CNC Router anyone?

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Lenp
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CNC Router anyone?

Post by Lenp »

Just a shout out to see if anyone in this dwindling forum is doing any CNC fabrication with a table top router.
I've had mine up for about a year and have had pretty fair success cutting plastic and aluminum panels and enclosures.
I would like to compare notes and discuss modifications I've done and what's planned.
Len

“To invent, you need a good imagination and a big pile of junk.” (T. Edison)
"I must be on the way to success since I already have the junk". (Me)
solar3000
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Re: CNC Router anyone?

Post by solar3000 »

....7 days later....
Hi friend. Its very lonely here.
I would love to have a CNC, but I have no space in my tiny apartment.
I need a bigger place to go with that CNC.
I would love to have a pick-and-place circuit board maker thing.
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CeaSaR
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Re: CNC Router anyone?

Post by CeaSaR »

Well, I would comment, but I don't have a CNC machine. Always wanted one...
Hey, what do I know?
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haklesup
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Re: CNC Router anyone?

Post by haklesup »

CNC is more of a Mechanical engineering thing than Electronics but I'm sure you will find some well focused groups out there if you look. I know there are some interesting CNC controller electronics on ebay and the likes that can be used as the brains of the CNC or 3D printer (similar to CNC but additive and not subtractive. I know someone into that as a hobby and he was into stuff like bragging how flat he could make a surface rather than what he actually made or how to eliminate slop from a linear slide.

I was researching at work because I'd like a pick and place that can pick parts out of a tray and place them in a socket for testing but we are too busy with other stuff to do stuff like that for ourselves. It dawned on me that a CNC controller could do that with the right setup (we have 9 CNCs in our building but I am not an operator, I just sell the stuff we make) so I thought one of the guys could program it using CNC resources.
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CeaSaR
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Re: CNC Router anyone?

Post by CeaSaR »

Funny you should bring this up. In the transfer of files from the old laptop to get info for my oldest to get into design, I grabbed all my old bookmarks and there were quite a few related to CAD / CAM stuff that were for some sort of CNC or vinyl cutting, etc.

Back in the day, I was able to write HPGL that could be fed to a plotter to draw stuff. This translates into CNC since the only things that are different are the start and stop of the cutter and the changing of the cutting heads / bits. I'm sure that in the 20 plus years since I was heavy into it, things have improved immensely.

What's the table size and cutting depth you can do on your CNC? How hard of a material can you cut? What's your design and control software? How's the precision? Have you documented any of your projects for posterity?

Ok, ok. Pick and choose from the above. :D
Hey, what do I know?
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Lenp
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Re: CNC Router anyone?

Post by Lenp »

Yes, I am aware of many CNC forums but I was hoping to attract someone that does work similar to what I am doing. Most of the time I am cutting flat work, like front panels and enclosures for products I produce. Square or rectangular cutouts used to be a royal pain and now it's just draw and cut. Round, square or irregular, it's all just X,Y and Z. One thing I had to work around is the distance from the spindle to the work surface was too small to allow an enclosure to be machined, so I fabricated an extension to the gantry to allow more clearance when needed. Yes, there is a cult following that gets down to the small decimal places, but for my uses, all the cuts are through cuts, so spoil board flatness is irrelevant. My 'precise' measurement system is 'if it fits,it works', but I can easily make parts to within .25 mm, and that works for me!
Len

“To invent, you need a good imagination and a big pile of junk.” (T. Edison)
"I must be on the way to success since I already have the junk". (Me)
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