THC Sliding mechanisms RATTMMOTOR HBX1605 Linear Motion Guide

[SegoMan DeSigns]

40 Pitch attachment (gantry to chain):

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Reduction driver mechanism 35 pitch nickle plated chain:

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[N2 Welding]

My heavy gantry dictated a different setup than Tom's

I used 3/4" C R round for the shaft that controls both sides of X supported by 6 bearings:


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This is the idler /tensioner:


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A constant load on the 40 pitch roller chain of approx 300 Lbs / side is done with urethane bushings



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I’m guessing from looking that your motor is static / stationary at a fixed location at one end of the table and the chain moves around the moto to and from the gantry? Is chain rust an issue?

Edit: Oh you ninja posted on me while I was asking. So yeah your chain drive motor is set up with reduction under the table with the bigger drive sprocket transferring the motion to both sides of the table via driveshaft?

Do you have a build thread on your table and set up? It looks very hobby related video/pinball game like in design concept. Very cool

[SegoMan DeSigns]

Those look nice. I can see potential for wiring issues. The connectors face towards the output shaft with short distance between the two and I see potential for cable binding because of the short cleanse issue. I guess it could be mitigated depending on how the motors are clocked. With these motors, it seems as though more longer cables would be required or do they use the same amount of wires as a closed loop stepper motor?

It's really not an issue as you can clock it in the best direction for your setup. The motor may or may not be mounted to a gear box or adapter like on the slider I gave you a link to. The hook up wires are flexible, I can take a picture of mine if you like. ClearPath has an ethernet servo as well, I would like to see some photo's of Rodw's system. With all of this information thrown your way you have to decide what works for the budget you have allotted for the project. Start compiling information for your owners manual now and always allow room for upgrading down the road.

Hi SegoMan - Thanks for sharing your experience. It's always nice to hear about users' success and to see them recommend ClearPath to others. I'm an Applications Engineer with Teknic (we manufacture the ClearPath integrated servos) and I wanted to add some clarification for anyone considering ClearPath for their builds. We actually don't have a ClearPath servo with a built-in Ethernet interface (yet!). What you may have seen is an EtherNet/IP controller product that controls ClearPath-SD servos, but this controller is not geared for the CNC market as it was designed primarily for point-to-point applications, not CNC contouring motion.

To elaborate a bit more on N2 Welding's question about cabling, ClearPath has the servo drive integrated onto the back of the motor. This would replace both the stepper motor and the stepper drive. For the NEMA 23 and 34 sizes, you would wire DC power and control signals (Step, Direction, Enable, feedback) directly to the ClearPath, hence the two different connectors. Oftentimes this saves on cabling compared to traditional closed loop steppers because the encoder signals are kept internal to ClearPath, i.e. no need for expensive shielded motor cables (even on plasma cutters).

I hope this helps! If you have additional questions you can always call us (585-784-7454) or submit a contact request through our website (https://teknic.com/contact/).
Best of luck with the build!

Regards,
Matt C. - Teknic Servo Systems Engineer

Matt,

Team Technic had the best customer service out of all of the vendors I dealt with on this build.

To clarify the cabling comment I made, you guys make some very well built and flexible cables, they just have no ground sheath which is not an issue for your system, However static can be a problem for some controllers so I built by own cables out of cat 5E shielded LAN cable and installed the Molex connectors that you very well documented in your owners manual.

This system is going to be upgraded with a nylon woven Cat 7 patch cables in the moving part of the gantry with patch bays on either end for quick trade out. A Molex to CAT adapter was suggested on one of my conversations to Teknic that would allow pre-built cat cables to be used for signal cables.

Thanks for the clarification of my comments,

Steve

[SegoMan DeSigns]

I’m guessing from looking that your motor is static / stationary at a fixed location at one end of the table and the chain moves around the moto to and from the gantry? Is chain rust an issue?

Edit: Oh you ninja posted on me while I was asking. So yeah your chain drive motor is set up with reduction under the table with the bigger drive sprocket transferring the motion to both sides of the table via driveshaft?

Do you have a build thread on your table and set up? It looks very hobby related video/pinball game like in design concept. Very cool

Answers:

The nickle plated chain has not shown any rust or stretching in over 3 years of use, the idler sprocket bearing developed some rough spots and were replaced.

2:23 of the video shows the chain in motion

This was a budget build made from a lot of leftovers in the shop, the main frame use to be a canopy over a c-store. anything larger than this I would probably separated the gantry from the water pan / base.

There is some additional build videos on my channel.

[N2 Welding]

I’ll have to go have a look see at those other videos. Ok now I’m off to go clean up around here. Need to make room for future projects.

[N2 Welding]

@acourtjesture my TD torch is 1-3/8” diameter. What size torch diameter is that CNC plastic printed torch holder with magnetic brake away you designed for?

[N2 Welding]

Ok I was starting to get a little antsy so I purchased the parts in the links below to fabricate the THC Mechanical unit. I did not see what size shaft comes on that Nema 23 motor so I'll have to measure it when it arrives to see what other motors can be used in it's place or if there are any adapters that can be used to convert a thicker motor drive shaft to the smaller lead screw.

