CNC Router / Mill / Plasma

[slim_boy_fat]

I find these machines absolutely fascinating, I could watch them all day.

I have great admiration for those who can design and build their own versions.

 

[awemawson]

@Mr Fro - the computer stuff isn't too bad, but I work with pcs a bit so maybe find it less daunting. You've got a limited number of choices anyway: Windows and Mach3, Linux and LinuxCNC, or an Arduino based machine. (theres probably more but these are the most popular).

Linux and Linuxcnc are free - it works well, but its a bit fiddley.
Mach 3 is about £120odd? a windows xp licence £70? (it must be xp for mach3, not sure about mach4). - less fiddley, more help but doesn't offer much more and its money.
Arduino £10, but I'm not sure what else you need or the limitations. people seem to get them working.

I am running MACH3 quite happily under Windows 7 32 bit on my Plasma Table. I use a 'PureLogic' (Russian) Ethernet breakout board.

 

[henry Kadzielski]

I find these machines absolutely fascinating, I could watch them all day.

I have great admiration for those who can design and build their own versions.

Good morning slim.
I have to confess that the build was not so difficult, however I did spend much time on the net looking at videos, and they were somewhat helpfull. The things that you realy need to know, is what they don't show or tell you, that is something you have to work out for yourself, but that is what makes it interesting. Until you sit down and start, I at least found that it was too complex to think about in it's entirety. I just started from the Z axis and went from there. The truth be known, I procrastinated for months after I got my electronics kit (controller and drive motors, software etc), and talked my wife's head off (I think I will do this that way). She got so sick of it she just one day said just build the thing, what's your problem. I replied that I don't want to stuff anything up and am not sure how it will go together. She said to me what do you do out on site, I replied I just don't realy think I just build and it comes together. I got the 'look' and started the next day. Build completed in three weeks.

 

[tommullin]

Got this a bit more finished but never updated the thread...

I learned not to use hammerite. again.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Very nice indeed....well done for seeing it through.

 

[ukracer]

Got this a bit more finished but never updated the thread...

I learned not to use hammerite. again.

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Extremely impressed....what did you use instead of hammerite and what did you find wrong with it..

 

[wookie]

Oh wow that looks so good, you'd swear it was a professionally made bit of kit that cost ten's if not hundred's of thousands of pounds. I hope your proud of what you've achieved.

p.s. Now if you can just provide a parts list and where you got the bits from so we can all copy you...

 

[tommullin]

Cheers guys.

I did use hammerite in the end, but I wish I didn’t. I painted it when it was warm but it took forever to dry, and was horrible to put on. Must’ve left it three weeks before I tried to put it together and I still had to bake anything that would fit in the oven... then all the parts I cooked turned beige! But I’m rubbish at painting at the best of times. The paint job looks (marginally) better than rusty though.

@wookie it’s got a long way to go to look pro and it’s a huge compromise to try and be a mill and a plasma table. If I did it again I think I’d focus on one or the other - either make it stronger to be a mill or lighter and faster to be a plasma. You need it in kit form like this!

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

You should start making these as kits...if you could also make it function as a 3d printer too you'd be minted I reckon!

 

[tommullin]

always meant to put some videos up...

Drawing:

Milling:

Milling 2:

Music:

 

[tommullin]

A few more:

Precision:

Plastic Gearset:

Homing:

 

[henry Kadzielski]

Once you get your head around all the setup bits and how the system runs, it is quite rewarding and fun
Wonderful stuff there

 

[tommullin]

Once you get your head around all the setup bits and how the system runs, it is quite rewarding and fun
Wonderful stuff there

There have been some crashes! I'm always surprised how long it takes me to press the emergency stop! but the cutters and motor couplings are cheap enough (Chinese). I don't think ive broken anything else yet.

How are you getting on with yours Henry? Made anything interesting? I'm actually just down the road from you in Sydney this week.

 

[henry Kadzielski]

Good evening tommullin, so far mine is going OK have cut some 10mm plate for more playground equipment, cut and marked alli sheet 3mm for templets and have routed HDPE 19mm sheet also for playground equipment. Just in the last couple of day the machine have developed a ethernet problem which will be hopefully sorted today, but now couldn't be without one. It has taken MUCH time to get my head around the software so I can do things with some sort of efficiency / speed, however still learning. The more you use it the better you get and I learn more from my successes than from my errors. The more I have done the quicker I have run the machine on some processes and am truly supprised at what it can and how quick it can do things. I have cut HDPE at up to 6m/m and at 6mm depth and was OK but the same at 12mm depth, just can't clear the swarf faster enough and leaves furry edges. Man it leaves a mess though, even the extractor has trouble clearing the mess.
Oh by the way 'just up the road in Sydney' I'm about 100km south. Send me a PM if you would like to visit

 

[Dutch Welder]

Great read.
I am currently working on a OX CNC Based plasma table.
Got the hardware running at the moment, just need to wire up the external driver on my Z axis.
The board I use has internal drivers for X,Z, and 2 x Y, but as I am planning to use a Proma THC SD as height control I needed the external driver for the Z.

This Proma model intercepts the signals coming from the board to the Z motor on arc lighting, then adjusts the values to keep the head at a constant distance from the workpiece.
On arc stopping the Proma stops adjusting the values and lets the Gcode/program run itself again. Upside is that THC is possible hardware wise, so does not have to be inplemented by the software, downside is that you need at least one external driver and a board that is capable of supporting said driver.
I am using the CNC Xpro board, and so far it seems a really good way to start at this CNC mallarky. Not to expensive, easy to understand and it works without MACH 3 and Mach 4 (which to me seem quite rubbish in their workings.
They necked Mach3, and came out with mach 4 without a plasma cutting front end , something that seems dumb to me.

Using autocad to draw, sheetcam to nest/postprocess and UGS to run the gcode files,and so far it works (I am testing it with a marker on MDF as the plasma bed is still a work in progress)
I am considering making a water tray to keep down the smoke/particles, but at the mean time I want the machine to be as light as possible so I can tilt it and stow it vertically when not in use.