5' x 10' pro just arrived... lots of questions

[Bearhawk LSA]

Hello All,

My Avid 5' x 10' pro machine just arrived and since it arrived a month early I did not get a chance to research everything yet. I am pretty sure I will use an Acorn CNC control and already have my Clearpath Steppers and S30 ATC spindle. Setting up the ATC may come later since it looks like custom scripts need to be written. Anyhow I have a few questions below.

Dust Collection: I have no idea what people are using. This will not be used 24/7 and likely lightly used at first. Mostly cutting MDF, Plywood and thin Sheet Aluminum. I am in an airplane hangar so space is a bit limited as is power. I have a 30 amp dedicated 220 line and some 110, but unsure what amperage since i believe its shared as a daisy chained power source between a few hangars. So far no issues with a CNC laser and 2 3d printers all running at the same time so I think I might be ok. Anyhow, can people give me some ideas on some dust collection units that are commonly used? Harbor freight possibly? Hoping to have CNC on 220V and accessories on 110V.

Work Hold Down: Vacuum table would be great, but unsure if I have enough power for that and dust collection. Any advice on both passive work holding vs Vacuum?

Software: Acorn Vs Mach 3 or 4?

Pretty new to this so open to any advice from those that have been here. I plan to build the machine up in April or May. About to set up a Tormach PC1100 first. Also I am in the Los Angeles area (Hangar at Whiteman Airport in Pacoima) and curious if anyone has an avid machine set up nearby that I can talk to for one on one advice. I know of one at the Santa Paula Airport but don't know the guy but may fly over there to try and say hello.

Take care,

Marc

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[CNCMAN172]

Hello All,

My Avid 5' x 10' pro machine just arrived and since it arrived a month early I did not get a chance to research everything yet. I am pretty sure I will use an Acorn CNC control and already have my Clearpath Steppers and S30 ATC spindle. Setting up the ATC may come later since it looks like custom scripts need to be written. Anyhow I have a few questions below.

Dust Collection: I have no idea what people are using. This will not be used 24/7 and likely lightly used at first. Mostly cutting MDF, Plywood and thin Sheet Aluminum. I am in an airplane hangar so space is a bit limited as is power. I have a 30 amp dedicated 220 line and some 110, but unsure what amperage since i believe its shared as a daisy chained power source between a few hangars. So far no issues with a CNC laser and 2 3d printers all running at the same time so I think I might be ok. Anyhow, can people give me some ideas on some dust collection units that are commonly used? Harbor freight possibly? Hoping to have CNC on 220V and accessories on 110V.

Work Hold Down: Vacuum table would be great, but unsure if I have enough power for that and dust collection. Any advice on both passive work holding vs Vacuum?

Software: Acorn Vs Mach 3 or 4?

Pretty new to this so open to any advice from those that have been here. I plan to build the machine up in April or May. About to set up a Tormach PC1100 first. Also I am in the Los Angeles area (Hangar at Whiteman Airport in Pacoima) and curious if anyone has an avid machine set up nearby that I can talk to for one on one advice. I know of one at the Santa Paula Airport but don't know the guy but may fly over there to try and say hello.

Take care,

Marc

As far as dust collection I would use a woodworking dust collector with a cyclone attach similar to the larger dust deputy. If you check for a dust shoe there are some units that work great for under $100

Software I started with Mach3 which was pretty good 10 years ago but it is really a dead product. I also purchased Mach4 which is nicer but initially only supported a small amount of controls and options. I finally purchased the Acorn setup and it just works. Nothing unexpected and great support, very dependable. Get their wireless MPG it works fantastic.

You have a nice spindle and tool change is easy with Acorn. Look at the support group a great group of users who are really helpful

[Bearhawk LSA]

As far as dust collection I would use a woodworking dust collector with a cyclone attach similar to the larger dust deputy. If you check for a dust shoe there are some units that work great for under $100

Software I started with Mach3 which was pretty good 10 years ago but it is really a dead product. I also purchased Mach4 which is nicer but initially only supported a small amount of controls and options. I finally purchased the Acorn setup and it just works. Nothing unexpected and great support, very dependable. Get their wireless MPG it works fantastic.

You have a nice spindle and tool change is easy with Acorn. Look at the support group a great group of users who are really helpful

Thanks for the advice CNCMAN172. I have a laser cutter and 3Dprinters so can make my own shoe when the time comes. Especially since to use an ATC I will need to dock it and pick it back up after tool change. I will use Magnets to hold it on.

Glad to hear you like the Acorn setup. Since they support Clearpath Natively I will likely go with them. I only need the ATC when I am cutting aluminum so I can switch between a down cutting bit to a #30 drill where the rivets go. But I am sure to find a need for it on wood as well like for fly cutting a surface before milling.

