Has anyone atempted a 5 axis mill. A gantry style with a rotating 4th and 5th axis, as I have been toying with the idea for some time now. I have a few designs id like to try, it would be just a matter of adding the 2 axis head to a conventional 3 axis gantry style mill.
If anyone is interested in brainstorming the concept please feel free, I can do all the 3D cad design and can even get a working model machined up.

I gues the biggest issue would be designing a zero backlash rotary drive, be it geared or belt driven.
Have considered using wiper motor worm gearbox components for the reduction system, as I only intend on machining high density foam blocks for prototype of complex work for now.

This guy has one,

http://www.rainnea.com/cnc_5axisMill.htm

http://www.rainnea.com/cnc_5axis.htm


http://www.rainnea.com/cnc_toolkit.htm






.

This guy has one,

http://www.rainnea.com/cnc_5axisMill.htm

http://www.rainnea.com/cnc_5axis.htm


http://www.rainnea.com/cnc_toolkit.htm

.

Do all please visit that site. The work there is incredible. Be sure to click out and see his Celtic daggers. Building a 5-axis CNC at home is just an incredible feat, and its fun to watch his video of it in action. I hate to think of creating the solid model and tool paths for one of those daggers though!

Best,

BW

delving into the 5-axis world oh-no!

I don't even have my 4-axis up yet, but wondering what it takes to get a 5-axis machine going...

Can you use something like a tilting rotary table for your 4th AND 5th axis?

Like this one (prolly REALLY expensive) it's a 6" table from Haas
http://haascnc.com/prod/pi/08740.jpg

But there are some cheapies on Ebay and such like this:

http://i7.ebayimg.com/01/i/06/12/84/52_1.JPG

or this one:

http://i10.ebayimg.com/01/i/07/03/67/2d_2.JPG

Re: Rainnea's products..

Rab uses CNC_Toolkit and 3DSMAX to do a lot of his work. He invented the plugin to use inside 3DSMAX and create toolpaths For up to 6 axis motion directly of the model...

It's a neat trick and uses the powerful spline or vector line modeling in MAX software to define toolpaths.. like wrapping a piece of string around the object...

Part 1 and 2 of a brand new detailed user guide for CNC_Toolkit are out TODAY.. available as a free download from the yahoo group in my sig..

Rab Gordon, the creator of CNC_Toolkit has contributed suggestions and has approved the distribution. Part 3 covering the deployment and use of multi-axis rotary configurations is currently being developed and tested...

If you have any interest in CNC_Toolkit then it's worth a read, feel free to pick up a copy...

ttfn

Danny (aka Yohudi)