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27 Dez 2014 13:52 #12593 von woodendonkey
S600 Build Experience wurde erstellt von woodendonkey
First of all, I must express my gratitude to Rory Stoney of StoneyCNC for his help and support in getting this build working. I have no experience of CNC machines, and Rory reassured me from before making the purchase "there are no stupid questions". I felt I asked a lot of them!

Some tips from my own build experience of Stepcraft S600 in December 2014, which I hope may be of use to others.

Before you start:
1. Make sure you have some way (small boxes, plastic bags, envelopes) of holding all the pieces separate. I did that that but omitted ...
2. When separating all the parts make sure you NUMBER the boxes/packets, or you will have to do all size checking twice.
3. Note, before starting to identify pieces, that the parts list is NOT TO SCALE ... but at the end of it there is a 1:1 scale section for screws/bolts and washers.
4. Tools and materials - I'd add sandpaper to the list, and possibly a 6mm thread set (and in my case a soldering iron - see later).

My kit was missing part 31 - 4 of M3 30mm lens head screw - I was able to source a suitable replacement from B&Q rather than wait for supply by post.

On to the build - I'll use the number system from the assembly instructions.

1. A general comment - this is probably the hardest bit of assembly with a huge number of parts, so don't get concerned about the time it takes! Some of the parts you are told to tighten have to be temporarily loosened again to get parts into place - don't forget to tighten them again!
1.1 Part number 54 fits easily into part 6, with a bit of play. You want the internal threads to run as close to vertical and horizontal respectively as possible - you may find your threaded spindles (parts 13 & 14) are wildly off when you come to adjust them (2.3 & 3.3), if these are not set right at the start. If I was doing this build again I would thread the spindles at 1.6 and align them parallel to the edges of the orange piece 6.
Make sure you have the orange piece 6 oriented correctly throughout the build!
1.7 Pay attention to the direction of the hole in part 56!
1.9 A problem for me with part 74. The colours of the long/short wires were revrsed compared to the manual, but this does not matter at the other end of the connections. What I found was one of the connectors was crushed beyond redemption - after consulting with Rory Stoney I cut it off and soldered it to the switch.
1.10 Pay attention to the direction of the hole in part 55!
2. A good time to say, "don't worry about the F=1Kg" notes.
2.1 Adjust the screw until it just starts to tighten, and leave it for later (when the whole machine is up and running). I spent ages with a scale trying to get this right until Rory put me right.
2.2 IMPORTANT - this shows the optional accessory part 81 in the tool holder.
Whether you plan to use one of these or a Stepcraft HF350 or anything else, check that you have a clean fit before assembling. I put the whole thing together and had to take off part 3 to sand off excess powder coat from the inside edge.
A.1 Ball head allen keys are not your friend with grub screws. :-(
Part 76 (plastic tubing) is also required in C.1 - cut to required length. If you have S600 use the S420 length (180mm) in A.1.
I was pleased with myself at successfully threading the wires though the entire length of plastic tubing until I found I needed to take it out again to cut it. HINT a piece of thread tied to a heavy needle/bodkin drops through
the tube, and can then be taped to the wires to draw them down the tubing.
You'll find this technique useful later as well!
Label the wires once you have pulled them through! (I got this tip from reading experiences of others and feel it is worth re-iterating, even though it is noted in the manual.)
My kit had X & Z motors marked (the unmarked one obviously being Y) - take note of which is which; they are all the same motor but the wiring is of different length on each!
3.1 Again, don't worry about the F=1Kg. Adjust the screw until it just starts to tighten against the rail.
C.1 Our old friend part 76 (again, same length for S600 as S420) - thread the motor wires through and LABEL THEM.
3.6 You want those little clips (part 61) to go to just before the half way mark on the cross bar - any further and they are likely to ping off when you move to the start of the X axis.
4.8 F=1Kg, treat as before.
4.10 Pay attention - get those lock nuts on tight enough to stop the threaded spindle Y axis being able to slide back and forward. If you get a tick-tick-tick from it when moving under power, this is probably not tight enough (that was my problem anyway, on one side). I saw a note somewhere from Rory about holding the spindle with pliers to let you tighten the lock nuts, I'd add (what is obvious to some people) that a bit of cloth between spindle and pliers would be a good idea to prevent damage to the spindle thread; and/or make sure you apply the pliers as close to the end of the spindle as possible so any damage to the thread will be beyond the travel of the spindle nut.
4.14 A lot of cables to get through that tube; I dropped a needle with thread first to get three loose ends to tie to cables, then put through the thick X-Z cable then the X & Z motor wires.
4.19 A surprise here. I got the t-slot table, and couldn't get it all the way in. So I tried the laminate table and had the same problem. The trick is to loosen the end bolts (see 4.6 and 4.18/4.19), slide in the table and then re-tighten the bolts. You will have to loosen these bolts in section 2.5 of the Getting Started instructions as well.
5.4 Connecting wires to control board - make sure enough insulation is stripped so that you are crimping wire and not plastic!
I have to say this was my low point - when I powered up the status lights were all green. I powered down and disconnected the machine to check the connections of my X motor (movement OK in other 2 axes), and when I powered up again the controller was dead - no lights. Rory Stoney reckoned it must be a power supply issue - never had a dead card. A quick check with a volt meter showed the PSU was fine (and it had its own light on anyway).
Rory was brilliant at this point, and I was so glad I hadn't bought direct from Germany. He was very supportive and got me a replacement card within a few days (this is week before Christmas!) and everything worked perfectly with the new card.
6. While waiting for a new control card I had a look at the clamping system.
The powder coat was clogging the threads of the clamping bars. I guess you could sort that by screwing the M5 hex bolts in and out a few dozen times, but I luckily had a tap handy that cleaned them up nicely.

