Building table router....

[hoarp001]

Hello,

I run a company that produces control devices for the film industry, and to do this, I do a lot of CNC cutting, usually using Deckel five axis machines, and Sodick EDM machines. I am lucky enough to have a good relationship with an incredible machine shop who do all my production machining, however I am looking for something of my own for simpler parts.

I am moving into a hopefully quite large industrial unit / warehouse in High Wycombe, UK, and I will finally have some space to build the router that I have been thinking about for years.

I have decided to build a 1x2 meter router table (30cm Z axis) for cutting MDF, composite materials (chemiwood) acrylic and similar plastics. If the feed system is strong enough (as I am hoping) I would like to be able to cut aluminium too, but this is not essential.

I have a design down, and I am sure that with my steel worker and welder friends, along with my machine shop contacts and powder coaters/anodisers, I can produce a very solid and 'legitimate' looking CNC router table.

Now I have one problem here, and this is all to do with the software. As I work in the film industry, I am an avid Mac user (Can't use anything else, as the software i need is made by Apple) and I am aware that macs have no place in the CNC world. I am perfectly happy to buy a PC and set it up for CNC use, but I have no idea what I am doing here. Im not sure what software I need, and how to setup all the systems that we need.

I have also got a tool change system planned, and I would like to use a JoeCNC style depth gauge (with a plate and electrical contact) but all of this would need setting up with the software, and again, I am lost.


What I am looking for ideally, is someone who could maybe team up with me and help me work out all the software. Of course, if you want to use my router to cut out stuff for your own projects, then this is absolutely fine.


I am based in Buckinghamshire, and my unit will be in High Wycombe.


If anyone thinks they can help, it would be great to talk, as I am sure that between us we could produce a very capable machine.



Thanks,


Pete.

[johnmac]

Pete, I too love my Mac, but CNC seems to be a PC world. One program you may want to consider is Mach 3, by Artsoft. It is the software that controls the machine. It is highly regarded by most DIYers. Best part is, the trial version really works and has no time limit. You can start learning it right away.

Gecko drives are the preferred stepper/servo drives.

John

[Senna]

Pete,

Not certain you are running Intel Macs but there are several Intel Mac users that run Windows applications using VMware (http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/) with beautiful results. Absolutely no issues...!

Senna

[hoarp001]

Hi,

I dont mind running a PC just for milling, I would rather do that than have to run windazz on my macs. Also my laptop, as with everything apple, is very minamilsit and has the bare minimum of plugs and sockets, and I suspect that the machine needs paralel or serial connection? Its got two USBs and a firewire 800, and a stupid apple specific monitor port, and thats it.


Hmm.....

I think an ebay laptop is the way forward.


Pete.

[Senna]

Laptops with a parallel port are something of the past... even if you find one the 3.3V output sometimes causes issues when the breakout board is expecting 5V. Best to stick with a desktop or tower PC...

Senna

[scotta]

Why not run a Linux box with EMC2. I have just set an old Dell P4 dual boot with the live Ubuntu disk. It was quite painless and EMC2 is not that hard to get configured. I had a motor spinning in a couple of hours with a Gecko G540.

Scott

[dertsap]

mach or emc are the two best softwares to use , I lean more toward mach because I get better performance out of it plus linux is pretty limited as far as cad cam programs and such , there are some projects on the rise for linux , heekcad/cam software is coming along quite well and if he keeps pluging away at it then it will be a great little piece of software soon , it'll run on windows or linux
http://code.google.com/p/heekscad/

[johnmac]

You don't want to waste a good Mac running the machine control software. Let some PC choke on all the dust! As far as the CAD-CAM software, you could run Windoze on your mac, then transfer the G-code files to the PC.

John

[FandZ]

I hear you pain bro... But I'm a pc, so I don't have these problems

Sorry, just had to. lol Like a lot of people have said, it looks like it'll be easier to run your machine and gcode with a PC and do your cad on your mac. I'm sure you could make it work but down the road you may have to keep hunting down solutions.

[Jack000]

I wouldn't get a laptop, I hear that the power saving features messes up the cnc control software. An old desktop with parallel is probably the best way to go. I'd also recommend emc2, it's worked great for me so far, and free!

[Switcher]

Just find someone you know with an older XP - PC, that will sell cheap, format the HD, do a clean install.

Like already mentioned, that PC will start getting really dirty/dusty after a while. All you need is a cheap $10 USB thumb-drive to transfer the g-code files from the MAC to the PC-Control.