Hi guys, my name is Juraj, i come from Croatia and this is my first post.
I have decided to build mpcnc and now i need some equipment and size advices.
I have sourced most of expensive hardware and electronics from china for around 150$ but i still have no idea what spindle to use.
I would like to have enough power to make complex parts in aluminium blocks, but i also plan to use machine to cut wood, acrylic etc…
I found this spindle and it is within acceptable price range (with shipping 150$) but i don’t know if it’s too big or too heavy for mpcnc.
How much power is enough for good aluminium cutting ? I dont want to overkill it…
From there comes my another problem… what size ?
I know there is more flex with bigger machine and that may not be problem when cutting wood but precise cutting in 5x5" aluminium block on 1.5 x 1m (5x3ft) machine seems like a joke to me.
Any advice regarding max work area of machine so it can remain very precise. I would like to build 5x3 ft machine but i will sacrifice work area if it’s needed for precision. Stainless steel conduit is being considered, i think it is alot cheaper in Croatia than US but i still have to check that. By the way, what wall thickness should i look for ?
One more thing. What is considered to be standard cutting Z-hight ? I would like to have Z-axis as high as possible but i don’t know what tehnical problems come with that .
Thank you, this helps but it does not give me specific answers, like power needed for aluminium cutting and best precision to scale ratio. I’m sure someone know that information so i don’t have to waste money on trial and error
I have answered this questions a few times in the last few days. I will have to re word the FAQ I guess I thought this was all in there.
Power-If you watch some of my videos, the first aluminum ones are using a flex shaft rotary tool probably a 1/4th the power of the dewalt or less. You can cut aluminum with a dremel. Power isn’t actually a big factor in precision, it is needed for speed. I know the physical tool size is covered in there.
Machine size- This is also covered in there. If you don’t think it was covered well enough tell me the tolerances you are expecting. All you say is complex parts. If you want specific answers you need to ask specific questions.
Ok, fair enough. For example, i need to be able to mill rc car parts, like suspension arms, chassis, engine mounts and stuff like that. Tolerance i would expect when making these parts is 0.1mm or 0.005in.
I know z-axis depth is important as well as spindle precision when it comes to tight tolerance.
But, on the other hand, i’m into sign making business so bigger machine that would be able to cut acrylic would come in handy.
So, i’m trying to find sweet spot between these two or in other words, max machine size that would be capable of 0.1mm precision on ALL axis.
They promise no higher than .13mm, so expecting a sub $500 machine to beat there performance just isn’t really feasible.
So if you make a nice small machine for your high tolerance parts, and get something with low run out and a good tool you can get very high precision/accuracy. I doubt any sign you make would need .1mm tolerances, so Best is a second machine. Just to give you an idea of .1 outside the world of 3d printing. Milled wood changes size by about 4% depending on humidity, metal does depending on temp 500mm of aluminum changes roughly +/-.1mm for ever 5 degrees Celsius.
