Author Topic: my DIY CNC 3 axis milling machine...out of acrylic and scrap (Read 28312 times)

FrankenFrankenstuff · « **Reply #25 on:** October 01, 2012, 07:16:05 PM »

Very cool Crush.

Roach Carver · « **Reply #26 on:** October 01, 2012, 07:18:46 PM »

Superscribed.

vance · « **Reply #27 on:** October 02, 2012, 06:28:57 PM »

Frankenstuff, I know it's too late now but the next time you are cutting polycarbonate on your CNC I would recommend trying a different bit. Also I'm curious as to what your speed/feed was. Typically I wouldn't see that kind of melting without a really dull tool or way too low of a chipload. I have been running CNC machines in plastics shops since the mid 90's so I have a lot of experience cutting polycarb, acrylic, abs, etc... Anyhow, on polycarbonate we always use a 3/8" solid carbide single "O" flute cutter from Onsrud. Spindle speed around 16,000 feed rate around 250 IPM (F250.) is a good starting point with that tool. Also it's not a good idea to plunge straight into the material, we always get better results ramping in or helix in on a circular cut.

Neat project, looking forward to seeing the finished machine!

FrankenFrankenstuff · « **Reply #28 on:** October 02, 2012, 07:10:55 PM »

Yikes. No I was using a Tin-coated 2 flute 3/16" at 1600rpm and 7 IPM...and yes...I plunge cut.

Dang you vance! Yeah I am not a trained machinist. Learning as I go and just grabbing bits out of the drawer. The melting was because of the plunge strand that wrapped around the bit and the bad air tip. (before the pen) Ug. Any advise is appreciated. Thanks.
Is this like what you use?
[img width= height=]http://asiatechnic.com/engineering/images/stories/services/Spiral-O-flute-Alu-cutter.jpg[/img]

jason41987 · « **Reply #29 on:** October 02, 2012, 07:32:57 PM »

i actually have all the parts i need to buid a 3-axis CNC machine.. was going to build a CNC router, but ive decided to wait until after i move to rebuild and retrofit an old bridgeport mill

vance · « **Reply #30 on:** October 02, 2012, 08:47:54 PM »

Well, those appear to be solid carbide single flute so that would be closer but I forgot to mention that the ones we use are straight flute. Here is a link to the onsrud bit we've been using-

http://www.onsrud.com/product/Item/m/itemDetail.html?itemId=61-122

cabrala · « **Reply #31 on:** October 03, 2012, 08:30:24 AM »

I've got two Super "O" Onsrud cutters for acrylic and other plastics in 1/4" and 3/8" iirc. If you ever want to take a look at them prior to shelling out money let me know.

Vance, thanks for the speeds and feeds too! I've been having to guess on the plastics and I've melted a few parts in the process. Always helps to have a good base line.

Vreihenmotor6 · « **Reply #32 on:** October 03, 2012, 05:06:42 PM »

Quote from: FrankenFrankenstuff on September 29, 2012, 08:40:43 PM

Boston huh? The Larz Anderson had Honda day on the lawn today, did you make it? If I have any major issues are you going to be the ringer to help me figure out the BS? I am about 25 mins outside of Boston.

I had wanted to go to the show , but I had a family emergency come up

I'm not sure I can help with all the issues you encounter, but I'll try . I'm working with servo motors, pneumatics and electronics at work all the time, and as $$ allows I'll be building my mini mill up cnc, first project is a diy DRO

as far as the fordom goes if you keep the flex shaft at a large radius it should last longer, I've only ever broken one shaft/ housing and thats cause I bound up the bit, but heres a thought, why not just run the motor directly to the chuck, and remove the spring shaft

Markcb750 · « **Reply #33 on:** October 03, 2012, 07:01:42 PM »

Monarch PMC 750 V 025

This is a video of the last CNC machine I designed & built...well with a little help from from my friends at the Monarch Cortland plant. I was the Chief Engineer. They are essentially out of business now, the machine you see is at least 15 years old.

knowsnothing · « **Reply #34 on:** October 04, 2012, 05:52:20 AM »

Mark i like how you sneaked "750" into the name

Also, nice crotch shots

FrankenFrankenstuff · « **Reply #35 on:** October 06, 2012, 07:26:44 PM »

OK. So this past week I was able to get to some assembly....and then recutting. Essentially this is some good old fashioned 'seat of the pants' engineering. I am finding little simple design flaws as I am putting it together.

assembled and mounted the motor to the arm.

run of the mill

I have added to my mill time by adding 3 finish cuts rather than just 2 contour cuts.

Parts ready for assembly.

X and Y axis are mobile

I also made a little clear box for holding the stepper drivers, but I dont like how cramped in all of the electronics seem. There is a big beefy fan to keep it all cool.

shag nasty · « **Reply #36 on:** October 06, 2012, 07:52:01 PM »

have you considered what hot chips of metal is going to do to that plastic. Just a thought but I have to admit it looks freakin awesome

FrankenFrankenstuff · « **Reply #37 on:** October 07, 2012, 04:09:09 AM »

Hey there Shag. I was on your plasma thread. nice. This little machine wont have the sack to do any real metal. I am building it essentially just for cleaning up aluminum sandcastings. The plan is to do a single high speed ball mill finish pass (removing .030") I have found some bellows to cover the threads from dust.
Here is the part in question. I made a sandcasting pattern and am having a foundry cast my points covers. I figure I will offer them raw for you DIY guys, or milled.

