hey im a cabinet maker and hobby musician. listen to this man! wear your safety gear even if u think its not that loud. high pitch noise will kill ur hearing :) good job nikodem bartnik
I bought a similar machine just because. It sat un-used for a few months after assembly. When it came time to spray my field in the spring I discovered I didn't winterize the sprayer. The valve manifold was leaking. The rings that hold the o-rings between manifold sections cracked when the water froze. I could not find a part number to order. I drew them in fusion360 and milled them out of delrin they threw away at work. They worked perfectly. Good thing too. A new manifold and valves would cost more than I paid for the sprayer.
When routing the edge/profile of the PCB, use a much smaller end mill. I'm using an OpenBuilds Mini Mill, so kinda similar to yours, and I used a 1.5mm bit with two passes (0.9mm per pass). Makes much less dust, which is a good thing because FR4 dust is nasty stuff. On small boards I have FlatCam create two 1.5mm tabs to hold the board in place when routing. The smaller the tabs the less cleanup afterwards. On larger boards, 4 tabs.
The way to anchor sheets: Do not use the clamps that came with it, not without adding spacers. You first cut a strip, 15mm width from the plywood. Then you cut that strip to 4 pieces. Stick those under the end of the clamp. Now you will apply pressure from top, not from the sides. If you use the clamps that came with the machine, any material you use has a tendency to buckle.. as can be seen in the video, and this lowers the qualit HELL of a lot as your cuts are never the same depth everywhere. Even better would be spacers that are just a little but thicker than the workpiece, so that the force actually tries to stretch the piece, not push it together. I 3D print spacers, it is faster that way and i can get the exact kind i need. I also 3D print custom clamps when needed.. Especially with PCBs it is a must.. You have to have perfectly even and flat plates. And it is far easier and you get better quality if you use a flatend mill bits, 0.8mm is strong enough. This makes the designing a bit more difficult but is really not a big problem. You do have to cut some traces with hand but it can do cuts for thruhole chips. I'm sure there is a way to use both, flatend bits for most traces and use carving to touch up places the big bit could not do.
6:20 - as far as I know, "laser plywood" means that there is no knots and holes, even in the inside layers. It makes for a cleaner, more stable cuts. Knots could disperse the laser beam and the cut won't be deep or straight enough. I once had a case when we tried to cut 2mm aviation plywood (also called aircraft plywood) and no matter the settings, we just could not cut it throught. But same settings were cutting throught 8mm standard plywood without any problems. The glue and finish used on the aviation plywood made it impossible to cut.
Yeah, different glues can make a big difference in how easy the plywood is to cut, and people in my local maker space have reported a fair bit of variation in "ordinary plywood", so I'd also guess that "laser plywood" is specifically avoiding the hard-to-cut glues. In any case, I seriously doubt it would have a lot of effect on how it mills.
Also be careful cutting anything not 'certified' for laser cutting. Some glues/plastics etc can be pretty nasty for you when lasered if you breath it in.
It's a waste of money. I know, i did it. The money you spend making it more rigid and capable is better invested in something like a dremel CNC, really. I've spend hundred on a new spindle, linear rails, Z axis and another control card, it's not worth it, i've lost in surface area a for the price i could have build something bigger and better.
@@SaitoGray True, and you probably made it worst, because any upgrade have consequences. For example a "better" spindle add more weight on the small guides and will apply more torque to the bit which the structure cannot hold. It's wasting.time and money IMHO. The good machines that can benefits on upgrades are not very frequent. Long story short, cheap machines do not deserve upgrades. The Dremel CNC have the same design issues thant the 3018, just in a different scale. Don't expect much about it. There's no secret about CNC routers : you want a heavy structure, high torque, good guides and transmission. Then Dremel CNC use standard cheap components assembled without any calculation. Easy to know, because different parts and/or dimensions would have been used instead. Look at trade machines. If they're built like there are, it is at purpose. Buy/build machines that looks like trade ones. My tow cents.
