RCFoamCutter Assembly Manual - Mechanics

2009-08-08T21:08:00.000-07:00

We will update this manual as we go along
This process should take a few more days

For more information, please visit our official
website at RCFoamCutter.com

RCFoamCutter setup and assembly manual

Once you unpack the boxes please go over all the parts and make sure
that non are missing or damaged.

The 1st step is to assemble the X axis carriage (the horizontal axis)

For this step you will need the following:
1 carriage (yellow metal U shape)
2 bearing support plates (black plastic plates)
4 teflon bushings
1 ACME nut (white)
6 Alan screws and 4 nuts

Mount the ACME nut onto the bearing support plates
use two 8-32 screws

Mount the bearing support plate onto the carriage as shown above
Now mount the 2nd bearing support plate on the other side of the carriage
Another look at the carriage - insert the 4 bearings
make sure that the wider side of the bearing is
facing the inside of the carriage.

View of the carriage with the ACME nut installed
You now can make 3 more of these assemblies

In this step we will assemble the complete horizontal axis
You will need:
1 The assembled carriage you made in the previous step
1 Stepper motor (Bipolar - 4 wires)
2 Long shafts
1 Long ACME screw
1 Small bearing
4 Screws
4 Nuts

Insert the two long shafts making sure that the
bearings stay in place
Screw in the ACME screw about 1/2 way in.

Mount the motor mount (the part that has the larger hole)
Make sure that the ACME screw with its machined side is
facing the hole - this is where the stepper motor will be mounted
and connected to the ACME screw via the stepper motor coupler.
Secure the two shafts using two 8-32 screws

On the other side, mount the end plate (the one with the small hole)
Insert the small bearing in the small hole
then screw in place the two shafts as shown above

Secure the motor shaft to the ACME screw with the coupler.

The below image shows the entire X carriage assembled

Now assemble another one just like it.

The next step is to assemble the Y tower

You will need the following parts for this step
1 Stepper Motor
2 Bearing support plates
1 ACME nut
1 Carriage
4 Large bearings
6 Screws
4 Nuts

Follow the steps shown before to assemble the Y carriage
The Y carriage is identical to the X carriage

Mount the new Y tower onto the horizontal axis as shown below.

Secure the two shafts with two 8-32 screws as shown below
You may want to flip the tower on its side in order
to have access to the two mounting holes

Now build another tower just like that

You should now have two of these towers - set them apart
about 24" or so - you can always change the distance between the
two towers at a later stage.

Hot Wire Hookup
The next step is to connect the eye hooks - the eye hooks are
use to hold the spring one one side and the hot wire
on the other side

Place the eye bolt through the bottom hole.
of the Y carriage as shown in the picture above.
the eye hook is circled in red.
secure the wire lead coming from the hot wire
power supply. Now do the same for the other
side of the machine.

On the other side of the machine, connect the spring
to the eye hook, and on the other side of the spring
connect the hot wire. The other side of the hot wire
will connect to the eye hook on the other side of the machine.

To test the hot wire, set the hot wire power supply
to the lowest voltage setting and the highest current
settings. Slowly increase the voltage, and at the same time
you will notice that the current will rise as well.

thin wire will provide good cutting at about 1A and thicker
wire will provide good results at 2A. Try experimenting
with different types of wire/temperatures and foams

Click here for instructions on how to set up the
electronics for the 4 axis stepper motor driver boards

http://www.rcfoamcutter.com