazing how broad and deep the scope of knowledge needed to build a good CNC is. I remember building one out of plywood a few years ago, torsion boxes to maintain rigidity because "aluminum is too expensive to make this rigid enough", skipping things that I felt entirely out of reach at the moment and simplifying as much as possible. Mind you, it was just a 90x90cm CNC for wood and some aluminum, with SBR rails that required less precision and much less force to manage. It wasn't a good CNC, it worked but every bit I knowingly skipped came to bite me in the butt. It was a nightmare and a love project at the same time, took me months all in all. Had to learn a bunch of stuff on quite a few fields of knowledge. As and engineer and lifetime geek with experience in manual work and machining, it wasn't nearly enough. What you've done is truly astounding. No single path can prepare you for that, plenty of engineers would fail to even grasp the full complexity of the project. It truly takes a jack-of-all-trades and master of several to pull this off. Hat's off to you. Now I wanna see this machine making some thick chips hahah
Hey Franklin, After being pushed and pulled to quite a lot of other non-CNC-related jobs, I was finally getting some time to play with it today. Enough to say it didn't go exactly as I would have liked, but somewhat pleasing nonetheless. Soooo much to learn, as you say... Your comment cheered me a lot and lessened my feeling of inadequacy for still being near the bottom of this learning curve. Sometimes I get so focused on the tasks at hand... It's nice to think back to all that's already been accomplished from time to time :) Thanks for watching, and thanks especially for your encouragement, Bongo.
@@FloweringElbow happens a lot, we often get pulled to do stuff that isn't exactly what we want or expected at the moment. Man, you went all out on this one, issues are pretty much a given when it's all added up, but you can work it out. Even companies with engineering/QA teams and big budgets often ship flawed machines and nobody bats an eye.
Pure tenacity. Enjoyed every minute. The scale of this project was next-level. Congratulations on its success. You are top-tier creative, and now with this thing, the sky's the limit!
The rotating ball nut is a critical and fantastic idea. The inertia of the rotating ballscrew is definitely a limiter to accelerating the gantry in Y, but there's a bigger problem: The ballscrew is unstable in sag. As it sags more, the centripetal force from rotating throws the sag out more. This places an RPM limit on the rotating ballscrew than decreases quadratically with length. That limits the speed of traverse in Y. It's too late now, but for folks thinking about building CNCs of this size, especially with concrete or epoxy granite damped frames, you might want to consider casting in tubing. By circulating water and controlling the temperature of that circulated water, you can limit the thermal expansion of the frame and ballscrews. Some ballscrews are available hollow. Circulating coolant through a ballscrew is a heck of a lot easier when it isn't rotating. Note that coolant is a bit of a misnomer. There isn't generally a lot of heat input to the frame and ballscrews. Rather you want them to stay the same temperature, day or night, season to season.
By FAR the BEST diy CNC on TH-cam. Hands down. Why? From first principles, not a copy and better off for it. I will emulate this in future if ever build one at all. XXOO
The only thing I think you could/should have done differently is using helical cut rack and pinion with heavy spring preload for the long axis and MAYBE the second longest axis. I think the lowered work area is both genius and obvious - why no one else does this is beyond me. It makes PERFECT sense. If / when I do full sheet machine like this I want it to be multi process, so I've been thinking about how to achieve that and the best I came up with is 4 or maybe 6 machined-by-machine mounting faces positioned in Airy or Bessel points inward of the extremes so as to be possible to machine them. Then have either a water tray with plasma grill or sacrificial timber sheet, or massive T slot or grid holes sheet, also machined by the machine. Then you could unbolt the working surface from those points and remove it replace the one you need and swap on the head you need to match and bingo, though more likely both laser and plasma would coexist with the spindle motor as they're light weight anyway. Thoughts on those changes?
.00005 - .00002 vertical lines on radius cuts are about as good as it used to be for expensive CNC machine tools circa 1992. It is a circular interpolation issue. If you have the ability to change the calibration a visibly smooth radius may be possible. Good luck with that. The harder the metal the worse this issue is. But, functionally the parts are not likely to suffer this imperfection. I was working with inconel at the time for US military contract applications. I am amazed you were able to built this machine in such a small space. You must be a genius or very close to that level of understanding and abilities. Thanks for sharing this.
if you need to do a self-leveling epoxy again, use the vibration rig. also works for floating more liquid concrete/cement mixes. Vibration can help evenly spread the epoxy. out by repeatedly breaking the surface tensions
@@FloweringElbow Ah, that makes sense. And now that I think about it, the concrete mass was changing the harmonics (probably a lot), too, so that likely introduced enough damping that the vibrator was no longer effective...
IMO you are one of the few builders who understand/feel the importance of the mass and rigidity, I liked it! And the best proof of it is the ability to cut steel with an acceptable material removal rate and result. 👏
Hey Jay, you wont remember this, but years ago, as a long term subscriber of yours, you gave me some advice about making videos for youtube. I very much appreciated that, and it means a lot to me to get a comment like that from you :D Thanks!
I have seen a few such machines on TH-cam, Frank Howarth being the most notable, but I have never seen a DIY system machine steel. It did so with no apparent chatter or issues of any kind, although you were wise to clear the swarth with those small cutters. I am seriously impressed, and I want to give that some context by saying I am a retired toolmaker and design engineer, so I have a feeling for the issues you faced and overcame. Very impressed indeed.
This Old Tony made a CNC machine that could mill steel. He still ended up CNCing a real milling machine though. There's really no replacement for cast iron dovetails.
7:30 shrinking issues will be minimized by using _hydrophilic_ fiber in the mix. This additive releases moisture back into the cement gradually, compensating for excess moisture loss from the porous or exposed surfaces. Of course, placing a waterproof coating on the exposed surface, like wax spray or plastic film, also helps.
