Other What did you fab up today? A thread for the home fabricators!

[OCD Solutions]

I'm just being over-dramatic, I'll use it, lol.

There's been talk of moving it over to ScottS's place so he has something to do with himself now that he's retired.

 

[Austin_landers]

Finished my first cart , wasn’t a big fan so started building another of another style .

 

[Vumad]

I spent a lot of time today coming up short... but some progress.

I checked my Mach 3 and there were no backlash settings. I ended up with YZ 0.001 and X 0.002 for backlash.

Learned some g-code doing it. Specifically G00 X0.01. I also learned that this is not a movement but rather a move to coordinate, so yeah, zero it for the test or BANG!

I noticed however while doing this that none of my axis landed where I thought they should. My Z was the worst. A move of 0.01 didn’t actually move anything. Despite locking in the backlash, a move of 0.05 would only show on my gauge as 0.035.

So I checked my machine settings and my XY were 8123.889312 steps per inch, which seems pretty wack. I don’t have the numbers of my screws and steppers to calculate what they should be, so I just made small adjustments until my gauge landed where it should have been for the move.

So X changed from 8123.889312 to 8125
Y changed from 8123.889312 to 8300
Z changed from 8154.195843 to 8320

After these changes, every time I moved each of the 3 axis by 0.05, the machine would land on 50 and then land back on 0 consistently.

I do think there are still some issues with the way this machine is setup that need to be corrected before I can do any amount of precision, but I’m contributing so much user error into the equation atm that I think it’s pretty solid for now.

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[Vumad]

The changes I made made a big difference I think. Looking at the top circle on these 2 parts went from an absolute mess to nice and round.

However, I made some changes to my CAM before running it again and I broke the bit. The center clearing increasing from 1mm to 2mm depth was good, but the moment the slotting started (went 2mm, previously 1mm) I knew I had screwed up. I should have hit stop but instead I tried to dial back the federate which didn’t work out.

The bigger issue I have to figure out is the pathing. From the center circle to the edge should be 1mm but they are crossing over.

Edit: ugh, dumb, I figured it out. The tool I intended to use was a 1/16” endmill but the tool I was actually using was a 1/8” endmill.

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[OCD Solutions]

There is a backlash setting in Mach 3, I just can't recall off the top of my head since it's been so long.
There is also a specific stepper motor tuning function that moves the machine the desired distance and then has you add in the actual moved distance and it calculates the actual steps per inch. The greater the distance entered, the more accurate the calibration. The manual recommends using 1 inch movements so that is what I use.
To get it spot on, I usually end up doing the last couple adjustments by feel, just like you did.
This is something I mentioned to you previously and something that you will want to check often, particularly if there are major temperature changes or any change on the equipment itself and absolutely prior to running anything important. At least until you gain some confidence that the machine positioning is consistent anyways.
This is a PITA and my number 1 reason for wanting to upgrade to either hybrid steppers with closed loop feedback or just bite the bullet and go with proper servos.

The more accurate your backlash setting, the more accurate and repeatable your motor tuning will be. I was pulling my hair out prior to setting the backlash values.

 

[OCD Solutions]

Here are your backlash settings.


And here are the steps to using the wizard to calibrate the axis movement.

 

[Vumad]

@OCD Solutions

I need a facing tool. Any one in particular you like? The only thing that came with the machines was for resurfacing the spoil board for the router and I don't want to use that on aluminum. I used a 1/2" endmill for practice but that is quite obviously not the right tool for the job.

As I replace endmills, is there a particular brand you find that is a good price to performance? Otherwise I'll keep buying what was included, but it's quite the mix of brands.

And thanks for the detailed information above. The backlash I figured out quickly. I got the steps tweaked more manually already but it took a long time.

 

[Vumad]

Just found this guy. I was looking for something different (grizzly G2861) but I think this is for that job too.

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[Vumad]

Just found this guy. I was looking for something different (grizzly G2861) but I think this is for that job too.

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[OCD Solutions]

Check out SunCoast tools for their 3 and 4 flute HSS cutters. No replacement for Cleveland but great quality at a fraction of the cost

I use a 2” Face Mill for that type of work.

 

[Sanoman]

More super genius poop here boys!

*dam no cuss auto correct!!

 

[OCD Solutions]

More like amateur hour. A real machinist would scoff at us, lol.

Jaxrider scored a machinist toolbox full of drills and cutters at a garage sale a few years back and hooked me up with it. It has several really high end bits and the difference is very clear.

 

[Vumad]

Ouch. That endmill I broke today was a $40 cobalt.


