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DIY micRo-CNC
- Thread starter thacheese
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scooter123
Member
It looks pretty interesting but IMO it will come down to the software supporting it. Last time I checked, 3D profiling software for the CnC mills at work ran about 25K, so we are currently limited to using them for 2D work.
I also suspect that you'll find the completed machine will probably run upwards of 2K or more when it's actually ready to run. Notice that in the video the spindle motor isn't provided as part of the package and those won't be cheap. In addition, with the high quill speed you'll be limited to using smaller cutters on harder materials such as steel. These motors lose HP as the speed is reduced, so for hard materials such as tool steel you'll probably doing your cutting with a 1/16 inch carbide mill.
BTW, in any maching operation there is a "sweet spot" for the surface speed of the cutting edge. Because that surface speed is a function of the diameter, tiny cutters can be driven at 20K rpm, use something like a 2 inch diameter carbide cutter on tool speed and the RPM's to hit that "sweet spot" will be around 600 RPM. With variable speed drives, the motors are rated for the peak RPM, run at half that speed and the HP output of the motor is reduced by half. What this means is that you can hit a point where the motor cannot deliver enough power to drive a larger cutter at the optimum speed for the cutter. This is why vertical mills such as a Bridgeport use a variable speed Belt Drive, it keeps the motor delivering peak HP at any quill speed.
That said, if they provide 3D profiling software as part of the package, I could see it being quite useful for making custom grips and the like. That quill speed is well suited to cutting softer materials such as wood or plastic and will be OK on alluminum as long as the cutter is kept to 1/4 inch or smaller and good and sharp. For steel, think tiny cutters taking tiny cuts and a long wait for the finished result.
I also suspect that you'll find the completed machine will probably run upwards of 2K or more when it's actually ready to run. Notice that in the video the spindle motor isn't provided as part of the package and those won't be cheap. In addition, with the high quill speed you'll be limited to using smaller cutters on harder materials such as steel. These motors lose HP as the speed is reduced, so for hard materials such as tool steel you'll probably doing your cutting with a 1/16 inch carbide mill.
BTW, in any maching operation there is a "sweet spot" for the surface speed of the cutting edge. Because that surface speed is a function of the diameter, tiny cutters can be driven at 20K rpm, use something like a 2 inch diameter carbide cutter on tool speed and the RPM's to hit that "sweet spot" will be around 600 RPM. With variable speed drives, the motors are rated for the peak RPM, run at half that speed and the HP output of the motor is reduced by half. What this means is that you can hit a point where the motor cannot deliver enough power to drive a larger cutter at the optimum speed for the cutter. This is why vertical mills such as a Bridgeport use a variable speed Belt Drive, it keeps the motor delivering peak HP at any quill speed.
That said, if they provide 3D profiling software as part of the package, I could see it being quite useful for making custom grips and the like. That quill speed is well suited to cutting softer materials such as wood or plastic and will be OK on alluminum as long as the cutter is kept to 1/4 inch or smaller and good and sharp. For steel, think tiny cutters taking tiny cuts and a long wait for the finished result.
i was mainly interested in using it with plastic/aluminum.. this thing also does 3d printing of plastic, which could also be quite useful. i know there are also tons of open source applications for milling/3d printing so the software is not a huge concern. this thing reminds me of the makerbot, just a little more versatile.
Brett248Vista
Member
The completed machine with the interface hardware is over 2 grand. And if you really want to put it to work it needs to be driven with quality software. Sure, you can sit there and write out thousands of lines of G Code.. Or you can run MasterCAM or BobCAM 
I think I would just save up a few more K's and get a Grizzly CNC
I think I would just save up a few more K's and get a Grizzly CNC
the computer side of things in well within my realm so that's a non issue.. the info on spending 3x or more the price of the kit to get it up and running is a little off putting, but it's still not out of the question. thanks for the input. i have a lot more research to do on this.