Finally found this video again, I'm building a CNC myself and this gave me lots of great ideas. I didn't go with resin in the end, just good old angle grinder and hand scraping
You should be absolutely PROUD of having achieved all of this. It's truly astonishing how much you've accomplished there!! Not only did you build a solid and very sturdy machine, but you also mastered a ton of individual tecniques in the process, to help you get there. I am thoroughly impressed! :)
This is the third time I have watched this video. Absolutely incredible the design, construction and materials selection well thought out. I can say that this is a remarkable achievement. Outstanding.
2:16 let me just say at this point, that there is a hell of a lot of measuring that went into this, there have to be right angles all over and you're not in your CAD, you have to hold it tight or it will move, it's all by sight and welding also does it's thing and you have to take that into account. What a monster of a project, I'm in awe.
Wow... This is an impressive feat of engineering, a glorious display of patience and perseverance, and overall one of the best DIY videos that I've ever seen. You my friend are an inspiration.
That is a fantastic and really impressive result; absolutely blown away by its performance. Just something important with your placement of the emergency stop button, it gets blocked by the acylic chip guards when the Gantry is towards the front of the machine. Just something to be mindful of, especially whilst learning as it can be your best friend and save you a lot of money in cutters.
Hey Lechlan, thanks! And thanks for the reminder on the e-stop. I had clocked the potential irony of being blocked from pressing the e-stop by something advertising the best safety device!!!
As 30yrs a CNC man very well done amazing really!! your skill is incredible, and don't worry about all the mistakes that's all part off the process... Great Job
Okay - *this* has to be the coolest video I've seen in some time. Absolutely top: fascinating, informative, entertaining, so well done!! You're incredibly clever and clearly quite expert in these topics. Thank you, for creating and sharing this!
Going with the rotating ball nut was the key to success. I think too many throw money at problems, amazing build and patience. The steel milling finish was impressive.
this is a thing of absolute beauty in so many ways. The machine, your patience, your attitude, your attention to detail, your idea generation. I built my own semi-pro CNC, but this is so many levels above. Total masterpiece. You have every right to be proud.
Absolutely fascinating. I love the trials, tribulations and problem solving of this video. Using a modified concrete is genius. Tremendous effort. Cheers, JAYTEE
Very glad I watched this. Back in the 70's, DoAll company made metal cutting bandsaws with concrete filled steel casings to dampen vibration and increase mass. I've been scavenging precision slides and ball screws from big industrial machines, for years now. Wish I had some younger help, at 70 I'm running out of strength! Great video, great thinking! Subscribed! Best to all!
Hi Richard, many thanks for leaving a comment :) Interesting stuff that bandsaw business, I bet it was a struggle with shipping costs. We actually came close to filling out bandsaw, which has a welded and folded sheet metal frame, with concrete and re-bar... Opted for sand fill in the end as we can drain it out from a plug rear the bottom when we move it. Thanks again, Bongo.
Loving it. Sometimes detailed plans are indeed overrated, but to eyeball this monster… respect. Also giggling over the looks on your friends’ faces after agreeing to help you move “for a pizza and a beer”.
Weld done ! Punn intended Rigidity is necessary for repeatability, if your cutting speeds and rapids are low speed, Mass is not a serious issue. Rapids are not necessary in a Diy project. There are plywood kits that are rigid enough for non-production work. Excellent engineering Sir!
That has to be one of the most cool and interesting DIY builds ever. You had my interest when you build the gantry. I LOVE how what you can get defines much of the design. I can't really wait until you show us more. I also work on limited budget and use a lot of scrap parts, but still go for high quality and precision cuts on my next build. One of my biggest problems is how to make straight mounting surfaces for the rails, when I have no straight reference. I would love to se more of your experience with epoxy leveling.
mate im halfway through a cnc plasma table build, although i dont expect great accuracy out of it and wouldnt consider it anywhere near an industrial grade cnc machine, youve given me some good design ideas to implement, and a whole heap of things i wouldnt of considered. Well done brother an inspiration to many. Cheers shan
You're going to be pleasantly surprised just how accurate CNC can be. It's all math and computers are very good at math. A thousandth of an inch is trivial to achieve.
Truly wonderful. I'm so impressed and really looking forward to all the wonderful things you'll make with this. It's really been an odyssey making this and a joy to watch. Thank you for the inspiration and taking us along for the journey.
Absolutely great work. I build lathe's and grinding machines 38 years. You got an complete different way at the industrial way is. I say different and not wrong! Your way is not more bad then the way I learned over 40 years ago. But you also need a lot of measurement and controlling tool's. The stffnes of your mill is much more better then I thought!! So I can only say : well done and thank you for sharing with us!! Sorry for my bad English, I am from Austria and speak and write English rarely...
Congratulations on a awesome build. This machine will give you years of joy. You are definitely aware of how important it is to start with a great sturdy base. Don’t be scared to move away from Mach 3/4. Although I have been involved for the last 15 years with CNC I realized that the computer based setup with Mach do give glitches. Great for hobby but when you want reliability, do check in future after making some money to invest in a dedicated controller. They are dedicated and will give you very reliable machine with immediate startup. We converted our cnc plasma, router and milling machine to this controllers. Once again great video, great build. You are a creative person and this will bring very creative designs on a router. Very handy when you start doing signs for shops. 😎
Hey Johan, Thanks watching and for sharing your experience. I have to say, after only just getting to grips with Mach3 - writing tool change & relay actuator macros etc, I'm quite scared to even think about moving on right now... What type of dedicated controller are you using? Thanks again, Bongo.
