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Something I have learnt the hard way - sometimes a CNC mill makes for a really crappy drill press :)

I made a pen holder with a spring in it. I used it to draw up circuits on PCBs. The holder works perfectly, but the acid step is too messy, slow and fiddly for me, so I went to isolation routing...

Bit of a delayed response, but I've come back to this now.

Gerry, thanks for the explanation and example, I see how it works now.

I'm slightly surprised the operation doesn't seem to interact...

I've finally had time to look at this for myself. Seems Tormach worked around a Mach3 race condition bug (nasty), but in doing so, made a mistake of their own.

On the XY probe screen, there are...

Just a note to say I've been dealing with this problem for a while also. I G20->probe->G21, and I definitely worry about forgetting to go back. I'm also not convinced this works every time. Sometimes...

I was wondering this too. I know you can drag the lead-in around, but I haven't gotten around to trying to drag it all the way into a drilled hole. Not sure the path would recalculate sufficiently....

Yep, triggering off the outlet is the setup I have in mind. I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

My coolant pump let the magic smoke out, so I bought a replacement. The replacement is intended for 240 volts, unlike the original.

It works nicely, as tested from a wall socket. When I replaced...

Nice one, this has inspired me to make another one of these :)

That's why you just set it on the operation you need it for. You might need to untick "and fixtures from last op" on the next op as well, haven't got it in front of me either.

I draw them in Sprut, it takes 10 seconds once you've figured out how to do it. Much quicker than mucking about trying to import geometry. I'd only do that for a complete vice or something.

Go to...

Oh, forgot to mention - I drew the tabs as fixtures directly in Sprutcam and only assigned them to the operations that required them, ie the cut-out at the end of the run.

I would think that if you are only making a few of these, hand-finishing would be a viable way of getting rid of the tabs. Because the tabs can be thinner than the part, it's very easy to sand and...

I put the pump on the bench yesterday, plugged it in and... Nothing. Started pulling it apart, making a fine mess, and then for some reason tried it again, and I could hear it trying to turn. Undid...

Has it been confirmed as being released this year then?

Tank was definitely full, I had only refilled it that morning.

I couldn't hear a relay click when I turned it back on. I seem to remember that in the past, the pump noise would start but no...

Not sure who they would be referring to, but bummer :(

This is why I always plug mine in before I put it in the spindle, and test it by touching the needle while it is far away from the work and table ... Every time!

I've had two close calls with it...

Thanks Steve, I had a very quick look but didn't see any threads on the subject.

I thought I remembered something a while back about people replacing their pumps. Looks like I'm headed down this...

I'm having trouble with the coolant pump occasionally stopping. This time, it did it after working two days without a problem. Luckily, I was about 1 minute away from finishing a part, so I just kept...

Brilliant, thanks. I will try it out this weekend!

How do you do this? Is it on one of the screens?

This looks like a really nice technique. Do you ever get problems with the parts moving in the epoxy? Is there a particular type you use or is it just generic, whatever-is-available stuff?

Thanks...

Some really nice ideas in here. I want to get my toolset off the bench where it is always in the way. Those tools are too sharp to be reaching over/around!

CE isn't relevant because you are importing the machine from outside the EU.

You won't pay VAT because you aren't paying a UK company. You will have customs duty to pay. I expect that you can...

Andrew Johnston did a write-up of his experience of import and set-up in issues #171 and #172 of Model Engineers Workshop magazine. His article was part of the reason I went for a Tormach.

I really cranked down the vice this time and it has made all the difference!

Nope.

The DTI didn't move when I traversed X and Y.

Testing with the square was a little bit less precise. I tried it three times and got different results.

I might be over-thinking this....

Hi,

I've just run a fly-cutter and a 3/8 end mill over a ~2 inch cube of aluminium to tidy it up. Both left a ridge which I could feel with my finger along the edge of their cut. "No problem", I...

Thanks Arich, this is the info I was after.