My Build - I blame you lot for this....!

Eventually got time to finish off my coolant upgrade this afternoon.

Got the tank and pump from Axminster, bargain at £130!

Made up some side plates out of 2mm stainless steel and screwed them in position with some neoprene 3mm rubber sandwiched inbetween to stop any leaks. Worked well and no leaks so far!

Did a few test cuts, 30mm dia pockets at 5mm deep, cutting 1mm at a time with a 6mm HSS 2 flute slot drill. Spindle running at 4000rpm with a feedrate of 800mm/min. Noticeable difference now it is flooded with coolant.

Need to tidy pipe work up but will do that once I have got hold of some energy chain and then will do cabling at same time.

Will sort your plates out tomorrow Lee.

Attachment 3169Attachment 3170Attachment 3171Attachment 3172Attachment 3173Attachment 3174

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YjUepB9YYs

POSH!! its doing my head in watching some of you buggers cutting... im still stuck with cutting my finger nails :)

I know just how you feel Mark, only i'v not got any nails left to cut :tongue:.

Cheers Steve looks good mate, dose the waste get filtered and sent back to the res or ?

Did you get my package ?

Also what noticeable differences have you noticed :question:

Lee

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lee Roberts

Cheers Steve looks good mate, does the waste get filtered and sent back to the res or ?

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Yes Lee, the coolant returns to the tank were there is a filter to catch any swarf, also the tank has baffles inside so that any swarf that gets through the filter ends up at the opposite end of the tank to the pump pick up pipe.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lee Roberts

Did you get my package ?

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Yes I did, had to go and collect it this morning, thanks for that! Will get your couplers sorted this week and will try and have everything back to you for the weekend. Did not get round to finishing your plates yesterday as beer and other stuff got in the way, will have them done tonight though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lee Roberts

Also what noticeable differences have you noticed :question:

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Difference cutting aluminium now is that I am cutting with a 6mm standard HSS 2 flute slot drill with no problems at all, not tried any of the alimaster cutters yet but at the moment I can't see any need to. Also it means once I set the machine running I can switch the lights off shut the door and go and have a cup of tea and a hobnob then come back when its finished!

Come on, don't be shy, 'fess up, what's the tolerance and finish like? :naughty:

Tell me I haven't been wrong all these years about the need for lots of cast iron :eek:

I'll even go first with a pic, iron cut .001" deeper than intended, biro tip for scale.

Wow, that's a sharp corner! Have to try that on my mill ...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Robin Hewitt

Come on, don't be shy, 'fess up, what's the tolerance and finish like? :naughty:

Tell me I haven't been wrong all these years about the need for lots of cast iron :eek:

I'll even go first with a pic, iron cut .001" deeper than intended, biro tip for scale.

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Robin, I don't think your wrong about the need for lots of cast iron for a solid machine, I did my apprenticeship at British Rail (a few years back!) and spent a good chunk of my time in the heavy machine shop operating a Noble & Lund plano mill. Bed was about 10m long x 4m wide and the whole machine must have weighed about 100-130 tonnes, 5mm depth of cut with a 15" face mill no problem at all and a nice finish, but you could still find the limits of the machine when you pushed it.

As for my mini plano mill!, I did not expect it to turn out as good as it did if I'm honest and I am not expecting miracles from it. Accuracy on the 30mm holes that I put in the plate was fairly good, measured them on the X and Y plane and they are 29.94 and 29.97 so slightly oval but not too bad. Finish could be a bit better but I just roughed them out, will have a go tonight with a 0.5mm finish cut climb milling to see how it performs and post up some pics.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HiltonSteve

Accuracy on the 30mm holes that I put in the plate was fairly good, measured them on the X and Y plane and they are 29.94 and 29.97 so slightly oval but not too bad.

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Fairly good? :eek:

One or two thousandths of an inch out and he's complaining :whistling:

PS: Climb milling sounds like a terrible idea

I have been profiling a couple of 20mm aluminium router sideplates at the weekend and been playing with different speeds and feeds to see find out what works best and gives the best finish.

Ended up at around 4000rpm with a feedrate of 600mm/min with a 2 fulte HSS slot drill, roughed the profile first stepping down 2mm at a time and leaving 0.5mm on all round, then did 2 finish pass's at 10mm deep with the same cutter but dropped the feedrate to 350mm/min, cutting time around 45 mins.

Finish is OK but still room for improvement, i have a couple of ali-master 10mm cutters which have completely different geometry to a standard slot drill so may give that a go to see if it improves the finish.

But overall still quite happy with the results!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx4QCyybqbs

I don't fancy cleaning up the machine after that!