Mach 3 glitch? You don't say! Must be why it's been abandoned by the developers now. Personally I run LinuxCNC and it is as solid as a rock is. There's nothing better available.
this is so absolutely fantastic! in the depths of my own cnc adventure and its so cool to see different solutions to the problems all who choose the cool kids path face. amazing job man :)
This was awesome! Thank you for posting this! I'm building a 4x8 CNC machine myself and some of the choices you've made I will likely incorporate into my build. I too would like a machine that can potentially do steel but lack the mass of a frame like yours. Mine is extruded 8080 from 80/20 and bar stock but I was thinking of filling the profiles with epoxy gravel and seeing if that helps give the machine enough mass (it's only several hundred pounds right now). Still in the assembly phase as I just completed the frame and working on the ball screw assemblies. I built a custom CNC controller for it already that can support 4-axis as well as dual X-Axis (one as a mirrored slave similar to yours), 2 vacuums, and 2 other pumps for coolant. I'm using NEMA 34 Servos hybrids as they were not too expensive and can be upgraded as needed. I've never done anything like this before and only a hobby electronics guy and literally have never even used a CNC machine but I've always wanted to learn and what a wonderful project this has been. It's quite an expensive "can I do it" project, but I've learned so much about electrical, design, machining, g-code, computer programming, etc. Wouldn't have it any other way! Worth every penny and hour spent.
Hey George, that's great to hear! So pleased if fellow builders can get something from video... And all you say is spot on - sooooo much to learn. Sounds like you're well on your way :)
These monstrous shop upgrades with near vertical learning curves are always daunting, but nothing quite like the high's of surmounting them and then having them on your side to scale higher heights. This was impressive
Your concrete mix was maybe a little overkill but it's heart warming to see such meticulous planning and optimization. I'm sure store bought dry-mix with extra fibers would have been sufficient.
That was an amazing build. I'd love to see you get into some aluminum plate using a full bit. The machine looks like it has enough mass to be able to handle that kind of a cut. I've seen a couple of others using sand and rock and epoxy but I like the way you did it better. A lot more DIY friendly and definitely massive.
You deserve a lot more subs. To people liking this video, please spread the news about this channel. About once a month, I find an amazing channel (from TH-cam suggestions) that has WAY too few subscribers. I'm pretty sure there's lots of them hiding out there under the radar. There needs to be a better way to give these channels more visibility.
What a great build Really cool processes, and I like your use of alternatives for epoxy granite when you didn’t need the perfect dimensional stability Thanks for a great vid!
I love it! I want to see more of this device as well. just one thing though I really feel you need to get your vacuum system more integrated as I have seen many end mills shatter in work pieces sending shrapnel everywhere. you need more than a face shield you need body armor if you are going to be that close to the work
Hi Tren, I totally agree! Working on it - its fairly tricky to get a system that's good for extracting the full gambit of waste from the differing materials I'm throwing on here. I'm working on it though.
The trick for getting a perfectly flat epoxy leveling is to use a hairdryer on it after you pour. This gets the bubbles out and reduces viscosity to allow it to self-level. Also, leave an inch of unused surface around the edges. It will never be level close to the sides. It will be slightly raised there. If you did it right no scraping is necessary. If you have to scrape the whole process is pointless. Depending on the size, you can also cast epoxy directly against a surface you already know to be flat like a granite surface plate. Don't use water to reduce surface tension. It prevents curing properly. Use an isopropyl alcohol mist if you have to.
man I've watch some sh*te on TH-cam with 10's of millions of views...this is by far one of the best channels/content I accidently stumbled across... I salute you sir.
Without realizing it, I found myself smiling like an idiot at such simple yet super effective building methods. Truly inspiring mate, thanks a lot for the video.
MDF, like all wood products, isn’t dimensionally stable, principally due to humidity variation; it will be contributing to the machine’s inaccuracies. Before running a part that you’re trying to hold tighter tolerances on; expect to need to re-level the spoilboard.
Good afternoon Dark Winter, thanks for commenting. Yes I agree. I might slowly start melting and making thick alu plates to replace at least some of the MDF. As you say it isn't super stable - neither is it super rigid: I can deflect it quite a bit with my body weight between the box steel slats... Thanks, Bongo.
Sure, sure. And then you will discover that that's still not enough and then you add something else and then one more and another one and... Of course, if you had done the calculations, then you would have known that your design was never going to pass decent deflection and wobble criteria. :-)
An extreme amount of materials research went into this, you state just build as you go, but not that simple was it. I appreciate the engineering behind the scenes.
The video where we test this baby! th-cam.com/video/zTQJpwYjUeg/w-d-xo.html If you would like the 3D CAD model to play with, and/or to get our metalized epoxy recipe/guide, go here: ko-fi.com/floweringelbow/shop Thank you for watching friend! We are in the process of putting together a big document, full of diagrams and details about this machine build. When it's done we will add the links here & in the description above. If there is any element of this you are curious about please ASK! We love to hear from you and will reply, and it might be something we write about in the document we're making... Peace n Love, Bongo and Sam
Love this. I'm in the process of doing something similar with a focus on repeatability, sort of decentralized production for proliferation. My design uses junk aluminum cast using a lost-foam method, bearings are 608RS(lots of them) on concrete-filled steel tubing, acme leadscrews, steppers, LinuxCNC, 2 1/4HP wood router for now. Desktop machine, less than a meter square footprint. Next version will switch to helical rack&pinion drive. With all of that info, I know everything you're going through with this, and it's fair to say that your build is going to be far better than mine in terms of sheer cutting capability. Mine's easier to get into for new builders, yours is just better. Great job.
@@FloweringElbow Dude, I can't wait to see what you can make with yours. I can tell, you really have only scrapped the surface. This thing is gonna be great.
@@FloweringElbow Love this vid. Liked and subbed. Also, I don't know if you're into 3D printing at all but if so, I have a suggestion for the cable chain: 3D print it out of 95A shore or higher Filaflex flexible filament. It will solve your creaking issue as well as give better vibration damping. It's also fairly light so it shouldn't add much extra weight if any to the gantry movement. Use nylon link pins with cotter pins through the exit ends to join the links so that you have adequate lubrication on it without having to grease/oil it since nylon is self-lubricating and rigid enough for that application. I'm also suggesting the cotter pins as the link retainers for the nylon link pins because it will make it much easier later on if you ever have to do any maintenance to the lines. You could also use aluminium link pins and give them a light coat of white lithium grease if you prefer a stronger link that requires less maintenance (e.g. having to replace the nylon link pins every so often). This will add a bit more weight to the cable chain but you won't have to fiddle with it as much. If you go the route of aluminium link pins, be sure to get some eyelet inserts to put into the chain link holes where the pins would go to help reduces friction grabbing.
