Bought a CNC machine
#41
(12-31-2022, 11:31 AM)APZ Wrote: Sweet map.  Can I ask where you got the model?

Etsy.  Link $5.59 and the model seems solid.  Machining has been flawless so far.  

John
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#42
(12-31-2022, 11:50 AM)tablesawtom Wrote: I was on Blackburntools.com and he has drawing of saw handles I am interested in . I think that is something I think I would be interested in making on a CNC. Now I have a need to get it up and running.
He does have drawings that can be down loaded.

Tom

I looked at Blackburntools.com.  He does indeed have drawings of tool handles you can download.  You could import them into V-Carve to cut out the handles, drill any holes, etc.  I'm not sure if you could do any shaping of the handles though.  To do that you need an STL file.  The STL file that I bought for the world map looks like this after I imported it into V-Carve.  The darker areas are carved deeper, the white areas the least.  It's hard to imagine but the software is able to interpret the gray areas for all the details you see in the carving.  

Drilling the holes and cutting out the handles would be a big help compared to doing them by hand.  It's as good a reason as any to get your machine running.  As I mentioned earlier, the video tutorials from Vectric for V-Carve are easy to follow and very good.  It's Winter - perfect time to learn.  Get after it.  

John  

[Image: AL9nZEXBBv76BvCPkruNKMw3-Z6PiEve2iimTIKG...authuser=1]
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#43
(12-31-2022, 02:33 PM)jteneyck Wrote: I looked at Blackburntools.com.  He does indeed have drawings of tool handles you can download.  You could import them into V-Carve to cut out the handles, drill any holes, etc.  I'm not sure if you could do any shaping of the handles though.  To do that you need an STL file.  The STL file that I bought for the world map looks like this after I imported it into V-Carve.  The darker areas are carved deeper, the white areas the least.  It's hard to imagine but the software is able to interpret the gray areas for all the details you see in the carving.  

Drilling the holes and cutting out the handles would be a big help compared to doing them by hand.  It's as good a reason as any to get your machine running.  As I mentioned earlier, the video tutorials from Vectric for V-Carve are easy to follow and very good.  It's Winter - perfect time to learn.  Get after it.  

John  

[Image: AL9nZEXBBv76BvCPkruNKMw3-Z6PiEve2iimTIKG...authuser=1]

You could import them into V-Carve to cut out the handles, drill any holes, etc. That would be better than a kick in the pants.

Tom
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#44
If you're good with skechup you can also export an svg and use that on Vcarve. That's what I've been doing lately. Nothing complicated. I'm not that great at skechup
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#45
(12-31-2022, 02:33 PM)Mijteneyck Wrote: I looked at Blackburntools.com.  He does indeed have drawings of tool handles you can download.  You could import them into V-Carve to cut out the handles, drill any holes, etc.  I'm not sure if you could do any shaping of the handles though.  To do that you need an STL file.  The STL file that I bought for the world map looks like this after I imported it into V-Carve.  The darker areas are carved deeper, the white areas the least.  It's hard to imagine but the software is able to interpret the gray areas for all the details you see in the carving.  

Drilling the holes and cutting out the handles would be a big help compared to doing them by hand.  It's as good a reason as any to get your machine running.  As I mentioned earlier, the video tutorials from Vectric for V-Carve are easy to follow and very good.  It's Winter - perfect time to learn.  Get after it.  

John  

[Image: AL9nZEXBBv76BvCPkruNKMw3-Z6PiEve2iimTIKG...authuser=1]


Can't wait to see it done John.  Longest one I've done so far is around 40 hours.  I honestly can't believe that little Makita is holding up so well.   Any plans on (or did you already get) a spindle?  My dream set up would be one Mechatron but with the vfd and cooling system it's close to $3K!  Might have to settle for Chinese brand.  Btw did you notice 1F has a Elite model now with Masso  controller.  I knew I wanted to eventually get a machine with a more robust controller in the future and I'm definitely leaning on upgrading to that.
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#46
(01-02-2023, 07:54 PM)Juss1 Wrote: Can't wait to see it done John.  Longest one I've done so far is around 40 hours.  I honestly can't believe that little Makita is holding up so well.   Any plans on (or did you already get) a spindle?  My dream set up would be one Mechatron but with the vfd and cooling system it's close to $3K!  Might have to settle for Chinese brand.  Btw did you notice 1F has a Elite model now with Masso controller.  I knew I wanted to eventually get a machine with a more robust controller in the future and I'm definitely leaning on upgrading to that.

