Chip Peterson
03-30-2009, 2:43 PM
I've found that there is a big economic danger in being informed and supported by such a great resource as Sawmill Creek. First, with the confidence gained here, I jumped into the world of laser engraving/cutting. Then, it was dye sublimation (probably should have sat out on that one). Now, thanks in part to you all, I've entered the world of CNC machining.
Saturday, I moved my "new" Shopbot into my shop. It's a 2002, 60" x 96" PRT standard. It came with a vacuum table (I removed it- more in a moment), Steel City dust collector, 2 Fein III vacs, computer and lots of software. This bad-boy weights a bloody ton, and don't let anyone tell you that it will be easy with a friend (or was that "it won't be easy"?). This one was 120" long and for some reason it was cut down to 8'.
So the plan is to take my time squaring, tightening, leveling, lubing, updating everything I can before giving it power. I removed the old spoil board/plenum which was only 4' x 8' so that I could redesign it to use the whole table size.
I'm also smoothing the rails by sanding/filing it to maximize the accuracy of the cut. I just ordered new pinions (had original ones!) and the 4g upgrade controls.
New electric will be pulled, new dust collection runs will be made to use the central system (anyone wanna buy a steel city?), and overall fun will take place before flipping the switch.
Anyway, just wanted to thank you all for helping me spend my money!
Saturday, I moved my "new" Shopbot into my shop. It's a 2002, 60" x 96" PRT standard. It came with a vacuum table (I removed it- more in a moment), Steel City dust collector, 2 Fein III vacs, computer and lots of software. This bad-boy weights a bloody ton, and don't let anyone tell you that it will be easy with a friend (or was that "it won't be easy"?). This one was 120" long and for some reason it was cut down to 8'.
So the plan is to take my time squaring, tightening, leveling, lubing, updating everything I can before giving it power. I removed the old spoil board/plenum which was only 4' x 8' so that I could redesign it to use the whole table size.
I'm also smoothing the rails by sanding/filing it to maximize the accuracy of the cut. I just ordered new pinions (had original ones!) and the 4g upgrade controls.
New electric will be pulled, new dust collection runs will be made to use the central system (anyone wanna buy a steel city?), and overall fun will take place before flipping the switch.
Anyway, just wanted to thank you all for helping me spend my money!