Milling wood dowels using CNC - did i bite more than i can chew?


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Thread: Milling wood dowels using CNC - did i bite more than i can chew?

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    Default Milling wood dowels using CNC - did i bite more than i can chew?

    I am a complete new to this, so please forgive my ignorance.

    I am just about to get a new CNC (3018), and decided to learn a bit before it arrives.
    something I use often is wooden dowel and although they can be produced in many different ways, i thought CNC would be great for this. accurate, reproducible.
    I have designed in openscad the piece :
    difference() {
    linear_extrude(height=18)
    square([250,180]);
    for(i=[0:35:140])
    translate([25,i+20,9])
    rotate(a=[0,90,0])
    linear_extrude(height=200)
    difference() {
    square([18.01,18.01], center=true);
    circle(d=18);
    }
    }

    but then i realized that actually it does not produce gcode
    i tried to look into 2d and 2.5d but they do not seem to support the arc milling. its either pockets or cuts or at most, with f-engrave, v cuts

    any help on how to mill something like that would be greatly appreciated!

    Thanks,
    Moshe

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    Default Re: Milling wood dowels using CNC - did i bite more than i can chew?

    That would be an extremely inefficient way to make dowels, even if it worked. If that's what you have in mind to do, get a dowel mill: Dowel Milling Machine

    [FONT=Verdana]Andrew Werby[/FONT]
    [URL="http://www.computersculpture.com/"]Website[/URL]


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    Quote Originally Posted by awerby View Post
    That would be an extremely inefficient way to make dowels, even if it worked. If that's what you have in mind to do, get a dowel mill: Dowel Milling Machine
    Well, you are probably right but :
    1. I don't have this machine and i doubt i can get it here for a price that will justify my modest dowel making requirements.
    2. I don't have room for another machine
    3. In addition to dowels i would also like to make floating tenons, which will have the same problem. I know that theoretically i can round milled pieces of wood on the router table. With a cnc i can also probably get the roughed surface which is better for glueup.

    Anyways, as i said, i am an absolute beginner so trying to find out what can and can't be done on a cnc like that and what software to use.

    I found that estlcam can do this kind of milling but was wondering if any free software can do it as well.
    I also realized by now i should have made the cad the cylinders only and not the board.

    Thanks!
    Moshe



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    Default Re: Milling wood dowels using CNC - did i bite more than i can chew?

    CNC is great for a lot of things, but making simple shapes is not its forte. Dowels are a very poor use case for a general purpose CNC router. They're cheap, available in many sizes, and most of all, easy to make with anything from a die and a hammer, to the nice machines awerby linked. the same applies to floating tenons. If it can easily be made with a router table and a miter saw, then that's by far the most efficient way to do it. You'll love the CNC machine, and you'll be able to make parts on it that you couldn't accurately make any other way, but the simple things are probably 10-50 times faster to make with regular tools. Yes, you can certainly make almost anything with one, but until you start working with them, it's hard to grasp just how slow they are, in comparison to dedicated, "dumb" tools.

    Luke

    "All I'm trying to find out is the fellow's name on first base" -- Lou Costello


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    Gold Member daniellyall's Avatar
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    Default Re: Milling wood dowels using CNC - did i bite more than i can chew?

    You're getting the machine make something to make dowels with the machine, there are a lot of examples of diy dowel machines that only need a jig and a router bit that's very simple google this DIY DOWEL MILLING MACHINE

    <img src="https://ivxo1q-dm2305.files.1drv.com/y4mENMmTr_Cabc7pR0FUdB6gtbADq2JbuG4_rGy0eBQvLJx19pTi6TqMUIJN0xgOyDIc0gWoxYhS38HpbSTFGdfaK-o42IOU6jczrhDpfpCOTNGL1X6hvZCbgj0y35gqmq1YGTrWwShYGV-C7lXA2esy0Pi_WfnBSyroDLSGXwce4uSr1U7op7srdi78rispHCa_K4aFlTlJPVkkNWMfgh_Tg?width=60&height=60&cropmode=none" width="60" height="60" />

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    Default Re: Milling wood dowels using CNC - did i bite more than i can chew?

