Cool project, thanks for sharing! The blue wax blocks in the video clip at the beginning look like machinable wax. It's cheap, already cast into blocks, and machines very nicely.
Maybe try with "hard wax" used for hair removal. It melts at around 45C and is harder than standard candle wax. Also I don't think this face method make real "flat" surface, as the razor blade kinda jumps up and down in this linear motion? Maybe try moving it a bit in cutting direction, and then back to release material, and back and forth?
If you see the veritasium video they use some kind of interphase liquid on the wax block, maybe some kind of oil. Also, as a medical student, that machine reminds me to a kind of microtome, maybe you need smaller movements in order to succeed.
If your goals is to make a machine to only cut that pattern, a Cartesian CNC is probably not the thing you want. I would see something more like a linear engine or a shaper. The issue mechanical here is that you are using a direct drive that doesn't have much precision to do a very precise task. If you are dead set on a Cartesian machine at the very least use pantographs to divide the movement of your screws into something minuscule. But custom kinetics sounds more adapted here. Using a pantograph pushed up by a roller or a pin attached to a radially slotted wheel to adjust de amplitude, letting gravity applying the carving force. A screw to advance the work is sound but it needs to be in a single direction to not suffer from the backlash. For that end, make the carving axis be at an angle compared to the advance so you only need to move a single axis and single direction as you pattern the work. And then once you machine is adapted to the task, you can even start to ask yourself the question, "why use 2 motors instead of coupling the advance to carve ?" and realize that you don't even need to have any CNC involvement here by having the motor that moved the carving pantograph also move a wheel with a link that ratchets the advance screw. But frankly that point is quite optional, it adds quite a bit of complexity while a stepper driven screw is plenty enough as long as the screen is only supposed to move in a single direction. There is also the issue of the wax itself not being adapted to what you are asking of it, but I have no good informed insight about that appart from suggesting you to contact people from the wax scripting community.
Cool idea and project. I think pushing the knife in can be a bit problematic, when cutting stuff by hand it usually gets a lot easier by moving the blade along its length. Someone mentioned a pantograph, I’ve been thinking about that for a while using my 3printer to control it. But I’ve never come up with a use for it. Maybe this would be a good match? Or just using your 3dprinter as the cnc with a spinning cutter and some way to increase the resolution in one axis to advance the blade in tiny increments.
The steppers sound like they're in full step mode. X16 will make them quieter and more accurate. Otherwise TMC2209 would be a solid choice. Hope this works out!
Cool project, thanks for sharing! The blue wax blocks in the video clip at the beginning look like machinable wax. It's cheap, already cast into blocks, and machines very nicely.
Maybe try with "hard wax" used for hair removal. It melts at around 45C and is harder than standard candle wax. Also I don't think this face method make real "flat" surface, as the razor blade kinda jumps up and down in this linear motion? Maybe try moving it a bit in cutting direction, and then back to release material, and back and forth?
If you see the veritasium video they use some kind of interphase liquid on the wax block, maybe some kind of oil. Also, as a medical student, that machine reminds me to a kind of microtome, maybe you need smaller movements in order to succeed.
Set micro steps to bigger rezolution sttepers will move more smoothly and reduce vibration improving finish
If your goals is to make a machine to only cut that pattern, a Cartesian CNC is probably not the thing you want.
I would see something more like a linear engine or a shaper.
The issue mechanical here is that you are using a direct drive that doesn't have much precision to do a very precise task. If you are dead set on a Cartesian machine at the very least use pantographs to divide the movement of your screws into something minuscule.
But custom kinetics sounds more adapted here. Using a pantograph pushed up by a roller or a pin attached to a radially slotted wheel to adjust de amplitude, letting gravity applying the carving force. A screw to advance the work is sound but it needs to be in a single direction to not suffer from the backlash. For that end, make the carving axis be at an angle compared to the advance so you only need to move a single axis and single direction as you pattern the work.
And then once you machine is adapted to the task, you can even start to ask yourself the question, "why use 2 motors instead of coupling the advance to carve ?" and realize that you don't even need to have any CNC involvement here by having the motor that moved the carving pantograph also move a wheel with a link that ratchets the advance screw.
But frankly that point is quite optional, it adds quite a bit of complexity while a stepper driven screw is plenty enough as long as the screen is only supposed to move in a single direction.
There is also the issue of the wax itself not being adapted to what you are asking of it, but I have no good informed insight about that appart from suggesting you to contact people from the wax scripting community.
Cool idea and project. I think pushing the knife in can be a bit problematic, when cutting stuff by hand it usually gets a lot easier by moving the blade along its length.
Someone mentioned a pantograph, I’ve been thinking about that for a while using my 3printer to control it. But I’ve never come up with a use for it. Maybe this would be a good match? Or just using your 3dprinter as the cnc with a spinning cutter and some way to increase the resolution in one axis to advance the blade in tiny increments.
The steppers sound like they're in full step mode. X16 will make them quieter and more accurate. Otherwise TMC2209 would be a solid choice. Hope this works out!
I thought that the sound wouldn't be that big of a deal. But now that I've built it, it's really loud xD
Try machinging wax. It is much tougher compared to normal wax. Also turn on microstepping because currently your steps are too big
really cool
Music?
explaining: Particle Emission
rest: Lakey inspired