[whiteriver]

I think that's the best wooden router I have ever seen. Very well done!!.
Get it painted.

Donny

[Jason Marsha]

Good job milhead

[milhead]

When I took it apart to tighten up I've started putting a coat of paint on it... Opinions please...

Just a thought, it's supposed to be Allis Chalmers red but it looks kinda blood red... (gulp).

Mil

[MyCattMaxx]

Them fighting colors....Around here it's John Deere green and yellow...LOL
Even my bird feeders are yellow on green posts. (Now where did I put my JD underwear)

Looking good.

[milhead]

It's still weird to see it cutting after all this time... Here's a video of surfacing my table.. It will still cut a bit bigger but I'm still cagey about the 200IPM cuts..

It's also clear that I need to do more work on the vacuum apron.. My first attempt just allowed a rash of wood to fly out from underneath.. I've seen a video that uses a clear vinyl skirt that is attached with Velcro to the router. All I have is a shop-vac that pulls air through a separator, not a proper dust control system.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKNLsytyJYk"]YouTube- CNC #2 Cutting a level surface[/ame]

Mil

[CarveOne]

It's looking good milhead. Very nice job.

CarveOne

[milhead]

I've spent time to get the Router and Vacuum tied into the Mach spindle control..

I used the machine to cut out a crate and forms to hold a couple NEMA 34 steppers and did not take a picture but was nervous about one consistent artifact the the machine left i what was supposed to be a rectangle...

These photos are from the first sign that I have tirned out. Now it really takes longer to design then cut... All in all the thing cut out pretty well from a scrap of red oak.

Next I'll try something a tad larger....

Mil

[CarveOne]

I've spent time to get the Router and Vacuum tied into the Mach spindle control..

I used the machine to cut out a crate and forms to hold a couple NEMA 34 steppers and did not take a picture but was nervous about one consistent artifact the the machine left i what was supposed to be a rectangle...

These photos are from the first sign that I have tirned out. Now it really takes longer to design then cut... All in all the thing cut out pretty well from a scrap of red oak.

Next I'll try something a tad larger....

Mil

Looks good Mil. I like red oak for all sorts of projects. And then, sometimes I fall back on the less expensive stuff like cardboard just for the weirdness and humor of it.

CarveOne

[mlabruyere]

It's also clear that I need to do more work on the vacuum apron.. My first attempt just allowed a rash of wood to fly out from underneath.. I've seen a video that uses a clear vinyl skirt that is attached with Velcro to the router. All I have is a shop-vac that pulls air through a separator, not a proper dust control system.
Mil

Hey Mil,

I was having the same issue no matter what I was using as an apron. Plastic, rubber, brushes......I still got dust blowing everywhere. I've got a 6HP shopvac.....it'll suck start my truck....it's a small truck....

The problem is the "spindle" which in our case is an air-cooled router. I built my new dusty skirt such that I divert all the air from the router to the sides. This allows the vacuum to remove almost all of the dust and debris from the work surface. It woks pretty darn good. I'll post some picks....it's not the prettiest dust skirt but it works.

[ger21]

You need a thick brush, and it needs to be at least 1/2" longer than the router bit, so you get a good seal on your work. If there's an opening, dust and chips will get out. Your dust collector or vacuum should be sucking more air than your router is blowing, so if the brush seals to the table, you shouldn't have a problem.

[milhead]

Just thought it looked impressive but I was leveling a hunk of wood I bought. The thing was too thick to fit under my gantry so I had to write a program to resurface from rear to front (which would allow clearance as it cut)..

I over shorthanded and used the wrong G command... Wound up with 700ipm

Turns out it worked ok.. cut a bit rough and I'll have to do a finish
cut.. But it was fun to watch.. Normally on this machine I cut around
80-150 ipm..

[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GtGV4DKb28&feature=player_profilepage"]YouTube - resurfaceat700ipm[/nomedia]

[milhead]

I don't claim to know at all what I'm doing cutting something other than wood but volunteered to cut a piece of aluminum for a buddy this weekend and figured I'd better test to see how it works before I ruin his stock and my reputation...

Suprisingly it came out pretty well using a 1/4 up-cutter... Hopefully I have enough blade left to cut his piece this weekend...

35ips, 0.035in pass depth.. I kept compressed air on the bit in an attempt to keep things cool...
oh, and the speed on the big porter cable router was set to 10,000rpm

What do ya think?

Mil

[Senna]

That looks really darn good!!! Gives me hope that I'll also find success when I attempt the same...!!!

