A Tea between friends :-) How was Your Day

[Amedee]

Cool Amedee, looks great! I especially like the proximity endstops. Looks extremly sturdy... PCB milling? Alu, wood?

My primary usage is milling carbon plates, but I have some projects with aluminum which is more demanding. I am interested in PCB milling, but I never tried that.
I am also using POM which is very easy to machine.

As you know, I just built an MPCNC and yesterday I mounted all endstops (coincidence?) but just "normal" switch-endstops in NC configuration. I use RAMPS and Marlin to control the CNC, makes it easy as I know marlin allready a bit .

The proximity end-stops are actually quite cheap and very reliable; these are NC as well (actually mine are 'Home sensors', not really end-stops but that does not matter).
For the electronics, I spent a lot of time on that. At some point in time I decided I wanted to to be able to generate steps faster than 100KHz, and that eliminates quite a lot of possibilities, including the Arduino based solutions...

Also here, at the same point. I am not sure if I want to start with F360 as a CNC application (as it's rather complex to setup and then the post-processor, luckily there is one for marlin...). I am currently looking at Estlcam (http://www.estlcam.com/), it's pretty cost effective I would say, but I have not yet tried it.

I am using more and more F360 for 3D printing stuff, so it makes sense to me to concentrate on that for the CAD, and since it has integrated CAM it is the logical next step.
Most alternatives would require a Windows environment that I don't have.
I am a Linux (/Max) guy, so F360 on Mac / LinuxCNC for the router make sense to me -- we will see after I build some experience around these tools.

[nilrog]

I have checked it out (the MPCNC). But I'm having some doubts as to how ridgid it is. I'm looking for a CNC that can mill hardwood and some lighter aluminum jobs. But when time comes I might start with a less rigid one and work my way towards a more sturdy one.

[LePaul]

How fast (rpm wise) is the mill you are looking to use? For aluminum, faster the better!

[Amedee]

24000 RPM -- should be more than enough

[nilrog]

I'm more worried about how slow, and shallow, you need to move the router without facing backlash when milling aluminum.

I have been looking at a couple of CNC's over at OpenBuilds and the general consensus is that if it is belt driven, milling aluminum can be "adventurous". They have some screw driven ones too and they are better. Again, it all comes down to how much you are willing to pay...and how long you are willing to wait for the milling to finish

[martin-bienz]

I have checked it out (the MPCNC). But I'm having some doubts as to how ridgid it is. I'm looking for a CNC that can mill hardwood and some lighter aluminum jobs. But when time comes I might start with a less rigid one and work my way towards a more sturdy one.

I agree, the MPCNC's are more suited for light(er) work. The fact that it's all printed and with a lot of standard hw / software makes it nevertheless very interesting, at least for me. It's a great allrounder for a good price and can be modified from a tiny build area to a rather large one. So, a good starter into the CNC adventure with a lot of options to play with, a lot of fun to build and play / customise. For milling primarily Aluminium I would also choose a different set.

[LePaul]

Chatter/vibration is a big problem

Over the last few weeks I have been milling parts for R2-D2 (data panel). 1/8 inch thick aluminum and as many clamps as we can place around the perimeter. One the first cut out is made, we've been using a washer and wood screw (wood base) to further help hold the materials own firmly. I spoke to a few other cnc people and they've given a few suggestions. We use a 1/8 th inch carbide end mill, single flute. We tried double but we managed to break that pretty quick. I just ordered some HSS end mills (high speed steel) as many places say, due to the chip size, these should be ideal. (They also suggest double or triple flute...I want to try single flute first!)

[Amedee]

That's quite a lot... Do you have an R2D2 farm?

Now given the size of your router I can imagine you might get vibrations...

I left my router on the side these days to rebuild my daughter's model car -- almost ready!

H.A.R.M.

[LePaul]

Ha-ha! No farm!

With our R2 Builders Club, people like myself can be approved to offer parts to other builders. I've made a few batches of the side vents and this is the third time I have made the Data Panels. There seems to be enough demand to make them every year, or on demand, when people ask for them. I have also made modified versions of that panel, where the vertical cuts on the left side are replaced with cut outs for USB ports (A and B version). My friend and I modify them to fit Adafruit's USB panel connectors, which allows the builder a quick way to plug into their Arduino UNO(s) that power their devices. Or, just plug in their phone to charge it

We dream of getting a big multi-axis machine, multiple tool heads (auto change) and making some really elaborate parts like you see on the CNC demos on YouTube. But his machine works very well for 2D stuff that's less than 1/4 inch thick.

He just picked up a huge CNC machine that's many years old but good for steel, the spindle only goes up to 2600 RPM so not so good for aluminum

[Amedee]

My objective is to do CAD/CAM with Fusion360 and drive the router with LinuxCNC. First is to get I get the right post-processor for Fusion360 up and running

Also here, at the same point. I am not sure if I want to start with F360 as a CNC application (as it's rather complex to setup and then the post-processor, luckily there is one for marlin...). I am currently looking at Estlcam (http://www.estlcam.com/), it's pretty cost effective I would say, but I have not yet tried it.

To come back on this CAM part, I played a bit with the CAM module of F360 last night and it was much easier than expected.
I just did 2.5D, as this is what I am doing most of the time, but the setup of the toolpath is quite straightforward. Ans as it is linked to the CAD module, if you change your design you don't have to redo all the CAD.
The simulation in F360 is helpful as well as it really helps to set the right parameters -- when you start you are not always sure that the generated toolpath is what you really want.
The big surprise was actually the choice of posts: they do support LinuxCNC out of the box! I scrolled down the list and aside all the professional machines they also have posts for hobby class controllers like GRBL, TinyG, Smoothie CNC and some others.
I ran the generated GCode on my router and it went very well.

So far, so good

[Amedee]

Here was my week-end!

Saturday we drove to Luxembourg for our first outdoor training of the year...


Today I decided to make new feet for our chairs -- or was it just an excuse to play with the toys and getting wife approval
Anyway, designed and rendered in Fusion360, 3D printed a prototype to check / adjust, CAM in F360 as well and milled with LinuxCNC

Chair foot

No rocket science, just learning F360 but very happy with the tool

[Xeno]

I finally got some more time to play with my birthday present

aligning the scanned parts take more time then scanning them.
Still got the fingers to do.

[nilrog]

Here was my week-end!

Saturday we drove to Luxembourg for our first outdoor training of the year...

Ooh, now i'm jealous...I wan't to be able to go to such a track too

[Amedee]

It's one of the nicest track in Europe!
(Lostallo in Switzerland being our favourite, Luxembourg comes in the second place in our ranking )

[Anders Olsson]

I am at Bangkok airport right now, will be boarding soon.