Open Builds OX CNC - The Big Green OX IS BACK!

[Brent Dowell]

 

[Bill Arnold]

 

[Carol Reed]

WooHoo!

I remember the thrill of opening the boxes and then starting the assembly. Back at it soon!

 

[Robert Johnson]

 

[Sharon Korn]

Sharon is definitely a long suffering wife.

All is forgiven with the reminder that it's 46 days to TG 2016 (saving you the problem, Don). I don't expect the bench, but the table would be nice (i hear you can make anything with a 3-D printer now days, anyway)

 

[Brent Dowell]

Well, There's going to be a lot of tapping going on, and I found out that doing each of these 15mm deep by hand is going to get a little annoying, so I made a littel tapping guide block out of maple and chucked the tap up into my little drill.

Seems to work pretty good so far



Well, with all the painting I'm doing on this, I can't quite leave the cut ends on the extrusions unfinished, so needed to paint those too.



After all that painting and prep, finally got to the point where I could get some assembly done. This is complete through step 2 of the instructions.

really liking the combination of Green and Black.

 

[Ted Calver]

Nice! Are you assembling on a piece of steel? granite? corian? as a flat surface?

 

[Darren Wright]

Coming along nicely, good idea of using the drill for the tapping.

 

[Brent Dowell]

Nice! Are you assembling on a piece of steel? granite? corian? as a flat surface?

A piece of MDF I painted black. I'm obsessed I tell you!

Coming along nicely, good idea of using the drill for the tapping.

Was really worried about tapping that way, but it seems to be working fine. Only a few more holes to tap. Did about 30 so far I think? give or take a few.

Got the gantry assembled at any rage. So glad I paid someone else to cut all the pieces to the right lengths. It's really going together quite easily.

I really like the way the gantry slides. it's very smooth.

I know the aesthetics will make no difference in how it works, but I really do like the black anodized aluminum and the neon green accents.

 

[Leo Voisine]

Looking really good.

I like the neon green and black too

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

Add another yes vote for the green and black color scheme. Looking good, Brent!

 

[Carol Reed]

OK. The colors are sexy.

I do have a concern. You are mounting this on a piece of MDF. How do you plan to resist the flex of a single sheet of MDF? The MDF flexes at all and your CNC base racks throwing off all your depths of cuts. At the least, I would build a torsion box with your MDF to avoid any racking.

Just my 2 cents, but I am remembering my ShopBot and the table I had to build to keep it flat and solid.

How are you guys with the Shapeko mounting your bases to keep them from flexing?

 

[Brent Dowell]

OK. The colors are sexy.

I do have a concern. You are mounting this on a piece of MDF. How do you plan to resist the flex of a single sheet of MDF? The MDF flexes at all and your CNC base racks throwing off all your depths of cuts. At the least, I would build a torsion box with your MDF to avoid any racking.

Just my 2 cents, but I am remembering my ShopBot and the table I had to build to keep it flat and solid.

How are you guys with the Shapeko mounting your bases to keep them from flexing?

I'm not mounting it on this. This is just my build surface. Once I get it built and start making spoil boards I'll be making a torsion box for it to use as a base.

 

[Brent Dowell]

Just an example of how well packed this kit is. Everything is in a separate ziplock bag and labeled.

I've been using one of those compartment storage trays to keep all the parts organized while I go through and put things together.


And Here we go. Z-axis assembled and mounted!

Now I have to go do some other things, but will get back to it later tonight. I'm not going to rush through this. I want to make sure I do this right the first time.

 

[Bill Arnold]

OK. The colors are sexy. ...

... How are you guys with the Shapeko mounting your bases to keep them from flexing?

Technically, I didn't build a torsion box but close. I built a frame for my shelf using 2x4 stock that I planed on one edge to make the tops dead on. On top of that, I added a layer of good 3/4" plywood topped with 3/4" MDF. The frame of my SO2 is attached to the MDF and has 20mm by 20mm extrusions running the full length of my rails. On top of that, I have 3/4" MDF that I use mainly as a base for other material on which I place the pieces to be cut.

 

[Dan Noren]

i used the torsion box idea for using a vacuum hold down idea, but that didn't pan out so good. so i used it as the base for my cnc. that paint job almost makes me want to take mine down a bit, and hit the candy apple red, or even plum crazy.

 

[Brent Dowell]

I'm still debating on 'where' to put this. Leaning towards a permanent spot on one of my counters int he shop thouhg. Those are already torsion boxes, but a little narrow.

 

[Garry Foster]

Well I am letting my little ShapeokoII flex and it hasn't been an issue so far. Largest bit I can hold is 1/8 inch and the Z axis is weaker than the base. I would like to get another extrusion someday to make the base a little more solid... I think from what I have seen a well designed/built torsion box is the answer in most cases for machine the size of mine. Of course I am running mine on 5 dollar ebay nema 17's...

Still having fun but a spindle upgrade and stepper upgrades is in my future. I have some good steppers but am still waffling about the spindle.

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

...
View attachment 92810

It's sort of like an Erector Set for adults, huh?

 

[Brent Dowell]

It's sort of like an Erector Set for adults, huh?

I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying putting this together.

It's so well packaged and laid out. I've had a few little 'things' I'm working through, but it all makes sense and it's really enjoyable and relaxing.