@@axelSixtySix I replaced the guide by aluminium extrusion and linear rails, but it didn't make it a way better machine anyway. For the price i could be well into building a PrintNC which is WAY more rigid and capable. The 3080 is a nice toy for soft wood, but it fall short for everything else, it's a shame.
@@SaitoGray You're right mate. "Upgrades" are wasted money most of the time as changing a component or two do not solve overall issues. So you change one, then another, and so on but you do not get a much better machine unless to change everything. The PrintNC is probably much better but there's still some 3D printed structural parts like motor/transmission mounts so It is not flawless too. To me that's design issues, despite the name of the machine.3D printed parts are welcome for end stops mounts, covers, anything not structural obviously. But avoid it at all cost for anything that requires precision or strength.
I accidentally shorted the motherboard on my one of these and fried it, ended up getting a much nicer board with a touchscreen and WiFi control panel for like ~$50 and it was absolutely worth it
Great going, Niko. Looks like a useful tool there. (Not only for making parts, but to add to your knowledge base). Thank you for making and posting this video.
Interesting, my cheap CNC came with a different board that had a header with pins for the probe. Worth shopping around because the probing feature works really well.
@@Noadvantage246 I have both, while the laser is more precise it essentially burns the surface of the metal; the CNC creates an engraving that is still shiny at different angles, much more suitable for jewellery in a lot of applications
That's why I think this machine is pretty interesting for some people, without huge money and time investment you can check if this hobby is for you, later you can just upgrade to a better machine
I saw when you tried to cut the acrylic and wonder if you get a better result of use climb milling instead conventional milling. I'm sure that you will get better results.
every few months i'm considering getting a small cnc machine, then I watch a video like yours, and remember that the noise level doesn't go well with a rental apartment.
I did a lot of circuit board on a cnc. I always used a scrap of wood and did a surface cut to get a flat level surface. Adhere the board to this scrap using double sided tape over all the surface. Any hardware fixtures cause the board to bend slightly.
Thank you! I've never been interested in CNC, but your video is well done, gives an interesting insight and such a small, inexpensive device is certainly suitable for educational purposes! 👍😃
You can learn CNC/CAM on it, which is the best part. I've put a 5.5W diode laser on mine and that works excellent for cutting cardboard and wood engraving. I'm going to be trying to upgrade mine over the next few months.
You can learn CNC/CAM with just a PC. You don't actually have to run a job. There's simulators available anyways. CAD/CAM is why I don't use my CNC machine. I just don't like doing it.
Wouldn't it be an idea to have a probe instead of a flute while in the "debugging" phase? With a sensor that detects when sideways forces would break the flute due to G-code issues that unexpectedly move the bed or drill too abruptly.
I've had the exact same one and threw it out, even for learning its crappy you just spend a massive amount of time trying to make it work but it never does. You're better off just buying a $200 SLA 3D printer or you can get PCBs professionally made and shipped to you for $25 in 3 days.
Not sure what board that is or what firmware you're using, but I wound up using the Z limit switch pins for probing on a similar machine. I did have to reflash the firmware, but the vendor for my machine did provide all the configuration and firmware files. Some controllers will let you reassign input pins without flashing.
I don't understand why you would fix a machine parallel issue with a probe and z stepper tweaks. Seems like a good way to make more potential problems in the future. Then again it's cheaper and people already have enough issues with manual bed leveling on 3d printers.
Cnc aside, I'd keep wearing the safety gear mate because the way you have it clamped is wrong and the job may move. The hold down bolts have to past centre (closer to the workpiece) that way their is more down force on the job.
off to the right on my computer screen is an ad for plans to build a cnc for less than 900 dollars.... all I could think was "why?" if I can get one prebuilt for under 200....
Wow! Your step down is 1mm deep to engrave things? I was doing aluminum really well on a full size CNC with 0.002" - about 0.05mm. This would explain why you broke your bits engraving.
