2010 KG-2525 Write-up

[MA$TER_E]

Thanks Mangus. I got the fans setup now and don't have to worry about overheating. But I guess that doesn't matter if I cant get it to cut right.

I'm having a very difficult time with Mach3 right now. When I was writing my own code it took forever but it worked. BobCAD and Mach3 don't seam to want to play nice together and I'm caught in the middle. Just like in the photo of the hole in my last post where Z decided to go on a field trip; well it did it again and made a really nice 18"x6" piece of oak scrap... Really pissed me off; had to walk away for a while and take some deep breaths. What gives? Two dry runs ran great then cut out the final piece from the project above. Cool; cut another 18" piece of oak out set it up and rezero. Code ran great before and one dry run of the whole program ran just fine. Started cutting and things were going great then no more than 30 seconds into the project Z decided to go for a hike again. my 0,0,0 was reset to something more like 0,0,2 one inch above the part and if you're making a cut .150" deep by my math thats a plunge cut of 1.150" on a .75" piece of oak...

I'm still pretty bitter about it and am not sure what to do. Where do you start? I mean it ran fine 3 times then for some reason unknown to me it fails randomly... Where do you start trouble shooting something like this?

[MA$TER_E]

OK, so aside from having to go to my real job all day Sunday this weekend was pretty good. I finished grounding the machine to the grounding rod outside of my garage. I did a whole bunch of dry runs and eventually built up the courage to cut for real again. Maybe its all psychological but it seamed to run better. I made another cool little oak box with no problems what so ever. The code ran exactly as it simulated in BobCAD and the parts came out looking pretty good.

Lesson: Ground your machine! Its important...

[MA$TER_E]

Two more projects finished without incident Its amazing the difference a 10 foot, 12 gauge wire that's stuck in the dirt makes.

All my wooden projects so far have been in oak. For one its strong, two it looks really nice, three it makes nice chips... But It's been warping really bad. I've noticed that a 5.5" wide plank can curl as much as .06"...

Regardless, SolidWorks, BobCAD and Mach3 have been serving me well. I work with SolidWorks daily so I know what I'm doing there. BobCAD does a real good job posting code and the interface is really quite simple once you get started. Mach3; overall I think its pretty good. Its got some funky issues and nothing about it is intuitive but once you get beyond that its not to bad. There is far more available to me than I will ever use and that kind of bugs/confuses me at times.

[ger21]

Where do you start trouble shooting something like this?

Re-install Mach3, and get the latest version. What version are you using?

[MA$TER_E]

I uninstalled Mach3, deleted the directory and reinstalled Mach3 and everything seamed to be working right again.

Re-install Mach3, and get the latest version. What version are you using?

I did do that and it solved the problem. I'm running the latest lockdown version R3.042.038

When the power went out something got messed up with my Mach3 directory. So the delete and reinstall solved that issue.

My biggest issue was with my machine not being grounded. Since its been grounded I'm yet to have an issue.

[Zygoat]

just read through. machine looks nice. keep it up.

[tazzydean]

I just read through this post as well. WOW you say your a NOOB?? I've been running cnc's for 6 yrs 40 ys a week. You seem to have gotten a grasp on the cnc world. I see you havent posted anything in a while. I hope your still running your machine. I purchaced a used K2 50X50 almost a year ago i am very confident running a cnc 'at work' but it took me alot longer than it did you to get my first project comleted. It didnt help i got mine already assembled...well it was in 3 pieces , no instructions no manuals he just said he used mach2 and lazycam i hade to work out all the bugs on my own. You should pat yourself on the back i think you've come along way from a NOOB. I've routed and re-routed a project out of maple ohhhh maybe 6 or 10 times till I got it right so I hear your frustration with your oak. Let us all know if you have ever got into routing acrylic? If ya ever need and help with acrylic give ma a holla been routing that for 6 yrs lol

[MA$TER_E]

