NCNCD

TTony

My "neighbour" just decided to buy a bigger machine, and I was in the right place at the right time to grab his previous machine!

It will cut pieces to a max size of 550 x 350 (mm), but can also do a neck if it's repositioned mid-carve.

I'm now on a vertical learning curve with design/CAD software ...



As someone has already commented, I can now make really accurate mistakes, and repeat them consistently as many times as I can press the "Go" button.



Now I just need a good source of decent cutters.

paulnb57

Wow! As stated a steep learning curve, but with huge potential, I’m a bit envious

guitargeek62

Very envious, that’s awesome Tony!

benvall

Hey TTony,
I’ve recently made a fano style 3D model in AutoCAD and converted it to an stl file. I’m picking up some wood on Wednesday and hoping to get a colleague to cnc it in the next few weeks. Anyway, I’m happy to share the stl or cad file with you if you want to have a play with the model 

m_c

My woodworking is currently limited to manual machines, but from the CNC forums I frequent, the usual recommendations are whatever you can find on ebay/aliexpress for cheap which will usually do the job without any problem and are a good option for when you're learning and likely to break a few, or Wealden for good quality.

TTony

benvall said:

Hey TTony,
I’ve recently made a fano style 3D model in AutoCAD and converted it to an stl file. I’m picking up some wood on Wednesday and hoping to get a colleague to cnc it in the next few weeks. Anyway, I’m happy to share the stl or cad file with you if you want to have a play with the model 

Thanks - I've PM'd you @benvall.

m_c said: My woodworking is currently limited to manual machines, but from the CNC forums I frequent, the usual recommendations are whatever you can find on ebay/aliexpress for cheap which will usually do the job without any problem and are a good option for when you're learning and likely to break a few, or Wealden for good quality. Cheers @m_c - I've had the same guidance re the eBay 10 for £10 bits - oddly, they seem to do a job for once. 

And I'll check out Wealden.  Stupidly, I didn't think of them for CNC bits, but I use them regularly for my "other" router bits.


 @guitargeek62 ; @paulnb57 ;  - thanks guys.  I know just how you feel.  For many a year I've been envious of those with CNC capabilities.   Luckily, it was a case of right place / right time - my neighbour had just decided to buy a bigger machine when I was talking to him, so he offered me this one.  I didn't think long (at all) about buying it!

m_c

I forgot to mention software options.

Fusion360 is still good and probably the most advanced, even with the newer free version limitations, but it does have quite a steep learning curve, especially if you've never done parametric modelling before.
There are however lots of tutorials on how to use it.

There are a whole host of other CAD/CAM options aimed more at woodworking, like Vectric and a good few others depending on what you're end goal is. If you've not found it already, a scan over the CNCZone.com forum board list will give you lots of options. Most have a free trial period, so you can try a few and see what is likely to work for your particular use.

TTony

Cheers @m_c ;

I think my choice of package/s will be heavily influenced by the availability of online tutorials in English.  

I've watched a few now, presented by Americans, whose approach seems to be to say everything very slowly, and then repeat it all, three times  .

Only slightly frustrating .... !!

WiresDreamDisasters

Don't make the Spinal Tap mistake in your software setup and you should be golden!

m_c

TTony said:

Cheers @m_c ;

I think my choice of package/s will be heavily influenced by the availability of online tutorials in English.  

I've watched a few now, presented by Americans, whose approach seems to be to say everything very slowly, and then repeat it all, three times  .

Only slightly frustrating .... !!

Some youtubers can drag out the simplest of things.
Once you've watched a few vids, you can generally work out who to watch, and who to avoid.

normula1

and don't forget to like and subscribe

Corvus

Nice! I lust after CNC sometimes, so many possibilities. Templates and fixture/jig bits too. Good score!

PeteC

green with machine envy now........  nice acquisition ! 

TTony

Cheers @PeteC!

It was a bit of a surprise opportunity TBH.  When the guy originally got it, I “expressed an interest” if he ever decided to sell, along with a few dozen others.  Right place, right time, and I bit his hand off when he asked whether I was still interested.

I’m still on a near-vertical learning curve with all the software, but I’ve found some decent videos now, so making progress.  And lots of sawdust!

m_c

If you're only making sawdust, then you're not running it hard enough!

TTony

Lots of sawdust @m_c, very precisely and finely cut!

m_c

You should be creating shavings with that spindle, not sawdust!

TTony

Ahhh - I’ve got some new bits on order @m_c.  The bullnose doesn’t really do shavings.  At least, not on the settings that I’ve found!

m_c

It's not quite so critical for wood, but ideally you want the cutter to be cutting, and taking a reasonable amount of bite per tooth.

If you've not discovered the world of feeds and speeds, then I use FSWizard - FSWizard Machinist Calculator
It's not the most obvious link, but if you click the "Run the Web App" button next to the iTunes/Play buttons, it'll open up the online version.

I've got the paid version, as I bought a HSMAdvisor license years ago, so I don't actually know the limitations of the free versions. I do know the paid versions let me store machine profiles.

TTony

Thanks @m_c.  

I'm using Mach3 (preinstalled on the laptop that came as part of the CNC kit) to handle feeds/speeds, and have just left all those setting as they were thus far.

All part of the learning curve ...

m_c

Mach3 only gets configured for the maximum machine accelerations/speeds.

You need to set the cutting feed rate (F word in the G code), to the maximum speed you want the machine to run during cutting. The machine might not hit that speed due to acceleration/deceleration constraints.

It's not an exact science, as it's affected by machine strength/deflection, cutter deflection, material deflection, and resonance, but the calculator gives you a good starting point, from where you can adjust cutting speed (Feed Rate Override is for this purpose), and spindle speed to try and find the sweet spot that works best.

If you haven't started already, I'd suggest learning the common G-codes, so you can understand what the code is making the machine do.
You'll rarely ever need to manually write G-code (I say rarely, but all my lathe code I do manually, as it's easier. The mill is all generated by CAM), but it's good to be able to quickly change things like speeds/feeds, without having to regenerate the entire file.