DIY-ish CNC Mini Mill

[fsneeringer]

I just went through and did a quick test - for circles and Arcs in parts Alibre will export the drawings 1:1 into DXFs maintaining circles and arcs. As you get into more complex geometries I cant guarantee that this relationship will be maintained. Let me know if you want me to shoot you a sample dxf or if you have something you want me to model and dxf out.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Awesome, thank you. I don't have anything specific in mind at the moment, but it's good to know that at least one bargain priced bit of software doesn't "cheat" with curved sections.

 

[Dkmount721]

Now all you need is a waterjet.

I made a cube paperweight once, has the typical pocket on all faces and then you go in with a dovetail and machine out the ID at the bottom of the pocket and the remaining material falls.

Fun little object of conversation.

 

[A4C]

The router attachment you are using could be used to make homebrew pub signs

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Already in the works, my friend!

 

[Bensiff]

Ah hell, I've been looking at mini mills for a while, now to see you can CNC it, I had better pretend I never saw this thread or my want will outpace my need.

 

[Mista_Sparkle]

OK, this is pretty cool. Was it difficult to build?

I have a pile of steppers pulled from some old laser printers waiting for a project like this.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

It wasn't very difficult to build at all. This is one problem that definitely has money as a solution.

I did some of the work myself, but I used a few kit components that made the build fairly easy. For another $1,000, I probably could've sourced all the parts from one supplier, ensuring that the project would be easier to build than some Lego kits. For another $3,000, I could've had a complete machine.

On the other hand, I could've spent half what I did, but I'd have pulled my hair out doing the engineering by myself and manually machining parts on a substandard mill.

I highly recommend using parts from CNC Fusion to get a workable foundation upon which to build.

For something smaller but far more homebuilt, look up RepRap. The work they've done translates well to CNC applications beyond 3D printing.

Also check out www.buildyourcnc.com for some ideas on homebuilt CNC routers.

 

[BrewBeemer]

Yuri, bring it on over I have a Bridgeport that would be happy having CNC control installed. Merry Christmas.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

If I had a Bridgeport, I'd never leave the garage. I'm already considering an upgrade!

Merry Christmas!

 

[BrewBeemer]

A 1964 9" x 42" Bridge with the old gearbox "X" feed that works, paid $900 with a 10" rotating vice. A court ordered auction must be removed within 3 hours of purchase. No one had a way to remove it I had my company Pitmann waiting outside. The owner of the building a family member let us in days before the auction nobody knew it had to be removed with a crane hence we snagged it. Many unhappy people would of bid on it.
With the 10" verticle / horizontal rotary table I machined out 24 rare BMW (car not bike) alloy rims this more than paid for the mill and rotary table hence a freebie.
Sad part is being disabled this time in my life I need to play.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Nice steal! Someday, me too...

However, I'm going no bigger than an RF-20 until I decide to stay in one place for a while!

 

[BrewBeemer]

Heck I can't move, too many items collected over the years, i'm packed to the gills storage at three houses, 9 bikes, 7 cars, truck plus 48 years being a pack rat. Check out;www.plasmacam.com.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Seriously thought about one of those plasma gantries a few years ago. I'll probably make one sometime down the road.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Speaking of wheel rims...I just finished my first 3D profiling project. It's a doo dad with no real purpose, but I thought it looked cool. I used WAY too many different cutters and machine operations to make it, but I learned a ton. I took plenty of video - I'll include lots of detail when I upload it.

 

[BrewBeemer]

That looks trick, get into custom car rim centers my first thought.
Any materials these days like that chunk of aluminum is not cheap.
My fab shop friend made a classic style Coke bottle out of stainless
it looks like a chrome finish.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

If I'm going to do any production work, I need to upgrade the spindle motor and bearings. It's gutless, and I'm pretty sure the bearings are already beginning to destroy themselves. You'll see and hear that in the video tomorrow - tons of tool chatter with a 3/8" ball mill, regardless of the feed rate. On top of that, I almost stalled it once.

 

[rustbucket]

lol, if you can get your hands on master cam, its awesome... lol, i had to learn g code in school boy did that suck... (note im only 24)

 

[BrewBeemer]

Bridgeport, problem solved.
With the economy being bad the past 4-5 years this is the best time
to pick up machinery at a low price, take advantage of it if you can.
Sad that many shops and large businesses have closed their doors.
Once you have the machinery the dang tooling costs more than the machine.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Oh, I know all about tooling cost. The good thing about this little mill is that it has an R8 spindle. All of my tooling should work nicely in a bigger, better machine.

I'd love to use MasterCam, but it is WAY too expensive for a hobby machinist.

rustbucket, I bet you're glad you know a bit about G code. Without knowing the basics, it would be nearly impossible to track down a CAM post error. Also, sometimes I find that it's easier to write short bits of G code by hand rather than going through the whole CAD/CAM process in order to make a simple part.

 

[A4C]

Already in the works, my friend!

Well I would be interested as soon as you start doing it.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Video, as promised:

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Well I would be interested as soon as you start doing it.

Well, I meant that I had a design in mind for my own brewhouse sign. However, I suppose I could be persuaded to do a few of them for a small fee. The fee wouldn't be so small if the sign had to be finish sanded, stained, and clear coated - that's WAY too tedious of a way to spend my free time.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Another 3D project - a gas cap for the motorcycle. This took about 6 hours of machining time to complete. I need to clean it up a bit before installing it. You can easily see why I hate splined arc approximations if you look at the way light reflects off the circumference.

I used Sketchup again for the model, then mostly MeshCAM for the G code. The outer circumference was cut with code from CamBam, since it supports ramped lead-ins.

 

[BrewBeemer]

Yuri, your having entirely too much fun also plenty of spare time to play.
Looking good.

 

[Ohio-Ed]

Yuri - very cool stuff.

Ed

 

[r8rphan]

Yuri... I've also been addicted to the idea of this for many years.. It first started when I saw an early version of torchmate...

I've been wanting a cnc plasma table ever since..

But this past summer, I've decided to finally get off my arse and go for it (well, being in construction in NorCal, the economy decided for me)...

I'm currently collecting materials (and clearing room in the shop) for my first build which will be a heavily beefed up solsylva cnc router table.. designed to handle full sheets of 4' x8' stock (and then some), but it will have steppers, racks and pinions, drivers, power supply, gear reductions, etc. all intended to be later used on a full sized MechMate table... It will also be far heavier and beefier in structural design than the standard solsylva..

The idea is to use the first build to be up and running in a shorter period of time with a smaller output of moola, so that I can start making and selling product, then build another table that will be strictly plasma, after which I can build the MechMate and transfer the important parts over from the solsylva table...

It's been a lifelong dream of mine to do small scale manufacturing from home.. The idea of my morning commute involving pouring a cup of joe and walking out to the shop is appealing in so many ways.. especially with the rising costs of fuel, and my living in the sticks...

Also, the more hobbies like brewing I have (I'm into music/recording, woodworking, off roading/jeeps, church, camping/fishing, sports, etc... and want to get back into bracket racing, among other things), then the more potential markets and product idea fields that are available to me...

It's not at all surprising to me, to find people interested in the DIY CNC thing here at HBT.. The DIY mentality and creative desire is common across many hobbies like Home Brewing...

Good Job... Can't wait till my first incarnation is up and running...

 

[k4141222]

this is cool video

 

[Mista_Sparkle]

this is cool video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TJur00-R8k

wow, what a fantastic piece of engineering.

WANT

 

[BrewBeemer]

I want one.