New Build, Aluminium Frame Router/Mill

She's done! (well just about :congratulatory: )


This was encouraging - A 300mm square placed on the bed and against the face of the Z axis tool mount - perfectly square, I was impressed with this little fact :wink:
Attachment 17969

The fixed tool-change plate for the 2010 screen-set was hastily made up from a length of nylon with an M8 bolt in the top that had the face ground flat, it lives in the top R/H corner of my bed.

The movable plate was a simple bit of unused copper PCB.

The tool change and probing routine took a bit of getting used to, as will the initial set-up for new materials etc, its all totally alien form my experience in plasma cutting, lots to learn.

A lump of junk alu was then clamped down with overkill clamps and a further half an hour expended trying to figure out the correct probing routine for a new job :cool:

The G-code i prepared was too big for the scrap so thats why it got cut off, I was running out of time :)

I used the WD40 in one hand and the blow gun in the other, a pretty intense minute or so followed as she cut her first metal.

Attachment 17970

Messy or what ?

Anyway, the result was excellent, expecting a broken tool I threw in an older 5mm HSS three-flute and tweaked the g-code down from carbide speeds, this ended up at 12000rpm and 800mm/min cut with 500mm/min ramp. Ramped in to 3mm deep on the pocket and 5mm deep on the outside.

I'm pretty stoked at the result, a simple feat but nerve-wrecking when not used a CNC before, coming from manual milling it feels odd having the control of feed and speed taken away from you!

BTW, I removed the bed and refitted it, with minor shimming I got the variation corner-corner down to below 0.1mm which i think bearing in mind the way these machines are constructed is pretty good.

Now I need to build the fogless coolant thingy and get that going before doing some proper tests.

Looking good dave and nice to see a proper Chip not dust. . :applause:

I don't baby my tools, causes more trouble than needed, need a good chip to carry the heat away.

As the scrap was smaller than the code, it ramped down mostly in air and slammed into the side of the part at full depth, didn't bother it all :)

It was a tense moment though I must admit ;)

Need to get the lube system working now, got a couple of jobs lined up already.
Maybe add some chip-guards as well to keep the crud on the table and not all up the wall.

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I'm pretty stoked at the result, a simple feat but nerve-wrecking when not used a CNC before, coming from manual milling it feels odd having the control of feed and speed taken away from you!

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You still have control with the override sliders. Just grab the orange bars and drag them up or down, or type in a specific amount.

LOL, it was a fast test job, by the time I had reached for the mouse, grabbed a slider and hopefully yanked it in the right direction, the job was done and the tool was off and parked ;)

It's a lot slower than brain telling hands - "stop twiddling that feed knob you idiot, the cutter is gumming up"

Just need to get used to it.

Machines been working well generally, only major issue is random VFD drop-outs with an error code that indicates a short in the motor windings?

Its not done that much work really, i cant believe the spindle is dying already?

The MAJOR issue with this issue is that i haven't wired the VFD fault signal into Mach3 yet so the spindle cuts out and *ping* goes another cutter :(

I need to drag the diagrams out and figure a way to get the fault into Mach, at least that will save my cutters, but surely not the spindle already - this was from Aliexpress, any warranty do you think??

Is there a "good" spindle to replace it with?

Nah doubt it's spindle Dave I'd think it's more like setting that needs tweaking.

Main concern was the error code pointing towards motor phase short, not current overload etc, I'll check the manual but i don't think the short setting would be adjustable?

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Originally Posted by Davek0974

Main concern was the error code pointing towards motor phase short, not current overload etc, I'll check the manual but i don't think the short setting would be adjustable?

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Might be a long shot but have you checked the motor connections at both ends

Not yet but will pull it apart this weekend.