Question Arrived Today

With the arrival of my SC840 due this week I thought I had better build a bench for it. It's surprising how big the 840 is. I was given a cabinet from a friend and it was only when I put the worktop on the size became apparent! After a I little bit of redesign to the cabinet I think I have got it about right, to the back of the extended base and top I have included storage for pre-cut stock (840 x 600).

Just as I was finishing the bench, my 840 arrived - so that was the end to cutting the grass!


I ordered my 840 from Rory at Stoney CNC and I can only praise Rory for the professional and friendly approach to my order. Even when the boys at Stepcraft had made a small error Rory kept me in the loop. The attention to detail is fantastic, from Euro to UK plug adaptors and memory sticks with very clear help files.





The SC comes very well packed with excellent build manual. The individual components are intelligently grouped which speeds up the build and so far all the parts go together very well.


The final photo is how far I got today. I would recommend placing the parts over the picture of the parts required in the instructions to avoid missing bits out (see red circle)


If I haven't bored everyone I will continue with the build of of my 840 next week.

Be careful - the SC works only in an german environment. So outside of Germany you need to rise the German flag and wear this outfit:


Michel

Will I get away with this?

Link

Perhaps the official Steppi Uniform?

Hmm - looks i have to wear the Dutch outfit - i bought today a Dutch Ultimaker 2

Continuing on today I made reasonable progress. One of the more frustrating part of the build was feeding the cables through the trunking. I ended up binding the cables together with PTFE tape which helped a lot and didn't leave any sticky residue on the cables.


I did notice a couple of small errors in the build manual, I think where changes have been made to the V2 Steppi. One in particular got me worried. The brass roller support pins are 2 different sizes for the Z/X axis but the instructions quote the same part number. I was just about to start stripping the Z/X down when I checked the remaining (longer pins) in the gantry

Another slight issue came up when fitting the X stepper motor. It is very difficult (impossible)to get the lower machine screws through the end plate and into the stepper motor. In the end I disassembled the end plate fixed the stepper to the plate and reattached it to the gantry cross beam.


So frustratingly for me I had to leave my build for next week. I do a weekly commute and had to choose between my wife and the Steppi - difficult!

My last picture is where I go up to today, notice the axe in the background - just in case of problems!


Overall fantastic, brilliant product and very good build guide. So far only a couple of rubber grommets missing, very pleased.

I like the tools on the left Hand - dangerous for the SC when you are frustrated

Cheers,
Michel

Back after a weekend away from my Steppi and yes finished!


I found the the build fairly easy and very enjoyable, well done Stepcraft! There were 2 rubber grommets, the parallel fascia missing (although the dog may have run off with that) and the QR links on the instructions didn't work for me.

My set up included UCNNC, the Stepcraft HF500, tool length sensor and Vcarve Pro. I haven,t figured out how to control the spindle or how to set the tool length sensor out in UCNNC yet and I'm not sure I have the right profile for the 840 (the axis seem all over the place on the 840 profile) but I'm sure it's down to me (emails to Rory).

This is the back of my work station with storage for stock.

Vcarve is fantastic, but make sure you check the setting before you save the GCode (6mm pass depth ). The software is well worth the cost, specially if you are likely to send files to pro-machines.

I've realised I haven't enough cutters and still can't get my head around vcarving/cutter size. I will have to go out and buy a shop vac tomorrow and some stock. Additionally I want to look at a vacuum table as soon as possible, I crashed the spindle into the clamping system - not good!

Again I can't recommend Stoney CNC enough for their service, many thanks Rory.

To finish here are the items I have made, the first one has a deliberate error (remember check your tool paths BEFORE saving), I need to get these right because I promised my wife 30 of these for next week. The second image is a peace offering to my wife after spending £xxxs on myself!