Oh I'm expecting the worse ... two customs being crossed !

Since they are now way way overdue with the delivery and having done only a single attempt at delivery, they might get their own surprise ... I hope they are as patient as me. I have StepperOnline, the shipper, on the case at this point as well. If DHL's truck really left early this morning to deliver the package to my address, they better send a search team to check on the driver as he/she has yet to show up and it's now 11:30 pm !

Although somewhere on DHL's web site or in their automated answering system there was mention of a "yellow tag" with some reference number IF there was any added fees to be paid. I have not found any such note and they did attempt one delivery. I'm assuming there will not be added charges.

We'll eventually find out, but I'm not holding my breath. I have just learned the hard way not to deal with DHL for anything.

So maybe you guys can chime in, before I mill up my plates I'm considering and wondering about a few things.
Especially the guys with theirs built, feel free to chime in.

I want the z and x gantry to be as rigid as possible. I see some possible weak points and was considering the following:

-Adding two more sets of wheels between the x plates
-Adding holes for some aluinum standoffs or blocks between the two x plates
-Adding some "height" to the plates to allow for an HDPE block to fit underneath, thus protecting the underside wheels from debris
-expanding my z extrusion to 80mm width instead of 60mm to maybe have a more solid surface?

Short of a linear actuator(which is coming in the future on the z axis) I want the x/z to be as solid as possible!

Thanks guys.

kudos to StepperOnline and a swift kick, steel toes shoes on, in the ... to DHL.

StepperOnline is stepping up and tracking what is going on with DHL from their end in China. Definitely quality service from StepperOnline ...

Apparently, DHL China found out that DHL Canada "contacted" me yesterday, which is not true at all. In fact, I received no call, no voicemail, no email (other than an other very late tracking updating stating package was again on a truck since about 7am this time - that's third day my package is travelling the country side with no delivery !) or any other contact of any kind from DHL. Worse yet, DHL China told StepperOnline that they can't get a refund of any kind since the package had left China "on time" ! Are we missing something here? I thought delivery meant reached the destination address and was accepted by someone at same address, not that it left towards that address with no further trace ... not even a notice of delivery failure at the door of destination address. Wow, DHL is really an outfit to be avoided at all cost !

StepperOnline, as part of their quality service, will remedy the situation for me by next week. We both wanted to be certain DHL is a lost cause at this stage by giving them the rest of this week, 2 more days - that's the time it took to travel from China to Canada (~half way around the world), to deliver the package the "last mile" ... although over a week passed due at this point.

So it looks like my build will be delayed about a week.

Mark,

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my questions.

I am going to have my plates cut with the extra width so that 20x80 is an option and go from there.

I will be cutting a decent amount of aluminum with this machine, and I am hoping to increase my depth per pass from around .20 mm to nearly 1mm If I can.

In the future I plan to convert the machine over to a ball screw and linear bearing design for at least the z axis. I do a lot of production level runs in g10 and carbon fiber material and want to retain fast belt fed rapids on the x and y.

Unfortunately some of my v wheel kits that came today didn't actually have the wheel in them(I shot you an email about this) so hopefully you guys aren't totally out of them!

Keep up the good work. I can't say enough good things about you guys, and the guys here on the forums.

Looks like I'll be getting those stepper motors by middle of next week. I can hardly wait ...

Got an 'attempt notice' from Canpar Thursday and a 'delivery notice' today from Loomis. Both with the same COD amount (probably the taxes). Thanks to these notices, which "DHL" did not bothered to do on the first attempt last Friday, I was able to call some one and get somewhere. No automated system, an actual human taking the call as late as 8pm. Had to believe ! Oddly enough, both of the individuals had same first name and both gave me the same local pick up address. However, Loomis said they will try delivery again Tuesday and I can then pick up the package Wednesday between 12 noon and 5:30pm while CanPar said I can pick it up either between 8-9 am and 4:15-5:30pm as early as Tuesday - given they will notify the pick up point to hold the package. The person further said these are driver owned and this was the reason for the small pick up times - the driver must go out the rest of the day to make deliveries (and get paid).

Now, if only I had a delivery notice last Friday all would of been real easy for everyone. Checked around the house a few time since last Friday - in case a notice was left but flew off the door. Nothing to be found. There is also no explanation why there was no delivery attempts on Monday Tuesday and Wednesday. Maybe the driver, being a small shop, was sick and could not go out to do his/her runs ? I might find out when I pick up the package.

Hmm ... being two different carriers/courriers with different hours of operations, has my package cloned itself ?! Will I get twice the number of steppers and power supply for the price of one ? The suspense is nearly killing me ... long weekend streching the wait as well.

Looking on the good side, this gives me time to receive the drivers ordered late and maybe even the Arduino ordered weeks ago from China (free shipping, so on a 'slow boat'). I have also a bit more time to play with the design in SketchUp.

