ritboliver

Hmmmm...I'm wondering if I should have used the washers on the front of the board instead (between the board and the waterblocks). They appear to be about the right thickness.

I got plenty of them, so let me know if u need some.  I can order you a box of them ;)

Amazing job again Nate. You X58 Micro block is still doing good on my mobo. Thanks.

Hi! Are you still selling these blocks? I can't find any of the other brands anywhere now haha :(. How much ;)?
 
Thanks !

BRAVO NATE, you have come a long way man
 

nateman_doo

Thanks again gents.  I plan to get lots done on my machine this weekend.  Once its back up and running... I am back in business. 

Happy Thanksgiving all
Awesome grats on getting back up and running! Let me know when ready to begin again on the CPU project.

Finally some pictures:
The drain in the poured (scooped) concrete before painting:

 
 
Now the painted structure:

The metal frame is bolted through everything.  The concrete was painted to A: created a sort of seal for the concrete, B: make it slightly easier on the eye then plain concrete.
 
The whole of everything will then be coated in fiberglass resin (just the resin, without the fiberglass).  That will 100% seal everything from the liquid oil bath (hopefully if I don't miss any spots), and protect the concrete from any chips, and allow for easy clean up.  Mostly looking for the waterproof capabilities of the resin though.

I think I am going to die, I just mixed and coated the entire structure with almost an entire gallon of resin.
 
The fumes are going to smell up the house for years to come.

I sealed the bottom that the concrete is sitting in, so that if liquid made it through my initial layers, the buck would stop there so to speak. 
I am having the most problem with the paint:

The resin in liquid form was beginning to eat the oil based paint.  I am solving the problem by DOUSING the entire structure in resin.  As long as the resin wins the fight all will be ok.  The idea is waterproof, thats it.  One solid shell of resin will be waterproof, so I don't care what kind of bond is going on, nor do I care about the appearance.  It will be covered in metal chips within the first few days of operation.
(the leftover resin shell from the bucket, with an inch of oil coolant cutting fluid just to show its waterproof)

 
 
Everything is a lesson learned.  Should have applied the resin directly to the concrete, and then painted the resin (if I cared that much).  Lesson learned for the larger machine build. 

Grats on your resin working ;) And it looks like you nearly got the drain angle perfect too only minor puddles seam to want to stand. Nice job i'll have to have you send me instructions so i can copy it in  a few years ;)

FINALLY, I have created the piece that was the final link in the chain.
 
I was left to ponder my thoughts during the day to figure out how to secure a motor which will turn the ballscrew and get my Z axis back in motion.  Taking inventory of the machines I have at my disposal, the only semi accurate machine I have is my mini lathe.  Traditionally, motor mounts are made square, but since all I have is a lathe it had to do.

After almost an entire day of work, here is the magic part:


It took almost 2 hours alone for that to cut on the bandsaw.  Normally it was the worst way to cut a part (not on the edge through the length of it, but to cut the length of it), but It was the only way I could get it to cut where I wanted too.  I was afraid of the blade not digging into a curved surface, so I just let it run and oiled it frequently.
 
here is the motor with coupling attached to it.

 
Now here it is test fitted.

Still working on how to secure it to the part it sits on.  The only forces it needs to overcome are twisting motions.  I just need to make sure the motor does not turn.  I already have a solution, but I am working to implement it.  Once that is done, I can assemble to mill and get back on track!
 
 

Yay Nate.
Glad to see some more progress !!

Nate. Stumbled across this thread and was extremely excited. I've read most of the posts and might have missed this but what thread size are you drilling fittings? What are you charging for the full board in copper? Thanks

Pm sent.

very smooth action glad your nearly back in business

A better look at the back of the column reinforcements.  38 3/8" holes drilled, tapped, and countersunk in 1" thick aluminum bars.  Should prove VERY sturdy.

Here I am enlisting the help of a clamp and 2x4 to mimic a second set of hands.  I was trimming a little bit from the bottom of the column because I got some fiberglass resin in the area where the bottom of the column normally goes.  The accuracy of the aluminum blocks was not important, one side just needed to be flat.  They just simply add to prevent any stress along the sheer plane of the weld.  I put too much into that column to have it simply snap.  I am debating upon filling the entire column with concrete or something to add more strength and rigidity to it.
 
I can't wait to get back to machining waterblocks instead of this re-build, but hey... I had to do it.