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[OCD Solutions]

I bought a cheap set of end mills to get me started and then started replacing the heavily used ones with the ones from SunCoast tools. The 1/4” and 1/2” 4 flutes that I use the most are in the $10/each range.

 

[Vumad]

I bought a cheap set of end mills to get me started and then started replacing the heavily used ones with the ones from SunCoast tools. The 1/4” and 1/2” 4 flutes that I use the most are in the $10/each range.

Do you know which ones you like? There are so many options of endmill. I try to buy on Amazon when I can. Any fly cutters or face cutters on Amazon you like? I didn’t see the one you recommended there.

 

[OCD Solutions]

This is my starter mill kit, they are chit but I still use them quite a bit, the 4 flute more so than the 2 flute;

Amazon.com

When they fail, I buy a HSS equivalent from SunCoast Precision to keep the kit topped off.

This is the face mill I bought;

Amazon.com

I can only find one of my orders from Suncoast and it is not the one for the cutters I use the most.
Just search 4 flute HSS and pick the one you can afford.
Here's the 1/2" 4 flute for example;

1/2

www.suncoasttools.com

Now, for engraving and doing small detail work, I use these;

YIYATOO 20pcs 10° 15° 20° 30° 3.175mm Carbide PCB Engraving Bits CNC Router Tool 0.1mm - - Amazon.com

YIYATOO 20pcs 10° 15° 20° 30° 3.175mm Carbide PCB Engraving Bits CNC Router Tool 0.1mm - - Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

 

[afraz1er]

Been doing alot of small projects since I got my welder(Lincoln) but finished my first big project and built my sled deck from scratch. After about two months of weekly use it's still holding and I haven't lost a sled off the back yet....

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[Vumad]

This is my starter mill kit, they are chit but I still use them quite a bit, the 4 flute more so than the 2 flute;

Amazon.com

When they fail, I buy a HSS equivalent from SunCoast Precision to keep the kit topped off.

This is the face mill I bought;

Amazon.com

I can only find one of my orders from Suncoast and it is not the one for the cutters I use the most.
Just search 4 flute HSS and pick the one you can afford.
Here's the 1/2" 4 flute for example;

1/2

www.suncoasttools.com

Now, for engraving and doing small detail work, I use these;

YIYATOO 20pcs 10° 15° 20° 30° 3.175mm Carbide PCB Engraving Bits CNC Router Tool 0.1mm - - Amazon.com

YIYATOO 20pcs 10° 15° 20° 30° 3.175mm Carbide PCB Engraving Bits CNC Router Tool 0.1mm - - Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

I ordered all 3 of those items plus the spanner we discussed. Clicked your links so the X should get a commission.

Thanks for posting the engraving tools. I am going to be engraving the backs of the "coins" with names and hire/retirement date when I get them right.

I just have to pick out a chamfer bit set, unless you have a link for that as well.

 

[OCD Solutions]

I do not. The lot of new and used tools I bought from the garage sale had a bunch of random chamfer and countersink tools in it.
I use the countersink tools quite a bit but I haven't really used the chamfer tools yet.

I should have snapped a pic of the setup I used to mill a rounded edge into all my polycarbonate panels.
I used one of these;

Amazon.com

 

[Vumad]

Now, for engraving and doing small detail work, I use these;

YIYATOO 20pcs 10° 15° 20° 30° 3.175mm Carbide PCB Engraving Bits CNC Router Tool 0.1mm - - Amazon.com

YIYATOO 20pcs 10° 15° 20° 30° 3.175mm Carbide PCB Engraving Bits CNC Router Tool 0.1mm - - Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

How is Inches Per tooth determined? Is this information suppose to be provided by the producer of the endmill?

So given the PCB engravers you linked. I set those up in Fusion as Chamfer tools. I can run a spindle speed of 2000 RPM which gives me a Surface speed of 30m/min (787in).

Fusion calculates the feedrate based on the feed per tooth. Many things online do the opposite of feed per tooth is based on the feedrate. Am I just suppose to make up this equation after breaking a few bits?

It seems very strange to me that none of this information is readily available. It would make sense to me that the manufacturer would have a chart for the rated load per tooth for common materials. Maybe I'm wrong but I would think the the cutting ability of the tool is more dependent upon the tool itself than the machine it is in. Better machines would carry higher torque, higher RPM and carry away heat more efficiently, but the tool itself would remain pretty constant in how much it each tooth could cut. Am I crazy for thinking this?

I did find some charts online for common diameters of endmills and the load per tooth, but stuff like these PCB engravers, I'm just making up numbers and hoping for the best.