I am moving right along with my build. I picked up some MDF for use as my spoil board and finally got some additional bits in. I will be working on the spoil board soon.
In the mean time, I have been attempting to print some of PCFlyer’s T-slots…with moderate success.
First attempt:
I managed to print 1 completely and it looks great. When I tried printing 4 more, they came up short. However, they do appear to be usable.
There is definitely something wrong with how your DW660 is mounted. Take a look at the picture of the tool mounted on thingiverse: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:944952. The top mount should be covering the De of DeWalt. Here’s another picture, this time of mine:
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i113/karltinsly/Mobile%20Uploads/2016-01/4EFDC9B7-66AD-4DFE-BA46-800318B0DEAA.jpg
Yours is sitting much higher. I know you’ve done a bunch of swapping already, but I would say you should try making sure that both mounts are “underslung”, with the clamp part lower than the screw holes.
If you decide to use PCFlyer’s dust shoe with my adapter, you’ll need to remove that toolless ring from the chuck. You can’t really use it very well with the router mounted in the MPCNC anyway.
Have you checked to make sure a 1/4-20 carriage bolt will fit in your t-slots. I think I had to scale mine a little bit.
That’s the strange thing. Even after I corrected the orientation of the lower mount, I have both mounted in the same orientation as the Thingiverse images.
No, I have not done a fitting yet. I just printed them and still need to get a couple of those 1/4-20 bolts. Here’s hoping they are sized okay.
Just checked and with the orientation that I have the upper mount DOES indeed cover the DE in DeWalt as in the pictures.
Oh, I see you’re right. I guess I was just looking at one of the pics from a different orientation.
In the picture above that shows the mount properly hitting the De in DeWalt, the DW660 is turned wrong - the label should be facing straight out (see my pic again). I’m sure you’ve tried every possible combination, I just wanted to mention what I’m seeing in the pics, in case it helps.
Yes, I noticed that. When I reoriented the lower mount I tried shifting the DeWalt just a bit. When I remount it again after removing the chuck, I will make sure it is “sitting” correctly.
I have a couple questions for anyone out there who has their MPCNC up and running.
First, I currently have my MPCNC set so that the X-axis is 24" long and the Y-Axis is 36" long. Is this something I want or should I have it reversed? Some of the design files I have pulled up are set with long side being on the X-axis.
Also, has anyone out there using Estlcam set their work space area? When I do I any DXF file is super small and needs re-sizing. And it is tough to know how to upscale the files to be the correct size. And yes, I am using millimeters.
Axis orientation doesn’t really matter, typically the x would be the long one. You can always just rotate your design 90 degrees.
In estlcam you can set the grid size to have a feel for how large the part is. What are you exporting your DXF’s as? Export and import as the same type.
I have some models that came to me as DWG format. I used Autodesk 360 to convert them to DXF for use in Estlcam since it will not load DWG files.
I may just switch the X & Y axis so X is longer. Makes much more sense.
Well, I am nearing completion of my spoil board…sort of. I placed an order for some T-Track since my printer had such a difficult time printing them. I am not 100% certain as to how I am going to do the spoil board now, i.e. the same way karltinsly did his or simply cut the MDF vertically in quarters.
Also, I found this company online (
) and they offer a variety of Clamp-On couplers; all of which you can specify the various diameters of the bores. I believe I can get the 5mm to 5/16" one required over the 5mm x 8mm one I linked in previously.What I need to determine is which do I choose, A, B, C, or D???
I also solved the issue I was having with some of the design files I have. There were 2 I corrected. The first was that I needed to select Inches as the “input units” of the model. The other was that I needed a better DWG to DXF converter. Now all files I have for my main project fit my build area quite nicely.
Okay, so I have been bouncing back and forth on this and need some outside opinions. I still need to finalize my spoilboard and have 2 different ways to go.
(1) Create a board using a simple T-Track system of hold downs. This will be fast and easy to replenish as the spoil board gets worn down. However, I have been told it is not great for cutting plastic sheets, which I plan on cutting.
(2) Create a Vac hold down table. This is a little more in-depth in terms of time needed complete as well as when it comes time to swap it out. BUT, it will hold the plastic sheets down quite nicely.
So, anyone with their CNC up and fully running have any ideas? Start with T-Track and upgrade to Vac table? Go for the Vac Table right away?
Both.
You will want to raise up the thin sheets anyway, so do the T track or holes and clamps and a vac box. When you use the vac box you can clamp it in place. then when you don’t need the vacuum you won’t be messing up that million hole surface. Even though drilling a ton of holes is super easy with a cnc mil…
Okay, that makes sense. How big should the vac box be? As big as the cutting area? A little larger?
Here are some pictures of my current set up. I have my CNC sitting on a Particleboard table top, and in the picture below have 2 3/4" MDF sheets on top that as the cutting surface (temporarily of course). Should the vac box be no more than an inch thick? Could I just make it out of 1 piece of MDF with the vac pattern cut into it?
Been a while since I posted an update, so I figured I would post one. I finally found some time to do some further testing on my MPCNC. I attempted to cut out some plans out I have using some scrap plywood I had laying around. Sadly, the wood itself was permanently bowed which caused some scaring as the bit was traveling. It obviously also caused the hold tabs to no work in some areas.
All-in-all, I think the test went well. I know I will need much flatter material. I am also strongly planning a vacuum hold table as my next “addition” since I will be working with sheets of plastic and need them to no shift during cutting.
Been too long since I have posted here. Not a lot of work with my machine. I have taken on another project that has been my main focus. However, while working on that project I have been slowly printing the updated parts so I can update my MPCNC. I fully plan on upgrading it to the newest parts for better strength and to correct some mistakes I made during my initial build.
I do have a question, what is the best infill pattern for strength? I have been using Fast Honeycomb at the recommended percentages. Is that sufficient?
I use grid, as far as I know it is the fastest and seems very strong. Triangles is my favorite, but isn’t available in simplify.
Okay, thanks! Maybe I’ll try grid on some parts to see. I know they are faster, just wasn’t sure how strong compared to honeycomb.
since i started printing parts with honeycomb at 55%, would these parts (i.e. corner bases and roller be strong enough or should I re-print them with grid?
I wouldn’t worry about it, you can always reprint later, but I doubt it would come to that.
