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Since I'm a cheap bastard and didn't want to pay for the Shapeoko wasteboard with the pre-done holes for tee-nuts I just made my shapeoko do the work itself. 
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Jan 5, 2015 20:17
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I figure this is the closest to ideal thread to ask this: What would be a suitable material to make custom light indicators, like those of a car dashboard ? My idea was to draw my icons in whatever format a laser cutter will accept and have them done at the local hackerspace. I admittedly have 0 experience with laser cutting. Is this workable at all ? e: I would cut the wanted shape into the material and light it from behind through a translucent surface.
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Jan 21, 2015 11:29
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unpacked robinhood posted:I figure this is the closest to ideal thread to ask this: Photo silk screen on the back (or front, depending on what effect you're going for) of the translucent media. That's typically how it's done.
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Jan 21, 2015 18:08
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For simple icons laser cutting an outline is probably sufficient. The most generic label I'd put on it would be "light pipes". Here's an in-depth presentation on them. They can be horribly complex, like in the most recent Nest there's some amazing light pipe work. 5 LED's are inside, there's a clear plastic shell with cuts that prevent the light from going straight out and creating a hot spot, it forces the light to reflect around internally and provide an even glow in a full ring. Then for taking light in there's some IR transparent fresnel lenses. Some poor ME with a specialized tool agonized over those for months.
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Jan 21, 2015 22:00
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A very simple thing you could do is to get some translucent/transparent material, do any rough machining/profiling, paint it black (or whatever as long as it is a thick enough coat not to let light through), and then machine the remaining indicators in the face so that the paint and a small amount of plastic is removed. Depending on the profile you might want to do step 2 last maybe?
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Jan 21, 2015 22:34
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Thanks for the answers. I pop into the makerspace place first to see what kind of machine they have and try to come up with something.
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Jan 22, 2015 17:09
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Hey guys So i am taking a machine shop class at the local community college sadly its not the CNC class but I hope to learn the basics and see if I want to get into this stuff. Also have been enjoying the thread. I got a question for you guys. I have a 1960 s motorcycle gasket/s I want to turn them into computer file, like cad or something close to that. Is there any way to take a picture of the NOS gasket get the shap and just give the dimensions?
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Jan 23, 2015 22:23
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max4me posted:Is there any way to take a picture of the NOS gasket get the shap and just give the dimensions? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICxp0Puao1Q You'll have to use a proper CAD program after to clean up the lines and set the proper scale.
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Jan 23, 2015 23:07
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A lot of CAD programs let you load an image directly into them and scale them to size with some kind of reference dimension. After that you can pretty much just trace around it like you would in illustrator.
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Jan 24, 2015 05:41
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unpacked robinhood posted:I figure this is the closest to ideal thread to ask this: If your makerspace has a vinyl cutter, use that. Cut the vinyl and stick it to your clear stuff, then peel your designs away. You can pick your vinyl color and "clear" color separately, too.
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Jan 24, 2015 20:55
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I'm sure this will come as a huge shock, but when you properly secure your materials and use recommended feeds/speeds the results are a lot better!
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Mar 9, 2015 04:15
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I'm planning on buying a 6040 frame from china and am looking at suggestions for a good brushless motor and controller. Is there a good supplier for either that I should be looking for?
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Mar 12, 2015 06:36
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Finally got the new makita router mounted onto my shapeoko, now begins the process of making sure everything is nice and straight.  In the mean time I've decided to start looking into what all would be required to convert my HF mini-mill to CNC.
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Mar 15, 2015 12:54
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So about two years ago, I bought a Chinese 2.2kw water cooled spindle and VFD, I intended to use it on a really ghetto CNC mill I cobbled together. I took it out of the box and determined my current design was completely unsuitable for that spindle (gj reading the specs). I put it away for the day, intending to put on my thinking cap and all the sudden I have a new job and forgot about it. So here I am 2 years later, I'd like to turn it into some kind of useful machine but just browsing through kits/plans I'm not finding anything and I'm not sure I have the time/ability to design something. Any suggestions? I'm thinking gantry to make big wood/AL 2D parts.
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Mar 16, 2015 03:40
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Anyone have any suggestions for a good brushless motor controller?
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Mar 20, 2015 18:00
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Rakins posted:Anyone have any suggestions for a good brushless motor controller? How many volts/amps? Is it just for a spindle? Any off the shelf R/C aircraft one will do just fine. You might want to look at one for a helicopter as you can set them to governor mode and the input now becomes a speed set point.
