Worked on the mill’s bodywork

Well as described i drew up the mill’s doors and hinges - which do need a bit of final design to be properly manufacturable. Quite a bit of detailing left to do on the door design but the base is there!! I have yet to decide on a colour theme for my build.

• yes it’s gonna look sick

#More DFM and significant CAD progress
Significant progress over a small break i took while settling into uni. Worked heavily on the 4th axis and it’s gearbox and am now putting work into the shell of the machine and it’s eventual electronics mounting mechanisms - as well as the mounts for the HMI - on that note, i’ll be using an old laptop for the high level processing and interface.
I need to finalize the chip conveyor and debris removal systems.
Bellow covers and seals for movement systems have yet to be drawn up.
Documentation should start soon - i’m gonna try and keep a streak now that i may have more time.

Small CAD updates

• Finished up part of the tooling plate
• Drafted the chip evacuation belt
• Worked a little on the frame
  (tired today and got uni coursework so not much stuff done)

Re ran FEA as deflection was outside of design parameters

• The machine is now back to an estimated deflection of 0.182mm under 1KN load on x,y and 500N on z. (this should like never ever happen but i aim for under 0.2mm under those loads)
• Now need to essentially add in all of the “accessory” systems (basically anything which isn’t the core motion system
• Also need to design the 4th axis system

Finished the linear axes!!

• Y and Z axes polished and ready to go!
• Ran the FEA for the machine, and unfortunately found significant torsion under 1KN loads (0.2 mm above my goal of 0.1mm) - I need to review these results with a fresh mind
• Did some research into what fixturing surface to use and found a German supplier selling AW-5083 in the dimensions i require for a reasonable price
• Looked into fixturing options (part clamps) and started considering design options for the rotary 4 axis - should be simple
• Decided on a door design that gets it out of the user’s face in a fairly simple manner
• Also figured out a really good way to evacuate chips and coolant (conveyor belt) which is far better than my previous idea (vacuum extraction) : gotta get around to this in the next design session
  So much more to do, but so much progress!!

DFM for the CNC machine

I have an existing concept design for the machine that i spent about 30 hours on over at fallout. While i am satisfied with the architecture of the design and in theory it could be shipped, i’m not happy with how it goes together and how sloppy the design is, so i’m doing a second pass from the ground up, and designing everything so it’s clean and easy to assemble.
I’m currently working on the motion system and the frame - once i’m done with that i’m going to move onto all of the secondary systems such as the chip collector, electronics bay, doors, and control panel.
I do need to re run the FEA on the motion system once complete as there have been significant changes in the structure (for the better)