Good Lord, man. I used to think I was pretty capable and bright...until I watched this. Don't let my wife see this...she'll throw rocks at me. Absolutely amazing the skills and the diversity of the skills you possess. You're very blessed.
Thanks so much Hartford Boothe. I'm sure you're selling yourself short based on not seeing all my boring mistakes and general foolery, but I'll take the complement, thanks :D
Incredible machine. I started middle in the video. Was shocked when I realized you were a young fellow. I was expecting some old guy (like most of the other video with this kind of quality).😂
Great machine build, Your machine is about twice the size of my biggest machine. So I built my first CNC with hand tools. I used the first CNC machine to make the parts to build a second CNC which is much more accurate (better than 20 microns or less than 1/1000th of an inch). Now I am building a new machine using the parts all made on my second machine. It is a lot of learning and experience is gained only by doing. I have also learnt G code and have become reasonably proficient at writing and editing G code. To get the axis aligned I use jigs and shims.Thanks for the video.
I found your channel by chance, and I am staggered by the bewildering combination of high end knowledge with what must be called garden-shed machines and materials. You have my attention, and I hope it maintains this level of fascination.
24:00 OMG I didn't notice that this was in a cobb / earth building either. Also laughed at various nuances this time. Fully and totally worth a rewatch.
Yeah, It's earth plaster over straw bale - makes for a toasty workshop most of the time, and does a good job of keeping rust off tools etc. Thanks for watching :)
I’m just speechless. I have no words adequate to properly describe my admiration for your vision, your fortitude, or your capabilities. I’m going to be studying and referring to this video many times. Thanks for putting such extra effort into your build that it took to create it.
Hey Christopher, thanks man :) Any questions just ask ;)
ive watched a lot of youtube builds.
and i dont think ive ever seen something quite so ambitious , well constructed, ingenious, meticulous, stoic, thrifty, inspiring, fun, inventive, educational, quirky, bold, haphazrad by design and therefore excellent and cheap.
there are some words.
i too cannot blow enough smoke up this fellas arse.
just brilliant.
the video making isnt bad either?!?!?!?
you would usually trade off bad editing or a little confusion of how the rabbit came out of the hat for such technical insight, but nope.
i just want to see the look on the scrap mans face in 40 years when it finally gets scrapped. lol
he will swear at you like no other human has ever done
Crikey you're not messing about with that beast are you ?! really ace build and to document the whole process.... thanks for sharing
Brilliant. Speaking as an engineer, I know PLENTY of engineers that wouldnt have done half as good a job as you did. Very well done!
Good morning. Really appreciate that friend :)
As a Fitting and Machining apprentice (I'm in my 50s and retraining after doing CAD work for years), I work on CNC machining centres quite a bit, (look at Okuma products about 20 years old; MC66, MC60, MC55, etc), which use G-code to drive them.
We do machining of metals (Aluminium, cast iron, mild steel, and some tool steels) routinely, and it's generally done with slower feeds and speeds than what you showed here (and jets of coolant for some of these) to enable the bits to last through a production run. All power to your machine, it is absolutely brilliant what you've achieved.
@bivingtons the kind that doesn't have any fabrication experience, it is pretty normal, engineers don't learn how to square two beams and weld it without heat distortion at college, they learn how to calculate the weld stress limit and the structure stress limit.
good job keep it up.
Amazing work dude! Truly, congratz!!
Dude... For not having "formal engineering education" you really killed it. That was some next level (no pun intended) of attention to detail.
It's an awesome machine, and you are an awesome craftsman.
Hey Zeen,
really appreciate the encouragement, thanks :D
It's amazing how broad and deep the scope of knowledge needed to build a good CNC is. I remember building one out of plywood a few years ago, torsion boxes to maintain rigidity because "aluminum is too expensive to make this rigid enough", skipping things that I felt entirely out of reach at the moment and simplifying as much as possible. Mind you, it was just a 90x90cm CNC for wood and some aluminum, with SBR rails that required less precision and much less force to manage. It wasn't a good CNC, it worked but every bit I knowingly skipped came to bite me in the butt.
It was a nightmare and a love project at the same time, took me months all in all. Had to learn a bunch of stuff on quite a few fields of knowledge. As and engineer and lifetime geek with experience in manual work and machining, it wasn't nearly enough.
What you've done is truly astounding. No single path can prepare you for that, plenty of engineers would fail to even grasp the full complexity of the project. It truly takes a jack-of-all-trades and master of several to pull this off. Hat's off to you. Now I wanna see this machine making some thick chips hahah
Hey Franklin, After being pushed and pulled to quite a lot of other non-CNC-related jobs, I was finally getting some time to play with it today. Enough to say it didn't go exactly as I would have liked, but somewhat pleasing nonetheless. Soooo much to learn, as you say... Your comment cheered me a lot and lessened my feeling of inadequacy for still being near the bottom of this learning curve. Sometimes I get so focused on the tasks at hand... It's nice to think back to all that's already been accomplished from time to time :)
Thanks for watching, and thanks especially for your encouragement,
Bongo.
@@FloweringElbow happens a lot, we often get pulled to do stuff that isn't exactly what we want or expected at the moment.
Man, you went all out on this one, issues are pretty much a given when it's all added up, but you can work it out.
Even companies with engineering/QA teams and big budgets often ship flawed machines and nobody bats an eye.
Pure tenacity. Enjoyed every minute. The scale of this project was next-level. Congratulations on its success. You are top-tier creative, and now with this thing, the sky's the limit!
Means a lot coming from you Pocket, thanks :D
good job keep it up.
