Crossfire XXXL SS

Would love to but I dont think the 1/2" lead screws could handle anything faster without whipping. They already want to at 300 ipm. Rapids would be nice at 600 ipm but that’s a dream with this setup lol. I doubt this machine will ever see cutting speeds over 150 ipm.

Seems to me that 1/2" lead screws would easily handle 250 or so, but I think, having a 60x60, you’ve put yourself in a box. You can’t lug 1/2" material into that sized space, so thinner stock will demand higher cut rates…
On the other hand, there won’t be a project you can’t handle! :smile:

Accessory plate fabricated.

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Mounted

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looks really great so far. i do have a question on your lead screw. i seen that you went to 1/2 in… did you stay with the same pitch, and was there any problem fitting it into the gantry bearing?

That looks Great. A 4 X 8 size would be even better…

I went with 1/2-10 5 start lead screws which is the same distance traveled per rotation as the lead screws that come on the machine.

If I could of found a 9’ long lead screw I probably would of went with that route. But at that length it would probably need to be a rack and pinion or maybe a big ball screw

Is this two tables put together? Or where’d ya get the extra carriages.

@Werks3D I bought the carriages assemblies from LS.

Ok. They told me they wouldn’t send me one right now. Must be low on stock. You must be on the nice list. :slight_smile:

“We have enough spare parts to provide replacements, but not to modify machines.”

Hopefully that changes.

I bought mine in early 2019. Just now getting around to building the new table.

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Nice work !!! I think you are heading in a great direction. Ok boys watch this guy he knows his sh#% !

First Cuts!

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@MattD asked some questions regarding the lead screws used on my table.

The lead screws I found for my table were 1/2-10 5 start lead screws on ebay. See below. The original ones are 3/8-8 4 start I believe. In order to get the same travel distance per revolution you need to find a screw with a .5" inch per rev. To find the ipr you take the start (4) and divide by pitch (8) to give .5" ipr. Or with the bigger 1/2" lead screws 5 start/10 pitch=.5" ipr

https://www.ebay.com/itm/132450480303

You will also need these nuts. They fit the OG Crossfire with no mods to the brackets.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/142638623979

Also bought these couplers for the stepper motor to the new lead screw.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/273961856544

I ended up making my own coupler for the connection from lead screw to bearing block. Also shown in a previous post above.

If I had to do it again. I would just buy more couplers from ebay but 1/2" to 1/2" and turn down one end of a piece of 1/2" material (probably CR 1018 1/2") to just under 8 mm, .315" (the ID of the bearing), drill a hole and send in a 10-32 tap. I think that would be a lot easier then making your own couplings.

Or buy 8mm CR1018 and turn down one side to 1/4" and use the same couplings as the motor.

Or just use the original couplings and turn down the ends of the 1/2 lead screw to 3/8.

There is about 10 different ways to attach it.

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@MattD you can use any lead screw or ball screw you want. You would just have to change your motor steps per settings in mach 3 to match your new setup. But a 1/2-10 5 start lead screw would be your easiest with no changes to mach 3.

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Changed the motion control board to an ethernet smooth stepper with a c25xp bob, added a cnc4pc thc and switched to mach4.

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Reason for change from another post.

Well I was going to stay with mach 3 but had issues implementing the new controller. Did some reading and decided to switched to mach 4. With mach 4 the ess changes torch firing m codes from m3/m5 to m62/m63. With the new m codes the firing of the torch is precisely cotrolled with the motion g commands which helps with piercing/delay. Also m62/m63 is designed for plasma as opposed to m3/m5 for spindles. Now I can use m3/m5 and m7/m9 for other attachments. Pin mapping is also very easy in mach4.

I have future plans for this machine and needed more then the 4 inputs that the og bob had. 15ish dedicated inputs and probably another 15 assignable.

With the board being ethernet I can now move my computer further then ~10’ from the control box which is a huge help in my setup.

Impressive skills. I am waiting for an XR, otherwise, I might be bugging you for plans!

I am on the list for an MR-1 as well…just when I thought I had made enough room in my garage for the XR, and they announce the MR-1 and take my money!

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Hey, I’d like plans. Or at least a way to contact you other than a forum. I’m planning on doing something similar, yet not quit this advanced, and while I have a good idea how to do this, I also know that there are a whole bunch of “unknown unknowns,” that’ll pop up as I begin. Do you have a way I could maybe send you some questions as they occur to me? I don’t have anything specific in mind yet, but I can see you’re a smart, thoughtful guy and I’d like to be able to pick your brain. Happy to help teach python coding or javascript in exchange for homebrew CNC tips…