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  1. #81
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    Having lots of fun with the machine working again. I'll try not to allow any tool crashes anymore.

    I got my manual written G-code verified tested and working to cut pockets in my electronics doors in order to mount cooling fans. Now I just need to cut the actual doors instead of scrap wood.

    My dad is in town and I showed off the machine to him today. I engraved his name on the back of his cell phone for him. Now he's got a souvenir to take back home

    I also dropped $175 and purchased a license for Mach 3. I like the software a lot and know I'll be using it for a long time to come.

    I'm still anxious to get my feet wet with CAM. I still have never done anything in CAM, other than look at a million websites and tutorial videos. I think I'll try out CamBam as it looks like it has the most bang for the buck (cheap buck too!) at the moment. Anybody happy with other low cost CAMs? The majority of my stuff will be 2.5D stuff, but I do have the need to make 3D molds every now and then for composite fabrication.

    I'm also interested in a good (and cheap) engraving program. I'd like to be able to choose pretty much any Windows font, and especially interested in engraving in several languages. Suggestions?



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    Quote Originally Posted by GTFreeFlyer View Post
    Having lots of fun with the machine working again. I'll try not to allow any tool crashes anymore.

    I got my manual written G-code verified tested and working to cut pockets in my electronics doors in order to mount cooling fans. Now I just need to cut the actual doors instead of scrap wood.

    My dad is in town and I showed off the machine to him today. I engraved his name on the back of his cell phone for him. Now he's got a souvenir to take back home

    I also dropped $175 and purchased a license for Mach 3. I like the software a lot and know I'll be using it for a long time to come.

    I'm still anxious to get my feet wet with CAM. I still have never done anything in CAM, other than look at a million websites and tutorial videos. I think I'll try out CamBam as it looks like it has the most bang for the buck (cheap buck too!) at the moment. Anybody happy with other low cost CAMs? The majority of my stuff will be 2.5D stuff, but I do have the need to make 3D molds every now and then for composite fabrication.

    I'm also interested in a good (and cheap) engraving program. I'd like to be able to choose pretty much any Windows font, and especially interested in engraving in several languages. Suggestions?
    You did a great job on your project. I have a site you can look at.
    CNC Programming Software Tools
    Here's a good free engraving program too
    DeskNC
    Keep up the excellent work.
    Cheers
    Bob A



  3. #83
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    A picture of the painted metal parts. Parts lack paint where faces mate with each other so that I have electrical continuity between all pieces.

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Jonathan's Build Thread-image-jpg  


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    Nice job



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    I'm also interested in a good (and cheap) engraving program. I'd like to be able to choose pretty much any Windows font, and especially interested in engraving in several languages. Suggestions?
    Looks like Bob A. beat me to it with the link to DeskEngrave, which converts TrueType fonts to dxf. I've found that it works better with some fonts than others. Some end up quite jagged if you zoom in on them. Many CAD programs will also bring fonts in as lines. I use Rhino, which turns fonts into beautifully smooth NURBS curves. It will also create surfaces and solid geometry from fonts.

    If you're looking for relatively inexpensive CAM software, I kind of like MeshCam, which has decent basic 3d capabilities: MeshCAM - CNC Software - CAD/CAM Software

    For some simple 2.5d work, I've used Phlatscript, which is a free plug-in for SketchUp.

    -Bob



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    Doh!

    Not sure why this happened. Plywood, 60ipm, I ramped down into the material right to left as shown to .06" depth using 1/8" carbide up cut 2 flute at 30000 rpm. Which one of these settings was wrong? I had been cutting with 1/4" bit successfully at .1" depth at 100ipm and other settings the same as above.

    Broken bit (the tip sheared off) stuck into the wood and the spindle kept moving to the left and tilted the shank as shown, destroying my new Elaire collet in the process.

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Jonathan's Build Thread-image-jpg  


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    On a more positive note, the cutouts for my cooling fans worked out great!

