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91
CNC / Re: It's new to me
« Last post by ddmckee54 on May 17, 2026, 11:28:58 PM »
I went around the base leveling feet a couple more times, to get things dialed in. All the while wondering if this was a gigantic waste of tine. The more I dug into it, the wonkier the base was looking.

I thought the bottom side of my base was flat, but it's actually concave, in both the E-W and the N-S directions. The bottom of the sides are fairly flat compared to the center. And tops of the East, South, and West sides are fairly flat. The top of the North side has a noticeable hump in it. The base itself is not a consistent thickness. The West side is 0.2mm thicker on the North side than it is on the South, the East side has a similar taper. The South side is 0.2mm thicker on the East side than it is on the West. The North side is 0.2mm thicker on the East side than it is on the West. Which makes the NE corner 0.4mm thicker than the SW corner.

Just for shits and giggles I got out the float glass plate and my 1-2-3 blocks to check if the side frames were level. N-S they were level, but E-W they were not. That required 3 pieces of paper under the West leveling feet as shims. Tomorrow I cut some shims for under the West frame mounting standoff and fix that problem. From here on, everything will be aligned to the side frames - in some way.

It was my intent all along to have the base sitting flat on the bench, probably on a rubber mat for sound deadening. After I get things aligned: the X axis, the Y axis, and the bed - I plan on putting a 1-2-3 block under each corner of the base and see if any thing changes in the alignment. That'll tell me if I can go back to Plan A, or if I need to tolerate that gap under the base and everything that is going to wind up hiding in there.
92
Member Videos / Retrol GF-01 Miniature Workshop DIY Kit Build
« Last post by Jim Dobson on May 16, 2026, 08:22:29 PM »
Retrol GF-01 Miniature Workshop DIY Kit Build
This was a fun build and the quality of the components are just superb


93
CNC / Re: It's new to me
« Last post by ddmckee54 on May 16, 2026, 10:16:06 AM »
A couple of days ago I got the leveling feet I ordered, I got them installed and started leveling the base.

Having never used a precision level before, I just plunked it down on the base and started adjusting the leveling feet.  This particular model of level has 2 bubble vials, a large vial on the long axis of the level, and a much smaller vial across the body of the level.  I EVENTUALLY realized that you need to get the bubble centered in the cross via BEFORE you attempt to center the bubble in the main vial.  It makes a BIG difference in how that bubble reacts.    That's why you see the level sitting of a piece of paper in the above photo.

Last night I went around the base several times with the precision level, it's as level as it's going to get. I thought that I had leveled the base of the workbench when I installed it almost 20 years ago, if so - I did a really crappy job of it. The base of the machine is about 400mm x 600mm. from the NW corner to the SE corner of the base there's a 6-8mm difference in length of the adjusting stud. The workbench top is flat, it's just not level.  Eventually I got the base close enough to level that the paper shim was no longer needed to have the cross vial's bubble be centered, I could just set the level directly on the base.

Next I check the to see that the frame is level, and then it'll be on to the X axis rails.
94
Wood & Stuff / Re: Quick and Dirty Router Sled
« Last post by RussellT on May 15, 2026, 03:04:39 PM »
Steve, Tom

I'm glad you liked it. :beer: :beer:

Russell
95
Wood & Stuff / Re: Quick and Dirty Router Sled
« Last post by tom osselton on May 14, 2026, 04:22:41 PM »
 :beer: That?s almost cheating!
96
Wood & Stuff / Re: Quick and Dirty Router Sled
« Last post by vtsteam on May 14, 2026, 12:38:14 PM »
I like it!  :thumbup: :beer:
97
Wood & Stuff / Quick and Dirty Router Sled
« Last post by RussellT on May 14, 2026, 11:44:32 AM »
Hi Everyone

I know we all come up with some weird ways of doing jobs, so I thought I'd share this one with you.  I needed a bit of wood and I had some old palette boards but they were too thick.  I tried a couple of things - the band saw wanted to burn its way through, a hand plane was tedious (and in my hands not very accurate) so I thought about using a router.  The internet showed me lots of fancy designs, but this is what I came up with.

