Progress on CNC machine

D.Roberts

D.Roberts

D.Roberts

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Hi all well I have managed to spend all of 2hours in my workshop this weekend.
A little while ago I posted here about a CNC machine I designed and built but it all stopped due to health issues.

Tho my health is still the same I had to get out of the house as I have been in here for nearly over 4monthes now and it really is doing my head in.

Any ways to the point :P I have managed to attach a cheap dremal to my CNC for proof of concept to see if it would do engraving and it worked ok seeing as there is a lot of play in the shaft and I used a drill bit.

When I get the money and im better I will invest in some thing better but for now its ok.

here is part of my pc case :)


http://i44.tinypic.com/ix6wba.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/2hx7txh.jpg

I will post back and keep you all updated as when I can but wont be for a while now as I cant move :(

thanks all.

edit

this was the machine a long time ago when I was not to bad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GmwjKGee64

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVTM5GVCl9U

the pen was for testing as I did not want to start running solid carbide bits at 1200rpm when I was a noob (still am)
 
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that's really impressive mate! i hope your health improves so you can return to your project full-time!
 
Thank you very much :) wont be full time as I hope to be working but at the mo not sure what I can do :(

I have worked for 15 years well nearly all my life on and off with paper rounds etc hehe but at the mo its killing me not working :(
I will keep you all posted tho.

OCUK and the forum members for the win :)
 
I remember when you posted about this before. I was well impressed :)

Sorry to hear about your health though, hope it doesn't hold you back too much further.

Edit: MSC J&L do a 'value' range of cutting tools that are dead cheap. If you forsee mangling a few bits before you get the hang of it then it might be worth grabbing a bunch of them. Don't forget you have to run carbides quite hard compared to hss or they do just break unexpectedly easily :D
 
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Glad to see I'm not the only nutter that's tried building one of these, yours is looking pretty impressive! Could I ask what you've used for the linear bearings?

I built mine last summer, I dismantled it when I moved house though, I intend on rebuilding it at somepoint with a few changes to improve accuracy. Can't find any pics of the complete machine, here's one with it mostly done though...

http://i41.tinypic.com/2r3b8r4.jpg


And here's an escapement gear I cut with it (messed up the cut order you might be able to tell :p)
http://i43.tinypic.com/255kos5.jpg

Fun project but hard work!
 
cheers for the info Jonny69 :).

Nice build there Hamzter I used 25mm linear rails high carbide steal :)

I will post a few pics of me CNC machine soon :)
 
Cool:D Does it work vertically as well or just x and y axis? We've got one at uni that I used the other day for the first time, cut a big site model out from google sketchup.
 
D.Roberts that machine looks good, does it have encoders on the slides? Do you only run at 1200 rpm or do you mean 12000 rpm?
Are small carbide bits a lot more than HSS or tin coated ones? Personally I have always found heat is the biggest problem as the aluminium melts, clogs the flutes and then snap. I have not seen any difference between the various cutters as long as they are sharp, but then I have only ever run anything at 1000 rpm max.
 
Hi did I say 1200 yes your right I mean 12000.
Im stuck with a normal wood router so its hard to machine metal as its to fast if I get the feeds right its not to bad as that comps for the spindle rpm.

I have now got a small dremal on there to so its a little better for marching small stuff but the dremal is cheap so has a lot of play in the shaft but im skint like a lot of others and have to make do for now :P.

No there are no encoders as im using stepper motors not servos.
 
What size cutters can the dremel take? Does it just have one of those regular dremel collet chucks?
What sort of spindle do you plan to use?
 
:eek:

I am hugely impressed with what you have managed to do there mate, I wish I had that kind of knowledge!

Fantastic effort and I hope that your health doest hold you back at all and you recover, that looks immense. Good luck with it all, and that engraving looks sick!
 
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