Hi Andrew
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- the router should be able to cut/mill into wood, plastics, similar materials, aluminum & aluminum alloys, copper, brass, bronze, gold leaf, PCBs (with up to 800 um copper layer) & similar. This also means that steel or similar materials are not required. The gold leaf is hardly difficult to mill, yet to do so without tearing the gold leaf I reckon a high speed spindle is desired (although I don't know how high a speed is needed) .. ? Reasonably high precision is needed.
[That's a big list of materials. A router might be expected to do some of them, but not all. Usually PCBs are cut on a specialized machine with a high-speed spindle and provisions for dealing with abrasive dust. Aluminum is feasible on a router if you build it very stiffly; copper, brass and bronze not so much - for those a mill would be best. Cutting gold leaf is a specialized task; the hard part would be holding it down. Even with patent leaf, which comes adhered to a sheet of paper, I'd think a drag knife would be better than a rotating spindle.]
- In the point above I say "router" and not mill. The reason for this is that in most cases - probably about 90 % of the work done - I will only need a very small routing area (appr. 20 * 15 cms) BUT I'd like to somehow be able to extend this to about 2 meters * 20 - 25 cms. I reckon one way of doing this may be to be able to precisely move the material already milled and then re-program the router for the new piece of the material to be milled. I imagine this could require a reasonably stable extension setup that can be dismantled when not in use - which would be possible in my current workplace. Might you have any experience with something similar in practice?
[People have done that, but it never works as well as doing everything at once with a single setup. You can get away with it, though, if the work isn't supposed to appear to be continuous and connected; there's always going to be a little glitch at the junction. ]
- Seeing your website also made me consider building the router myself - so as to better fit my needs and possibly also save a bit on the purchase (I'm also fine with second hand parts that work well). I do have (or may have) access to a metal workshop and am reasonably skilled in the use of metal working tools (including a manually controlled CNC). So I reckon I could build the router myself, however, have only a very vague idea about how long it may take as well as little knowledge of the complexity of making such a router. Any chance you may say a bit about this with my above comments in mind (I know - again asking a "verging on the impossible question ;-) " )? As I wrote in my #1 this is not my main focus so I'm not looking into hundreds of hours invested - but about two weeks (about 80 hours) all in all would be ok with me. Do you think this is realistic? And would you somehow be interested in / be able to guide me from time to time - as to what to buy and what to look (out) for? Maybe suggestions for an already existing build project? Being a bit upfront with my own projects I reckon this may stretch out over some months and I also have a longer vacation coming up ... Just FYI.
[Lots of people here build their own routers, often starting with long lists of things they want it to do and eventually resigning themselves to working within the capabilities of the machines they end up with. But sure, I check in here pretty often, so I'll probably weigh in on your questions, along with other people more knowledgeable than me (and less). A kit would save time, if you're willing to spend more money than for a scratch build. If you're looking for a kit, either the Mechmate or CNCRouterparts machines might be something to check out. If it's just a machine to emulate in your build and you're serious about milling bronze, etc., some of the more heavy-duty build threads here might be of interest, like this one:
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/vertic...g-machine.html ]
- To possibly address the parallel between 3D modeling programs and programs for routers I can say that the 3D modeling program I use is called MoI3D (an acronym for Moment of Inspiration 3D;
MoI, 3D modeling for designers and artists ). IMHO it may be quite simple to use - when I started up using MoI3D I probably was reasonably proficient in its use in about 30 hours - something I have not found to be so with other 3D modeling programs. And when 3D printing (often from STL files but other file types are directly available - I've attached an image of the options) I use the program Cura (
https://ultimaker.com/en/products/cura-software ) which I got a good idea about how to use well in practice in maybe 3 - 5 hours (not knowing about 3D printing when starting). If possible I would appreciate being able to do something similar with router software.
[I like MOI; it;s a lot like Rhino but more stripped-down and affordable. The choice of CAM programs depends on what you're trying to do. As I mentioned, I like DeskProto for artistic sorts of things, but recommend VisualMill for mechanical parts. It's a bit more complicated to learn, but not too bad. It shouldn't take any longer to master than MOI.]
Well, I realize these are many questions - I hope you - or maybe one of the other "forumers" - may be able to give some guidelines as to what is possible / feasible.
Cheers & thanks for any help in this
Jesper