A new mini CNC mill and rebuildingy style) and in the process of building my old one.

[Flateric]

Thought I'd share my current project with a few pics since I have had some people ask. I am currently in the process of rebuilding my old cnc mill (gantry style) and a new mini mill.

The mini mill is made from the guts of a dentistry mill I recently got at an auction ($40) and was rated down to a 3 micron accuracy. Judging by the quality of the parts inside this thing I don't doubt that.

The plan is to have it hook up to my current controller and driver electronics which are also created from scratch from parts I salvaged from an old photocopier.

The 2nd machine is in it's 5th revision now and started it's life originally as 3 old photocopiers. Itwas capable of cutting 1/4" aluminium sheet fairly nicely but I wanted to improve it's performance (speed) and make it more accurate and also increase it's cutting area.

The first pics are from the XY table of the new mini mill, which will be a standard column and table mill layout when finished. It has a relatively small cutting area but should benefit a lot from the quality of parts and spindle from the donor machine.



And this is just a pic of the new rails that I am upgrading the old machine with I just got. I'll snap some pics of the old machine today and update later.



Here's a little side thing I made yesterday before breakfast. Still working on it, far from done, but shows the flexibility of my machine to be able to cut aluminum and vinyl.

 

[iMike_G.]

that is hell sick. so wat cad program do you use?

 

[Flateric]

I use a mixture of different cad/cam programs.

Unusually I use Maya just because of years of working with it since version .8 in the videogame industry. I say unusually because for most it is not the first or even the best choice. I would say solidworks is the industry standard/most used cad/cam program. It is really excellent.

For the NC code generation for the machine I use either artcam or powermill 10. Both from the same company delcam.

And to actually execute and run the code to the machine I use Mach3 cnc. I've heard there is a free linix program called emc2 that is better in alot of ways, but I don't run linix so can't say what it's like personally.

It's really satisfying to create a cnc machine from scratch, electronics and machine itself and see it all come to life. Addictive really. Not that hard to do either really. Just need time and determination.

 

[IJ.]

I use a mixture of different cad/cam programs.

Unusually I use Maya just because of years of working with it since version .8 in the videogame industry. I say unusually because for most it is not the first or even the best choice. I would say solidworks is the industry standard/most used cad/cam program. It is really excellent.

For the NC code generation for the machine I use either artcam or powermill 10. Both from the same company delcam.

And to actually execute and run the code to the machine I use Mach3 cnc. I've heard there is a free linix program called emc2 that is better in alot of ways, but I don't run linix so can't say what it's like personally.

It's really satisfying to create a cnc machine from scratch, electronics and machine itself and see it all come to life. Addictive really. Not that hard to do either really. Just need time and determination.

Not quite scratch built but I agree

 

[Flateric]

Not quite scratch built but I agree

Man oh man, the fun I would have in your shop with a weekend of time IJ. Mine is just a toy in comparison. I have a manual mill and lathe that are big but wow, not that big.

Here's a link to my super old "all made of photo-copier parts" machine, cutting aluminium plate. I'll have some pics of my new re-build soon.

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

 

[GrimJack]

Dammit guys... you're making me jealous. I've got all kinds of ideas for things I'd create if I had that kind of equipment on hand, but there's no way I've got the room for that kind of gear.

 

[IJ.]

I have a big centre lathe with a DRO and am looking at a new VMC that dwarfs the old Mill
(you know you're welcome to drop by to play anytime)

Always been limited by space at the old house no such limitations at the new house!

I'm guessing you're a member over at CNC Zone??

 

[shaeff]

This stuff is way over my head, but very, very cool.

 

[honestabe]

Droool. The things I'd be making if I only had one of those.

 

[DreamerTheresa]

I have no idea what's going on here, but I think some sort of penis envy is involved.

 

[honestabe]

I have no idea what's going on here, but I think some sort of penis envy is involved.

some is an understatement. I'd give my left nut to be able to have IJ's CNC in my garage along with the knowledge and skills to use it.

 

[Flateric]

I have a big centre lathe with a DRO and am looking at a new VMC that dwarfs the old Mill
(you know you're welcome to drop by to play anytime)

Always been limited by space at the old house no such limitations at the new house!

I'm guessing you're a member over at CNC Zone??

;

Yup same user name and everything. And man I sure wish I was in drop by anytime range myself, I wou8ld likely stop in just for a visit regardless.

 

[GrimJack]

I can just imagine me telling the wife: "We're going on vacation... to upside down kangaroo land!"

Wife: "Australia? Woohoo!"

Me: "I'll be spending most of the time in Ian's garage, running billet aluminum through his CNC machine."

Wife: "Fair warning - I'm going to staple your balls to the roof with that air stapler I bought you for Christmas. While you're sleeping. Or passed out from the pain, depending on whether I'm stapling the first one or the second one."

 

[RPSil13]

I WANT a supramania snail sticker, please!!!