    I am doing this more as a research to see the limitations of the surfacing process (although those dowels will be very useful. I am a pretty experienced woodworker and has been making dowels using all sorts of methods for a long time. My use case is to make short pieces into something useful, which is difficult and dangerous using hand held router).
    My idea was to also add engraving or text on the dowel, but i decided to start with just the dowels.
    Anyway, for preserving knowledge sake, the only two tool path generators that I managed to get to create correct paths where heekscnc (very slow) and pycam (really fast!) and estlcam (very good but runs only on windows).
    I tried just about any free program (or web site) available. I am sure that it is my fault in most cases so I won't list the ones that failed.

    Thank you all for your ideas!
    Moshe



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    Default Re: Milling wood dowels using CNC - did i bite more than i can chew?

    It also depends on how are you going to hold them doing the cam for it will just need a bit of BS, it can be done if you had a 4th axis it would be quite easy.

    <img src="https://ivxo1q-dm2305.files.1drv.com/y4mENMmTr_Cabc7pR0FUdB6gtbADq2JbuG4_rGy0eBQvLJx19pTi6TqMUIJN0xgOyDIc0gWoxYhS38HpbSTFGdfaK-o42IOU6jczrhDpfpCOTNGL1X6hvZCbgj0y35gqmq1YGTrWwShYGV-C7lXA2esy0Pi_WfnBSyroDLSGXwce4uSr1U7op7srdi78rispHCa_K4aFlTlJPVkkNWMfgh_Tg?width=60&height=60&cropmode=none" width="60" height="60" />

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    Quote Originally Posted by daniellyall View Post
    It also depends on how are you going to hold them doing the cam for it will just need a bit of BS, it can be done if you had a 4th axis it would be quite easy.
    I don't think I'll need 4th axis. I'll flip the piece over to mill the other side



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    Default Re: Milling wood dowels using CNC - did i bite more than i can chew?

    Thats a ways to do it, where in NZ are you

    <img src="https://ivxo1q-dm2305.files.1drv.com/y4mENMmTr_Cabc7pR0FUdB6gtbADq2JbuG4_rGy0eBQvLJx19pTi6TqMUIJN0xgOyDIc0gWoxYhS38HpbSTFGdfaK-o42IOU6jczrhDpfpCOTNGL1X6hvZCbgj0y35gqmq1YGTrWwShYGV-C7lXA2esy0Pi_WfnBSyroDLSGXwce4uSr1U7op7srdi78rispHCa_K4aFlTlJPVkkNWMfgh_Tg?width=60&height=60&cropmode=none" width="60" height="60" />

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    Default Re: Milling wood dowels using CNC - did i bite more than i can chew?

    The simplest way to make dowels at home is to start with square stock in the desired dowel size. Run it through the router table 4 times using a roundover bit and rotated 90 degrees between passes. It probably works best if you leave the first and last inch unrouted to keep the piece from rotating.

    No CNC needed, just common woodworking tools.

    Steve



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    Default Re: Milling wood dowels using CNC - did i bite more than i can chew?

    If you do that, how do you keep the dowel from deflecting and vibrating into the cut on the final passes, if it's a relatively skinny one? Or is this method just for fairly fat dowels?

    [FONT=Verdana]Andrew Werby[/FONT]
    [URL="http://www.computersculpture.com/"]Website[/URL]


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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by daniellyall View Post
    Thats a ways to do it, where in NZ are you
    Sorry for the delayed reply, didn't get the emails from the forum. I am in chch



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    Quote Originally Posted by steve323 View Post
    The simplest way to make dowels at home is to start with square stock in the desired dowel size. Run it through the router table 4 times using a roundover bit and rotated 90 degrees between passes. It probably works best if you leave the first and last inch unrouted to keep the piece from rotating.

    No CNC needed, just common woodworking tools.

    Steve
    I have (and am) using this method extensively for fat long dowels. However, i have small pieces of exotic wood i would like to use as "pins" (purple heart, etc). This method is problematic for thin, short dowels.



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    Default Re: Milling wood dowels using CNC - did i bite more than i can chew?

    Lee Valley and Woodcraft I believe sell a dowel tool, where you chuck a square stock onto a drill and the die acts like a big pencil sharpener...



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Milling wood dowels using CNC - did i bite more than i can chew?

Milling wood dowels using CNC - did i bite more than i can chew?