(painted cover)

shag nasty · « **Reply #38 on:** October 07, 2012, 07:18:50 AM »

That is really quite cool. I think it would be much faster to clean something like that on a lathe and since you are taking off so little material I would just use sand paper while spinning it on the lathe. I believe that you will have a terrible time locating the part on the mill.

FrankenFrankenstuff · « **Reply #39 on:** October 07, 2012, 07:27:49 AM »

I am going to have a jig that will locate the parts at zero center. I will pre-drill the mounting holes to attach the part to the jig. I thought about just using a rotary table on the milling machine with an angle bit....but where is the magic in that? I needed to learn some new tricks anyway. The boss is looking into a CNC lathe right now.....so he can make fishing lures? wha? serious.

FrankenFrankenstuff · « **Reply #40 on:** October 07, 2012, 06:46:30 PM »

I did some assembly of the 3D printer extruder. Here are the bits that I printed...using the wrong files. There are updated and improved design changes to the gear to hold the hex head.

Found the bearings that I needed in my daughters skateboard.

Attempting to add some bite to the drive bolt using my mini lathe and an M5 tap...didnt work well. My knurling tool is at work.

754 · « **Reply #41 on:** October 08, 2012, 11:10:28 AM »

You could easily do the point cover in a a lathe, if it did not have the mounting screw pockets, and the mounting tabs for the clear insert.

mono · « **Reply #42 on:** October 08, 2012, 12:31:10 PM »

this is a sweet project! just a couple things i noticed:

1. that was a d*ck move stealing your daughter's skateboard bearings haahahah

really, though - unless they were good bearings, i'd suggest investing in some swiss bearings. these are the ones i used to rock. or, you could replace her bearings with the nice ones

http://www.skates.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=BSAWBB6-8PK&click=84734&gclid=COSA8IaT8rICFQSe4AodASgAMw

2. i saw your mockup with the foredom flex shaft. that's a neat idea. are you going to use the pot-style speed controller, or have you hacked the foot pedal?

FrankenFrankenstuff · « **Reply #43 on:** October 08, 2012, 02:52:56 PM »

pot style and the skateboard was a POS from the store. The bearings arent really critical, two for turning the bolt and one for downward pressure on the ABS stock. I made her a mini longboard.

FrankenFrankenstuff · « **Reply #44 on:** October 25, 2012, 07:37:32 PM »

I have been working on the frigging mill since 4:30 this afternoon. Not done. Pics later. I also ordered a bunch of bells and whistles for it. (digital AMP display, end limit switches, and an Estop with a breakout board..and a NEMA17 for the 3d printing extruder)

I also started a table for the machine. It is going to be rough sawn 13" Ash.

mono · « **Reply #45 on:** October 25, 2012, 09:35:48 PM »

Sounds cool! I want a 3D printer so bad it hurts. Would use it for everything...

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

FrankenFrankenstuff · « **Reply #46 on:** November 23, 2012, 05:31:52 AM »

I am converting an old Craftsman router box into the computer housing. Wiring started out as a confusing mess...a couple hours of head scratching and it is actually quite relaxing and rewarding. I am addicted to heat shrinking. I got all of the electronics & controls switches...and help from Brent Hubbard of www.hubbardcnc.com He sent me wiring diagrams with idiot proof notes as requested. (I am a wiring idiot) but learning.

Milling the base for my little machine on the big machine.

I have a 1/4" sheet of aluminum that will be the base of the X axis. I have also added some ride ribs for the table. My original thinking was that the linear slide rods would hold everything stable..and they do, but the base of the X axis overhangs the base of the mill by a couple inches and actually flexes.....alot. = useless.

The program that will be running the machine is Mach3 which has backlash compensation. Right now I am going nuts trying to add an extension into the program Inkscape called 'gcodetools'. I am actually getting help from the developer of the software. (Thanks Nick!!) He says that I have somehow created a problem with the program that he has never seen before. Which is bad...but at the same time made me feel pretty cool. http://www.cnc-club.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35

FrankenFrankenstuff · « **Reply #47 on:** November 23, 2012, 05:43:49 AM »

"1.,2. Output Filename and directory. If output directory contains 'header' and/or 'footer' file they will be used as header and footer for resulting Gcode.
Attention! you must specify directory in which you have rights to write! (For example my home directory '/home/nick/')"

THIS is the final thing I need to get the program to work properly! WFT. I cant get it to work. I have googled "How to create a directory in Windows Vista" but....?

I went to Documents and created a new folder. Called it "Codes" then wrote it out in gcodetools preferences as 'joe/documents/codes' but then the program says the "Directory doesnt exist". Nick says in Linux he can just cut and past into directory. I am lost....I thought I was just creating a folder.

Retro Rocket · « **Reply #48 on:** November 23, 2012, 01:40:16 PM »

Vista sucks.....

FrankenFrankenstuff · « **Reply #49 on:** November 23, 2012, 02:52:50 PM »

Now my biggest hurdle is the fact that the show is next weekend and...the frigging Mach3 milling machine controller program is too big for my laptops screen! Ug. The laptop I need to use is one of those old Dell inspiron deals with the 600X800 screen. I need it for the paralell port. No time to order and configure a KFLOP or stepper driver for motion control.

How can I make the program window smaller on the screen. The button I need to press in order for the whole thing to work is off the screen...about at the "f1" key.

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Author Topic: my DIY CNC 3 axis milling machine...out of acrylic and scrap (Read 28312 times)

Markcb750