I contacted Fine Line Automation (FLA) on 11/19/2010 with several questions about their FLA300 4X4 complete kit. Nate and I had 3 e-mail conversations, and all answers came within 2 days. I ordered the complete kit as well as 4 axis power using the G540 on 11/27/2010. Nate said the kit would ship between the 10th and the 15th, and it did.

I have never built a CNC machine, but I have owned 4 of them within the last 3 years, and still have 3, a woodworking Shopbot Buddy CNC router, a metalworking Syil X4 CNC mill, and a metalworking Syil C6B CNC lathe.

I started out intending to build a woodworking machine, and ordered the plans for the JoeCNC 4x4 Hybrid. After considerable drooling over the plans, I decided I lacked the confidence to build one, and instead ordered the Romaxx HS-1, a small, very well built steel and aluminum cnc router. I learned cnc on this machine, but after a year or so, I sold it and bought a Shopbot Buddy BT-48 with a 4’ Powerstick. My problem with the Romaxx was I kept on making small furniture models on the Romaxx, like chairs and stools, while lusting to make full size ones, hence I bought the Shopbot.

I still have the Buddy, and it is an excellent machine, but I am now into indexer work, and want to cut dovetails. I built an indexer for the Buddy using my 2’ Powerstick, but want a 4’ one.

This got me back looking at the JoeCNC plans again, but I still have concerns about the MDF parts here in humid Florida, so I started researching 8020 machines.

I first found CNCRouterParts, then FineLineAutomation, and I ordered the full kit mentioned above. What follows will be my build log for the FLA300.

First Boxes Arrive!

First 5 boxes arrived 12/15/2010, all the 8020, linear rails, and rack. Two more scheduled to arrive 12/17 with hardware and electronics. Only one dinged aluminum piece that I saw, and it is on a support piece that can be turned under so no problem.

Everything was very well packaged, when there were different length pieces, they were wrapped in plastic, the ends of the boxes were protected with high density foam, and the boxes were filled with peanuts. All the parts had labels.

Next 2 boxes arrive, hardware and electronics

Last 2 boxes arrived on 12/17/2010 and were the electronics (except for the G540 controller), and the hardware. I have emailed Nate about the G540 not being in the shipment.

Z Axis

12/18/2010. Only loosely screwed together because I need the steel plate to assemble the carriages, and I want to paint the rails.

Linear Carriages and R&P Drives

12/19 2010 Assembled carriages and the R&P sub-assemblies

Bed with legs

12/21/2010 I am using roll-in nuts for my spoilboard, so don't need any hardware in the cross-members. I can't put the rails on until I square everything, and I have to put the brackets on to help with that.

Y Linear Rails and Rack

12/24/2010 Everything appears to be square and the bed is equally down as near as I can measure. Using a simple Harbor Freight roller from my table saw helped a lot getting the Y 3030 and rails on.

I have moved the Y rails two inches from the front to be able to cut mortise and tenon joints and use an indexer on the front of the table. I have the rack just fastened down with one bolt until I get the gantry on and discover the positioning needed.

Finished Y axis and Y R&P, fully assembled Z

12/25/2010 Caught up to real time now. Did this work in about 3 hours today. Tomorrow I will hopefully mount the Z, and give some details about my experiences using the drawing and the BOM. I installed the bearing block backwards from the plans because the drill rod projections fit better this way. Y axis is 1/4" off side to side, will check tomorrow.

X Axis squaring and R&P, Mounted Z Axis

12/26/2010 Mounted X Axis R&P, mounted Z Axis assembly and router. Loosened Y axis rail (each rail was only held in place by one bolt), moved rail and racks to final position 2" from front to facilitate doing dovetails and an indexer from the front of machine, and ran Y axis back and forth to center everything, then tightened down front bolts on Y rack, which is out of square by 1/4". Will look for problem Tuesday, 12/28, when I can get back to this. Then will bolt down both the Y rails from the center out to flatten them out, and tighten rack bolts.

X and Y move smoothly by hand and Z moves by turning coupler, and was set up perpendicular to the bed using a square. May have to re-do Z squaring after I find Y problem.

How I adjusted and squared the Z axis (last 3 pictures below):
• Put all accessories on Z and 2 pieces of 3/4" ply to represent my base and spoilboard.
• Put in my shortest tool.
• Cranked Z all the way down until within 1/4" of bottom of rail.
• Clamped the carriages square in alignment.
• Used a machinist square and aligned the assembly.
• Adjusted everything until tool just touched spoilboard, then tightened the 4 nuts.

Comments on Drawings, BOM, the FLA kit, CNCRouterParts, and FLA Communication

Drawings:
The drawings are the best set of plans I have ever used. Once I became somewhat familiar with how to use the SolidWorks viewer, I was able to find everything I needed to build the machine quickly and easily. The only thing I haven't figured out is point to point measuring, like the distance the rack was offset from the front of the machine. Sometimes I could set two points, and then got the distance, but more often I got an entire strut length. No doubt this is my poor understanding of how to measure ptp.

I didn't find anything in error in the drawings. I am sure the drawings follow some standard when they use a part number for the bolts, but in my opinion, if they simply used the bolt type and length (I.E. BHCS, 5/16-18, 2.5) like is used for the 8020, the plans would be easier to use directly, instead of having to refer to the BOM to determine the bolt length. Of course, the type can be determined by the shape in the drawing.

BOM:
I found the BOM to be full of errors and missing information. As an example, the two bolts that hold the Z axis zero backlash nut are not in the BOM and were not supplied in the kit. The R&P is in the BOM, but only as an assembly, not with the individual parts listed. Most of the needed R&P hardware is bagged together, but not all. I got parts in bags I didn't know what to do with, and some full (unused) bags are still left after the assembly is complete. This is very frustrating because the brtech write-up, which helped me immensely, mentions many of the problems that I also had, and it was from September. Supposedly Nate of FLA fixed the plans from the brtech build. I asked Nate for the updated set on 11/29, when I first found problems in the BOM, and he told me he would update his website with the corrected version by 12/5, but the plans and the BOM are the same one I think brtech worked with, and FLA has never provided the update.

The FLA Kit:
The 8020 went together perfectly, all lengths were correct, all holes were in the exact place they should be, and all the tapped holes were good. I couldn't be more pleased.

CNCRouterParts carriages and R&P:
These components were of the highest quality and worked perfectly. The Z axis assembly diagram, the carriage assembly and adjustment video, and the R&P assembly video on Ahren's website clearly showed assembly and alignment information, and were all I could ask for. I asked Ahren several questions via email, and got immediate responses.

FLA Communications

Today, 12/28, I got a very nice email from Nate of FLA apologizing for being non-responsive, and also promising to ship out the G540 today. He offered me a $100 refund for my problems. As it turns out, he was on vacation for the last two weeks.

I am very pleased with the kit I bought and consider it a great value, and have advised him I don't need the $100, I just need the G540.

Y Axis off 1/4" fixed

12/28 I used the ends of the Y rails as a reference, lined up the longer end of the gantry with the end of the Y rail and blocked it in place, loosened all 4 bolts on both sides, and moved the short side up to the end of the Y rail, tightened everything, and am now less than 1/32" out of square. I'll leave it like this until I get my G540, and draw some squares to check overall alignment.

I'm very happy!

It's ALIVE!

1/5/2011 G540 arrived yesterday. Set up a temporary arrangement for the controller, and wired up motors, E-Stop, and Power supply. Picture is what it looks like below. Ahren has assured me this test will not hurt anything. I put a large heatsink under the G540, and used a fan to blow air across it to help assure there would be no damage. Test lasted only as long as the video, then I powered down. Motors got warm only.

And of course, the first movement video!

It's the end of the month, and I haven't gotten much done!

1/30/2011 I've put lockable casters on all 6 legs, and 2 hard stops on X, A, Y, and Z. Also Homing/Limit switches on X, A, Y, and Z with wiring to follow. I'm going to wire all switches in series, all to one Mach3 input pin, or maybe A on it's own input pin to facilitate squaring X to A. Details below.

Casters

Caster Pictures:

Hard Stops and Limit Switches

Bottom Hard Stop and Limit Switch, Z Axis (can't fully see it when installed, so here it is out for it's picture, revised to add a spacer.)

Hard Stops, Limit Switches, E-Chain, and Dust Collection FINISHED! Controller setup, not so much!

2/14/2011 Wired up the Home and Limit Switches, hooked up the Y E-chain, and installed the dust collection. Controller setup still bread boarded until I buy my 4th axis power supply. Next is spoilboard, and router relay setup.

Temporary controller breadboard. I don't yet know what size power supply I will use for my 4th axis, so leaving it this way for a while.

Router Automatic On/Off Control via G-code

2/15/11 I Bought this relay for $3.25 from Jameco, and used a 6v DC wallwart from my junkbox to power a router control setup. Hooked up to Mach3 Output #1, pin17 on parallel port, and G540 pin #5. Now when a cut file starts up or ends, or I hit the E-stop, Mach3 turns on/off my router. I use a remote control for the vacuum.

2/24/2011 ALL DONE!

Installed support board for spoilboard, and the spoilboard itself. Support board is two parts, a 48X54 piece, and a 16X54 one, to fill the opening.

I used 5 t-track strips, 3 12X48 pieces of 3/4" ply, 1 6X48 piece, and 2 11/8" pieces on the front and back to make 48" surface