So just air... NO lubricant like kerosene or some use WD-40...??? Hmm...

BOOMER52

[milhead]

Killing two birds with one stone, I now exhaust the router above the dust boot.. This has the added benefit of lowering the boot nearly an inch and it seals much better...

An easy fix, two years too late, I cut a big wood path the other day with the new boot and could hardly tell that the machine had been used afterward..

Here's the basics...

p.s. it makes a great hole in which to stick the locking wrench when I change bits...

[acondit]

Killing two birds with one stone, I now exhaust the router above the dust boot.. This has the added benefit of lowering the boot nearly an inch and it seals much better...


p.s. it makes a great hole in which to stick the locking wrench when I change bits...

Sweet!

[CNC Lurker]

I've spent time to get the Router and Vacuum tied into the Mach spindle control..

I used the machine to cut out a crate and forms to hold a couple NEMA 34 steppers and did not take a picture but was nervous about one consistent artifact the the machine left i what was supposed to be a rectangle...

These photos are from the first sign that I have tirned out. Now it really takes longer to design then cut... All in all the thing cut out pretty well from a scrap of red oak.

Next I'll try something a tad larger....

Mil

I need to make a key-slot also, did you hand-code the key-slot or does the program you are using have a key-slot plugin or something?

[milhead]

I start from a small on-line generated toolpath and modify it for the keyway cutter
something like. This one creates a keyway 2 inches long centered at 0.
I x/y/z-zero the unit in above where I want the slot and go!

I have dual vertical 10 inch and 16inch keyway programs that I run often as well for bigger stuff.

( 2 Inch Horizontal keyway )
( Mach2/3 Postprocessor )
N20G00G20G17G90G40G49G80
N30G70
N40T0M06
N50G00G43Z0.7874H0
N60S12000M03
N70G94
N80X0.0000Y0.0000F60.0
N90G00X-1.0000Y-0.0000Z0.2362
N100G1X-1.0000Y-0.0000Z-0.3F20.0
N110G1X1.0000Y-0.0000F60.0
N115G1X-1.0000Y-0.0000F60.0
N280G0Z0.2362
N290G00Z0.7874
N300G00X0.0000Y0.0000
N310M09
N320M30
%

[milhead]

As part of my big upgrade I'm moving to motors that are too big to run with my HobbyCNC controller.... In come some Geckos to replace my gantry and X drive.

It's still fun to make machine parts (In this case the controller mount) on my my machine before I perform the upgrade...

I cut this out of wood first to test fir all the holes then cut the aluminum plate, The back is covered with heat sinks and has a breeze across it.

[CNC Lurker]

I start from a small on-line generated toolpath and modify it for the keyway cutter
something like. This one creates a keyway 2 inches long centered at 0.
I x/y/z-zero the unit in above where I want the slot and go!

I have dual vertical 10 inch and 16inch keyway programs that I run often as well for bigger stuff.

( 2 Inch Horizontal keyway )
( Mach2/3 Postprocessor )
N20G00G20G17G90G40G49G80
N30G70
N40T0M06
N50G00G43Z0.7874H0
N60S12000M03
N70G94
N80X0.0000Y0.0000F60.0
N90G00X-1.0000Y-0.0000Z0.2362
N100G1X-1.0000Y-0.0000Z-0.3F20.0
N110G1X1.0000Y-0.0000F60.0
N115G1X-1.0000Y-0.0000F60.0
N280G0Z0.2362
N290G00Z0.7874
N300G00X0.0000Y0.0000
N310M09
N320M30
%

Sorry, forgot to say thanks for that code!

[milhead]

Yeah I realize that I can buy them off ebay for almost what the AL cost me but there is something about I figured it out here at home... Where no schedule exists it's a lot more fun...

Replacing my HDPE router mounts with AL ones should help me stiffen up the whole thing some. My mounts flex small but visible amount if I press on the router.

While I was cutting these out I also had one of my Z-axis slides loose a retainer and dribble it's little roller bearings all over the table mixed in with the AL chips.. Since I bought the things off ebay 5 years or so ago I've not been able to locate any spares..

Using a magnet I was able to retrieve 24 of the 28 roller bearings... After a few hours of tinkering I was able to get the slide reassembled (sans 4 rollers).. Manufactured a replacement retainer.. Liberally applied lock-tite to all the screws and was back cutting with a tragic-redesign avoided!

Feeling a bit lucky about that one...