artyman

Hi, actually, the new spindle is more powerful than the tool I was using, I've not had any problems with it's performance, even using an underrated power supply (currently using 12V... waiting for the 48V one to arrive). I'm more than pleased with the cutting performance, both in thickness of cuts achieved - 18mm MDF,... and speed, though the speed of cut is more limited with the type of bit being used. I'm guessing yours is slightly larger than mine, having a full router as the spindle. Once you get started, you'll be having loads of fun, but it's quite a learning curve to get used to spindle speeds and feedrates... be prepared for broken bits !! on another note, I've just finished a prototype for some front panel bling..... very unobtrusive until power-on....

Upgrades are in progress now... and now that I have a milling bit capable, I thought I'd try cutting something a bit thicker... 18mm MDF. The results were excellent !!! .. and HOW much quieter is this spindle than the old tool?? ...and a few stills...

Thank you for that... been wanting a good image of the logo to try something out on the CNC using it :smile:

UPDATE:- Now the spindle upgrade is done, It's so quiet that now I can hear all the other rattles and rumbles that the frame is making. So... in addition to the motor upgrades, and re-designing the X-axis transmission, a bit more bracing is needed on the gantry. The most worrying is some lateral play along the X-axis which is causing a slight 'twist' around the centre. I believe this can be solved with an arrangement of wire rope and pulleys to keep the gantry in a fixed orientation, in a similar manner to the rulers on a draughtsman's drawing board. On the positive side... my first project made with the aid of the CNC is now built, fitted and working - the power 'pods' on my workbench. note.. I had to chamfer the edges by hand, because I didn't have a suitable tool for the CNC to do that.

Thank you for your support and interest... It was a daunting prospect at first, but then, so is building your own synth from scratch. The processes involved are very similar, break it down to small sections... design, build, test.... add on the next section... etc.. Anyway, got the new mount for the spindle done. I had to recess the T-nuts due to the clearance between the tool mount and the Z-axis frame being so tight. The holes and the pockets machined very well with the original tool, but it was having difficulty with the cutout, so I had to cheat a bit and stop the cut, then using the slot I already had as a guide, jigsaw it out completely and file the edges flush. Overall I'm pleased, as the most important parts were machined properly before the problems. Photos show:- - New spindle and mount - Underside of the above, highlighting the recessed T-nuts - New mount in place on the Z-axis - New spindle mounted in place - Despite inaccuracies in my jigsaw work, the CNC work was perfect, leaving the new spindle perfectly vertical

New upgrade parts have now arrived.... hopefully this should make a difference to the speed of the machine, and stop the cutting bit getting pushed back up into the tool. now making the new mountings for them... if a bit slowly !!

Hi reboot, see this thread for the engraving details... I tried the wax technique mainly because I didn't have any paint handy, and didn't really want to have to wait for it to dry. This technique gives a final result within about 5 mins. The only disadvantage is that it only really works with metal panels, plastic would not react well to the heat gun, although I haven't tried it on plastic yet, it will be something I will investigate.

Now that I can engrave my own panels... I was thinking of how to infill them - paint is too messy and fiddly, ink would be the same, then I saw my daughter's art materials box, and had an idea !!! The technique is simple and gives excellent results:- Rub a wax crayon of the colour you want the infill to be over the engraving, making sure there are shavings over the letters. GENTLY heat the wax with a heat gun on low setting, until the wax melts and runs into the letters. Allow to cool and set. GENTLY buff the area with a soft cloth to remove the excess wax left over. The beauty of this technique is that if there are any spots that didn't get covered, simply repeat the process. Here are a couple of photos of my first test engraving, now infilled using this technique.

My first foray into machining Aluminium has met with partial success:- Engraving, using a 0.1mm 10deg engraving bit came out perfect (see photos..). This was 3mm high text, engraved to a depth of 0.3mm. Milling, however, threw up it's own problems.... The 3mm endmill I was using kept getting pushed up into the collet, no matter what spindle speed and feedrate I used. Also, at some point, both the X and Y axes missed steps and threw the whole cut out of line. To address these problems, I now have a proper milling spindle on it's way, and, starting with the X-axis, moving the whole gantry, a much heftier NEMA23 stepper. If the new stepper proves to give me much more accuracy (without missed steps) and a higher feedrate, I'll replace the Y-axis as well. The Z-axis can have the stepper that is currently on the X-axis, which has slightly more torque than it's existing one.

Found one problem with the build... machining a long cut from front to back, the cut gradually got shallower until the tool came out of the workpiece.. NOT GOOD!!! after some investigation, I found that the endpiece at the back was about 1mm shorter than the front, so the table had a slight slant on it. THE SOLUTION:- machine some shims to place betwen the table and the endpiece. Now the back is slightly proud by 0.2mm (I can live with that), which should settle down as the MDF shims compress under the bolts. As far as cutting goes, I started out very conservatively at 2mm/sec and a fast spindle speed. but found that while cutting well, it was also prone to burning the wood. So... I decided to slow the tool down a bit to half speed (about 12000RPM) and gradually ramp up the feedrate, now I can cut at a whopping 6mm/sec, almost as fast as it's rapid rate (which is the fastest it goes). @Johey - Thank you, It was a long build, but SO satisfying to see it working.

OK... for Hawkeye, and anyone else that is interested... a brief synopsis of the parts used :- Z-axis - 8mm stainless steel rails + linear bearings, NEMA17 48 Oz-in stepper Y-axis (Gantry) - 12mm rails + linear bearings, NEMA17 48 Oz-in stepper X-axis (Base) - 20mm rails + linear bearings, NEMA17 78 Oz-in stepper all lead screws are standard M6, 1mm pitch threaded bar, with thrust bearings on each end. The fabric of the machine is reclaimed 12mm MDF for the Y & Z axes, new 18mm MDF for the base. Control electronics are a generic 3 axis TB6560 stepper driver board - combined breakout board and 3x stepper drivers All of this is controlled through Mach3 software.

Thank you :smile: The next plan for it is another tool - 200-300mW laser for 'engraving'

First job for the CNC.... make some clamps.... Simple job to start with, but they came out really well... every pass around the profiles was perfectly aligned....not bad for a machine made from mostly reclaimed scrap MDF !!! :wink:

Cutting has started !!!! I now have a working, completely self-designed and built CNC router ! :smile: :hyper: http://youtu.be/NqMiZW-_tUQ