Build Thread - Chevalier 2040 CNC Bed Mill

[richardb15]

I'm watching this build with interest, the machine will be far better than new by the time you've finished, and the quality/detail of the build and refurb so far are outstanding

[Coolidge62]

I'm watching this build with interest, the machine will be far better than new by the time you've finished, and the quality/detail of the build and refurb so far are outstanding

That's my goal. The manufacturer couldn't put in the time and care I'm investing. They did a pretty good job so far, I only found a couple of manufacturing defects.

1. Oddly, they didn't fully tap one of the spindle drive dog holes. It's got threads but the bolt jams half way up so their tap was wearing out. There's enough good threads to secure the dog. I discovered this when removing a broken off tap in that hole. Someone was trying to run a tap up there and fix it but the spindle is hardened. I tried to put a tap up there and it just laughed at me so I elected to use a shorter bolt vs breaking my own tap. lol You know, after pricing a carbide tap at $129. Yeah, a shorter bolt way cheaper.

2. There are 10 large grade 12.9 bolts holding the Z saddle onto the box ways. 9 are nickel plated, partially threaded. 1 is a fully threaded zinc plated (and rusted) and shorter than the other 9. I guess they ran out and needed to ship the machine. I purchased all new grade 12.9 bolts.

[Coolidge62]

This has been bothering me so I researched. Can I actually mount this Marathon Motors Black Max 5hp motor vertically? That's a lot of weight thrusting down. The Marathon Motors catalog says YES for the win! "Standard horizontal motors can be mounted in a vertical shaft down orientation"

[Coolidge62]

Getting closer to installing Z but hit a snag. The rubber wipers on the stainless sliding ball screw way covers were brittle and fell apart in pieces. I'll have to fire up the 3D printer and print some new ones in TPU.

[Coolidge62]

More parts arrived today! Marathon Motors Black Max 5hp and Yaskawa VFD.

[Coolidge62]

Clearpath AC servos arrived today!

[Coolidge62]

More gear arrived. After reading some Acorn threads I dumped the idea of buying a desktop and went with this tiny Lenovo computer. Amazing how small they are given the specs. It came with a mounting bracket not mentioned in the ad which is brilliant! Tomorrow I'll load the CNC12 software and run the PC tuning gadget.

Lenovo ThinkCentre M70Q Gen 4 Mini
13th Gen Intel 16-Core i7
P-core 1.4 / 4.8GHz
13700T 32GB DDR4 RAM
1TB PCIe SSD
4K Intel UHD Graphics 770, Dual monitors
Bluetooth, Wifi 6
(5) USB 3.0, (1) USB Type-C, (1) USB 2.0
(1) HDMI, (1) DP Port, (1) RJ45
Headphone/Mic combo jack
Windows 11 Pro

[Coolidge62]

Again from reading Acorn threads I decided to go with this ViewSonic touch screen some guys were recommending.

That is one strange looking screen surface. The stand can be completely removed so I can mount this in a pendant off the machine swing arm in a slim cabinet.

[Coolidge62]

Finally the electrical cabinet has arrived. A bit larger than I will need since the servo drives are integrated into the servos but this one had the largest opening at the bottom for cables and a removeable panel so I can easily punch holes.

[Coolidge62]

Sitting around waiting on the 3D printer to finish printing the Z axis rubber (TPU) wipers for the telescoping ball screw covers I decided to tackle the vents for the head. The left is ratted out and the right was missing altogether.

Front Panel Express to the rescue. I fired up their free front panel CAD software and designed and ordered new vents. 3mm thick black anodized aluminum, CNC machined, lettering is CNC engraved into the panel and infilled with white enamel. It will never wear off!

And since the sides of the head casting are not flat I'm currently printing TPU gaskets that fit the contour of the casting so the vents fit flat/flush. The original sheet metal vents were just bent to fit, sort of.