I was also experimenting a bit on friday with feedrates on 20mm aluminium plate. I'm using a nearly new 20mm 4 flute HSS cutter. With a maximum cut width of roughly 5mm (plate was allmost to size, just machining the edges), stepdown of 2mm and 2150 RPM I found 720mm/min to be good. It would go faster, but I'm only putting the cutting fluid on with a brush and I didn't want to push it...

For finishing I tried various speeds still at 2150rpm. I left 0.5mm for the finishing pass and did one 20mm deep climb milling pass. I couldn't really see any improvement in finish below 300mm/min, so I stuck with that.

On the first of the attached photos you can see the difference between accidently running the finish pass at 600 compared to <300.

Attachment 3200

Attachment 3201

Been doing a bit more testing tonight and decided to see the results on aluminium with 5 different type's of cutters.

1 - Alimaster 2 flute 8mm
2 - HSS 2 flute 6mm
3 - HSS 6mm ripper
4 - Solid carbide 2 flute 6mm
5 - K2 coated 3 flute 6mm

Ran them all at the same speed and feeds to see which gave the best surface finish results, spindle speeds 4000rpm and 6000rpm, feedrate 300mmpm, side cutting taking 0.5mm off which is what i would normally leave for finishing, depth of cut dependent on cutter length. Tried both climb and conventional milling with each cutter.

Results -

1 - Alimaster - Certainly removes material easily but not the best surface finish.

2 - HSS 2 flute 6mm - Cuts nice but still get the chatter lines, surface finish similar to alimaster.

3 - HSS 6mm Ripper - Does what it says on the tin, rips the material off very easily without producing loads of swarf. Finish not good but definitely my choice for roughing.

4 - Solid carbide 6mm 2 flute - This gave a poor finish, carbide is very hard and sounded like it when it was cutting. Kept leaving lots of very small but even ridges. May need to be pushed harder to get best results.

5 - K2 coated 3 flute 6mm - Cheapest cutter of the lot and gave the best results, i put it mainly down to it having more flutes than the others which helps with the intermittent cutting. I have not got any 4 flute cutters but i will be getting some to try.

A few photo's attached, did not take photo's of all the results as some started to look similar to others so did not see much point!

Conclusion - More flutes give a better finish but a ripper is best for roughing out, also need a more sturdy machine to give a better surface finish, but now at least I know what surface finish the machine is capable of and what to expect from it.

Interesting Steve, i use the alu-power alot also, ive noticed that when i use them to mill say a pocket the bottom face is never super clean, it alway leave swirl marks but when do a finishing pass of a profile on some 12mm alloy DOC 0.1mm spindle at 12000 rpm feed at 600mm/min i get a mirror finish. im also going to try some k2's seeing as they are on offer at the mo.

On your video have you limited you coolant flow or is that what the pump flows normally?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AdCNC

On your video have you limited you coolant flow or is that what the pump flows normally?

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Aydee,

There is a tap on the stayput nozzle to adjust the flow and usually I have it about half way open. The biggest problem is getting the coolant back to the tank through the 16mm bore return pipe, machine turns into a paddling pool fairly quickly!

I see, i have concocted my own coolant system from a parts washer, and what i have done is position it under where i am cutting, at the moment tho i have used some polythene sheet as a catch to funnel the coolant back into the parts washer and i have made a removable screen that goes around the spindle from some clear plastic that is used for doorway screens.

When i get five ill pop some pictures up on my thread

Hi Steve

Just a quick question. About to build my own CNC at last! What was the size and part nos for your THK linear Slides? Can you recommend a good supplier for these
in the uk?

Thanks
Mike Campbell

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MikeyC38

Can you recommend a good supplier for these
in the uk?

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eBay ... but you'll have to wait for the right place. Are you sure you need THK as unless it's some amazingly accurate machine from what I've heard the other brands (Hiwin, NSK etc) are fine for what most people make. Greater errors due to other factors.

Thanks Jonathan - I'll look into these other brands

I am back....!

Got a little bit sidetracked last year building an extension on my house, all finished now so hopefully more time for playing in the workshop :fat:

I get quite a few emails regarding this machine build so if anyone does have any questions then put them on here so that everyone can benefit from them.

Hi HiltonSteve

Well Thanks to your "inspirational" build log I've finally got my design sorted out http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/showth...gn-Build/page4 and now trying source aluminium plate for the build. And I've got bathrooms to refurbish :apthy:

Cheers
Mike

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Originally Posted by MikeyC38

now trying source aluminium plate for the build
e

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Hi, only new to this but been designing and redesigning for a decent while now, I'm sure you all know the feeling! I have come across aluminium warehouse http://www.aluminiumwarehouse.co.uk/cutting_calc.php - they sell cast plate at what seems a reasonable price.... Fantastic build by the way Steve I am going to shamelessly plagiarise!