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Mar 22, 2015 16:21
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Does anyone know of a program that will generate surface waves like this: I'm new to CNC, just got a Shapeoko 2, and I have been wanting to make water droplet panels like this for a long time.
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Mar 24, 2015 19:46
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mds2 posted:Does anyone know of a program that will generate surface waves like this: I haven't found a ripple generator like that yet, but I did run across a program called Standing Wave. Doesn't look quite like what you want, but it may be a starting point. Also, I just pulled the trigger on a 1000x1000 X-Carve about 20 minutes ago. Let the anxious waiting begin!
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Mar 24, 2015 20:15
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Acid Reflux posted:I haven't found a ripple generator like that yet, but I did run across a program called Standing Wave. Doesn't look quite like what you want, but it may be a starting point. I've been messing with Standing Wave a little bit. Yeah, not exactly what I'm looking for but still pretty cool. It looks like it saves out .EPS and .BMP files. Anyone know how to get those into gcode?
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Mar 25, 2015 13:17
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Acid Reflux posted:I haven't found a ripple generator like that yet, but I did run across a program called Standing Wave. Doesn't look quite like what you want, but it may be a starting point. One thing you'll want to do is get another sheet of MDF and use it to stiffen the waste board it comes with. The default board is kinda unsupported and sags quite a bit on the shapeoko 2.
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Mar 26, 2015 00:06
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Ah, thanks for the tip! You prompted me to look over the assembly instructions, and it looks like the waste board just sits on a couple of pieces of 20mm extrusion. That stuff's cheap enough that it might be worth it to buy a couple of extra lengths and make a couple of extra stringers underneath. Gonna be a while before I see the kit anyway, so I've got plenty of time to work stuff like that out. 
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Mar 27, 2015 01:50
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Well I found my wave surface software. I found this thread: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/diy-cnc-router-table-machines/192328-cnc-cad-software-posts.html and PM'd the author to see if he would give me a copy. He didnt want to at first but he had a change of heart. He posted a link to download it for free on page two of that thread. I've been playing with it and it is pretty sweet. Going to do some test cuts tonight.
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Mar 27, 2015 14:55
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Cool, glad you were able to find something. Guess I'll have to go download it myself and see if it's anything I'll ever use. I don't know if you're still looking for something to spit gcode out from graphics files, but a cursory Google search for "convert (insert format here) to gcode" comes up with a staggering number of utilities. I didn't go any further than that, because I don't have any way to test anything yet. I do know that if you're willing to spend some money, Vectric makes some very highly regarded CNC software for 2.5/3D carving that'll do exactly what you want.
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Mar 27, 2015 20:23
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I'm looking to purchase my first CNC mini mill, mostly for making flat jewelry and prototyping stuff. Mostly I'll want to be cutting aluminum, brass, silver, MDF, and plastics. I'm looking at the Nomad 883 as a pre-built option that's likely to have solid support, and the Shapeoko 3 or the larger X-CARVE as kit alternatives. I really like the cost difference going with the kits (especially with the larger work envelope), I'm just wary about the build and calibration aspects of them. Should I be? I've played with Lego for the past 25 years, and I'm a fabricator by trade. I feel like I should be able to handle it, but there's that little poker in the back of my head worrying about getting frustrated at a $1k+ pile of parts sitting in front of me. These seem to have solid user bases and decent companies behind them, which makes me a little more comfortable re: future support. Are there other good choices with that in mind? Finally, between the two kits, which in your opinion offers the better value? I will probably be building an enclosure with plans to run this in our apartment. The Shapeoko being a little more compact is nice, but of course bigger is always better (I honestly think the larger X-CARVE is maybe a touch too big for our current spot).
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Apr 21, 2015 03:46
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I feel really stupid asking but can't really find a part name googling, how do I connect the stepper motor shaft to an axis? It's a YooCNC china rig. I'm about ready to buy a gecko, any reason I should get a digital driver? I'm a little strapped for cash after getting a bigger frame, is a 1.5kW spindle worth the extra over a 800w? I'm planning on doing a lot of aluminum so I'm guessing yeah. I already have a bunch of old PC water cooling stuff laying around. Also another after thought, I happened to have some stepper motors laying around but am considering getting something newer. Should I be getting the double shaft nema 23's that I think are almost twice as wide or is single shaft fine? These singles are so cheap I figured my old ones would be worth replacing. Where is a good place for endmills? Is there a decent set I can get or will they be crap for anything besides wood? Rakins fucked around with this message at 02:33 on Apr 22, 2015 |
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Apr 22, 2015 02:14
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Rakins posted:I feel really stupid asking but can't really find a part name googling, how do I connect the stepper motor shaft to an axis? It's a YooCNC china rig. I think the magic word for coupling two shafts is spider coupler? They tend to be friendly to misalignment. I have used several to make things like logsplitters and such. Cheap endmills are cheap, I'd just buy a set from Enco or Ebay.