It's got about 8 hours yet to go on the 35 hour final finishing pass.  I'm not sure it's turning out as well as it looks on my computer screen, but I won't know for sure until it's all done.  The Makita is running fine.  There's so little load on it for the long, finishing carves that I don't think there's much wear, even on the brushes.  It's only running at about 12K rpm. It's barely warm. I checked the brushes before I started the project and I'll check them afterwards to see what 60 hours of use did to them.  But yeah, I plan to get a spindle at some point, just for the noise reduction on these finishing passes where the bit is making little noise, but probably not anytime soon. The Mechatron is top end but it costs as much as the Journeyman, so I likely will go with a Chinese brand.  I'd go with a 65 mm 1.5 HP one if it would clear the Z axis motor, but it won't so I'll likely end up having to upgrade to the 80 mm mount and spindle.  

Oh yeah, I've seen the new Elite model with the Masso controller.  Definitely a major step up.  But the Journeyman does everything I've asked of it so far, so I don't see a need to upgrade.
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#47
Everything you have written about your project I have found quite interesting. I think a water cooled spindle would be just the thing especially for long runs. I don't plan on going that far, but one never knows. 

You have inspired me to continue with my CNC project, so thank you. So I think I will take a look at starting to learn the software this afternoon. I really have a good woman because I have quite a lot of money tied up and the machine is just setting there along with the new laptop.  And she has never said one word about it either way, But you have asked  me about it a couple of times and and shown me an example of why I should start using it. 

Tom
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#48
(01-03-2023, 09:43 AM)tablesawtom Wrote: Everything you have written about your project I have found quite interesting. I think a water cooled spindle would be just the thing especially for long runs. I don't plan on going that far, but one never knows. 

You have inspired me to continue with my CNC project, so thank you. So I think I will take a look at starting to learn the software this afternoon. I really have a good woman because I have quite a lot of money tied up and the machine is just setting there along with the new laptop.  And she has never said one word about it either way, But you have asked  me about it a couple of times and and shown me an example of why I should start using it. 

Tom

That was my goal, Tom.  It's like most new things - starting is the hardest part.  Start with some of the beginner tutorials in V-Carve.  You can pause the tutorial whenever, wherever you want, so you can reproduce what the instructor is doing on your own drawing.  You only need to learn a few things in order to actually cut parts.  If you can draw by hand you can draw in V-Carve.  

Bob's CNC is supported by Vectric.  You'll find it under the "Machine" tab at the top. Select "Add Machine" from the pulldown menu.  You'll need to download the machine configuration for Bobs CNC in order to save toolpaths.  That's unrelated to learning the drawing software, but key for turning the toolpaths you create into code your CNC can understand/run.  

Good luck. 

John
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#49
For tutorial videos I really like mark Lindsay. He has a YouTube channel and a playlist titled vcarve for beginners (or something along those lines). It’s a very long playlist but you don’t have to watch everyone to get a general understanding. For about a month I watched 1-2 videos every morning before going to work. I turned it up to 2x speed and would turn it down to normal speeds on parts I thought I needed to have a better understanding.

The program is very well written and intuitive. I think you’ll pick it up quickly.
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#50
(01-03-2023, 12:31 PM)Juss1 Wrote: For tutorial videos I really like mark Lindsay. He has a YouTube channel and a playlist titled vcarve for beginners (or something along those lines).  It’s a very long playlist but you don’t have to watch everyone to get a general understanding. For about a month I watched 1-2 videos every morning before going to work. I turned it up to 2x speed and would turn it down to normal speeds on parts I thought I needed to have a better understanding.

The program is very well written and intuitive. I think you’ll pick it up quickly.

Thanks for the heads up. I have been busy and haven't had time to start after I said I would.

Tom
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