For up and down movements:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B1M ... YPBBY&th=1

For Free floating movements:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08GS ... =UTF8&th=1

[acourtjester]

Well the Ball is rolling now, one day at a time. The diameter of the torch older is 1-3/8" which has been posted here are a standard for machine torches.

[Rodw]

Well the Ball is rolling now, one day at a time. The diameter of the torch older is 1-3/8" which has been posted here are a standard for machine torches.

Or 35mm in real units

[acourtjester]

that is why I have an Icon on the desktop for a convert program.
convert.com free works great has many categories

[N2 Welding]

Yeah those mm measurements throw me off. I had to google 200mm to inches before I ordered the free floating rails. I’m hoping they are not to stiff as one person said they were too stiff for their application. Next I need to find some thick aluminum plate so I can start fab’n it up once those two orders arrive.

[Rodw]

Really guys you are well and truly in the minority. Still Standing strong with Liberia an Myanma as one of 3 using imperial units...

Screenshot 2023-02-01 115455.png

And it continues to cost your country money.....

[N2 Welding]

how is it costing us money???

[Rodw]

how is it costing us money???

Well you lost a spaceship once because of it....
But the continual conversions to your units has to hit productivity.
I understand most US engineers have seen the light and use SI units.

[N2 Welding]

Rod I was hoping you could explain in greater detail how those Mesa kits that use linuxcnc are more advanced with THC and how they improve cut quality. Would you like me to start another thread as suggested? Does it all come down to response times from reading the voltage to moving the motor and any latencies involved in each indivdual circuits of the THC process?

[djreiswig]

how is it costing us money???

Well you lost a spaceship once because of it....
But the continual conversions to your units has to hit productivity.
I understand most US engineers have seen the light and use SI units.

I always wondered what the rest of the world uses for the square drive on socket wrenches. Never seen anything but the 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", 3/4" & 1" drives, even on the metric sockets.

[Rodw]

how is it costing us money???

Well you lost a spaceship once because of it....
But the continual conversions to your units has to hit productivity.
I understand most US engineers have seen the light and use SI units.

I always wondered what the rest of the world uses for the square drive on socket wrenches. Never seen anything but the 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", 3/4" & 1" drives, even on the metric sockets.

Yes but the same applies for gear cutting you use the metric mod system disguised as imperial per agreement during the war years.
There are many historic standards like socket drives set by Britain or USA that still stand.

You see increasing use of NEMA 24 motors which are 60mm side vs NEMA 23 which is 57mm. Nema 24 is much more metric!

[N2 Welding]

Yep a whole 3mm more :p

[Rodw]

Have a look at the bolt pitch its 50mm, nice and metriccy, not 47.14mm

[adbuch]

Lots of great information here! Perhaps admin could move this thread to the DIY section of the forum where it could be more easily found in the future by others seeking information on these subjects.

David

[N2 Welding]

Lots of great information here! Perhaps admin could move this thread to the DIY section of the forum where it could be more easily found in the future by others seeking information on these subjects.

David

Looks like it was moved. I’ll most likely start a table build thread with links to my questions threads like this one here. This way the build thread is more direct with how it is being built vs a lot of questions and answers during the learning planning and figuring it out stages.

Good news, the big motorized sliding portion should be here by tomorrow if all goes well in shipping.

[SegoMan DeSigns]

[/quote]
I always wondered what the rest of the world uses for the square drive on socket wrenches. Never seen anything but the 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", 3/4" & 1" drives, even on the metric sockets.
[/quote]

I know they make an All / 16" Crescant Wrench, I'm sure a metric design is out there

[SegoMan DeSigns]

Yeah those mm measurements throw me off. I had to google 200mm to inches before I ordered the free floating rails. I’m hoping they are not to stiff as one person said they were too stiff for their application. Next I need to find some thick aluminum plate so I can start fab’n it up once those two orders arrive.

Depending on your O.S. you should be able to find a unit converter on Win7 they offer a Gadget called "Unit Converter" Some refer to them as "Widgets"

[N2 Welding]

Thank you Segoman.

I’m presently researching costs associated with different geared types of movements. At the moment I’m pricing rack and pinion. I understand rack and pinion when set up properly so there is no binding or too sloppy that there will still be some amount of back lash in an area from .003 to .007-ish of backlash. This place claims to have affordable rack and pinion sets. https://www.automation4less.com/store/cart.asp

I put the followingitems in a cart to price it and it comes to roughly $375. They offer free shipping with most orders over $200.

2x 32 teeth 1/2” shaft 20 deg pinion gears
2x 72” 20 deg racks and
3x 48” 20 deg racks and

They also sell a 20 deg alignment tool to assist in aligning helical cut racks edge to edge. It is not needed for the straight cut parts I put in the cart and is roughly $13 for any interested in knowing.

Helical cut gears are suppose to be quieter but can also lead to quicker wear and tear on associated parts.

[SegoMan DeSigns]

Be sure to add the alignment tool to the list if you go that route, it's on top of the R & P page. They also sell HIWIN linear rails.