So...mini diy CNC machines?

[menace]

As seen here:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2020-Small-Engraving-machine-DIY-CNC-router-mini-cnc-milling-machine/32705466659.html?spm=2114.13010308.0.0.kJVtRr

I've been toying with the idea of a desktop unit for awhile now--I don't have the space for anything much bigger (although I would love a nice 4824 sized one!)  The plan is to carve graphite blocks to make custom silver molds out of.  I recently got into casting and think this would be a fun thing to do.  Other than that I can't think of other uses that aren't just the wooden equivalents of the crap that gets 3D printed.  Anyone have any good project ideas that could conceivably have a use that I could make small monetary gains out of?

Thoughts?

[pbj]

Bootlegging Warhammer figurines... I like it.

[Howard_Casto]

I'm not sure if that particular kit is a good deal.  The motors are a tad on the puny side for cnc.  My guess is this is intended for engraving and pcb milling.  You could probably do figurines as well but I doubt it would be powerful enough for much else.  Depending upon the kit you might be able to get one of the more rigid 3d printer kits and attach that spindle to it.  That's one of my future plans. 

As for projects, mill out some Atari/Vectrex/(Insert Random 70's console here) multi-cart pcbs.  The harmony cart is around 100 bucks, which is insane if you consider you can fit virtually all the 2600 games on a single $2 eeprom chip. 

[Howard_Casto]

Check it out:



This is a spindle mounted to essentially the same 3d printer I just ordered.  It seems to do ok for small stuff. 

[Generic Eric]

*shazzle* 

So I have to run this in my garage?  That was hella loud.

[yotsuya]

*shazzle* 

So I have to run this in my garage?  That was hella loud.

I just realized how much I missed Eric typing *shazzle*.

[Howard_Casto]

+1 

Well unless it's a really sturdy frame, no you can't run it in your garage.  Every bit of research I've found says that to keep things level you need a temperature controlled environment.  So unless your garage is heated/cooled 24/7...... 

Now full fledged cnc's with steel frames would be ok or if you don't need any degree of precision.

[Generic Eric]

+1 

Well unless it's a really sturdy frame, no you can't run it in your garage.  Every bit of research I've found says that to keep things level you need a temperature controlled environment.  So unless your garage is heated/cooled 24/7...... 

Now full fledged cnc's with steel frames would be ok or if you don't need any degree of precision.

fair points

[menace]

interesting idea to use the 3d printer as the base--I wonder if the belts and pulleys would take the resistance of pushing through a material versus just going through the motions (laying down hot plastic).  I'm going to crawl the internet and see if someone has a machine that does both.  I can't believe nobody has perfected that idea yet since it seems like the guys who are interested in one thing (3D printing or CNC) would be naturally interested in the other.

[Howard_Casto]

Well the long story short is no it won't work as well as a dedicated machine because of the belts you mentioned.  However the mini cnc linked isn't going to do much better.  They have about the same in regards to the motors and electronics.  Personally I'm going to strengthen the frame of my a8 and eventually print parts to replace the belt drive with a more sturdy rod and screw drive.  Due to the small size of the printer that shouldn't be terribly hard. 

[PL1]

I wonder if the belts and pulleys would take the resistance of pushing through a material versus just going through the motions (laying down hot plastic).  I'm going to crawl the internet and see if someone has a machine that does both.

Check out the MPCNC.

It uses belts/pulleys and can mill aluminum if you use proper feed-rate and cut-depth settings.

! No longer available


Scott

[Howard_Casto]

That's a nice one, but it's frikkin huge.  The belts are thicker and stronger on that rig I'm guessing.  What do I know though.  There are still a lot of unknowns even with the veterans of the cnc/3d printer/ect community.  the answer lots of times seems to be to just try it and see fi it works.

[PL1]

That's a nice one, but it's frikkin huge.

You can cut the conduit to make the working surface area any size you want -- the default is 24" x 24".

GT2 Belt enough for any combination of 48" of X and Y axis length

The belts are thicker and stronger on that rig I'm guessing.

Based on the part description, it uses the same GT2 belts as standard i3 reprap printer builds.

Like many reprap builds, it uses 16 tooth 5mm pulleys.

Some reprap builds use 20 tooth ones. (higher speed, less torque)


Scott

[ark_ader]

As seen here:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2020-Small-Engraving-machine-DIY-CNC-router-mini-cnc-milling-machine/32705466659.html?spm=2114.13010308.0.0.kJVtRr

I've been toying with the idea of a desktop unit for awhile now--I don't have the space for anything much bigger (although I would love a nice 4824 sized one!)  The plan is to carve graphite blocks to make custom silver molds out of.  I recently got into casting and think this would be a fun thing to do.  Other than that I can't think of other uses that aren't just the wooden equivalents of the crap that gets 3D printed.  Anyone have any good project ideas that could conceivably have a use that I could make small monetary gains out of?

Thoughts?

You can build a tiny house.


http://www.treehugger.com/tiny-houses/tiny-house-meets-digital-fabrication-foundhouse.html

[Mike A]

That MPCNC will have tons of flex as you lengthen the x or y. None of the rails are supported. That is an extremely light duty machine at best.

[menace]

I had a good year so I pulled the trigger on this one:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Diy-CNC-engraving-machine-working-area-20-20cm-PCB-Milling-Machine-CNC-Wood-Carving-Mini-Engraving/32730413605.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.sEZbBA

It didn't come with any instructions but naturally some guy on youtube put one together so I was able to wing it.  Having closeups helped as well in hooking up the electronics.  I plan to do a video with closeups for the assembled machine so someone else has a better reference but for now its good.

Its of course a knock off arduino uno so I had to figure out the drivers first.  If you get the same one you need the USB CH340 drivers (from here: http://www.microcontrols.org/arduino-uno-clone-ch340-ch341-chipset-usb-drivers/) The add on is the cnc shield (again probably a knock off) which basically makes the arduino talk to the stepper motor drivers-

So now its built:









Its a solid machine and the axis run fairly smoothly--they are basically brass bushings one what looks like stainless steel rails.  Good for a hobby machine but I can see how debris might wear those loose over time.

I was able to communicate with the cnc through the pc and toggle each of the axis--so now that this hurdle is jumped I want to add limit switches and an e-stop so it doesn't wreck itself. to be continued...

[Howard_Casto]

Looks pretty solid.  The fact that it uses extruded rails means that you can make it larger, at the expense of speed of course.  Now that I've gotten my 3d printer I think that it's more than solid enough for light cnc work.  I'm going to look into an inexpensive spindle and some ways to protect the rails from debris.