Pertneer's Blog

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…)

So I worked some more on the Clutch today. The uncomfortable portion up under the dash. This would have been easier if I didn’t have a full cage, The dash was out, and the front seat was not in the way. I pressed through to get this thing done.

First I bolted the YJ master cylinder to the firewall in its original location on the YJ tub. Then the first obstacle presented itself. Seams they changed the mounting location that attaches the clutch rod through the fire wall when they went to the hydraulic setup. Easy enough to fix, just drill a new hole. Ya, easier said than done. After doing a little research on how the pedal is held into the mount. It was easier to search on the internet than try to see up under the dash while standing on my head! Looked easy enough, Just needed to take off an external snap ring. Keep in mind I am still standing on my head, hanging on with one hand and trying to pry it off with a screw driver. No snap ring pliers. once the snap ring came flying off and I found it in the tall grass. Ya I need to mow. Where are the neighborhood kids when you need them (LOL). Got the hole drilled and put the pedal back into place only to have to try to put on that stupid snap ring with my bare hands. After fifteen minutes and a bloody finger I took a trip to Farm and Fleet to get a set of 927 Retaining ring Pliers. Well worth the money. I have had cheaper brands that just barely allow you to get a snap ring on before they break, yes I said “A” snap ring. It took me like one try to get the snap ring on while upside down under the dash.

Now that I have this attached to the pedal all I have left to do is get the line hooked up. With the YJ cylinder I will need a hydraulic fitting to couple the stock master cylinder to 7/16 X 24 inv -3 hose.

This fitting will allow the use of a standard brake line to connect the master to the slave. We shall see.

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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As promised, I will be adding the files to this location as I get them ready for distribution.
Downloads are only available to registered users.

After using the table for quite some time, I have discovered a few issues. First off with my design for the guide rails using the v-groove wheels is flawed. The current design only uses these bearings on the top of the rail. With this type of setup it tends to not want to stay on the rails. Also when you cut thin material it tends to lift one side of the other when you change directions rapidly.

So I have been working on a new design. seen below.

The z axis will remain unchanged as will the table itself. The main changes are with the gantry itself. (more…)

Been a while since I did a write up for this blog. I guess it is overdue.

A couple of weeks ago I was trying to line up a sheet on the Plasma table and struggling to locate a part within a piece of material very close to the same size as I was planning to cut. I told myself, “Self you need to make something to help with this little issue”. I only talk to myself on very rare occasions. Stop being so judgmental.

I decided to take a trip to the hardware store to see what I could use to make a device to locate my sheet. First thought was a device that went off of the edge of the table but seams too simple. So then I though about using a laser to help locate the sheet. Sounded like a nice little project. So I went in search of some sort of laser line generator. Off to the laser level isle. I found a cheap little level that had a laser line that could be rotated for around 15 bucks. Was hoping for something a little cheaper because I would need two of these.

I started off with just purchasing one (tight budgets suck) to make sure it would work as I expected.

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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 needed some tools to make some calculation for certain areas of the build of my plasma table. I have decided that these tools may be of use to others also as they begin their journey building a CNC Plasma.

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I have been running the machine through its paces the last few days. Today I testing the positioning accuracy of it today. I wrote a program to have the machine rapid out 84 inches then rapid back to with in 1 inch of zero then feed into zero. I did this 20 times and the machine stopped at zero plus or minus .0003 every time.

Enjoy the video.

Since I recently got this machine actually moving I have been putting it through some tests. The other day I create a G-code program to move the table throughout its travel in various directions to make sure it worked as expected and returned to its previous position.

Since the table is driven by stepper motors instead of servos loosing steps is always a concern. This is generally contributed with pushing the machine to fast resulting is the stepper motors loosing there count. Not sure why, but is does happen.

After tuning the motors in Mach 3 to suitable settings I proceeded with the testing. I started with the table at around a travel speed of 600 in/min but was not happy with the sound the table was making. It sounded like it was struggling to make the moves this fast. So I slowed it down to 450 in/min. Still a respectable speed for a rapid move. This sounded a lot better and leaves some room for improvement.

This video shows the path I programmed in and the speed in which it travels.

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