I just read through this post as well. WOW you say your a NOOB?? I've been running cnc's for 6 yrs 40 ys a week. You seem to have gotten a grasp on the cnc world. I see you havent posted anything in a while. I hope your still running your machine. I purchaced a used K2 50X50 almost a year ago i am very confident running a cnc 'at work' but it took me alot longer than it did you to get my first project comleted. It didnt help i got mine already assembled...well it was in 3 pieces , no instructions no manuals he just said he used mach2 and lazycam i hade to work out all the bugs on my own. You should pat yourself on the back i think you've come along way from a NOOB. I've routed and re-routed a project out of maple ohhhh maybe 6 or 10 times till I got it right so I hear your frustration with your oak. Let us all know if you have ever got into routing acrylic? If ya ever need and help with acrylic give ma a holla been routing that for 6 yrs lol

Thank you for the kind words I do CAD work for a living and absolutely loved my CNC class when I was in college so the CNC world has always been in my mind just never practiced.

I haven't forgotten about the thread I've just been very very busy and the machine hasn't even been turned on in two weeks now. I'm actually right in the middle of building an enclosure for the machine. I've pretty much drawn the line and said no more cutting until I get an enclosure around the machine. It makes such a huge mess all over the garage and unfortunately there are other toys, tools and electronics in the garage that could do without the extra dust.

I've been round and round about getting a dust collection system and/or making an enclosure but there simply isn't enough power in the garage to run a dust collection system without digging into the fuse box and adding another circuit. Don't want to go there with a rental... There are other issues that need resolved before that like the roof redone, the ants exterminated, the siding replaced... Extra power in the garage is the last thing I need right now. Thus the simple and cheap enclosure. Hardest decision I have with that is if I should paint it or not

I've been cutting more and more plastics/acrylics but need to invest in some nice cutters. Square end mills cut the sheets nicely until you punch through it. Then it tries to lift the sheet right off the table and makes a real mess... I know what I need to get I just need the money and unfortunately riding season is coming and my bike needs some money too

Anyway, thanks again and subscribe to the thread I'll be dropping in from time to time to keep things updated with whats going on. Once I have some cash I want to start doing some 3D profiling which is going to be flippin awesome! Cant wait!

Eric

[tazzydean]

ya i would love to learn the whole 3d end of cnc work. I hear you on the no time and MONEY to do what you want for your hobby. Have you tried using an o-flute bit? They work almost the best on acrylic, hardboard, mdf almost everything including aluminum. I'm not sure if you have ever heard of Onsrud bits but here's a link for it http://www.onsrud.com/xdoc/Products. Its not listed under the plastic cutter section but my preferance for acrylic is the 63-600 series. I use the 63-620 for 95% of my acrylic cutting. Always cut acrylic climb mill for a smoother finish and i run the feed for 95 to 140 IPM and 18,000 RPM. Dont mistake a bad cut and melting for running to fast, the faster you cut the less melting you will get and the bigger chips you make the better for the life of the bit. Hope this helps you a little

[MA$TER_E]

I'll have to look into those cutters. I was looking at straight flutes or downcut endmills from McMaster-Carr. I'm slowly starting to build my confidence back up with the machine. I've ground the machine which makes things much much better but I still get some small glitches. Once in a while you'll hear the motors stall as it rapids around. Once that happens you're screwed. Abort before it starts to cut again or sometimes it happens while its cutting... Its been much better since its been ground but I've cut it down to only 75IPM rapids. Load the router up to much and I'll trip the breaker in the garage. That's a treat when that happens... Nothing like standing in the dark cussing... But I think with the right DOC, IPM and cutters I'll get back up to 100IPM.

AFTER! I'm done with my enclosure though

[ChrisE]

Looking good!

I have a similar setup in mind. Just the KT1414 though.

[MA$TER_E]

So here's a sneak peak at what I've been up to lately. It's been taking me a long time with work really picking up, the weather getting nice, the lawn needing to be redone and my motorcycle begging to be ridden... Whats a guy to do



Anyway, this is what I have so far for my enclosure. It's still needs a lot of work but its just tedious work, nothing to complicated. I could rush it but I'm taking my time, drilling and countersinking everything and making sure every little piece is square. So far I think its going to work out real nice. Well, a lot better than before anyway... OMG the dust and mess that comes from the machine. I wish I could have just put a dust collection system in and called it good... Someday, when I have my 20,000 sqrft shop and unlimited power I'll do that