I sent this through the Contact form and Ryan asked that I post it here. Thanks in advance for any insight and guidance.
Years ago I started building the Oomlaut CNC off of Instructables but never got to the point where it was finished and to be true, it’s not big enough for what I’m looking for. Can you tell me what I’d need to purchase from your shop to have everything I need to get running (other than the spindle and tubes/conduit I guess)?
I’ll need an X and Y travel of 20" X 40" and a maximum Z depth of 10" - the CNC will be used for milling ice blocks and I’ll rarely need to go the full 10" - most typically a maximum of 7" but most commonly no deeper than 3". I’m also Mac based (if that makes a difference). It will be used for milling only (no extruder). The 10" would only be used if I intend to shape the outer shape of the block of ice. (Carving blocks are 20" X 40" X 10" maximum…hence the X and Y measurements.)
Is the Parts Bundle and the Printed Parts Kit all I need from your shop? I don’t have a 3D printer to print the parts myself.
Hardware kit, plastic kit, usually an Lcd, and maybe a few endmills.
You will need to looking into Cam software that can handle this. The spindle and the machine get in the way after about 1-1.5" (the length of an endmill). Carving 3" into a 10" block is easy but you would build a 3 inch machine and a table that can fit the other 7" below the feet (drop table).
It does, you will need to find out what CAM software works on MAC. The control software does.
I’ve got a 5" end mill bit that I use (by hand) in a Makita die grinder. Would I be able to use long bits like this to help with the tool body interference issue? I would think as long as I could set the reference point of the CNC to the tip of the bits I should be able to? This would give me enough to work with I think…if I can carve down a good 6 inches or so I’d be able to knock out the rest by hand - this referring to any outside shaping I wanted to do that is.
I’ll give some thought into the notion of a drop table. The blocks are heavy to deal with (300 lbs) but maybe I could build something that had a lift underneath to lift the block into place. That would be helpful because some blocks are 10", some are 10.5", some 9.5" etc.
I’ll go do some homework on the Cam software.
I gather from the MPCNC plastic kits I need to go down to the local Home Depot and get the OD measurement of the conduit so I know which set to order?
This is a big one for your use case. I have not seen anything like this around here so you should definately spend some time in CAM first and see if it works out for you. There are cut sims even. Estlcam works as does fusion but I have no idea if either work on a mac. MAC isn’t very maker friendly for whatever reason.
Yes, but if you are in the US it is 23.5mm, If you have a steel supplier nearby Stainless is a great “upgrade” I just got 20’ for $41, conduit is $8-$10. Probably the best $30 you can spend on these cnc’s.
“I gather from the MPCNC plastic kits I need to go down to the local Home Depot and get the OD measurement of the conduit so I know which set to order?”
The 3/4" EMT carried at Home Depot stores in the US is 23.5mm OD. I just bought some last week. Pretty sure its the same anywhere in the US.
Knowing the bed size I need, can you tell me the extra or overall length needed so I have a full 20" X 40" workspace? I’d like to at least price out the stainless.
As you will be milling ice here are a few other things you might need to think about:
Electronics don’t like water… You’ll need to find a method of shielding them from getting wet.
Galvanized steel only has a thin coating of zinc to prevent rust which will be worn off by the bearings realatively quickly… Stainless would be your best option
Not sure if the bearings listed in the shop are water resistant you might want to consider stainless sealed or ceramic.
Thanks Tuet. I think a “baggie” will do the trick for the snow/water issue - and a good stream of air to keep the cuts clear which will inherently direct most of the snow away. I’ll be working in the cold so temperature shouldn’t be a concern.
I got a local price of $127 CDN for the stainless so that’s definitely something I’ll do here. Haven’t had a chance to look into the software / Mac questions as of yet but I’ll get to it. Life just took my time here the past two weeks.