[arie kabaalstra]

The Beagle-1 has made her first chips this morning.. i made a small text, and used Stickfonts to Generate G-code.. uploaded it into the machine, and away i went.. engraving the text into a delrin block.. it runs very smooth.. now for some heavier work..
i'll take a picture and post it here..

[digits]

The Beagle-1 has made her first chips this morning.. i made a small text, and used Stickfonts to Generate G-code.. uploaded it into the machine, and away i went.. engraving the text into a delrin block.. it runs very smooth.. now for some heavier work..
i'll take a picture and post it here..

Congratulations Arie - you must be thrilled!

I'm really looking forward to seeing the pics of it in action

[svenakela]

Fthe enveloppe was something i already expected, tickets for a Ducati-event in Italy this summer..

Hey man, you've got good taste (same as me, that is)!

[arie kabaalstra]

Hey man, you've got good taste (same as me, that is)!

So said my girlfriend also.. though she still rides a Honda VTR 1000...OK.. it's a twin after all... ( the motorbike that is... )

[arie kabaalstra]

Desk engrave is a little program that really got me thrilled... just type in a text string, choose a font, dimensions, output accuracy, depth, plunge- and feedrate, and "off you go"..



So.. this is my first workpiece.. don't it look cool on my desk?..

[snowshovelbmx]

Just read the entire post, and must say this machine is excellent! I am in the process of rebuilding my mill and this was a big eye opener in what I need to aim for. I am in school right now for tool and die maker and just about done all my projects so I can have some time to work on my new mill as well.

Thanks for the great read.

chris.

[arie kabaalstra]

Just read the entire post, and must say this machine is excellent! I am in the process of rebuilding my mill and this was a big eye opener in what I need to aim for. I am in school right now for tool and die maker and just about done all my projects so I can have some time to work on my new mill as well.

Thanks for the great read.

chris.

You JUST read the entire post?.. you must be fond of reading.. .. anyway.. thanks for the compliment.. i'm very glad that everything seems to work out well, though there's still a lot to do.. Ball screws, don't arrive till week 31, i have to set up limit switches, get the 2nd parallel port working for Feed overide and jogshuttle, build the machine casing, get a flatscreen, get the frame powdercoated, and much much more...

Tool and Die maker is a very nice profession.. been doin'it for 10 years, but 3 weeks ago.. i quit... why?.. because i wanted to become an engineer/designer, which i will be in a week or so... i'm starting in a new job,for a new company.. ( got my machine finished right on time.. :withstupi)

if you want to do a school project, show this thread to your teachers...
some other guy from finland i believe, is building a CNC lathe from scratch.. Thread is located at : http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27031

[snowshovelbmx]

"you must be fond of reading"

yeah well some posts you just can't stop once you start. There is defiantly a lot of little things that need to be done that really add up I found that with my own build and now have decided to start rebuilding and fixing a few of my mistakes.
I have been watching that cnc lathe build as well and am very impressed!
The tool and die program that I am taking will be over in 3 weeks, it was just an 8 week level one for my apprentiship, so I don't think I would have time to build anything on the level of a new lathe or mill from scratch. Hopefully I will have time to rebuild my column though the link to the thread I have for my mill is here. http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31913

chris.

[harryn]

I also just read through this entire thread. Wow.

I really like the air nozzles. Have you had a chance to see how they work in practice ? That would be ideal if pressurized air can be used to eliminate the need for coolant.

[J5P332]

Hello. I was wondering how your new job is. If you started it, that is. Also, if you've made anything else with your machine.

[inline]

a great works!

[arie kabaalstra]

Yahoo!!.. Ballscrews finally arrived... 4 weeks early.. don't see me complaining 'bout that..



did some minor modifications to them ( had to shorten one by a measily 5 mm )

installed them, and now it's running like a charm..

New job is also great, though they're still working with obsolete software... Inventor will be introduced in the near future... thank heavens...