  [ You are not allowed to view this attachment ]  

  [ You are not allowed to view this attachment ]  

Accuracy could have been improved but the belt sander took care of it and here's the result.

  [ You are not allowed to view this attachment ]  

Russell
98
CNC / Re: It's new to me
« Last post by ddmckee54 on May 10, 2026, 11:24:25 PM »
Houston, we have a problem.  How can I ensure that the X axis rails are parallel to each other?  Just so we're all reading from the same page, let me refresh your memory of what this thing looks like.

Starting in the lower LH corner we have what I am going to call the west side, because that's the way the machine is actually oriented.  The X axis rails are the longer set of rails running east-west, with the Y axis being the shorter set of rails that run north-south.  Keep in mind that the gantry is fixed and the bed moves east and west along the X axis,  The spindle moves north and south along the Y axis rails.

The magenta colored objects that are 50mm from each corner of the frame are the standoffs that hold the frame about 6mm off the base.  Those standoffs are there, because there's a lump in the base.  As near as I can tell, using the edge of a carpenter's square for a straight edge, the east, north, and west edges of the base are flat.  The lump is about 0.008"-0.010" thick, and is centered about 100mm from the south edge of the base, and about 1/2 of the length of the machine from the west end.  Except on the south side, I know those standoffs are in areas that are flat.  The 6mm gap should allow the machine frame to bridge the lump, so the top of the frame should be flat to the east, west, and north sides of the base.  So hopefully, this will allow me to ignore the lump.

So here M'Lords, is my clever plan, at least for the X axis alignment:
1 - I'm going to level the east, west, and north edges of the base.  I've got a precision level, it's not a great precision level, but it's got to be better than a carpenters level.  I've got some leveling feet on order that should make that job a little easer.
2 - After the base is level, I'm going to level the frame to the base.  I'll level it both north-south, and east-west, that'll ensure there's no twist in the frame.  I'm hoping it will already BE level, but... Hope for the best and plan for the worst.  If the frame isn't level, fixing that will involve shimming it level.  Since everything else is somehow related to those side frames, getting them true to the world will make life easier for Future Don.  I got some 5/16" thick float glass that is used to hone wood working tools "scary sharp", this and my 1-2-3 blocks should allow me to bridge over the bed and check that the frames are level - both north-south and east-west.  JBWorxStudio uses the float glass to tram in the spindle of his CNC router, it should work for this too.
3 - Next will be checking that the rails are level, this will tell me if the vertical centerline of the rails are parallel to the top of the frame.  I'm REALLY hoping that the rails will be level to the frame, since the mounting bolts for the rails use the 2 side slots in the 2040 side frame extrusions.  There may be a little wiggle room there, but not a whole lot of it.
4 - Next on the hit parade will be checking the bed,  The bed should be level, it does ride on the X axis rails after all.  But, those linear bearing mounting brackets were fabricated early in this project, before I knew how critical attention to detail REALLY was.  If they aren't level, I'll probably have to slot the mounting holes for now, and make new brackets when I get this thing operational.  I also need to be sure slots of the bed are perpendicular to the side frames. a 6" square fill do for now.

Once I've got the bed level, I can start the process of getting the Y axis rails aligned.
99
Member Videos / Rocking Whale RW BL1K Steam Engine Plant Modifications
« Last post by Jim Dobson on May 10, 2026, 08:40:13 PM »
Rocking Whale RW BL1K Steam Engine Plant Modifications

This is my Rocking Whale RW BL1K Steam Engine Plant that I have done some modifications to like the timber routed plinth, the steam whistle, steam condenser, drive pulley and now a combination light / generator.

100
Member Videos / Re: My week this week, my workshop videos!
« Last post by hermetic on May 09, 2026, 11:03:11 AM »
Hi Folks,

 A job that has been hanging around in the background nagging at me for some time! GRP is a very usefull repair medium which is excellent for odd shaped repairs and reinforcing of weak areas of virtually any rigid material. this video is a very basic "how to" for GRP ( glass reinforced plastic) Enjoy!!

Phil, in cool and rather overcast East Yorkshire
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