The sleeping beauty

Here's what kept me busy lately: a 60cm x 90cm cnc. I broke the piggy bank nearly four years ago after reading fairly good reviews on cnczone. I then went trough some difficulties and it sat, waiting for some attention. I just managed yesterday to jog the three axis and to run the spindle, it's officially back to life.
In my opinion it's more a kit than a machine, no instruction at all. You've to figure out how to set and configure it by yourself. It's clearly a challenge, nothing impossible but it's time consuming and nerve racking. I had a little wooden cnc made for hobbyists, this one is not in the same league. No cutting yet, but the hardest part is done.

 

Very nice Tryphon,
I have to say that you're wooden cnc was memorable. Every time I see your name on a post I think of that machine and how impressed I was that you not only made it, but that it worked as it did!
You're right though, this is definitely a different league. Congrats on getting it running. Learning how to use it will be an adventure but it will certainly be worth it!

Pete

 

Link to the wooden cnc?

 

I hope I don't break any rule, here's the link to AA's thread: http://www.alloyavenue.com/vb/showthread.php?7649-first-step-in-the-CNC-world&highlight=wooden+cnc
It was 8 years ago...

 

Expanding on that, any relevant, non-spam link is welcome.

 

After struggling with the limit switches I ended up reinstalling Mach3 and everything worked fine. Mach3 is surely a great software but I liked Linuxcnc for its simplicity. Now it's time to flatten the bed, so here are its first steps: 1m/min (40"/min) with a 20 mm (3/4") bit.

 

What is the material?

 

It looks like PVC to me, cuts easily and makes nice chips. I had to make several passes to get it flat, last pass was at 3m/min. Time to move on to the first real cut.

 

Prettying up the water cooling system (organizing it at least..). One pump cools the spindle and the other one is for the cutting fluid. I use automotive coolant for the spindle, I've not decided what to use as cutting fluid for now. The cutting fluid is only needed for aluminum so it's not a priority.

 

So the first project is for the wife, she asked for a geoboard. I didn't know it existed before she showed me one, she planes to use it with her pupils. Basically you make patterns with rubber bands. Perfect project for a CNC. I had to cut rivets by hand though

 

I made one of those with plywood and finishing nails, I think I was in about grade 5 at the time so, a VERY long time ago.

 

She wanted a chest of drawers so I welded some tubes and started the cnc to cut the drawers. The joints of the first drawers were not perfect , I tested some options and after some tuning the quality improved. I used some acrylic clear coat as finish. Happy wife, happy life.

 

Nice simple design! I like it!

 

Still playing with the cnc, I did some engravings in brass. I ran into some problems with my clamping system, but it worked in the end. I'd like to say I designed the owl, but I didn't. The engraving is 0.002" deep. I sketched a drawing and did some tests with some Dibond laying around, need more experimenting.

 

A friend of mine asked me if I could replicate a gear he can't buy anywhere. At least an excuse to cut some aluminum. As the" template" he gave me was just a sheet of paper with some paint sprayed on, I preferred to make three prototypes with slightly different lengths. First test was made with a 2 flute end mill, it was a bit rough so I switched to a 1/8 one flute router bit. It went better. Pure water was used as a cutting fluid, cheap, practical and easily available . The unknown aluminum alloy didn't stick to the bit, so I'd say it did its job. It's approximately 1,25 " long and 1/8" thick. We'll see if the dimensions are correct...

 

It's a part from a lock for a building mail box, if I understood correctly. He tried to explain how it works but it wasn't very clear ( for me).

 

How are you holding your cutout parts down, tape?
I haven't had alot of luck cutting grooves into di-bond. My latest attempt was with a 1/4" single flute. I've tried both up cut and down cut but I cant get rid of the burr. Maybe a fine cut 2nd pass would do it, but I'm trying to do production runs an want to keep my time down. I guess an additional pass would be better than all the time I spend deburring with my thumbnail.

Pete

 

I screwed the di-bond on some mdf and hold it down with t track clamps, I feared it would slip or bend without the wood . I clamped the aluminum directly on the bed. I hadn't much chance with tape. As for the di-bond, the spindle was running at 10 000 rpm , 32"/min, 0.040" deep. It makes a nice continuous plastic chip. Didn't have the chance to much experiment, these settings are not optimized for production.