MPCNC in Switzerland

@Mick it’s a generic chinese spindle, 500W air cooled, the controller is, as far as I can tell, a 100V DC power supply with a potentiometer to control the output voltage.

Update on the enclosure:

(this time it’s the right size)

[attachment file=76125]
Building the lid.

 

[attachment file=76126]
Mounting it to the MPCNC.

 

[attachment file=76127]
The windows are sealed with an elastic caulk and foam tape is used to seal the lid.

 

[attachment file=76128]
Added some led strips.

 

[attachment file=76129]

[attachment file=76130]

That’s it for today. Things I still need to do:

  • Mount the gas springs as soon as they arrive
  • Clean up the wiring/electronics
  • Add a dust collection hose
  • Test how much difference in noise the enclosure makes, maybe add some sound dampening foam
  • Paint it? I'm thinking about a 2 color paint job, 1 for the lid 1 for the base...
 

3 Likes

An old saying, don’t know if it only English
Measure twice cut once.

But for some reason I thought my table was 900×800, when it was actually 1000×900, so I can redo all of that work :confused:

The gas springs arrived :smiley:

[attachment file=76616]
They work like a charm :smiley:

And I made a floating Z axis tool holder :slight_smile:

[attachment file=76617]

 

2 Likes

Sorry for stupid question, but whe in CH did you managed to get the conduit? I’ve so far tried Hornbach, Buahaus, Jumbo. No luck :frowning:

@Sancho sorry for the late reply, I moved to a new place and didn’t do any cnc work for a couple of months…

I ordered my conduit from amazon, since no hardware stores carry the right sizes. I also tried to buy them from Debrunner & Acifer, but they won’t sell to private individuals…

Just a small update.

I’m still working to improve my MPCNC. I built a table for it to sit on which will double as an enclosure for the dust extraction vacuum and will also hold all the various bits and bobs in a drawer.

[attachment file=118511]

Here are some pics of the vacuum setup, I still have to print out the bristle part and then it will be finished.

[attachment file=118512]
[attachment file=118513]
[attachment file=118514]

The electronics are still a huge mess just dangling on the side, I will get to that when the table enclosure is done.

[attachment file=118515]

1 Like

Edit: Duplicate, man the forum is really glitching out today, so many gateway timed out errors…

2 Likes

Nice build, well done!

And I finished the dust collection :slight_smile:

[attachment file=118574]

The bristles are 3d Printed from TPU, 2 rows are inserted in the groove and then a wedge is pushed between them to hold them in place.

[attachment file=118575]

The lower part is held in place by magnets and is super easy to put on.

[attachment file=118576]

On my first test cuts it worked flawless, not a single chip was left behind.

[attachment file=118577]

I will print one or 2 more, with shorter and longer bristles.

4 Likes

Finished the table this weekend :slight_smile:

In the cabinet there’s enough room for the ash vacuum that I use for dust collection, spare parts, jigs and more. In the drawer I store all the bits, tools and clamps.

[attachment file=119335]
[attachment file=119336]

Next step is mounting the electronics and cutting a control panel that will sit above the drawer.

3 Likes

Looks really nice and well built!

Beautiful!

That dust collection system looks so much alike my first design!

You’ll find eventually that it isn’t very nice to use, because it moves down with the Z axis. So whenever the Z axis is very low, the gantry will have to work against the plastic bristles. They will get easily damaged and sometimes they can even make you lose some steps, ruining a job. At least yours are made of TPU, which is a much better solution than the stiff plastic I was using, but still, this isn’t ideal. In the end I went for a dust shoe directly attached on the gantry, so that it has a constant Z height. Worked much better.

 

Thanks for the compliments :slight_smile:

Dui, I will print some more attachements for my vacuum, for shorter and longer bits, so it shouldn’t be a big problem. I also want to make a smaller one, where the bristles are about 20mm away from the bit, because this morning I had a job where the dust shoe would have hit the clamps, and so I had to run it without the vacuum.

But if there is a good solution to attach the vacuum system to the CenterXY pieces I will happily change it, it would be more optimal. I think Uncle Phil on youtube has his vacuum attached to the center, I will take a look at how he does it.

You can check here how I did it if you want: https://www.v1engineering.com/forum/topic/my-mpcnc-made-in-china/#post-29615

Sure you could have various attachment of various heights, but it will be hard and cumbersome to change them right in the middle of a cut.

1 Like

Thanks Dui, your build looks fantastic :slight_smile:

It looks like you mounted the dust shoe on the tension bolts, I was thinking of doing the same thing :slight_smile:

Btw, did you ever have problems with static electricity building up from the vacuum hose? I think it is what causes my internet to stop working when the MPCNC runs and what causes the disconnections between ramps and laptop on longer jobs…

Yes I did have issues with static electricity if I recall correctly. Can’t remember how I solved it, and I’m not even sure now if it was because of the vacuum cleaner or the spindle itself. Now I’ve grounded and shielded everything because I had no other choice with the plasma torch, so I don’t have these issues anymore. Maybe you can try to ground the vacuum hose (take some kind of copper wire, attach it on the vacuum hose on one side and on your power supply ground on the other side), maybe it will do the trick.

I also suggest you to run all your jobs with the SD card instead of using the computer. There’s nothing you can do on the computer that you cannot do directly from the screen, it’s safer and most of the times its more convenient.

Do you have any blueprints for this construction? :stuck_out_tongue:

For the enclosure?
No I don’t. It’s just a simple box held together with screws, nothing fancy :slight_smile: