Adventures in 

CNC Machining

Welcome to the Media Conversions CNC Machining web pages.
Follow the links here for the various projects, and diversions, that I've taken over the years to get to my current environment.

Background: A little bit about me and how I got hooked on CNC.

Here is a link to the Slides I used for a talk about my CNC machine, given at the Fair Use Building and Research Labs (FUBAR Labs) on 2/9/14.

CNC Router Build
I built a 24" x 36" cnc router using plans posted by CNC Router Parts There are several steps to the build.

Background: How I got here and why 24" x 36"
Design Tradeoffs: I made some changes to the design.
Plan AHEAd: Things that were forgotten, or didn't quite work out as planned.
Machining the Parts: I'm on a tight budget so I didn't buy everything.
Cutting, Drilling and Tapping: The 80/20 components and the CRS rails needed some fabrication work.
Building a Table/Enclosure: I needed a table to put it on. May also want to enclose the router.
Assembling the Router: Without a step-by-step, it's not as easy as it looks.
Packaging the Electronics: I've put my driver, power supply, fans into a recycled computer chassis
The Extras: Things not covered above. The mount for the router, work surface, dust collection (new), limit and Estop switches.
Checking Alignment: Making sure the parts come out square. Checking the work surface for flatness. (new)
The Bottom Line: I've tallied up the cost of building the router 'my way'.
Diagnostics: How do you really know it's working ? I built a pen holder and wrote a diagnostic program.
First Cut: Diagnostics continue - cutting known shapes to check results.
What Speed: How do you set max velocity and acceleration? How do you know if you lose steps?
Software: The tools I've used to make parts so far.
EMC2: Here's my EMC2 setup and some customizations I've made to the Axis screen. 

CNC Library
Useful reference items

References - Other CNC projects, Speed & Feed Information Sources, G-code Guides, Drill Charts, Books.
Supplier Links

Vacuum Hold Down
Adapting a Shop Vac
Vac Hold Down - pass 1
Vac Hold Down - pass 2 (new)

Machinable Wax
You can make your own. It's a cheap alternative to using Styrofoam or MDF for test cuts. It can be used to make models for casting.

Revisions as of 8/24/2011

Contact me
using: fpirz (at) media (dash) conversions (dot) net


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