I have had my cheap CNC for several years now, I just finished adding end stop to it earlier today. Not tested yet, as I have not decided how I want to add the Z stops to it. I think I will just glue the microswitches on, however that for me is not a great idea. I should be able to test it with in the next few days, depending on what else I need to get done. What software did you say you used for it? PCB are my goal, though I may make a few molds for a mini injection mold machine. The largest mold will be about the size of your tray you cut with it.
Bought one about a year ago. Have not done shit with it... 3D printer is just too convenient, compared to the amount of preparations you need to do with CNC, and the time it takes is quite long with hobby CNC, that makes a lot of noise. I have a noise proofed enclosure now but.. the hassle is too much, when 3D printer is just too easy and convenient.. Also the workspace is very, very limiting, mainly in the Z axis. You have basically 40mm of room to work with, minus your bit length.. Over 30mm is difficult. I do plan to extend the Z axis one day, basically i'll drop the bed down by 20mm (quite easy, only needs two pieces of 3 or 4 slot alu profile). I don't need to hit the bed with the bit, i can always put stuff in between but the other limit, height.. i can't do anything about it. From that point of view, this is AWFUL design to anyone who isn't basically just carving sheets. It can do more difficult tasks but the height.. just is awfully designed. The way to see what height you can work with it is: Max Z - 5mm for safety before you hit the stops - 5mm safety margins for moving the head above the piece - bit length. So, 45mm becomes 30mm, max and even that is difficult as you are NOT working with a coordinate system where home is at a safe location... There are no end limits in any axis, it will run to the end and skip steps.. and if it does that, then it will run the bit to the piece, or worse, to the bed the next time it comes down again. Accuracy is quite decent, if you do a slow final pass. And you can put any length piece thru it, as long as it is not more than 300mm width. That is VERY nice feature that is not mentioned anywhere..
Hi Niko thanks for the viideo YES please a flatcam video on Dual sided PCB's and maybe to make it even more challenging how about taking out solder mask?
Amazing bargain/learning-tool. Dumbfounded as to how the supplier can manufacture these parts (including electronics, tooling and tools!) and ship it to you for $200! WOW!
I bought the same thing, but purely just for its upgrading and tweaking potential. Out of the box it's meh, but with just some creativity and cheap parts, you can do a lot more with it! :)
the plastic parts are the weakness of these machines but for $60 you can upgrade the z axis. the steppers are too weak and the 775 spindle motor is a joke.they need to have the spindle upgraded to atleast 500 watt spindle. i put the bigtreetech closed loop motor upgrades on 92ozin motors. then after all that is upgraded you need to go through every wire and install ferrites to help cut down on EMI. then get a new powersupply the powerbrick supplied will not handle the bigger motors. after all of that you have a machine that if you use it at slow speeds to where youre burning bits you can carve but the resin uprights always have that springy tendencies and will break bits. for me i used it as a basic learning machine to see if i liked the hobby which i did even though i had well over $1k into the $239 original purchase machine to make some small signs. i got it to be extremely reliable as a laser engraver. i went with a 9014 frame and professionally outfitted electronics rig for it and im still assembling it now.
I really no nothing about CNC milling but I want to learn. I am interested in making custom RC car parts from plastic. Would this be a good beginner machine for that?
@@dieselphiend I don't use metric. I am a US Customary shop here. My CNC is better than a thousandth of an inch repeatable. My only real complaint is I need a better spindle for it. I have one of those "500W" Chinese air cooled electric spindles. Which is more like a 100W spindle. I measured it loaded up and never saw it draw more than that. I had a 600W router on it and that was very powerful but the noise drove me up the wall. One drawback of my design is the Y axis is a large piece of plywood and it acts like a soundboard. It really amplifies spindle noise.