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Jonathan's Build Thread-image-jpg  


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    I looked at my broken bit scenario and evidence again this morning. Here's what I found for my failure analysis...

    The bit ramped down into the material travelling right to left as expected until it hit its target depth of .06. It then continued a short distance towards the left without any z-axis movement, as expected. Then all of a sudden the depth increased more with a terrible surface finish on the sides and bottom of the groove, to as much as .13 depth.

    The bit was an up-cut design, so as it travelled in the wood it tried to pull itself down into the material, which is what appears to have happened, possibly from slippage in the collet. The collet was being used for the very first time, so I can not comment on whether or not the collet was good to begin with. I did tighten it sufficiently before use.

    The cutting bit had approximately a 1/8" or slightly longer cutting edge, so once the bit reached this depth in the material, it was no longer able to travel to the left, which is why it pried the collet open as it bent over.



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    Here is one of three switch panels shown with three of the four switches installed.

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Jonathan's Build Thread-image-jpg  


  10. #90
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    Here's a video of me cutting a sq. pocket for the cooling fan.




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    Making more switch panels.




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    All done with the panels.

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Jonathan's Build Thread-image-jpg  


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    A closer look...

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Jonathan's Build Thread-image-jpg  


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    Today I played around with axis speeds and accelerations. I had previously set up my motion to be nice and slow and smooth, fearing I would lose steps. I had my x and y axes set up at 600 ipm and accel of 20. I didn't need much faster, as I had the time to wait 1 second for the spindle to move from one end to the other.

    I got curious to see how fast I could go without losing steps. I wrote a quick g-code program that just jogged the machine left to right over and over again. At each end I would touch the stock material with a v-bit to mark the position. I repeated later for front to back.

    I ended up getting my speed/accel to 1200/75 on the x axis and 1000/60 on the y axis before I started getting scared. This was DEFINITELY fast enough and I never lost any steps with the motors. I don't know why I need it this fast, but I'm leaving it like this now for the cool factor

    I'm using a 1-start screw on my z, so I only get 75ipm on that axis. I can live with that because I like the 1/20,000 steps/per inch resolution.

    I'm curious to know what other Momus owners are using for their settings. Please share.



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    Can you post a video of those speeds? I would love to see that.

    I haven't completely aligned and tuned everything yet, but the best I've been able to get so far without losing steps is about 300 ipm. And that is without the weight of the router attached.



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    I'll grab some video for you next time I have a chance to sit down and play with it. You can send me your own gcode if you want to



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    Alright here is the video.




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    Here is the front AC power panel I finished today.

    I also got my lasers in the mail today. These will paint two lines that will intersect underneath the spindle for quick alignment.

    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Jonathan's Build Thread-image-jpg  


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    I was trying to work out some math to see how high I can increase my acceleration to and this is what I got:

    Motor torque is 380 oz-in
    Belt pulley is .2 pitch, 10 tooth which yields an effective diameter of .637 inch
    Effective radius is half of that, .318 inch
    Torque = force x radius, which yields that force = 1195 oz, which equals ~75 lbs.
    This means I should be able to pull on the belt with 75 pounds of force before the stepper loses its grip.

    Now we need to find out what sort of acceleration requires 75 lbs of force. This comes from F=ma.
    Rewrite as a=F/m.
    Since m=W/g, rewrite once again as a=Fg/W.
    We will use the worst case scenario and calculate for the y-axis motor, which must move the entire gantry.
    I never weighed it, but I'll assume it weighs 20 lbs with the router.
    Now plug and chug, we get a= 75lbs * 32.2ft/s^2 / 20lbs
    And this yields a=120.75 ft/sec^2
    ...which equals 1449 ips^2 !!!!!

    I increased from 20 ips^2 to 75ips^2, which means I'm still running my CNC machine like a grandma unless I've done my math wrong.

    So who's going to try 1449 ips^2 and let me know how it goes?



  20. #100
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    More videos...

    Cutting grooves


    Spiral drilling




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