Introduction...

[keymont]

Hi,

My name is Mike Keymont, just outside of Boston, MA in the USA. I m a hobbyist in the machining world, but I work in electronics, system design and software development for Bose. A few years ago I worked on a project building some mocked up product testing machines and I had to cut a bunch of 80/20 and had a hard time of it. I ve been playing around with metal working ever since.

I built a sim racing rig out 80/20 and later redesigned it to be a full motion rig out of welded steel. I needed to make some parts for the rig, so I designed and built a CNC machine. It was crap. I had no idea how strong the cutting forces would be, so I ve been redesigning and upgrading ever since.



My Masso G3 should be arriving tomorrow! It ll be replacing a Raspberry Pi 4 running bCNC, driving an Arduino Mega running GRBL 1.1. I m running with NEMA23 steppers driven by DM542 drivers. My milling head is the head from a Harbor Freight Mini Mill with the belt drive conversion. I use Fusion 360 for CAD/CAM.

 

[breezy]

Mike,

I like your table ballast!!!!

Regards,

Arie.

 

[keymont]

Hehe, I have since put another 4 blocks up behind the x axis. I have around 500 lbs of concrete for dampening/rigidity improvement. They don t absolutely increase the rigidity of the frame, but they do substantially change the resonant frequency that everything vibrates at. I have them strapped to the frame as tightly as possible. Without them, it s almost like it was made of rubber...

 

[keymont]

Update! I just ordered a 4kW, 18,000 rpm spindle with a VFD and collet set! I can t wait as my milling head maxes out at 4000 rpm, but with reduced power.

I ve been running the Masso G3 for weeks now and I love it! I had a fun little mishap the other day. I was decking off the table, so I had to remove my toolsetter, which is bolted down. It ended up getting knocked over and the switch contact shorted to the machine frame, which caused the 24V supply to shut down, which shut down masso. It happened in the middle of a cut.

for about 15 minutes, I was horrified, thinking I somehow killed the Masso. Once the short was removed, back up and running!

 

[swa]

Ok thanks for the inspiration before the first fall. So we foresee better a voltage follower or other decoupling for the toolsetter because such a thing can happen quickly times...

We love the colour of your maschine btw!!