Chapter 13 - Installing Stepper Motors

With the Electronics drawer completed enough for the basic operation of the machine, I can now turn my attention to installing the motors on the machine.  It is gratifying to be on the home stretch of this build.  That doesn't mean there isn't a lot to do yet, but it does mean the machine is very close to moving under its own power and soon can be cutting parts for itself.

Materials needed to install the motors

Pretty much like every other chapter of the book, I start with gathering all the materials I will need to complete the chapter.  Here you see the motors and the additional hardware to get them connected to the machine and leadscrews.  The careful eye may have noticed that I do not have the same slotted couplers as called for in the book.  Those couplers are no longer sold by cncrouterparts.com and instead sell these spider gear couplers.

Installing Motors to Motor Mounts

Zachary and i had to make a couple of slight modifications to the screws and motors to get them installed on the motor mounts.  The 10-24 machine screws had to have the heads ground on the sides a little to clear the motor itself.  The holes in the motors were too small for the screws and had to be enlarged to 3/16" for the screw to pass through.  Other than this, the assembly went pretty smooth.  The image shows the motors attached to the motor mounts.

Mounting the Motors to the Machine

Finally, here are a couple of pictures of the motors installed onto the machine.  Looks like this chapter was pretty short.  See you in the next chapter where we get it all hooked up!