An Idea I Want To See Come To Life

[guitar freak]

CNCZone-

I've been avidly reading and learning from this forum for about two months now. I've finally made my own account as I feel that I am getting closer and closer to what I want to achieve. As you can tell by my name, I am a guitar player through and through. What I want to do is create and design all-aluminum pedalboards that will be worth their value. Everything on the market is heavy, crappy MDF or blown plastic. I started doing research on this a few months ago and have decided that the best way to about fabricating this stuff is by using a CNC router to do it. However, like everyone started off, I don't know a whole lot.

The K2 2935 has really appealed to me since it will hold the size of aluminum plates that I would need. I have some questions that I hope I could get some professional and experienced opinions on. So, without further ado, here it is.

1) To get the router up and running, I need the machine itself, the driver, and Mach3. What software could be recommended (that isn't too pricey) that I could design and execute my parts with? All the parts will be flat and will be bolted together. I don't think that I need to buy AutoCAD or anything that crazy, just looking around, I don't see why Cut2D wouldn't work. Any further suggestions would be awesome. Also, please tell me any other software or necessities that I'm missing to get a router up and running.

2) What kind of aluminum has the best strength-to-weight ratio? I would like these boards to be roughly 20x30 and they would be holding around 20lbs of effects pedals on them. Also, bear in mind that they would be constantly getting stepped on by the musician. I need something that won't bend, warp, or break.

3) How do you go about tapping holes through aluminum plating so you can thread a screw into them? Can that be feasibly automated or is that going to have to be done by hand? I would like to have all the plates held together by flat top machine screws so it would look nice. If anyone sees a problem with that, please tell me. I'd like to avoid welding since it isn't very aesthetically pleasing.

4) Is a lubrication system absolutely necessary for milling aluminum or can most problems associated with that be vetted by milling slower and making your passes less deep?

These are just the start of many more questions that I have for you guys. Any suggestions/tips/answers to any questions by some real pros would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

-Nate

[ger21]

1) I was looking at the K2 site yesterday, and they seemed a little vague on what was actually included? Looks like the $4300 doesn't include motors, drives, or power supply? Looks like the machine pictured at the top of this page would be over $10K.
http://www.k2cnc.com/shop/proddetail...-3925-G&cat=26

It also says it'll cut light aluminum sheet. I would take that to mean 1/8" max, probably less?

Cut2D should be fine. There area also plenty of free CAD programs that you can design in and export to Cut2D.

2) and 4) I think we'd need to see the design? How thick would the material be that you are planning on cutting?. Be aware that some alloys cut much easier than others. Depending on thickness and alloy, you may be able to cut it dry, but you may need a lubricant.

3)holes would need to be tapped by hand.

[guitar freak]

Well, I'm no technical drawer, but I tried to throw down a sketch of one of my ideas. It's pretty simple and to the point. Hopefully everyone will be able to see where I'm coming from. If you can't ready my terrible handwriting, I'll try to explain it here.



The inside of each end support will have a dado groove about 1/8th inch deep into the plate so the board can slide into it. Along with the dado groove, there are holes for the machine screws to go into. The actual board plate will have tapped holes for the screws along the outside perimeter to secure everything.

If I could get any insight as to what sort of aluminum alloy would be suitable for this, that would be fantastic. Also, since I know virtually nothing about machining, any advice or things of concern would be very helpful, as well.

@ger21, I did notice that the machine does not come with the steppers or anything like that. Using their little "build-a-machine" dropdown boxes, the grand total came to about $7,000 for everything except the computer itself (this includes Cut2D and Mach3, both licensed).

Assuming that I go with 1/4" aluminum plate, will there be a difference using a router versus a spindle? What advantages does a spindle have over a router or vice a versa? What sort of spindle cooling options are there? I've seen some of the ones that dump oil over the part being milled and I can only imagine that it is fairly expensive. As far as not being able to do anything over approximately 1/8" of an inch competently, can't this be made up with making multiple passes over the metal slowly increasing the depth rather than just make a 1/4" cut at once? Are there any drawbacks to that other than time expense?

Thanks for your reply and I look forward to other input as well!