My Newest Desktop machine

[microcarve]

I tried once more to get a good picture.

This is a fraction closer to what it looks like in reality, but
still nowhere near as great and cool as it really looks.





I'm pretty amazed at how easy that was to make.


John

[600burger]

Hi microcarve,

I'm a bit of a newbie to the CNC building thing but I had a few questions about yours.

Do you have any problems with the Oilite bearings binding? Also, how did you get everything aligned so well?

-Andrew

[microcarve]

Hi Andrew,

No, I've never had any problems at all with them binding. Not a single time
on many different machines of many materials. I've used many thousands
of them.

I would highly recommend using them with Thomson shafting, though. Drill
rod is not what it used to be, and there's a case where binding can and
will occur.

Aligning them really depends on what sort of machine you have in
mind. If it's MDF, you can make very parallel dados with a table saw
and just glue them in place with several applications of CA glue.
If you cut grooves into the Oilites in some way, the CA glue will seep
around the bearing and deep into the MDF and lock them in place very
well enough to use on a "cheap" machine.

Press fitting them into other materials, like aluminum or urethane
like I use is a bit more involved. That needs a precision bore, and
that calls for more expensive tools and machines.

They work great...and have for more than 8 years on a few machines
I still have....

Again, depending on what you want to make....and importantly, what
sort of performance you need/want/expect from it.


John

[microcarve]

I have some stuff coming in today to make a couple more
of the small machines. It's just such a Nice little machine that
it should be reproduced. I'll sell them off.

I got more addicted to *making* machines than using them, so
that's one reason I show so many different designs....

If someone wanted to avoid the coming PITA and expense, they
could have one like mine. To avoid problems with selling on the
forum, I'll put them up on the classifieds as I make them. That way
a machine will exist and pix will be available for someone to see
what they'd get.

I don't expect them to sell for more than $350 or so. That's cheaper
than someone can DIY in most cases.

But DIY is fun, and a Hugely valuable learning experience....


John

[microcarve]

Here's a dust container I've moved the small machine into.

2x4's were split down the middle....making the box lighter and
easier to build. It's covered with luan...a cheap thin plywood.

It doesn't completey contain all dust or sound, but it makes
a massive improvement. It could be better....and I'm sure
if you build one, it will be.

(I did mine in a hurry...

Also...the plexiglass just lies in place. Hinges are a PITA and
just get in the way....and broken really quickly.

























Nope, there are no plans or measurements. It'll be different for
different machines. But it's pretty simple and easy to figure out.



John

[microcarve]

Progress on the second small machine.










Bland looking without paint. But it's silky smooth and that's
what counts for now.....


John

[microcarve]

The first small machine to be sold off as an owner-completed
kit.

Someone would need 3 couplings. Couplings can be cheap
or expensive. I like the non-damaging-to-the-ledscrew
ones from dumpstercnc. But providing 3 of those would
cause a fair increase in what I'd need to sell the machines
for. I'd like to sell them as inexpensively as possible...

Also a tool holder for a router. Like I mentioned earlier,
the aluminum plate on the Z axis is drilled for several tool
holders that can be bought from either Probotix or K2CNC.

I could paint it, but that'll also increase the cost of it
a good bit. It'll save someone $65 to paint it themselves.

The expendable MDF table isn't drilled because the offset
of whatever router someone chooses will cause the holes
to be slightly different. T-nuts are embedded underneath
the table for the top table hole pattern.

This one will go up in the classified section here at cnczone.











It'll be a rock solid, hard use, little machine wherever it ends
up....

John

[microcarve]

Well, I decided to try something that really shouldn't
work very well...but it did...

.937 wide

1.25" high

.004 stepover

.023 max depth

It's a problematic picture for several reasons....

Very highly detailed and symmetrical, for one.

Bad contrasting elements for tiny carvings....sky and
framework are similar in color tones.

Large sky area would show tool marks very easily.

Not to mention a homemade bit that's probably off by .003 or so...























The camera doesn't pick up the crisp-ness of these little
lithophanes. Not sure why, as it seems to work pretty well
otherwise. But in real-life, they're amazingly detailed and sharp.


John

[gmfoster]

John
You sure are prolific at making these routers and carvings!

I have read the complete thread but if you mentioned what material you are carving I missed it. I know your machines are primarily MDF is that what you are carving...

Also what software are you using to go from the bit maps(?) to gcode...

I love your little machines...
Thanks Garry

[Drools]

Very nice little machine!
A question for you, if your goal was to have a 12x12 inch cutting table using THK 25mm rails what would the frame dimensions be?
I have a larger gantry style 8020 router 30x20 inch cutting area but I was thinking of a little desktop router strictly for PCB routing with my Wolfgang spindle. I'm having too much fun cutting reliefs and engravings to take the big spindle off and mount the WG. I have some THK rails and blocks sitting gathering dust

Thanks

[microcarve]

Hey Thanks Garry!

I was wondering if I was boring everyone to death.....not many
questions....

The material I'm carving is a hard cast urethane. It's about as hard as
an acrylic bowling ball, but it doesn't have the problems that acrylics do
with melting. It doesn't melt. It's a thermoset type of plastic.
(though, like most common plastics, it'll soften a bit the closer it gets
to about 200F.)

These are really great little machines. I've always been interested in just
how fine and detailed an inexpensive...cheap!....cnc could get. Turns
out it's not too easy. That's why these are all fixed bridge type.
There's no vibration or chance of minute skewing on direction change.
They'd best be viewed as specialty machines IMO. These will do the extremely
fine stuff that most larger machines can't.

Getting the actual picture turned into gcode is a 2 minute process. I wrote
a program that opens most any picture, then you just tell it how wide and
high you want it. Along with desired stepover and cut depth. It generates
the file....along with a border area if someone wants one. It'll save the file
as any extension someone may want. It remembers most important entries
when closed. It takes a few trials & errors to get the idea, but it makes
the gcode file in just a minute or two. Though, it was intended for this
really small stuff, it'll make any size file.

(Oddly enough, a 30 ft design isn't a much larger gcode file than a 1" one.....but
the stepover has to be realistic....)

Anyways, little small machines like these are going to have a special place in
most shops I believe. I have both large and small ones. One doesn't replace
the other. There's a lot of good points about having a small machine on hand
to do exceptionally detailed work. Plus, they're also little workhorse machines.
I used an older design for a few years to make Z axis parts for many other
small machines. I only had to adjust it once. It was 100% reliable....


Doing these little carvings only takes 30 minutes or so....and that includes
finding a picture to carve. It takes longer to decide what picture to look for
most times....

The program is called ...."microcarve"....
There's some examples of it being used for larger pictures here....

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showth...t=92608&page=6



John

[ger21]

Originally Posted by microcarve The program is called ...."microcarve"....

http://www.microcarve.com/

http://www.cnctoybox.org/store/page49.html