 

[Flateric]

I WANT a supramania snail sticker, please!!!

I'll keep everyone posted on the snail sticker design. I'm really not happy with it currently. But as I said I only have 20 mins or so into it so far. 1st priority ATM is to get these machines all polished up for now.

 

[iMike_G.]

I have no idea what's going on here, but I think some sort of penis envy is involved.

oh yes your right. when you get us guys with there cnc machines it is like a giant orgasm in your pants.

but anywho. i cant wait till i get my degree in machine tool technology. and have something like wat ij has one day.

 

[Flateric]

Well, an update for the CNC project is due I think!

Since I can't sleep and find myself up at freaking 4:30AM for some reason....but I am off topic.

Here's a few pics on the almost current state of the machine.



This is the fifth revision of my DIY machine. This time around I am not messing around with any DIY linear rail solutions and went with THK linear guides on all axis's.

Karama must really like me because while I was recently strolling through one of my favorite surplus shops I happened upon one of those deals of a lifetime. Ball screw's with dual track nuts being sold by the pair for.........$9, brand new unused. And these are not crappo little 1/4", no no. Full 1" diameter 6 threads per inch babies. They are only rolled, not ground, but I think for the friction efficiency I will gain and the fact that I ended up with 40 pairs of them I can live with this. I had been planning on running plain old 1" diameter lead screws with my own blend of anti-backlash nuts. But the 90% efficiency of the balls screws (compared to 60-70% of lead screws) should equate top a higher table speed for me.

I am running a dual drive y axis to prevent "racking" as much as possible and further the table is fully supported in both x and y directions with a under table connection across the x axis AND a anti-racking cable pulley system as well. I actually think that the gantry would have been fine without the last two additional assists. Mainly because of the weight of my gantry and the wide stance of the linear blocks on either side. This costs me some in range of movement but I would rather trade that for cut quality. Current cut area is 48"x41" with a z depth that is adjustable and ultimately be up to 4-5", well beyond anything I have previously ever needed.

I also mounted the rails up and above the table as close to being in line with the x-axis plane and cutting plane as possible. I also plan to mount the dual y-axis feeds right up against the underside of the y-axis rails. This should be more optimal than my previous builds of a single drive in the middle of the table running under everything far away for the "center". I believe that since I am running fairly strong steppers with a gates belt drive reduction the balls screws should be able to maintain their position without need for an additional braking system as is often needed with ball screw setups since they are easily back-driven. (Note to self, must remember to disable my stepper driver power saving feature that cuts power to motor after x amount of time and therefor cuts it's holding torque when stopped for extend periods of time.)

All that remains to be done of the major fabrication ATM is mounting the ballscrews. Hope to tackle the majority of this today. Had a setback this week and had to rebuild me manual lathe's cross-slide and gearbox. They both crapped completely out from wear and tear while I was turning down the end of the ballscrews for bearing and pulley mounts.

Then it can cut, but I will still add my flood, mist and chip collection systems. Also gotta figure out how to collect the stray fluids from the now larger machine that no longer fit's in the old place in the sound booth that had a shower pan for collection of fluids.

Oh Ya, and the minor issue of fabbing up a new table too. As expected this new 100% all aluminium thick walled material build is HEAVY! I'm guessing around 400 pounds at this point. But weight is not a bad thing for these machines. gives it stability and damping as well as increasing how rigid the machine is. No extruded aluminium for me.

 

[yongai27]

so, im sorta kinda resurrecting a thread here, but i think it's well worth it. I want one of those supramania snail stickers!! they looked really nice in the first post!

 

[Flateric]

Ok, lots o people are bugging me so I'll try to get back on that soonish here.

 

[Albert]

Thought I'd share my current project with a few pics since I have had some people ask. I am currently in the process of rebuilding my old cnc mill (gantry style) and a new mini mill.

The mini mill is made from the guts of a dentistry mill I recently got at an auction ($40) and was rated down to a 3 micron accuracy. Judging by the quality of the parts inside this thing I don't doubt that.

The plan is to have it hook up to my current controller and driver electronics which are also created from scratch from parts I salvaged from an old photocopier.

The 2nd machine is in it's 5th revision now and started it's life originally as 3 old photocopiers. Itwas capable of cutting 1/4" aluminium sheet fairly nicely but I wanted to improve it's performance (speed) and make it more accurate and also increase it's cutting area.

The first pics are from the XY table of the new mini mill, which will be a standard column and table mill layout when finished. It has a relatively small cutting area but should benefit a lot from the quality of parts and spindle from the donor machine.

View attachment 45742View attachment 45744

And this is just a pic of the new rails that I am upgrading the old machine with I just got. I'll snap some pics of the old machine today and update later.

View attachment 45745

Here's a little side thing I made yesterday before breakfast. Still working on it, far from done, but shows the flexibility of my machine to be able to cut aluminum and vinyl.
View attachment 45747

I doubt this, but hey If it does, awesome