not sure what you reason was for getting NO switches?, usually you would want to use NC switches to ensure that a cable breaking etc doenst cause the machine to destroy itself. Cant wait to see the build!
Fantastic video. Im following along and as mentioned on the previous video, in the same position. Thanks for sharing the build list. Appreciate you not wanting to do a step-by-step but can I suggest maybe film a birds eye view (sped up) as you go and you could post that up so we can see how you are going about it. Again appreciate its work in progress and whatever you film may change. Great work and good luck. 👍
Since this is going to be bolted together I had a couple of thoughts. I think it would be advantageous to make a shallow counter sink (or generous chamfer) to the holes on the two surfaces that come together. When you drill and/or tap the holes there is some local deformation around the area, especially in softer material like aluminum. This would concentrate the pressure in a small area around the bolt when it would be better to have it more evenly distributed. It will also allow you to develop the full clamping of of the bolt. The other thing is getting a really flat joint between the extruded faces of the plate and the saw-cut edges (like the example at 6:27). If you aren't going to machine these faces you might look into scraping them together so they make really good contact. With aluminum, it doesn't take much work to do a couple of passes. I'm not sure how flat the plate is, but you might run into alignment and binding issues with the linear bearings when you tighten the bolts fully. A small surface plate would be able to show you how flat the aluminum is. Small workshop grade plates are pretty reasonable (in terms of cost).
Excellent points, thank you for the feedback and suggestions. Your thoughts are in line with mine in regards to the process of bolting together. I will certainly be taking as much care as I can to ensure the plates go together as flush as possible. Like you said aluminium is generally easier to work with and it can even be sanded and polished very easily. This could be done nicely on the end cuts and connecting faces to ensure a very accurate joint. There will always be a degree of human error when doing this by hand but all I can do is my best to minimise it :)
Thank you for sharing your work! I'm planning my own build so it's handy to hear your thought process. I wonder whether the motors you have will overpower the rigidity of an aluminum frame. Several people have told me that it's common for DIYers to get motors with way more power than the machine can use because the frame is too floppy.
Aluminum and stainless steel are dissimilar metals. So, although your stainless steel hardware will not corrode, it will cause the aluminum to corrode and weaken over time. Just something to be aware of. I've seen some thread coatings advertise that they limit this effect if you are not using a thread locking compound.
