Here below are the few diagrams we did from the original design on Jenks page. They were made to get an overall comprehension of the machine basis.parts that go in the design and assembly of a linear axis CNC machine.
We downloaded the full Rhino model and modified it. We simplified the design in order to fit the materials and design we had on mind. We wanted the size of the machine to be the module of a big plywood sheet in order to have the posibility to grow into a full size plywood sheet, but our first prototype was made out of scrap material that we found on the lab so the size was decided out of the availability of it. Our first machine used:
-Rails: Laser cut acrilic
-Frame: scrap wood strips
-Gears & slide blocks/tighteners: 3D printed
-Motors: Nema 17, mostly to check the fit to both the motor plates and the gears
At the end of the week we cut all the pieces and built it. We found that the modular joint we designed for the acrilic rails, was an obstacle for the smooth run of the x rail. We add the redesign of the joint to the To Do list. We also realized that the square and parallelism of the rails was fundamental for the machine to work. Here we have some snapshots of the model and the prototype runing handoperated:
Our second week's machine was an scale up of the first one. As we used brand new materials we could set its size to our taste. We made it 610x625mm. These measures came from the modulation of a 2500x1220 plywood sheet, which is very standard measure here. We found there was a piece of HDPE big enough to fi tour design. We were very excited to use this material as it is low friction and seemed perfect for the rails. As we scaled up the machine we also searched for a way to have a squared railing and support. The support was designed to be built out of 3 layers of 30 mm MDF. They were modeled to have a series of machined holes that would square them with screws (or so we thought). This was the same tactic used for the HDPE rails and MDF base, machine the same hole pattern as in the support trusting that the squares will maintain them align. We mixed last week’s machine design with the Jenk’s Hank Machine. This changed were mainly on the gliders as we decided to mill them instead of 3d printing them.
-Rails: Milled 12 mm HDPE
-Frame: Milled 30mm MDF
-Slide blocks/tighteners: Milled 12 mm HDPE
-Gears: 3D printed
-Motors: Nema 17
-Electronics: Arduino, CNC shield and polulus steper controllers