What is the runout of the spindle? I have been tempted to buy one of these cheap mills for PCB milling. I have a home made CNC with a Dremel style rotary tool (cheap brand - not Dremel or higher) - the "collet" (a generous word to describe the tool holder) and bearings leave much to be desired. I dare not mill PCB traces less than 2mm wide and need to leave at least 1mm between traces to ensure the end result is usable.
I have a similar machine and my run out was terrible. They seem to be super inconsistent regardless of where you get them. Some have almost no run out and others you can see the wobble. I got mine to learn and for what I spent vs. what I learned, it was a so so deal. Good luck.
My diy cnc has slightly bigger work field, but it costs me 10 times more to build it. I'm using grinded beefy steel tubes and plates together with cheap linear rails, cheap ballscrews, cheap nema23 4.2a motors and cheap 2.2kw water cld spindle.
It is tough to stay on budget with a home build. It sounds to me like you bought all the pricey stuff. It can be tricky to get peak performance out of stepper motors. Just because they're running doesn't mean they're running as good as they could. You're better off with too little current rather than too much. Best off with just the right current. Although with cheap motors there's not much confidence in specs.
@@1pcfred I didn't say "home build", I said "diy". Huge difference, unless you have machining shop at your home together with set of measuring tools that worth like a new car. I make and sell cutting-bending CNC machines since 2009, made conveyors also. I've recently started the channel and uploaded few videos of machines that I've made in the past, you can see what I mean. I have heavy milling, grinding and many other machines for working with steel in the shop, so "home build" isn't the right word. Budget of machines that I make depends on the customer... What I wanted to say in my message is that $200 machine and $2000 machine and $20K machine can have the same work field, and solid 20K machine will work 24/7 during a century, 2K machine made of steel will work tens of years, while $200 machine made of recycled beer cans will work for a month, then you'll feed it to the garbage can. Actually I really don't understand why this toy is called a "machine", and why they're calling a "spindle" that cheap motor with ER11 collet attached to the shaft. Educational cutting toy for $200 is the correct word.
@@covad7686 While the machine here certainly has shortcomings it actually does work and would likely do what it is doing for a fair amount of time. I am not going to argue the semantic difference between DIY and home build as there is none. There is no set amount of tools involved in either.
@@1pcfred Yes, English language is quite poor, I'm glad that it's not my native. Rubber/wooden hammer is also a hammer, but can a blacksmith use it for forging? Can you use these hammers for nails? RC toy truck also has some properties of a truck, but can you use it to move cargo like a real truck does? Printer prints paper and has stepper motors, linear rails and so on, some of them are far more rigid than this "$200 cnc tool" but we don't call them cnc machine, don't we? From such position any motor can be called a spindle, while that 400watt motors doesn't even has properties of the spindle... it's engraving tool. Regarding DIY and home build... Any house has a kitchen, from some point of view every kitchen is a chemistry lab, you can continue thinking about it and will get to the point where some complicated DIY projects will require tools and equipment that won't fit not only in the kitchen but also won't fit in the house. So maybe i'm wrong, and word "machine" is good and fits for all types of mechanisms, and this word can also be used for toys like the one in this video... Some people can fly to other galaxies in their dreams, they've seen different planets there, but can we call them astronauts? :)
I bought the exact same machine few years back. Then I broke the usb slot of the arduino and lost any connection with the pc. I have an extra arduino but I don’t have any idea of how to take the old code from the old arduino and use it on the new one (if that makes any sense). Any ideas? Thanx
If i can cnc a les paul guitar body I want it im starting a stringed instrument business i need something big enough and cheap i really don't want to use a router on my own
Hi, I want to order the parts for your indymill from your website. Do you know when you will have the plates back in stock? Also what Z axis travel does the indymill have please?
You are doing well, but you have to study what parameters to use and what tools for plastic, wood and iron are not the same furthermore, with such a small milling cutter, the revolutions should go up to 10,000, with a 5 cm one up to 6,000, but as I write, be careful about which tool you have for which type of material.
