Pertneer's Blog

I attached my Gopro camera to the under side of my Jeep so I could see how much deflection I could see with this new set up.
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Sure I know you have seen a million posts about how Jeep steering is very lacking in the control aspect. This is not one of those posts! My steering issues stem from a worn out steering column and as you will find out, a previous owner tried to “fix”. I have that in quotes for a reason. Only after looking at a schematic and figuring out that someone added a washer under the spring that did little, if not cause more issues than before. Because of their bad modification I had to try to come up with something myself. (more…)

This version of the gantry has undergone some changes since its inception. Mostly because I didn’t foresee everything needed to make these changes before i started and had to make some more changes. Others were changed for future plans, while still retaining functionality until the other changes are made. This image is the future version it will finish in. The main difference from what I am doing now is the addition of the second linear rail on the y axis (gantry carrying axis). The other is a lower profile of the gantry itself to allow a better connection between the welded pieces and a overall aesthetics of the gantry itself.
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Since I have completed this project and not updated the outcome I figured an update was in order.

Since I finished this I have used it quite a bit, but it has a few flaws.

• it proved to be very hard to get the lines to meet exactly where they needed to be, I should have designed in a was to adjust them
• The laser of choice did not last as long as I had hoped. Although they worked great for the first couple of days, they have since become very dim. Almost to the point of not being able to see them any more.
• needed to incorporate a better way to plug them in. I only used a drop cord for the first few days as a power source and never finished the wiring (well they were to dim to use anyway)

What i would change (read on)

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I got my New Hypertherm Powermax 65 torch this weekend and finally got it hooked up. After a minor voltage divider issue I have it working satisfactory for now. I do have some intermittent issues with vibrations in the z axis that sometimes leaves a serated edge. I believe these to be from the excessive weight of the z axis. I am in the process of figuring what can be done to resolve these issues, but I need to cut myself a tray to hold the keyboard and mouse. Here is the design I came up with.

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I had a co-worker wanted me to make him a custom exhaust for his racing mower. He brought me the pipe and a flange. I bent the tube to avoid the steering and the foot rest with it exiting the side of the mower Nascar style. Here is what I come up with:

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It has been awhile since I last updated this, but this last week has been very busy with the build.

I received the last order of steel before and spent quite a bit of time preparing  for the construction of the table top. It has also gone through some other design changes. mostly to keep the cost down but others for functionality and some others just because the steel company sent the wrong steel or did not have what I wanted.

The first of these changes are with the width of the grates that the steel with sit on while being cut. I would have preferred to use just 1/8 inch wide material, but the steel supplier did not have that thickness. Why I do not know but they are a supplier for major industry and not just hobbyists. So I made the necessary changes to accommodate.

As seen in previous posts I have finished the gantry. I had a place Water-jet out the side pieces for it, instead of making them myself. Sometimes just getting it done quicker is better than cheaper. They were not as good of quality as that last place I used in the past, but that was due to me not specifying the tolerances correctly. Mental note: Sometimes it is better to do it yourself.

I started out with cutting the pieces for the table frame and taking the two cross pieces to work to make sure they were exactly the same length. This proved to be to my advantage later. I then clamped all of the pieces together making sure to measure all dimensions at least four times. Making sure the dimensions were correct to my prints as well as assuring that the frame remained as square as possible. Since this was the basis for the entire rest of the machine it had to be as close to perfect as I could get it. I then tacked all four corners together and rechecked all of the dimensions again. I then welding the inside for each corner and rechecked all the dimensions again. Yes it is easier to check them again and again before it gets completely welded and then try to fix the dimensions after it is completely welded. Especially if you do not have access to a very large press and with the table being 4 1/2 feet by 9 1/2 feet in size it would have to be a big press.

Then came the water pan. I used a piece of 14 ga. material that started out as 5 x 10 foot. I cut it to size and started tacking it in place to the under side of the table. I then finished welding it in small sections on a side to keep the level of heat down to a minimum. Me in my rush to see some progress may have got a little carried away with the speed at which I did this and ended up putting in about a 1 inch crown in the table. I had a plan and was hoping that by the time I added the angle to the top of the table the crown would pull itself out. This happened for the most part. The rest I got out when I clamped it to the legs. and welded on the mounting pads for the table to attach to them. Overall you can not even see that there is a little bit of a crown in the middle of the table. I do mean little. It is less than a 1/64 of an inch. Not to bad.

This first picture is of the gantry ends. They are made from 1/4 inch aluminum. Too bad I sent them to get made before I remembered I needed to attach them to the 2 x 3 inch square tube. Since I do not have the ability to weld aluminum I had to come up with another way. These attachments had to keep them square to the crossbeam and parallel to each other.

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