Joe

Aluminium warehouse is good, however I recently needed to order quite a large amount of aluminium (about 300kg) so shopped around and found this place was quite a lot cheaper:

http://www.ascmetals.com/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jonathan

Aluminium warehouse is good, however I recently needed to order quite a large amount of aluminium (about 300kg) so shopped around and found this place was quite a lot cheaper:

http://www.ascmetals.com/

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I fooking told you so three years ago - dipshit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John S

I fooking told you so three years ago - dipshit.

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You certainly have a way with words John :glee:

Yes he does,

Though I have to thank both of them for posting/reposting that link as they where able to give me a stockist for PB102 Bronze in 1mm sheet form which I need for making reeds. Thanks to both of you on that one.

Michael

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John S

I fooking told you so three years ago - dipshit.

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John this is what makes you so SPECIAL!! .:angel:

Right then....

Due to unforseen circumstances, which mainly consist of my missus running off with a bloke with more money than me I have decided to have a bit of a clear out as I have too much stuff to move.

Would consider selling my cnc router (the one in this build thread) if someone makes a sensible offer. Its all in working order and was only being used last week. I will put full specs on if I get any interest but this build thread should give you a pretty good idea.

Also got a nice german 'leinen' lathe, which I may consider selling. Does weigh about half a ton so not something that will fit in the boot of your car! Will do screwcutting etc, 3 and 4 jaw chucks, faceplate, powerfeed on both slides, even have a digital readout for it that I never got round to fitting. Will post details if anyone is interested.

Oh and her pissing off is the best thing that she has ever done, I have never been happier..!! :-)

Let me know...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HiltonSteve

Oh and her pissing off is the best thing that she has ever done, I have never been happier..!! :-)

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Been there got the tea shirt and it only gets better mate.!!. . . .Welcome back. (And I don't mean to the site. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HiltonSteve

Right then....

Due to unforseen circumstances, which mainly consist of my missus running off with a bloke with more money than me

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Let me get this right ?

She's pissed off with Jonathan ?

[edit] was up saltbox last week, nearly gave you a bell so you could pop down and buy my breakfast

Hi,

Just like to say what a nice job you made of your CNC machine!

I've been hit by the DIY CNC building thing and can't wait to start, I rushed into ordering some rails and ball screws but wish I had waited as finding the right aluminium profile in the right size is proving difficult. Still that's me all over.....obsessed!

This is what I want to try and build index.php

this forum has certainly made it easier for me!

thanks

Allan

Right...

Nothing is for sale! Missus gone and a new one in her place... Happy days.! Word of advice, if you are married to a control freak you probably wont realise how happy you could be until until you split up, after which you look back and think "Did I really live like that...!"

Now things get even better... my new other half is very interested in the CNC kit which I have and would like to get to know how to use it so we can start up a sideline business. A woman that is interested in CNC??? she actually wants to get in the workshop more than me.!

Should be spending a bit more time on the forum from now on.

Glad things have panned out alright for you Steve, nice to have you back :beer:

Good for you ! Women are a bit strange , 20 years of marriage there was good and bad like anything and I have agreat daughter from it so its not to bad, however I am alot happier single, guess she was right I was selfish with my time, I like to spend it making me happy.. go figure :)?

Hi Steve,

Welcome back mate, genuinely pleased you’re in a better place all round.

The future sounds promising and something to look forward to, so can’t wait to see what you both get up to, it’s funny because I watched a YouTube vid last night where a woman and her man both run a metal fab shop, was cool seeing the woman diving into Mach and then setting up the 8x4 plasma machine and cracking on with it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fivetide

Good for you ! Women are a bit strange , 20 years of marriage there was good and bad like anything and I have agreat daughter from it so its not to bad, however I am alot happier single, guess she was right I was selfish with my time, I like to spend it making me happy.. go figure :)?

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Getting on for 10 here, though not married - :peach:

.Me

Morning all....

Its been a while but I'm back again, and another divorce just sorted out..! Don't take the piss too much...!

How is everyone??

Oh, the reason I've not been on here much is because I've been busy in my new playground for the last few years...

Don't all shout at once but happy to help out if anyone needs anything making

]Attachment 32265Attachment 32266Attachment 32267Attachment 32268

Nice playground.

Glad to see you back and hope you are doing well.