To jak w końcu podłączyłeś tą sondę? Lutowałeś przewód do nóżki kontrolera? Rysuję płytki w KiCADdzie, wiesz może jak tam wygląda z generowaniem gcode? Pozdrawiam Marcin
Tak, przylutowałem przewód do nóżki i zabezpieczyłem klejem na gorąco żeby nie odpadło. Też teraz robię płytki w KiCadzie, możesz wygenerować pliki produkcyjne a następnie na ich podstawie przygotować Gcode w programie Flatcam
@@nikodembartnik do tej pory wysyłałem pliki gerber do jlcpcb. Zacząłem się interesować frezowaniem płytek i teraz stoję przed dylematem czy kupić frezarkę CNC do tego celu, czy może wykorzystać drukarkę Ender 3 i kupić tylko wrzeciono. Masz z tym jakieś doświadczenia? Pozdrawiam Marcin
Yo, dude! I see you like Arduino, electronics and stuff. Why don't you look into CPU architecture and try building things like that, I think you'll like it. Maybe you could make an Arduino from scratch and build projects with your own hardware! Love your stuff by the way.
@@MudMotorsMax I see that Nikodem likes building things from scratch to find out how they work. In this video ua-cam.com/video/EXIOdyvGQQg/v-deo.html Nikodem builds an Arduino using pre-bought parts( Atmega328p as the main part). I suggested that he could further his knowledge by trying to build a CPU from scratch using transistors and using that to build a microcontroller that could be used as the Atmega328p and that could be used to make a simple Arduino
How long do these engraving bits last when cutting FR4 fiberglass PCBs? I know they use diamond tip drill bits for PCB drilling, but for cutting? I think this is why they cut fiberglass and carbon fiber with water-jets. These materials wear-out any bit real quick and eat into any profit.
hey im a cabinet maker and hobby musician. listen to this man! wear your safety gear even if u think its not that loud. high pitch noise will kill ur hearing :)
good job nikodem bartnik
Definatly interested in the PCB milling video you mentioned. Hopefully there will be enough people want to see it.
Yes, I would appreciate your perspective on how to learn FlatCAM and how to approach ones first project.
I bought a similar machine just because. It sat un-used for a few months after assembly. When it came time to spray my field in the spring I discovered I didn't winterize the sprayer. The valve manifold was leaking. The rings that hold the o-rings between manifold sections cracked when the water froze. I could not find a part number to order. I drew them in fusion360 and milled them out of delrin they threw away at work. They worked perfectly. Good thing too. A new manifold and valves would cost more than I paid for the sprayer.
When routing the edge/profile of the PCB, use a much smaller end mill. I'm using an OpenBuilds Mini Mill, so kinda similar to yours, and I used a 1.5mm bit with two passes (0.9mm per pass). Makes much less dust, which is a good thing because FR4 dust is nasty stuff. On small boards I have FlatCam create two 1.5mm tabs to hold the board in place when routing. The smaller the tabs the less cleanup afterwards. On larger boards, 4 tabs.
The way to anchor sheets: Do not use the clamps that came with it, not without adding spacers. You first cut a strip, 15mm width from the plywood. Then you cut that strip to 4 pieces. Stick those under the end of the clamp. Now you will apply pressure from top, not from the sides. If you use the clamps that came with the machine, any material you use has a tendency to buckle.. as can be seen in the video, and this lowers the qualit HELL of a lot as your cuts are never the same depth everywhere. Even better would be spacers that are just a little but thicker than the workpiece, so that the force actually tries to stretch the piece, not push it together.
I 3D print spacers, it is faster that way and i can get the exact kind i need. I also 3D print custom clamps when needed.. Especially with PCBs it is a must.. You have to have perfectly even and flat plates. And it is far easier and you get better quality if you use a flatend mill bits, 0.8mm is strong enough. This makes the designing a bit more difficult but is really not a big problem. You do have to cut some traces with hand but it can do cuts for thruhole chips. I'm sure there is a way to use both, flatend bits for most traces and use carving to touch up places the big bit could not do.