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Apr 22, 2015 02:51
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Hu Fa Ted posted:I think the magic word for coupling two shafts is spider coupler? They tend to be friendly to misalignment. I have used several to make things like logsplitters and such. Cheap endmills are cheap, I'd just buy a set from Enco or Ebay. Lovejoy coupling is one, brand name anyway.
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Apr 22, 2015 18:07
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Anyone know what size to get? Don't wanna get wrong one and wait 2 weeks for China.
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Apr 22, 2015 18:14
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The size should be the whichever size your two shafts are. For a 6.35mm and an 8mm, you might get this one. Just search for both your diameters and coupler and you'll find it.
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Apr 22, 2015 18:37
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sirbeefalot posted:I'm looking to purchase my first CNC mini mill, mostly for making flat jewelry and prototyping stuff. Mostly I'll want to be cutting aluminum, brass, silver, MDF, and plastics. I haven't actually Taken The Dive yet so maybe don't listen to me, but I intend to work almost exclusively in metal including steel and very quickly settled on a turnkey Taig micro-mill/CNC kit, because they're by far the sturdiest entry-level set-ups, from everything I've read here and elsewhere. I know brass and silver et al are much easier and other machines can handle them without too much trouble, but if you wanna make jewellery (milling things from silver will get extraordinarily expensive extraordinarily fast compared to more typical fabrication routes) you might find that you wanna make pieces outside of the mill, and being able to make steel tooling as per your exact needs would be an enormous asset. Ambrose Burnside fucked around with this message at 20:34 on Apr 22, 2015 |
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Apr 22, 2015 20:30
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Ambrose Burnside posted:I haven't actually Taken The Dive yet so maybe don't listen to me, but I intend to work almost exclusively in metal including steel and very quickly settled on a turnkey Taig micro-mill/CNC kit, because they're by far the sturdiest entry-level set-ups, from everything I've read here and elsewhere. That's something I've wondered, re: steel milling. Will the desktop gantry-style machines handle it at all? Even really slowly, with shallow cuts? I'll look into the Taig setup too.
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Apr 22, 2015 22:40
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Ambrose Burnside posted:I haven't actually Taken The Dive yet so maybe don't listen to me, but I intend to work almost exclusively in metal including steel and very quickly settled on a turnkey Taig micro-mill/CNC kit, because they're by far the sturdiest entry-level set-ups, from everything I've read here and elsewhere. In terms of 'Is a pain in the dick to machine' it goes Foam/Wax/Wood < Aluminum < Brass < Steel < Stainless Steel < Titanium < High Nickle Superalloys (Hastelloy, Waspelloy, Incolnel) < Composite Materials. I have the shapeoko 2, and I sprung for the X-Carve upgrade kit, because the entire Z-axis was a mickeymoused pain in the rear end on the Shapeoko 2. Hopefully that will alleviate the incredibly poo poo cuts I was getting with the crappy little knockoff dremel. X-Carve Z-axis, acme screw, drag chain and limit switch upgrade, spindle and power supply. It should end up a fairly usable machine after all that, more plug and go and less 'endlessly loving with it'. The Nomad looks like a pretty decent turnkey cutting solution for jewelry castings and stuff like that. Be aware that cutting MDF and wood makes more sawdust than you would ever have thought possible. You REALLY need to invest in a dust collection system for it, I ended up getting the Onieda Air Dust Deputy and looking it inline with my shopvac. Without it, the entire enclosure just gets coated in dust in like 2 minutes, it's kinda nutty. sirbeefalot posted:That's something I've wondered, re: steel milling. Will the desktop gantry-style machines handle it at all? Even really slowly, with shallow cuts? I'll look into the Taig setup too. Long and short of it is 'not really'. The physics of creating the chip require much higher cutting forces on steel than it does on aluminum or brass. With a beefy spindle (300w+ minimum), carbide tooling, and really light cuts, it'll cut, but it won't cut well or fast. If you need a motor mounting plate done up out of plate steel and have the time to baby things, you can probably do so well enough. Tolerances will probably be on the order of 15-20 thou, and your metal removal rate will be in the cubic inches per hour level, but you could cut it. The deflection in the gantry and bouncy chatter it causes will end up wearing the bits out super fast too, but if it NEEDS to be steel, and all you have is the little Shapeoko, then it'll work, just not fast, accurately, or for very long. Methylethylaldehyde fucked around with this message at 22:54 on Apr 22, 2015 |
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Apr 22, 2015 22:45
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Would 269 oz-in stepper motors be sufficient for converting a mini-mill to CNC? I was kinda hoping to stick with a gshield setup since I've already got one for my shapeoko (so not having to figure out how to set up another different one would be nice). ed:to clarify I know I'll be buying another gshield setup, just don't want to learn a whole new setup if I can avoid it.