As someone who has built a 4x2 ft router/plasma table using Alu extrusion, then converted a mill to CNC, I am very impressed. Subscribed.
The rotating ball nut is a critical and fantastic idea.
The inertia of the rotating ballscrew is definitely a limiter to accelerating the gantry in Y, but there's a bigger problem: The ballscrew is unstable in sag. As it sags more, the centripetal force from rotating throws the sag out more. This places an RPM limit on the rotating ballscrew than decreases quadratically with length. That limits the speed of traverse in Y.
It's too late now, but for folks thinking about building CNCs of this size, especially with concrete or epoxy granite damped frames, you might want to consider casting in tubing. By circulating water and controlling the temperature of that circulated water, you can limit the thermal expansion of the frame and ballscrews. Some ballscrews are available hollow. Circulating coolant through a ballscrew is a heck of a lot easier when it isn't rotating.
Note that coolant is a bit of a misnomer. There isn't generally a lot of heat input to the frame and ballscrews. Rather you want them to stay the same temperature, day or night, season to season.
By FAR the BEST diy CNC on TH-cam. Hands down. Why? From first principles, not a copy and better off for it. I will emulate this in future if ever build one at all. XXOO
The only thing I think you could/should have done differently is using helical cut rack and pinion with heavy spring preload for the long axis and MAYBE the second longest axis. I think the lowered work area is both genius and obvious - why no one else does this is beyond me. It makes PERFECT sense. If / when I do full sheet machine like this I want it to be multi process, so I've been thinking about how to achieve that and the best I came up with is 4 or maybe 6 machined-by-machine mounting faces positioned in Airy or Bessel points inward of the extremes so as to be possible to machine them. Then have either a water tray with plasma grill or sacrificial timber sheet, or massive T slot or grid holes sheet, also machined by the machine. Then you could unbolt the working surface from those points and remove it replace the one you need and swap on the head you need to match and bingo, though more likely both laser and plasma would coexist with the spindle motor as they're light weight anyway. Thoughts on those changes?
.00005 - .00002 vertical lines on radius cuts are about as good as it used to be for expensive CNC machine tools circa 1992. It is a circular interpolation issue. If you have the ability to change the calibration a visibly smooth radius may be possible. Good luck with that. The harder the metal the worse this issue is. But, functionally the parts are not likely to suffer this imperfection. I was working with inconel at the time for US military contract applications. I am amazed you were able to built this machine in such a small space. You must be a genius or very close to that level of understanding and abilities. Thanks for sharing this.
Its rare to see someone with such a grasp of engineering, ingenuity, and tooling skills. Cheers!
if you need to do a self-leveling epoxy again, use the vibration rig. also works for floating more liquid concrete/cement mixes. Vibration can help evenly spread the epoxy. out by repeatedly breaking the surface tensions
Hey Brian, that seems like a great tip. and I'm kicking myself that I didn't think of it at the time! Thanks for watching and the good idea :)
On a similar vein, I was surprised that the vibrator wasn't used during the compacting phase when installing the concrete damping.
@@d00dEEE I DID actually try that, to no avail. the concrete seemed just too stiff (and massive) to liquify with that single motor...
@@FloweringElbow Ah, that makes sense. And now that I think about it, the concrete mass was changing the harmonics (probably a lot), too, so that likely introduced enough damping that the vibrator was no longer effective...
@@d00dEEE yeah - in fact I think that's why it didn't cross my mind when it came to the epoxy..
IMO you are one of the few builders who understand/feel the importance of the mass and rigidity, I liked it! And the best proof of it is the ability to cut steel with an acceptable material removal rate and result. 👏
This build is incredible. Such a great effort investment to your workflow. Huge kudos to you. Wow.
Hey Jay, you wont remember this, but years ago, as a long term subscriber of yours, you gave me some advice about making videos for youtube. I very much appreciated that, and it means a lot to me to get a comment like that from you :D Thanks!
@@FloweringElbow Glad to hear that :) Have a wonderful day.
Brilliant. Bravo!
I have seen a few such machines on TH-cam, Frank Howarth being the most notable, but I have never seen a DIY system machine steel. It did so with no apparent chatter or issues of any kind, although you were wise to clear the swarth with those small cutters. I am seriously impressed, and I want to give that some context by saying I am a retired toolmaker and design engineer, so I have a feeling for the issues you faced and overcame. Very impressed indeed.
Hey Trevor, thanks man - that made me smile, it sure was a lot of work :)
This Old Tony made a CNC machine that could mill steel. He still ended up CNCing a real milling machine though. There's really no replacement for cast iron dovetails.
What a monster of a project with an amazing end result, excellent job! looking forward to more
This thing is insane! Builds like this help me keep motivation on my own CNC build. Awesome.
Making a CNC machine is always a lot harder than one may initially think it is going to be.
Very impressed indeed.
7:30 shrinking issues will be minimized by using _hydrophilic_ fiber in the mix. This additive releases moisture back into the cement gradually, compensating for excess moisture loss from the porous or exposed surfaces. Of course, placing a waterproof coating on the exposed surface, like wax spray or plastic film, also helps.
Finally found this video again, I'm building a CNC myself and this gave me lots of great ideas. I didn't go with resin in the end, just good old angle grinder and hand scraping
You should be absolutely PROUD of having achieved all of this. It's truly astonishing how much you've accomplished there!! Not only did you build a solid and very sturdy machine, but you also mastered a ton of individual tecniques in the process, to help you get there. I am thoroughly impressed! :)
Incredible in such a grand way, I do believe this CNC will be found one day 12800 years from now, and still be in spec. Nice job! 👍
This is the third time I have watched this video. Absolutely incredible the design, construction and materials selection well thought out. I can say that this is a remarkable achievement. Outstanding.
Thank you so much for the encouragement!
No words to described how impress I'm, thanks for sharing.
Best DIY machine video and build i have seen! seems like a really good blend of time, money and engineering!
