Need help finding or designing for acrylic machine

[lightorber]

HI,

I am trying to design a real basic CNC that will basically cut through a 3mm piece of Acrylic in a straight line and being able to place these at a certian distance apart. Any ideas on this simple yet necessary concept. I may expand later to cut round holes and patterns, and predrill holes.

[OCNC]

Originally Posted by lightorber HI, I am trying to design a real basic CNC that will basically cut through a 3mm piece of Acrylic in a straight line and being able to place these at a certian distance apart. Any ideas on this simple yet necessary concept. I may expand later to cut round holes and patterns, and predrill holes.

How about some more info? What size are the pieces you wish to cut (determines the foot print of the machine)? It sounds like you won't need much Z travel (cutting sheet goods exclusively?). What do you have for a router? Does acrylic need to be cut wet (with a lubricant of some kind)? What's your spending budget like?

Chris

[ger21]

You should be able to do it with pretty much any router or mill. What you're asking for are basic operations.

The only issues you would run into would be spindle rpm (too high can result in melting) and, as was mentioned, whether or not you need to use a coolant. Coolant wouldn't mix well with a wood framed machine.

[lightorber]

Thinking I might want to do plastic and metal but might make two seperate one for plastic and one for metl. size of plastic is 10 inches by 10 inches at the biggest. Am planning to make metal frame out of old L shaped steel shelving so it water proof and won't vibrate and afect accuracy. Hope this answered the questions needed for know how. Proberbly use coolent that runs onto work, through a filter and then cycles back to use again if anyone thinks that would work. Also I thought that I could make the work area capable of working up to 20 inches by 20 inches.

[OCNC]

Originally Posted by lightorber Thinking I might want to do plastic and metal but might make two seperate one for plastic and one for metl. size of plastic is 10 inches by 10 inches at the biggest. Am planning to make metal frame out of old L shaped steel shelving so it water proof and won't vibrate and afect accuracy. Hope this answered the questions needed for know how. Proberbly use coolent that runs onto work, through a filter and then cycles back to use again if anyone thinks that would work. Also I thought that I could make the work area capable of working up to 20 inches by 20 inches.

You might be well served to build a small machine using wood and relatively inexpensive components. This would allow you to get some hands-on experience of what is necessary to build a machine and it would also allow you to ask more specific questions. Take a look at John Kleinbauer's website for some ideas.