I finally got this thing (mostly) where I wanted it! Just need to figure out a way to keep the Z wires and Dewalt wires out of the way, they can hit endstops from time to time if they aren’t in the best position. Unfortunately my spoil board wasn’t as level as I thought it was to the machine itself, so I just ended up taking the easy way out and decking my workable area.
Next order of business is to cut holes in the spoil board that I can use for mounting clamps (as soon as I figure out/print/mill those), then that piece of aluminum, then carbon fiber once I get a bath or a mister for that!
Learned a lot so far, can’t wait to dig into some real projects!
Small build which is good for your purpose. No doubt that thing will push through cf and aluminum. I know you’re already planning a mister for cf but aluminum should benefit a lot from it too. Don’t know about what to mist on alu but I pretty much have the same goals from the MPCNC as you do and I can say that vacuuming aluminum chips gets old fast. Blasting them out should help cutter life, and it earns you some style points.
I had a hard time decking it because of a combination of feed rates and high speed still endmills sucking. I also didn’t know that MDF was abrasive (ended up burning the top before I was finished lol). So I was starting to doubt it until I ended up decking the hole thing with a 2 flute 1/8" carbide endmill and it tore it up! Then I have (since posting) received a carbide 1/4" endmill and I got all mt clamp holes cut. It powered through 25 3/8" x 5/8" holes in less than 5 minutes, and it would’ve been 3 minutes had I not been nervous and started at 100% feedrate right away.
Gonna try 1/8" aluminum tomorrow, probably just a simple keychain or something. For the time being until I get a mister or something I’m just gonna use WD-40 for some form of a lubrication.
It helps you get an idea of what you should be running at, and you get a free 30 day trial. 30 Days is enough time to learn what you should be running at.
Most importantly, use trochoidal milling paths. It makes a world of difference for our machines as they are not rigid steel tanks that can plow in full radius into metal.
It is really exciting seeing the bit plunge into aluminum for the first time though. Seeing the chips fly puts a smile on your face for sure
Not sure if you use Estlcam but I think that’s his “peel” setting, so I’ll be sure to double check and use that!
I appreciate that link as well, I’ll have to write down all the speeds lol. Somebody at work recommended I check out cnccookbook too so that’s a good reminder.
Seeing chips will be bittersweet. Sweet because it’s MY machine but bitter because I know the mess they can make (after having run Haas machines lol).
That’s a great idea! I’ll have to do that this weekend, I was also going to need somewhere to route my mister tubes if I made one of those too. Do you have a link to the parts you printed to hold the angle?
