DIY-ish CNC Mini Mill

Yuri_Rage said:

bb - I'd love to be able to run a 5-axis machine someday. Even more, I'd like access to the software you guys use. I've done some pretty advanced stuff with the open source and hobby oriented stuff, but nothing compares to a true, industrial grade CAD/CAM integrated system. Regardless, I'm having a blast with this stuff.

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We are running Gibbs and Camworks, both great systems. Things have really changed in just the last few years, it has become industry standard for companies to provide a solid model along with the print. Are you able to run your mill at a high enough speed to use carbide tooling?

I've played with SolidWorks a bit, but the cost to upgrade from free demo to a full up machining solution is completely prohibitive. There are some ok 4-axis hobby solutions - MeshCam is one that comes to mind. I've used it to machine a few cool parts with 3 axes.

The stock spindle runs WAY slow, and the OE bearings are trash. I'm upgrading the bearings tomorrow, and I'll install a belt drive to increase the RPM to a point where I can run carbide cutters for some applications. I'm going to mount a high speed spindle (likely nothing more than a good router motor) so I can do detail work with HSS and carbide alike. Feed rate should be no issue - I expect rapids of nearly 200 IPM and realistic feed rates approaching 100.

Well done Yuri! If you end up with any super useful beer gadgets, i'd like to give them a whirl on the Tormach i have in the shop.

I just invested a few bucks in Tormach tooling (R8 adapter + tool holders) - the draw bar on that G0704 is a POS! Tormach - good stuff!

I'll post anything beer related for sure.

First chips flying!

Yuri_Rage said:

First chips flying!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWOiGbt9tKg

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Love it!

I have been wanting to do something like this for a while. I have one of those HF mills.
I use Mastercam to reproduce parts on our router at work so at least I wouldn't have to worry about buying CAM software.

Nice! Yuri, when you actually get to cutting metal, you might consider a shopvac vs. compressed air. You don't want to push swarf into the ways and crevices because you'll ruin things in a hurry.

Well aware - I've nearly destroyed my shop vac doing just that, but it's better than metal splinters and worn parts that are harder/more expensive to replace than a simple vac. I prefer compressed air for plastic, vacuum for wood and metal. I also use low pressure compressed air on small carbide cutters in metal.

Yuri_Rage said:

Well aware - I've nearly destroyed my shop vac doing just that, but it's better than metal splinters and worn parts that are harder/more expensive to replace than a simple vac. I prefer compressed air for plastic, vacuum for wood and metal. I also use low pressure compressed air on small carbide cutters in metal.

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Sure, I knew you knew I mentioned this because I was reading something the other day regarding machine tools in actual industrial settings. Many companies are very careful to keep compressed air away from their machines because it will void their warranties/service on some VERY expensive machinery. I guess if a service tech makes note of a compressed air hose in the immediate vicinity of the machine, that's enough for them to void the contract right then and there.

Not to mention the fact that compressed air turns the chips into dangerous shrapnel (ask me how I know).

I have a Van Norman 12 that was built somewhere around 1944...about the same size as a Bridgeport. When I broke it down into pieces for transport, it was incredible how much swarf made it into the dovetails/ways/etc over the years. You can see scoring on the ways where the chips just literally cut grooves from the repetitive motion. Way wipers or gaurds would have definitely helped, that's for sure.

I've been using my shopvac with a large filter bag and also the "high performance" filter that goes over the canister itself (looks like a mesh hop bag). Seems to be working well so far, and I vacuum up sawdust pretty frequently....gonna see how it works on the sandblasting cabinet pretty soon.

these things are supposed to be the bee's knees for shop vacs. there are some pre-built kits and some DIY type plans. a guy who can put a CNC laser engraver together should be able to figure it out

http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/cyclone-separator-shootout/

just found this thread i work on haas cnc mills and laths on a daily basis. i would love to have a small one at the house to make my own stuff instead of other peoples stuff. lol looks like your having some fun with it loved the bottle opener.

Hello Yuri,
I have a similar project... well ok sort of similar, Monarch 10e-nc with dead controls. have every thing I needed to get it together but looking at the break out board I orders is is limited to 10 khz. (i really wanted and optical isolated bb) I'm thinking that is not fast enough for step and direction to the gecko drives. I was original planning to go Mach3 EMC => parallel port=> breakout board=> gecko drives

How did you do yours? The breakout board is simple enough that i could replace the slow optos with faster ones on the step and dir channels.

That's essentially how mine is set up. I use a C32 breakout board from CNC4PC and Keling's digital drivers. I really like the drivers, but the C32 board is perhaps not the best if you're using true parallel ports rather than the USB Smoothstepper board. There are some weird voltage issues that I'm working with Arturo of CNC4PC to solve. I wanted maximum flexibility, but I have (as usual) overcomplicated things by using a board with so many additional features.

I'm almost positive that Geckodrives are already opto isolated. You're duplicating effort to isolate step/dir on the breakout board.