MPCNC Router in the Ozarks

That cut in the wood looks pretty dam good!

 

I have all the endmills in open 50 packs, and I have 6 or so in a bin/drawer. I get bit by the 45’s all the time, but one day I pulled it out too far and it started to fall. My dum dum head tried to catch it. I got at least 5 of the 45’s in my palm and a few of the others grabbed me in various places. Some might say the machines are Vicious 1’s…

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Normally I am very cheap with my stuff. I like to recycle things all the time. I built a Matthias Wandel wood bandsaw and used some of the hardware and wood that I got from furniture thrown away. My mom passed away last year and we settled the estate so I’m using some of my inheritance to get better tools. I had a bunch of steppers that I had saved through the years but there are NEMA 14s and 23s that I took from scanners and photocopiers and mot the 17s this project uses.

Have you seen the Post Apocalyptic inventor on YouTube. He is amazing.

I got the TS100 form sainsmart and really like it.

And @jeffeb3, there are bunch of these routers for cheap on eBay. Not too bad for run out. Have no idea how long the bearings are going to last and if will stand up to hours of use.

I was just teasing. Sorry.

How did the badsaw turn out? Which one did you make? I would like to make one of those one day.

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I did the 16 inch one. It works great. I got a great deal on a 2 horse OS&D motor from Grizzly whose big warehouse and display shop is just two hours from me.

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I have finished my dust separator. Behold, the Bride of Frankenvac. [attachment file=115701]

Frankenvac lives at my shop on my farm.

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I used a 30 gallon paper container for the receptacle and a 12" concrete forming tube for the cyclone chamber. 3" PVC for the plinth which holds the baffle. It’s a modified Thien baffle, a little bit easier to manage construction.

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Used the MPCNC to cut out the circles needed for the flanges and lid.

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I used an inner tube as a gasket around the edge of the flange. I routed out the edge so it fits under the clamp ring. It really seals tight. I collapsed the barrel when testing the vacuum. For the permanent one I am wrapping in fiberglass and resin to strengthen it a bit.

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3D printed inlets and outlets. Used Onshape, KiriMoto to slice, Estlcam to create code, CNCjs to run it.

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Next step is to do the dust shoe. I understand we need to avoid weighing down the z axis. Looking at all kinds of models and variations on where to attach. Might be able to just use an enclosure and have a wide orifice on the spoil board that can collect around the work piece and lie flat on the table. Not quite sure what I will do.

 

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Having a laser, a CNC now and 3D printers. It’s a triple threat. Here is my dust moccasin.

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I used the laser to cut the acrylic cover, my Prusa to make the sides, and the laser to cut the fringe. Found some tan EVA foam and that makes me think of moccasin tassels.

 

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Nice thread, some very nice work there.

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Wired my touch plate tonight. I used a brass framing square stair gauge stops. Was in the hardware store and wandered around looking for something sturdy and accurate. Two to a pack. Cheap.

https://www.menards.com/main/tools/hand-tools/measuring-layout-tools/angle-finders-squares/johnson-level-reg-stair-gauge-set/405/p-1444436549738.htm

Printed a holder for one of them. The screw makes it adjustable. I have it set for 20mm.

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That is fancy as all get out!

Make sure to keep something really small available as well, often I need to get in and modify an existing thing and need a really small touch plate to get in there, or touch off a specific depth of the project. Think forgot a hole or something.

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I’ve found that with a dust shoe, it takes very little vacuum to clear the dust. I have a speed control on the vacuum as well. The vacuum had to much suction. None of the dust was staying in the cyclone, but sucked straight to the vacuum. There is probably an engineering formula that would result in a, dust velocity speed / cyclone vortex / maximum efficiency.

I just got an optical tachometer to track actual RPM’s.

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The big test on my separator is going to be going into my garage where I had the router table set up to run rebates on all the spoil boards where the t-channel fits. That MDF dust is wicked, but a good test. There’s a pretty big pile. So far it is separating great. No fine dust makes it into the vac.

Never thought a speed control on a vac, but it would make sense for this app.

I keep kicking myself that I threw out a good Oreck that had some plastic broken off of it where the wheel mounts were. Nothing to repair except replacing the whole bottom housing. I had thought about using it to make a mini-cyclone, but just didn’t want to spend the time figuring out how to repurpose the impeller and motor.

This is my vacuum Setup – I bought 2 Electrolux canister vacuums for $30.Rebuilt with new bearings and brushes ($20each). Speed control runs at close to minimum speed. Very little dust even makes it to the vacuum. Dust Cyclone https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2829268 works excellent. This one is a 1954 Model E, back when things were built to last. I also has a cloth vacuum bag, blow it out, wash it occasionally. This one exhausts out the back, so I have it standing on a piece of 4" pvc pipe with a hole cut in the side of it. I don’t think a new shop vac will ever hold up to 24/7 run time.

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I just love reusing old stuff like this. Very cool. Yes, I am wondering about duty cycle for the shop vac. I just did the longest continuous job of about 1 and a half hours. Nothing burnt up. Even the Craftsman trim router is not heating up.

 

Next job is a vbit carve like that.

I have a Harbor Freight speed control on the router and the vacuum. An IOT Relay with both the router and vacuum plugged into it. I used the fan output on the Rambo to control the IOT relay. So M106 turns them on and M107 turns everything off when it’s done.

Nearly everything made today is “designed obsolescence”. It’s designed to run “X” number of hours and die. Many thing that were built before the “designed obsolescence” age, they just quit making parts for. Even the car you drive has been “designed obsolescence” engineered. The manufacturer already knows what parts your going to buy, when a new car drives off the lot. For the first 10 years many parts are dealer only items.

I like the old stuff because it can actually be repaired/rebuilt. The old vacuums have actual bearings not just brass bushings. I’m also a cheapskate and self employed. I had a lot of jobs when I was younger. They always wanted me there every day, stay all day, when it was really just a good day to go fishing or something.

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I think that is the next step in this build. I was thinking of an enclosure but the dust shoe really takes care of that.

What are you using? I do have an ESP32 that I was thinking of being the master controller. I do not want to get involved in any external service at this time. Really want to roll my own relays.

Today I had my CR10s, my Prusa Mk2, my Glowforge laser, and my MPCNC all running at the same time. No flipped breakers either.

I have rPi’s on all these machines with cameras and I have been wanting to do some lighting control and some on/off stuff.

I just have to clear off some room on a work surface to be able to get everything together. All the tools and bits and bobs are getting out of hand. I need to make some caddies that are for each tool so I don’t have them all spread out all over.

IOT Relay

I evicted the MPCNC to the garage. It is an attached garage on my shop and built an enclosure. I can hear just enough to know when something not right. Building the relays isn’t hard. I have built 12v/120v set ups with a standard 5 pin relay. One in particular is in my motorhome. When turn I on the inverter it turns off the battery charger. Somehow powering the battery charger with the inverter seemed like a loosing battle.

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Finally connected the IOT relay. Have to redo my control box bottom to put a cutout where the fan plug/control wire goes into. But it works.

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I am going to have to add a link to those somewhere. Slick solution.

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Sure beats messing with mains and wiring and relays. It works perfectly. The only thing I have to do is remember to turn the router back on by the router switch if I turn it off to run the vac separately.