All this waiting around got me googling around for a descent 'router' to mount on the OX. It looks like either the DeWalt DW611M or DW618M. Not much difference in price, but big difference in power and capacity and still an acceptable weight and, apparently, great performance. A kit isn't needed since the 'motor' will be mounted on the OX. They look good too. Any thoughts or suggestions ? I will be "testing" with the Dremel at first.

All this waiting got me thinking, if I get the DeWalt, I might just have to get some of that yellow track cover to dress up the OX ... maybe some of those LED light rope or strips, some yellow pasti-dip at the right places, a bit of chrome paint here and there ... pimp my (cnc) router ! Could I sign it OXzbit with no problems ?? Maybe if I us a large 1080P 3D LED screen for the table and get some oversized wheels I could ?

Seriously, let's hope I didn't forget to order anything critical and unavailable locally. I would hate further delays, especially if for a '5 cents' part. From a recent post, me thinks I might be missing a few 1/4" spacers ... The saga might continue after all, eh ?

Sorry if I bothered anyone with this. Just felt the story had to be told as it unfolds. I'll be creating a separate build soon enough, so won't bother anyone who doesn't want to follow the story there.

I am working on an Ox mount for the Dewalt 611 router that Adebo Thomas designed. It should be available soon.

You are getting my attention again ... But I'm not certain if I should go with the DW618 for future needs/proofing at a few extra dollars now or if the DW611 will be plenty good for a while. I will probably CNC aluminium and the likes and DW618 sounds like it would be better. I usually overbuild things ...

I found that out real quick ... DHL tracking made it quite obvious it was all the same circus act.

The one 'dispatcher' actually openly said the depots are driver operated ... as like maybe in a garage at some guys place doing it in his spare time when he feels like delivering the packages dispatched to him. What a joke, eh ? DHL is supposed to be a world wide quality operation ... I guess not in this neck of the wood.

If there is someone out there who would be interested in producing the mounts I will be happy to send them the files for 1/2in thick DWP/DNP611 mounts. My problem Is I don't have a means to drill the mount holes accurately. Is someone out there able to do this?

Adebo is working on a mount for the Dewalt 618 and then we should be able to make that also.

Thanks for the link. It is a bit dated, but still of value. Seems like it basically comes down to fact a 1/2" might be better for the long run and for CNC applications. Me thinks I'm leaning towards the DW618 ...

First one to make an accurate measurement passes it on to you ... I had a link to Dewalt's somewhat technical exploded view for highlighting replacement parts. I don't think they showed such specs though.

I was thinking of getting the router with the fixed mount and modifying it, at least to get it mounted and start routing/milling ... but if you can get a "perfect" mount at a reasonable price, I might be buying ... I would rather start working wood then jumping right into any metal, even the "soft" aluminium.

I'm down towards Windsor.

I was looking at the DeWalt routers too. They look pretty nice and most reviews are pretty good. I see that the 611 has only a 1/4" collet, but the 618 is both 1/4" and 1/2". I don't have much experience using routers in general and no experience using them with a CNC machine, so my question is: For a CNC machine, is it necessary to have a router with a 1/2" collet, or will 1/4" do with the bits that I would expect to be using? I'm not even sure yet what bits I will require. I would like to be able to cut anything from foam to light metal. Thanks!

@planga, I'll guess that most of your work can be done with 1/4" bits. 1/2" bits may be needed if you want to make high speed cuts. But then your machine has to be built very solid to be able to cut at those forces. An OX is a machine that is ideal for a 1/4" bit.

The offer is most appreciated and might come in handy.

I ordered and received the 1/8" spacers mentioned in the parts list which does not lists any 1/4" spacers. So I won't really know until assembly starts. The spacers are used to stand off the steppers, so I will need the later first to be in my hands. They are now scheduled to come in either Tuesday (if I'm really lucky) or probably Wednesday (if the saga does not stretch). We'll have to wait until then to know for sure if the 1/4" are needed.

Sounds good, thanks for the replies! I don't plan on taking it off the machine to use for other routing, so I think I'll stick with the 1/4".

Hi All

I've been looking at CNC routers for a while and am liking the look of the OX, However I can only find one Australian supplier of the Vslot, and they haven't returned my email from last week asking on an ETA for new stock. Does anyone know if there are there any other sources in Australia besides openlab.com.au? The shipping cost from elsewhere puts the build out of the current budget.

I am just over the ditch and expecting a small order of sticks in a few weeks time. I will work out shipping to oz once it is in nz.

If you want something sooner I have one "stock" small ox kit that I could pack down and send your way too.... Either just the vslot sticks or the entire kit.

Fire me a message if you want to chat about options.

Hey everyone, just wanted to say thanks for the designs and a quick plug to Chris and Bill (http://www.opensourceluthiersupply.com/) for their great service.

Here is a link to some build photos of my OX CNC if anyone is interested.

http://imgur.com/a/XFQRU#0