I also have an older Tormach Series 3 PCNC 1100 I need to set up and never used it as well yet. Part of me thinks I should swap it over to Acorn as well, but will cross that bridge when I get there.

Thanks again,

marc

[joeavaerage]

Hi,

Software: Acorn Vs Mach 3 or 4?

If you are going to use a Centroid Acorn controller you are perforce required to use Acorn software.

All development on Mach3 ceased seven years ago, so whatever bugs it has its stuck with. It still works as well as it ever did but I find it hard to recommend
given the lack of development.

Mach4 has had steady development for some years now. I have used it for seven years and am of the opinion its light years ahead of Mach3.
Mach4 is ready to use for three and four axis mills and CNCrouter tables but has great facility to be customised. That may in the future prove useful to you.
Acorn is more fixed in that regard, that is to say it is less suited to customisation. That may not prove a disadvantage to you if you intend on straight three axis
machining.

Mach4 requires an external motion controller, like an Ethernet SmoothStepper ($190 by Warp9TD). It is one of about six Mach4 ready motion controllers
by different manufacturers....so you have some choice in the matter. Some controllers, the ESS for example, require a breakout board in addition, ranging from
cheap single port C10's ($23.00) to a three port fully developed MB3 ($180).

Craig

[subnoize]

Bearhawk LSA,

I have a AvidCNC PRO60120 extended gantry with dual process S30C/Hypertherm 45xp and I also happen to be a Teknic OEM.

Out of interest, are you using the ClearPath-SC with Meridian or just the stepper replacements ClearPath-SDSKs?

The reason I ask is the PRO60120 rings like a bell as you have probably already figured out. It's a huge and beautiful machine but all that aluminum extrusion likes to have a very, very long period for vibration. Makes nice wavy surface patterns on everything but wood! Well, ok, the wood does too but some sandpaper is all it takes. Aluminum? Well, go very sloooooowly. Anyways, you know that.

I was thinking of using the ClearPath-SC + Meridian with g-stop to see if I could mitigate the vibration but had not gotten around to it. If you had, that would be fun to talk about!

Right now, I use the 60120 to peck rivet holes in aircraft skins and sheet. I am about to do a woodie, probably the Volksplane VP-1 as a fun project. Been on my bucket list for the past 40 years. I get a lot of requests from builders who want help cutting that stuff so I actually have the entire thing in CAD now. 12 years of builder assistance has yielded a lot of CAD/CAM for a bunch of plans built aircraft but never a Bearhawk or anything Barrows has offered over the years.

Anyways, it would be really cool hearing about using the Teknics SC line if you use them.

-- snz

[Bearhawk LSA]

Bearhawk LSA,

I have a AvidCNC PRO60120 extended gantry with dual process S30C/Hypertherm 45xp and I also happen to be a Teknic OEM.

Out of interest, are you using the ClearPath-SC with Meridian or just the stepper replacements ClearPath-SDSKs?

The reason I ask is the PRO60120 rings like a bell as you have probably already figured out. It's a huge and beautiful machine but all that aluminum extrusion likes to have a very, very long period for vibration. Makes nice wavy surface patterns on everything but wood! Well, ok, the wood does too but some sandpaper is all it takes. Aluminum? Well, go very sloooooowly. Anyways, you know that.

I was thinking of using the ClearPath-SC + Meridian with g-stop to see if I could mitigate the vibration but had not gotten around to it. If you had, that would be fun to talk about!

Right now, I use the 60120 to peck rivet holes in aircraft skins and sheet. I am about to do a woodie, probably the Volksplane VP-1 as a fun project. Been on my bucket list for the past 40 years. I get a lot of requests from builders who want help cutting that stuff so I actually have the entire thing in CAD now. 12 years of builder assistance has yielded a lot of CAD/CAM for a bunch of plans built aircraft but never a Bearhawk or anything Barrows has offered over the years.

Anyways, it would be really cool hearing about using the Teknics SC line if you use them.

-- snz

Hello SNZ,

Thank you for the reply. At the moment the machine is still sitting on a pallet. I need to run some electrical to the other side of the hangar for this machine as well as a Tormach PCNC1100 Series 3. I am still in the planning phase as I have yet to choose a dust collector and power is a bit limited. However, I may secretly rerun my 220 line with larger wire to get a 50 amp service.

As for the Clearpath items, I believe all I have are the stepper killer series. I need to doublecheck. Also I have not bought my controller yet but leaning to Centroid Acorn. Actually I would love the opportunity to speak with you actually as I am sure to have many questions from someone currently using the machine for aircraft skins. I am not building a Bearhawk LSA but do still have plans. I bought the machine for a design of my own in the future as well as also building parts for an Ultralight I sell plans for. Plans here: Cloudbase Aviation Aircraft Designs – A division of Cloudbase Engineering LLC

Where are you located?

You can also reach me at cloudbaseengineering@gmail.com

Take care,

Marc