Thankyou!
I come back to this video every few months, always entertaining
The real MVP is that taper-length 2mm drill. Cant believe it made 50 holes
lol. Surprised me too ;)
I'm thoroughly impressed. I'm definitely waiting for your next video.
2:16 let me just say at this point, that there is a hell of a lot of measuring that went into this, there have to be right angles all over and you're not in your CAD, you have to hold it tight or it will move, it's all by sight and welding also does it's thing and you have to take that into account.
What a monster of a project, I'm in awe.
some times youtube recomendations are perfect. What a wonderful build.
Wow... This is an impressive feat of engineering, a glorious display of patience and perseverance, and overall one of the best DIY videos that I've ever seen. You my friend are an inspiration.
simply amazing
That is a fantastic and really impressive result; absolutely blown away by its performance. Just something important with your placement of the emergency stop button, it gets blocked by the acylic chip guards when the Gantry is towards the front of the machine. Just something to be mindful of, especially whilst learning as it can be your best friend and save you a lot of money in cutters.
Hey Lechlan, thanks! And thanks for the reminder on the e-stop. I had clocked the potential irony of being blocked from pressing the e-stop by something advertising the best safety device!!!
As 30yrs a CNC man very well done amazing really!! your skill is incredible, and don't worry about all the mistakes that's all part off the process... Great Job
Thank you very much, appreciate your encouragement :D
Okay - *this* has to be the coolest video I've seen in some time. Absolutely top: fascinating, informative, entertaining, so well done!! You're incredibly clever and clearly quite expert in these topics. Thank you, for creating and sharing this!
i LOVE that power hacksaw. I grew up using one of those babies.....from tube, to ground stock....solid and reliable...last forever.
Going with the rotating ball nut was the key to success. I think too many throw money at problems, amazing build and patience. The steel milling finish was impressive.
this is a thing of absolute beauty in so many ways. The machine, your patience, your attitude, your attention to detail, your idea generation. I built my own semi-pro CNC, but this is so many levels above. Total masterpiece. You have every right to be proud.
Absolutely fascinating. I love the trials, tribulations and problem solving of this video. Using a modified concrete is genius. Tremendous effort. Cheers, JAYTEE
Man, the quality of work here is astonishing!
Very glad I watched this. Back in the 70's, DoAll company made metal cutting bandsaws with concrete filled steel casings to dampen vibration and increase mass.
I've been scavenging precision slides and ball screws from big industrial machines, for years now. Wish I had some younger help, at 70 I'm running out of strength! Great video, great thinking! Subscribed! Best to all!
Hi Richard, many thanks for leaving a comment :) Interesting stuff that bandsaw business, I bet it was a struggle with shipping costs. We actually came close to filling out bandsaw, which has a welded and folded sheet metal frame, with concrete and re-bar... Opted for sand fill in the end as we can drain it out from a plug rear the bottom when we move it. Thanks again, Bongo.
Loving it. Sometimes detailed plans are indeed overrated, but to eyeball this monster… respect. Also giggling over the looks on your friends’ faces after agreeing to help you move “for a pizza and a beer”.
Weld done ! Punn intended
Rigidity is necessary for repeatability, if your cutting speeds and rapids are low speed, Mass is not a serious issue.
Rapids are not necessary in a Diy project.
There are plywood kits that are rigid enough for non-production work.
Excellent engineering Sir!
I can hardly believe the magnitude of this project. Incredible. I was mesmerized from beginning to end of the video.
This is a fantastic machine! I was blown away by how well it was cutting steel!
Thanks John. Yeah I dared to hope, but was ready for that to be a flop - munched through it though :D
You should be VERY pleased and proud. This machine is a a marvel!!
Good morning Vlieger, thank you! :D
That has to be one of the most cool and interesting DIY builds ever. You had my interest when you build the gantry. I LOVE how what you can get defines much of the design. I can't really wait until you show us more. I also work on limited budget and use a lot of scrap parts, but still go for high quality and precision cuts on my next build. One of my biggest problems is how to make straight mounting surfaces for the rails, when I have no straight reference. I would love to se more of your experience with epoxy leveling.
All I have to say is wow. Thank you so much for sharing that. This will encourage many to attempt their own projects of this magnitude.
mate im halfway through a cnc plasma table build, although i dont expect great accuracy out of it and wouldnt consider it anywhere near an industrial grade cnc machine, youve given me some good design ideas to implement, and a whole heap of things i wouldnt of considered. Well done brother an inspiration to many. Cheers shan
Great to know it might be useful :D
You're going to be pleasantly surprised just how accurate CNC can be. It's all math and computers are very good at math. A thousandth of an inch is trivial to achieve.
You have the workshop I dream about!
I hope I get there some day.
Truly wonderful. I'm so impressed and really looking forward to all the wonderful things you'll make with this. It's really been an odyssey making this and a joy to watch. Thank you for the inspiration and taking us along for the journey.
Absolutely great work. I build lathe's and grinding machines 38 years.
You got an complete different way at the industrial way is.
I say different and not wrong! Your way is not more bad then the way I learned over 40 years ago.
But you also need a lot of measurement and controlling tool's.
The stffnes of your mill is much more better then I thought!!
So I can only say : well done and thank you for sharing with us!!
Sorry for my bad English, I am from Austria and speak and write English rarely...
Thanks so much for watching Nchtdiemama, and commenting, appreciate that :D
Congratulations on a awesome build. This machine will give you years of joy. You are definitely aware of how important it is to start with a great sturdy base. Don’t be scared to move away from Mach 3/4. Although I have been involved for the last 15 years with CNC I realized that the computer based setup with Mach do give glitches. Great for hobby but when you want reliability, do check in future after making some money to invest in a dedicated controller. They are dedicated and will give you very reliable machine with immediate startup. We converted our cnc plasma, router and milling machine to this controllers. Once again great video, great build. You are a creative person and this will bring very creative designs on a router. Very handy when you start doing signs for shops. 😎
Hey Johan, Thanks watching and for sharing your experience. I have to say, after only just getting to grips with Mach3 - writing tool change & relay actuator macros etc, I'm quite scared to even think about moving on right now...