Pay attention to the maintenance schedule. I used Halfords bike grease (comes with a neat little grease gun that allows accruate application) that is bright pink so easy to see. After the first two hours this was pretty grotty
looking, but after the wipe/replace the new grease looks clean after another two hours of use.

I did all the Stepcraft set up stuff, then moved from WinPC to UCCNC and did some cutting on scraps using my Dremel. First problem I had was the wood wasn't even, so some of my v-carving was pretty shallow at one side.
Surfaced the next scrap and it went fine. My third go introduced me to the emergency stop button - I started the job cycle without switching on the spindle! It was carving the wood pretty raggedly and I instantly realised
with the first stroke what I had done.

I went on to v-carve a Celtic cross to show off to my wife, from 9mm ply, with a tool change a second toolpath to cut it out. She loved it but thought it would be better if it could stand up, so I created a circular base with a 5mm pocket in the middle. Easy! Or maybe not. The pocket was cut way too deep (guess who forgot to zero the Z axis?) and I was grateful for sacrificial material. Emergency stop again.

So, set up the job properly, all zeroed, Dremel spinning - perfect pocket!
Then it started the circular cut out, went round a couple of times, stuck and made a horrible noise as it chewed wood - emergency stop! Checked my toolpath (again), removed the workpiece to check sacrificial layer and machine table - barely touched.

Tried again - same result; good pocket, circular cut out started well and emergency stopped when it went bananas.

This time I had noticed the SC600 vertical tower had been moving - turns out the adjusting screw wasn't tight enough, or at least after I tightened it I saw no more movement. I also amended my cut out path to take 1mm at a time (remember I had cut a much larger Celtic cross from the same material with no issues) and ran again - perfect.

I think this may be the "stiffness" that experienced operators talk about; if the machine is not stiff enough you will get movement of the spindle/bit and the vibration may shake things loose to make it even less stiff.

Thanking my lucky stars that I never broke the bit, and glad I re-arranged my layout to get the laptop at the front of the Stepcraft before starting, so I was placed next to the e-stop!

I hope sharing this experience is useful to someone, but it really does not do justice to the help I had from Rory who responded positively to my many emails. I'd recommend anyone in UK buying one of these to get it through
StoneyCNC.co.uk - it may cost a little more than buying direct from Stepcraft but the quality of support is worth much more than the difference in price.

Donald

Donald

Learning from mistakes until I become an expert!
Folgende Benutzer bedankten sich: heustec, Firefly, peterg1000

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01 Jan 2015 22:44 #12923 von em1424
em1424 antwortete auf S600 Build Experience
Donald,
Thanks for the tips you provided they will be put to use when I decide on buying a Step Craft.
Again Thanks,
Leo

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04 Jan 2015 10:20 #13026 von tikka
tikka antwortete auf S600 Build Experience

woodendonkey schrieb: ...
4.10 Pay attention - get those lock nuts on tight enough to stop the threaded spindle Y axis being able to slide back and forward. If you get a tick-tick-tick from it when moving under power, this is probably not tight enough (that was my problem anyway, on one side). I saw a note somewhere from Rory about holding the spindle with pliers to let you tighten the lock nuts, I'd add (what is obvious to some people) that a bit of cloth between spindle and pliers would be a good idea to prevent damage to the spindle thread; and/or make sure you apply the pliers as close to the end of the spindle as possible so any damage to the thread will be beyond the travel of the spindle nut.
...
Donald


I used the method described in an additional German language loose page that came with my manual. There was a topic labled Y-Spindel-Montage hinweis. I stuck an allen key (no ball end) into the grub screw of a drive pulley I tightened first and used that to hold the threaded rod in place while tightening the locknut. I hope my translation wasn`t faulty because it worked for me.