[snowshovelbmx]

hey arie good to hear that ou got your ballscrews now i would be awsome to see some video of our mill running.
chris

[arie kabaalstra]

hey arie good to hear that ou got your ballscrews now i would be awsome to see some video of our mill running.
chris

as soon as i get my hands on a decent camera, i will just make a clip..

for the time being.. i'm scrounging the net to find some decent software...

does anyone know if there's like conversational G-code programming software?... i'm used to Heidenhain controls, and with those it was easy to create parts just by reading the drawing, and fumbling values into dialogs to make round and square pockets, slots, hole patterns.. things like that...

[ger21]

does anyone know if there's like conversational G-code programming software?...

http://www.kentechinc.com/KipwareM.shtml

[digits]

Yahoo!!.. Ballscrews finally arrived... 4 weeks early.. don't see me complaining 'bout that..



did some minor modifications to them ( had to shorten one by a measily 5 mm )

installed them, and now it's running like a charm..

New job is also great, though they're still working with obsolete software... Inventor will be introduced in the near future... thank heavens...

Wow, they really are cute!

What software are you running on your mill Arie? If you like conversational stuff, I reckon you'd like Mach 3 with the New Fangled wizards.

Cheers.

[arie kabaalstra]

at the moment i'm running Zeus CNC, i tried Turbo first, but i keep getting Runtime errors... MACH?.. well.. my PC is an oldie.. 166MHZ Windows takes an hour to start up.. and i DON'T LIKE Mach.. i really hate the way it looks, and you need a mouse to operate it...

been working professionally with a Heidenhain TNC 410 Control, and a Fagor 8050 ( on a lathe ) can't easily beat those two... easy to program, and a clear layout of the screens, Mach looks like a "Vegas-slot machine"... my Mom saw a screen of Mach 3 once, she thought i was Gambling online... :rainfro:

i found a little snippet of Visual Basic on Majosoft.com: http://www.majosoft.com/engraving/ht...are_tools.html

But.. it doesn't work well .. so i need to dream up something myself.. anyone knows a good Visualbasic programming guide?..

[rhino]

does anyone know if there's like conversational G-code programming software?... i'm used to Heidenhain controls, and with those it was easy to create parts just by reading the drawing, and fumbling values into dialogs to make round and square pockets, slots, hole patterns.. things like that...

I believe there is a program that was brought out that was very similair to the OKUMA's IGF system called ADMAC PARTS. the okuma sales rep over here raves about it. it costs about $10,000 AUD. dunno, you mite be able to find a good torrent out there on the web LOL!

[chad123]

Hi, First nice machine! I have been following the progress from the beginning.

Ok a little disclaimer: I am an admin on the mach web forums so I am going to be a little biased.

I do understand that the stock mach screens can be off-putting to some people. I am used to them so it doesn't bother me. That is one of the strengths of mach. If you want to change something you can. It isn't that hard to design a screen that you like.
Mach now allows Flash screens to be constructed. These can be anywhere from a "Vegas-slot machine" to a black and white display, as basic or complicated as you wish. Almost all of the mach functions can be emulated with keys, either on a keyboard, external buttons, or a touch screen.

Art, and crew have 4 years worth of development in this software and I have heard that he averages 60 hours a week writing code for his slot-machine. Dollar for dollar you will not find a more complete cnc controller, period. Support is outstanding and unmatched by any other controller. If something doesn't work correctly hey will bang on until it works usually within a day or two. If you want something custom and others agree you will usually get what you want. Try that with Heidenhain.

If you want to sit down with vb and write a machine controller and a conversational programing interface, more power to you! I sure as hell wouldn't even consider doing that. If you are going to use VB you are going to have to use windows anyway, some times you just have to balance the build it / buy it equation.

As for the computer a 166 (an 11 year old CPU) most certainly will not run mach, you will need more than 32 megs of ram. $300 will get you a nice new fast computer that will run mach just fine, if you do some digging you can probably find something cheaper.

Anyway I think your machine is a work of art. I hope you have lots of fun with it. I have had lots of building mine.

.02c worth

Chad

[bekx]

hoi

great machine, i read the first 11 pages and then i found the best way to coat the machine an preserve the great looks
Clear coating (lac) used to preserve the welds tested/photogrphed after grinding.