What type of dedicated controller are you using?
Thanks again, Bongo.
@@FloweringElbow There is a few varients but they mostly all use a ARM processor. This is what we use, SZGH-CNC1000MDc. Best of luck😎
Mach 3 glitch? You don't say! Must be why it's been abandoned by the developers now. Personally I run LinuxCNC and it is as solid as a rock is. There's nothing better available.
Everyone can buy CNC.
Big boys make big beds by themselves!
Good job, man!
this is so absolutely fantastic! in the depths of my own cnc adventure and its so cool to see different solutions to the problems all who choose the cool kids path face. amazing job man :)
I'm afraid i have no words that would adequately express my complete amazement. Anyway well done, cheers!
The mind is probably the most powerful tool to have.
I watch a lot of youtube frabricators, far too many probably; however, this is the most clever design and build I have seen to date!
This was awesome! Thank you for posting this!
I'm building a 4x8 CNC machine myself and some of the choices you've made I will likely incorporate into my build. I too would like a machine that can potentially do steel but lack the mass of a frame like yours. Mine is extruded 8080 from 80/20 and bar stock but I was thinking of filling the profiles with epoxy gravel and seeing if that helps give the machine enough mass (it's only several hundred pounds right now). Still in the assembly phase as I just completed the frame and working on the ball screw assemblies. I built a custom CNC controller for it already that can support 4-axis as well as dual X-Axis (one as a mirrored slave similar to yours), 2 vacuums, and 2 other pumps for coolant. I'm using NEMA 34 Servos hybrids as they were not too expensive and can be upgraded as needed. I've never done anything like this before and only a hobby electronics guy and literally have never even used a CNC machine but I've always wanted to learn and what a wonderful project this has been. It's quite an expensive "can I do it" project, but I've learned so much about electrical, design, machining, g-code, computer programming, etc. Wouldn't have it any other way! Worth every penny and hour spent.
Hey George, that's great to hear! So pleased if fellow builders can get something from video... And all you say is spot on - sooooo much to learn. Sounds like you're well on your way :)
Best build I have ever seen.
Beautiful project! Amazing build! Congratulations to both of you!
Thank you very much Gary!
Yay :) Welcome back! :)
lol Thanks.
Grumpy Chops: Anyone who comments "Yay :) Welcome back! :)" doesn't deserve the handle "Grumpy Chops"! :o)
@@PiefacePete46 That's what happens when your children create your account for you! ;);)
@@grumpychops8113 You've got to love 'em though! 😋
I like the way you engage to your comments/viewers not so many you tubers reply.
Hi Sammy, well, we had better reply then! Greetings from Bongo and Sam :)
These monstrous shop upgrades with near vertical learning curves are always daunting, but nothing quite like the high's of surmounting them and then having them on your side to scale higher heights. This was impressive
Right on Mark. Thanks for watching:D
good job keep it up.
That is the most remarkable thing I have ever seen. Stunned.
Hehe thanks Mike :)
Your concrete mix was maybe a little overkill but it's heart warming to see such meticulous planning and optimization. I'm sure store bought dry-mix with extra fibers would have been sufficient.
Thank you! More expensive and not as fun though - at least if you have a penchant for overkill :D
It was a BIG ask but you did it! Well DONE!
That was an amazing build. I'd love to see you get into some aluminum plate using a full bit. The machine looks like it has enough mass to be able to handle that kind of a cut. I've seen a couple of others using sand and rock and epoxy but I like the way you did it better. A lot more DIY friendly and definitely massive.
Thanks Timmy! attempts of that kind will likely come in the next video if you can hang on ;)
You deserve a lot more subs. To people liking this video, please spread the news about this channel. About once a month, I find an amazing channel (from TH-cam suggestions) that has WAY too few subscribers. I'm pretty sure there's lots of them hiding out there under the radar. There needs to be a better way to give these channels more visibility.
What a great build
Really cool processes, and I like your use of alternatives for epoxy granite when you didn’t need the perfect dimensional stability
Thanks for a great vid!
Thank you very much Robert!
@@FloweringElbow of course!
Amazing video, watching you grab the fiber glass with your hand gave me goosebumps.
Very good job!!!
You seriously have skills. Really turned out well.
I love it! I want to see more of this device as well. just one thing though I really feel you need to get your vacuum system more integrated as I have seen many end mills shatter in work pieces sending shrapnel everywhere. you need more than a face shield you need body armor if you are going to be that close to the work
Hi Tren, I totally agree! Working on it - its fairly tricky to get a system that's good for extracting the full gambit of waste from the differing materials I'm throwing on here. I'm working on it though.
Spot-on 👍🏻👍🏻
The trick for getting a perfectly flat epoxy leveling is to use a hairdryer on it after you pour. This gets the bubbles out and reduces viscosity to allow it to self-level.
Also, leave an inch of unused surface around the edges. It will never be level close to the sides. It will be slightly raised there.
If you did it right no scraping is necessary. If you have to scrape the whole process is pointless.
Depending on the size, you can also cast epoxy directly against a surface you already know to be flat like a granite surface plate.
Don't use water to reduce surface tension. It prevents curing properly. Use an isopropyl alcohol mist if you have to.
man I've watch some sh*te on TH-cam with 10's of millions of views...this is by far one of the best channels/content I accidently stumbled across... I salute you sir.
Appreciate that James, thanks 😊
someone better cuddle that cat! CATS NEED CUDDLES!!!
Without realizing it, I found myself smiling like an idiot at such simple yet super effective building methods. Truly inspiring mate, thanks a lot for the video.
MDF, like all wood products, isn’t dimensionally stable, principally due to humidity variation; it will be contributing to the machine’s inaccuracies. Before running a part that you’re trying to hold tighter tolerances on; expect to need to re-level the spoilboard.