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Apr 23, 2015 03:23
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It's worth noting that my crappy old M head bridgeport which I think clocks in at 2000lbs does not really like hogging out steel. It will do medium cuts with a nice tool, but it's just not that rigid. A gantry design is going to be orders of magnitude less rigid than that. My B&S light milling machine doesn't mind hogging steel so long as you're using it as a horizontal machine, and even then it's still a light milling machine even though it clocks in at a forklift tipping 3500lbs.
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Apr 23, 2015 03:30
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Hu Fa Ted posted:It's worth noting that my crappy old M head bridgeport which I think clocks in at 2000lbs does not really like hogging out steel. It will do medium cuts with a nice tool, but it's just not that rigid. A gantry design is going to be orders of magnitude less rigid than that. My B&S light milling machine doesn't mind hogging steel so long as you're using it as a horizontal machine, and even then it's still a light milling machine even though it clocks in at a forklift tipping 3500lbs. The Asquith at work is a gantry and that had no problem going through steel, though it bigger than my house.
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Apr 23, 2015 18:25
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Cakefool posted:The Asquith at work is a gantry and that had no problem going through steel, though it bigger than my house. The big gantry systems are really sweet, in that you can lockout/tagout the millhead and climb inside the thing with a pushbroom and trashcan to clean up the chips. The bridgeports are fine machines for what they do, which is one off prototype and light fab work. CNCing them tends to have issues, but is entirely doable. Once I finish my remodel, I'll probably end up buying a Tormach PCNC1100 in order to make real parts to a tolerance I can use for aerospace and automotive applications.
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Apr 23, 2015 18:31
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Methylethylaldehyde posted:The big gantry systems are really sweet, in that you can lockout/tagout the millhead and climb inside the thing with a pushbroom and trashcan to clean up the chips. Ours is a couple of decades old and has no guarding, meaning although you can loto, there's nothing to stop you walking onto the bed and grabbing the spindle. Other than imagination.
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Apr 24, 2015 14:26
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I'm trying to figure out how to power and wire my 1.5kw 110v spindle as most are 220v. I'm looking for the cord the connects to the top of the spindle, I can't really find the right plug. I might just solder but it's a lot of power so I don't wanna.
Rakins fucked around with this message at 08:16 on Jun 2, 2015 |
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Jun 2, 2015 08:09
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Cakefool posted:Ours is a couple of decades old and has no guarding, meaning although you can loto, there's nothing to stop you walking onto the bed and grabbing the spindle. And the wallpapered set of horrible industrial accident pictures letting you know what a spectacularly bad idea that would be. I just finished putting together my X-carve upgrade kit for my Shapeoko 2, and aside from the kit missing some parts due to it being an upgrade, and me being unable to source poo poo and all locally because lol Alaska, it went pretty well. The new spindle with the ER collet is loving fancy as hell, and having actual homing switches and soft limits is pretty snazzy. Methylethylaldehyde fucked around with this message at 16:46 on Jun 2, 2015 |
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Jun 2, 2015 16:35
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Rakins posted:I'm trying to figure out how to power and wire my 1.5kw 110v spindle as most are 220v. I'm looking for the cord the connects to the top of the spindle, I can't really find the right plug. I might just solder but it's a lot of power so I don't wanna. Any markings on the plug? Looks a lot like an amphenol 4-pin industrial plug (97 series?), but a LOT of those look very, very similar.
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Jun 2, 2015 17:24
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