Stepcraft 600SF (version 1) parallel port
Proxxon IBS/E
Mach3
devCad Cam Pro; devWing Cam; devFus Cam; Profili Pro 2

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04 Jan 2015 17:35 #13077 von Rory
Rory antwortete auf S600 Build Experience
I would not recommend using the pulley and grub screw to hold the spindle when you lock the lock nut.

in my opinion - the best way is as follows

- insert both spindles into their bearings in the orange plate at the driven end.
- put on the pulleys
- insert the grub screws
- tighten the grub screws so that they "seat in their hole" but are not tight. The pulleys can now rotate with a little restriction by the grub screw. this means the grub screws will only be able to be tighened into the seating holes.
- now grab the spindles on the inside. You can use protection here but if you keep the jaws of the pliers where the nut never travels over its okay to damage the screws slightly here. Just keep it close to the orange plate.
- tighten the lock nut to the point where there is no play/movement in the direction of the screws but the pulleys can still move freely. this is a little delicate and subjective. you want it tight... but you don't want to add loads of friction as it will take away power from the motors.
- once happy ... now tighten the grubscrews with the allen key SQUARE END...


we have found this more reliable longer term. What can happen is after lots of use the grubscrew can work a little loose and the pulley will start to play a little. But if you lock the lock nut first... and then the grub screw its a lot more stable.


Again - just my opinion. it may not be the best way to do it.

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01 Apr 2015 15:52 #18111 von Firefly
Firefly antwortete auf S600 Build Experience
Thank you woodendonkey for posting tips and what to watch out for.
I got my StepCraft 600 yesterday, looking good, I worked on it for about 5 hours and on step 4.19. Laying out the parts by numbers really speeds up the assembly process.

Only issue I had so far was the power coat on one end of the clamping system was too thick for it to slide, I had to sand it a little.

question I have is how tight to make the belt?

Stepcraft 600 v2 w/UC100 and UCCNC, Dremel, Cut2d, QCAD

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  • woodendonkey
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01 Apr 2015 16:07 - 01 Apr 2015 16:41 #18112 von woodendonkey
woodendonkey antwortete auf S600 Build Experience
How tight to make the belt? In my experience, "slightly but not too much". That's not helpful but that was my experience. Too loose and it can slip over the drive pulleys, too tight and you can miss steps (if anything else is causing friction).

Doing it again I would set it to be just under tension, then make it a smidgin tighter. It doesn't need much and too tight is definitely bad. As long as it's tight enough that the belt isn't sagging when running it will be fine. It's easy to take the belt cover off later to adjust (power off, disconnect wires, thread through holes, remove cover, push wires back on).

Edit: Firefly I just checked my build manual and that's step 4.12 for me - I think you may have new S600 v2 - wanna swap? :-)
My advice on the belt may seem odd to you, I have no experience of the v2 machines!

Donald

Learning from mistakes until I become an expert!
Letzte Änderung: 01 Apr 2015 16:41 von woodendonkey. Grund: Additional info
Folgende Benutzer bedankten sich: Rory

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01 Apr 2015 18:05 #18118 von tikka
tikka antwortete auf S600 Build Experience

Firefly schrieb: ...
question I have is how tight to make the belt?

Stepcraft V1 building tips video .

Stepcraft 600SF (version 1) parallel port
Proxxon IBS/E
Mach3
devCad Cam Pro; devWing Cam; devFus Cam; Profili Pro 2

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19 Dez 2016 19:50 #40934 von SFDeeJay
SFDeeJay antwortete auf S600 Build Experience
From one "Donald" to another (I go by "Don", tho) - I can't thank you enough for the time you spent detailing your 600 assembly experience. I was just about 1/3 complete with my new toy when I found this forum a couple of days after unpacking/taking inventory, and scratching my head. Glad I didn't read some of the negative posts before making my purchase decision - sure, I may get frustrated at times, but as an old, retired woodworker, I have plenty of time. Perhaps in the future I will be able to help someone just getting started.

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