Good afternoon Dark Winter, thanks for commenting. Yes I agree. I might slowly start melting and making thick alu plates to replace at least some of the MDF. As you say it isn't super stable - neither is it super rigid: I can deflect it quite a bit with my body weight between the box steel slats... Thanks, Bongo.
You could mesh map it.
This is pretty awesome. You know you did well when it eats through every material you throw at it.
Amazing. Prime example of what is lost when engineering degrees are only handed out by academia.
You need another bracket on the top of the spindle ...should take any wobble out with proper feeds and speeds
Sure, sure. And then you will discover that that's still not enough and then you add something else and then one more and another one and... Of course, if you had done the calculations, then you would have known that your design was never going to pass decent deflection and wobble criteria. :-)
H beams are bad against twisting forces.
I’m looking at making cnc with square tubular frame, then fill it with sand for vibration damping. Is this a good idea
How do I maintain accuracy when welding it together and I’m using linear roller ways
An extreme amount of materials research went into this, you state just build as you go, but not that simple was it. I appreciate the engineering behind the scenes.
The video where we test this baby! th-cam.com/video/zTQJpwYjUeg/w-d-xo.html
If you would like the 3D CAD model to play with, and/or to get our metalized epoxy recipe/guide, go here: ko-fi.com/floweringelbow/shop Thank you for watching friend!
We are in the process of putting together a big document, full of diagrams and details about this machine build. When it's done we will add the links here & in the description above.
If there is any element of this you are curious about please ASK! We love to hear from you and will reply, and it might be something we write about in the document we're making...
Peace n Love,
Bongo and Sam
Love this. I'm in the process of doing something similar with a focus on repeatability, sort of decentralized production for proliferation. My design uses junk aluminum cast using a lost-foam method, bearings are 608RS(lots of them) on concrete-filled steel tubing, acme leadscrews, steppers, LinuxCNC, 2 1/4HP wood router for now. Desktop machine, less than a meter square footprint. Next version will switch to helical rack&pinion drive.
With all of that info, I know everything you're going through with this, and it's fair to say that your build is going to be far better than mine in terms of sheer cutting capability. Mine's easier to get into for new builders, yours is just better. Great job.
@@lowellhouser7731 That sounds like a cool build. Thanks for watching, and good luck with the rack & pinion version.
@@FloweringElbow Dude, I can't wait to see what you can make with yours. I can tell, you really have only scrapped the surface. This thing is gonna be great.
@@FloweringElbow Love this vid. Liked and subbed. Also, I don't know if you're into 3D printing at all but if so, I have a suggestion for the cable chain: 3D print it out of 95A shore or higher Filaflex flexible filament. It will solve your creaking issue as well as give better vibration damping. It's also fairly light so it shouldn't add much extra weight if any to the gantry movement. Use nylon link pins with cotter pins through the exit ends to join the links so that you have adequate lubrication on it without having to grease/oil it since nylon is self-lubricating and rigid enough for that application. I'm also suggesting the cotter pins as the link retainers for the nylon link pins because it will make it much easier later on if you ever have to do any maintenance to the lines. You could also use aluminium link pins and give them a light coat of white lithium grease if you prefer a stronger link that requires less maintenance (e.g. having to replace the nylon link pins every so often). This will add a bit more weight to the cable chain but you won't have to fiddle with it as much. If you go the route of aluminium link pins, be sure to get some eyelet inserts to put into the chain link holes where the pins would go to help reduces friction grabbing.
@@ka0skontrol504 Thanks for this, sounds like good advice. One day I'll join this century and get a 3d printer. Not sure when though ;)
Good Lord, man. I used to think I was pretty capable and bright...until I watched this. Don't let my wife see this...she'll throw rocks at me. Absolutely amazing the skills and the diversity of the skills you possess. You're very blessed.
Thanks so much Hartford Boothe. I'm sure you're selling yourself short based on not seeing all my boring mistakes and general foolery, but I'll take the complement, thanks :D
NICE CNC ....TELL YOUR WOMAN TO HIDE HAIR !!! MAY LOSE OR SOMETHING WORSE HAPPEN
Incredible machine. I started middle in the video. Was shocked when I realized you were a young fellow. I was expecting some old guy (like most of the other video with this kind of quality).😂
This is awesome! Super cool to see it cutting steel and cast iron.
Would love to see an extended cut.
I look forward to seeing more!
Man. what a great video. Truly marvelous resourcefulness.
Great machine build, Your machine is about twice the size of my biggest machine. So I built my first CNC with hand tools. I used the first CNC machine to make the parts to build a second CNC which is much more accurate (better than 20 microns or less than 1/1000th of an inch). Now I am building a new machine using the parts all made on my second machine. It is a lot of learning and experience is gained only by doing. I have also learnt G code and have become reasonably proficient at writing and editing G code. To get the axis aligned I use jigs and shims.Thanks for the video.
I found your channel by chance, and I am staggered by the bewildering combination of high end knowledge with what must be called garden-shed machines and materials. You have my attention, and I hope it maintains this level of fascination.
LOL - My favorite comment for some time! 'garden-shed machines and materials' it is! Thanks for watching friend :)
24:00 OMG I didn't notice that this was in a cobb / earth building either. Also laughed at various nuances this time. Fully and totally worth a rewatch.
Yeah, It's earth plaster over straw bale - makes for a toasty workshop most of the time, and does a good job of keeping rust off tools etc. Thanks for watching :)
Un-friggin'-believable! Loved it, you are inventive, productive, and a genius of machine making. hats off!
bravo! What a fun watch, thank you. Youve just inspired a very expensive and impractical new dream for me to work towards!
That is amazing. Thank you for sharing your journey. You have so much resilience!
Love the rotating nut detail - that is a "number 1" feature for a fast machine..
Attention to true and straight can't be overstated...