DIY-ish CNC Mini Mill

[big_al_in_k-zoo]

That is PIMP

 

[BrewBeemer]

That is PIMP

That makes my credit card a whore then.

 

[TimWeber]

Yup, I want to be Yuri when I grow up too! That HMI make the project rock even harder!

Funny I was just talking about doing this with some buddies a few months ago. This might be the first thing I do after finally finishing my brewing rig.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Here's some more CNC porn for you:

 

[Mista_Sparkle]

could you not define your path in an axial direction? I made a mini wind turbine once and used a pattern with my cuts basically tangent to the blades. it seems like in an application like this you would have a more consistent finish with you tool marks in the same relative direction.

neat though. keep up the projecting...

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Among the last passes were "waterline cleanup," which moved the tool along the "blades."

 

[Mista_Sparkle]

Among the last passes were "waterline cleanup," which moved the tool along the "blades."

i suppose that's what i get for only watching 2 minutes of the video...

 

[Yuri_Rage]

That video did drag on a bit, huh? But some folks asked for more. Who am I to deny them?

 

[bendiy]

Nice work Yuri, I've always wanted to do this as well. Can your mill work on steel?

Now this is what I call CNC porn:

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I've done a few parts in steel. It takes a long time since the cuts have to be so light.

Here's my Sunday afternoon tinkering, borne of boredom and procrastination:

 

[ScubaSteve]

Nice work Yuri, I've always wanted to do this as well. Can your mill work on steel?

Now this is what I call CNC porn:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnIvhlKT7SY

Man, I wonder what one of those helmets cost?! Looks like Robocop.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I added a laser. I can't believe it works!

 

[cfrazier77]

Yuri, you are beyond amazing! Where did you get the laser?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

The laser was an eBay find. It's a 1W 445nm blue diode with an Aixiz housing and Flexdrive board. It was sold as an assembly for about $100. I mounted it in the heat sink you see in the video.

I've used it to engrave wood and plastic. It is not powerful enough to do any bare metal engraving. I tried cutting thin ABS plastic, but the result was rather ugly. It does a very nice job cutting vinyl stickers.

It is SUPER bright. A direct hit in the eyes would cause almost instantaneous damage. Even looking at the spot at close range without eye protection is enough to cause injury. I use red laser safety glasses (wavelength specific protection) when working with it, and even that makes me nervous. I usually leave the room while the program runs.

These diodes are extremely popular with hobbyists because of their high power output. You can find them in various states of assembly at several websites. I took this one outside at night, checked the sky for any aircraft overhead, and then shined it at some stars. It looks like a light saber! You can easily see the beam, and it appears to terminate at infinity. VERY cool...but VERY dangerous.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Another short video - machining some steel this time.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s5QkspyhQw]X2 CNC Machining 4130 Steel - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Seabee John]

Yuri,
holy cow man have you been at it... awesome! I guess I haven't been paying much attention since I was off tinkering with my own CNC project:

I've been a carpenter for a lot of years, ever since I saw my 1st CNC router, I've wanted one. So I said "f" it and built one. It's got a 32 x 54 inch usable bed, 5 usable inches of z travel. The entire gantry system was cut using a scrap wood mock-up gantry I started to build to go to school on.

Now that I've seen your laser setup, I want one! I may have to pick your brain a bit if you don't mind

 

[Yuri_Rage]

v2.0 is in the works!

4 axis G0704 mill (a la Hossmachine - THE pioneer with these little mills!)
Custom modular control station (I want to build a router/plasma table and use the same electronics to drive it)
Major parts from CNC Fusion, CNC4PC, and Automation Technologies (Keling)

The control station is almost complete, but I'm awaiting parts before the machine will do anything other than manual milling.

 

[tjferris]

Check out joescnc.com. I'm working on a DIY cnc myself

 

[bottlebomber]

This is awesome! I've been yearning for a machinist geek thread! Really cool set up. I run 5 axis lathes, dual spindle and horizontal mills all day but for some reason this is the coolest thing ever. Really great work your doing. I would love to have something like this some day.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

tj - nice! I've looked over the free MechMate plans and didn't really like them. I'd rather use real linear bearings than skateboard parts. Your designs are pretty innovative with the bolt-together scheme. I'm likely to weld a platform, use cylindrical linear bearings for the gantry, and use flat bar slats that will work for plasma but also support a table for router work. An interchangeable plasma/router mount on the z-axis should be easy enough. I plan on using stepper driven belts/pulleys to the max extent possible for a big table like that. Servo/closed loop control will likely remain out of grasp.

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.

 

[bottlebomber]

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.

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?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

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.

 

[MooMooBrew]

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.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

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.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

First chips flying!

 

[bottlebomber]

First chips flying!

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

Love it!

 

[aubiecat]

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.

 

[ScubaSteve]

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.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

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.

 

[ScubaSteve]

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.

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.