Need help... and lots of it...

[boehm95]

Hi guys

After doing a lot of hunting on google, I found the CNC zone forum.

I'm a complete newbie, in fact assume I know nothing at all.

Lets start with what I'm hoping to achieve with this endeavour... I want to start making CNC milled aluminium moulds.

Throughput I am not too concerned with, I would like to be able to develop a full sinker mould within 2 hrs though (not including time taken to design in CAD or similar software, purely machining time).
Budget - sub $5000AUD
Moulds aren't excessively complex, balls, snapper sinkers, spoon sinkers, pyramid sinkers, etc.

My knowledge is quite poor with CNC, my understanding is... you have an idea --> create the idea in CAD --> export to a suite of CAM software --> perhaps modify the G-codes to be more suitable --> export to MACH3 or something similar --> start machining.

What I am really wanting is direction. Not asking for you to teach me everything you know, rather direction to where I can find the information I need. Also, direction on what tooling I need to purchase before progressing.

I have found a reasonably priced Heiz CNC High-Z S400T second hand that I am wanting to purchase. Would this machine be suitable for the application I'm looking at?

Most likely to be milling 2011 or something similar.

My questions pertain more to the software side of things, what's best? What to use... How to use... How to learn / where to find out how to use it... What are your recommendations for a complete novice to get well on his way to producing sinker moulds.

I understand this may be a time consuming process and by what I have read so far, definitely is not an overnight thing to learn.

I also need to learn about speeds to run... what tools to use.. etc. etc.

Essentially I need to learn way to go on HOW TO CNC.

I hope I get some responses.

Cheers
Ben

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[Jim Dawson]

The Heiz CNC High-Z S400T looks like a substantial machine. And as long as you stay within the machine operating envelope It should do what you want. As far as starting out take light cuts and increase the feeds and speeds and depth of cut as you learn. There is a lot to learn, but it's more about finding where the machine will perform the best, this is not a 10,000 lb machine with a 10 Hp spindle, commercial feed and speed charts probably are not going to work.

For Cad/Cam software, I would take a look at Fusion360. It it a full professional 3D Cad/Cam package, and best of all it's free to hobbyists, and compatible with Mach3

[boehm95]

G'day Jim

Thank you for your response. It may have also been pertinent to include the second hand machine also comes with the Kress 1050FME milling spindle (1050W, RPM 10,000-29,000) would this be a suitable spindle for milling aluminium?

Happy to play around and work out / learn about the machine itself. I am also not too phased about how long it does take me to produce a mould.

I'll have a look at the fusion 360 software also, free is always a good thing!

Thank you for your response.

I'm interested in how to configure the software according to the milling bit you are using, but I'm sure once I download the software and do some designs and move to the CAM function I'll be able to work it out from there. Out of interests sake, as a starting / reference point, for me to mill a ball sinker mould (two pieces of aluminium bar with semi-sphere's milled out and mirrored), what kind of milling bit would I be looking at? Also speeds?

Cheers
Ben

[Jim Dawson]

That Kress spindle is a nice piece of equipment. I would say yes, it will work fine in aluminum but you are limited to the size of endmill that you can use. Given the size of molds you are building, it should do a fine job.

If you use Fusion360, the CAM function already has an extensive tool library built in, and you can add to it as needed. It also suggests feeds and speeds for the bit size and material.

For a spherical sinker mold, I would use a ball end, 2 flute endmill, maybe in the 6mm dia range. Infact, for most of the molds you described a ball end or bull nose would my tool bit of choice. I use kerosene as a coolant for machining aluminum.

[boehm95]

Thanks Jim.

In the instance of smaller more delicate moulds, such as size 0, 00, 000 the cavity size is smaller than 6mm. In this instance are there similar styles but smaller?

Then moving onto Snapper/ bank sinker styles where there are definitive edges on the end of curved faces. What would be your bit of choice? I am yet to really look into bits and what their designed purpose is, so I will do some reading on that before annoying you with more tooling questions.

The machine I have found, also comes with a touch sensor, could you share some knowledge on what that is / how it works? I'm assuming it may be a piece of kit that helps dial the machine in on the z axis to 0?

Good to know about the software and suggested speeds etc. To better know my machine I would presume the best thing to do would be to take the recommended parameters then lower them a little?

How is it you apply the kerosene? Just by squirting it on the area?

Cheers
Ben

[Jim Dawson]

You can find ball end mills as small as 0.2mm dia. I would need a microscope to see the tip on those

Take a look here to see what is available in small bits. https://bitsbits.com/ You may have a similar vendor in Australia.

To generate the definite edge, you might just run a profile with a normal flat endmill. Might require some experimentation to get the exact shape you want.

Yes, just cut back the feed and speed a bit until you get used to the machine. When using small bits, the suggested feeds and speeds are probably within the operating range of the machine.

I use a no-fog spray mist system, the idea is to blow out the chips as well as provide a coolant/lubricant to the tool bit. WD-40 in a spray can works well also for small parts. You could use kerosene in a squirt bottle also.

[jalessi]

Ben,

Check your private messages.

Welcome to the Zone,

Jeff...