6:20 - as far as I know, "laser plywood" means that there is no knots and holes, even in the inside layers. It makes for a cleaner, more stable cuts. Knots could disperse the laser beam and the cut won't be deep or straight enough.
I once had a case when we tried to cut 2mm aviation plywood (also called aircraft plywood) and no matter the settings, we just could not cut it throught. But same settings were cutting throught 8mm standard plywood without any problems. The glue and finish used on the aviation plywood made it impossible to cut.
Yeah, different glues can make a big difference in how easy the plywood is to cut, and people in my local maker space have reported a fair bit of variation in "ordinary plywood", so I'd also guess that "laser plywood" is specifically avoiding the hard-to-cut glues. In any case, I seriously doubt it would have a lot of effect on how it mills.
What kinda aircraft were you building with that?
Also be careful cutting anything not 'certified' for laser cutting. Some glues/plastics etc can be pretty nasty for you when lasered if you breath it in.
i would really like to see you make this cnc even better with upgrades but still budget
friendly.
It's a waste of money. I know, i did it.
The money you spend making it more rigid and capable is better invested in something like a dremel CNC, really. I've spend hundred on a new spindle, linear rails, Z axis and another control card, it's not worth it, i've lost in surface area a for the price i could have build something bigger and better.
@@SaitoGray True, and you probably made it worst, because any upgrade have consequences. For example a "better" spindle add more weight on the small guides and will apply more torque to the bit which the structure cannot hold. It's wasting.time and money IMHO. The good machines that can benefits on upgrades are not very frequent. Long story short, cheap machines do not deserve upgrades.
The Dremel CNC have the same design issues thant the 3018, just in a different scale. Don't expect much about it. There's no secret about CNC routers : you want a heavy structure, high torque, good guides and transmission. Then Dremel CNC use standard cheap components assembled without any calculation. Easy to know, because different parts and/or dimensions would have been used instead. Look at trade machines. If they're built like there are, it is at purpose. Buy/build machines that looks like trade ones. My tow cents.
@@axelSixtySix I replaced the guide by aluminium extrusion and linear rails, but it didn't make it a way better machine anyway.
For the price i could be well into building a PrintNC which is WAY more rigid and capable.
The 3080 is a nice toy for soft wood, but it fall short for everything else, it's a shame.
@@SaitoGray You're right mate. "Upgrades" are wasted money most of the time as changing a component or two do not solve overall issues. So you change one, then another, and so on but you do not get a much better machine unless to change everything.
The PrintNC is probably much better but there's still some 3D printed structural parts like motor/transmission mounts so It is not flawless too. To me that's design issues, despite the name of the machine.3D printed parts are welcome for end stops mounts, covers, anything not structural obviously. But avoid it at all cost for anything that requires precision or strength.
I accidentally shorted the motherboard on my one of these and fried it, ended up getting a much nicer board with a touchscreen and WiFi control panel for like ~$50 and it was absolutely worth it
Definately good enough to stirr my noodles.
I stir fries with this bad boy
That is a cool little mill, for $200 that's actually a very good result
Great going, Niko. Looks like a useful tool there. (Not only for making parts, but to add to your knowledge base). Thank you for making and posting this video.
Interesting, my cheap CNC came with a different board that had a header with pins for the probe. Worth shopping around because the probing feature works really well.
Have a link to your machine?
As a jewelers tool for etching on precious metal it looks delicate and capable. I could find many uses for such a machine.
Laser etching would still be better and more precise
@@Noadvantage246 I have both, while the laser is more precise it essentially burns the surface of the metal; the CNC creates an engraving that is still shiny at different angles, much more suitable for jewellery in a lot of applications
The 3018 was my first CNC after learning and loving this Hobby i build the MPCNC PRIMO
Thanks die your video
That's why I think this machine is pretty interesting for some people, without huge money and time investment you can check if this hobby is for you, later you can just upgrade to a better machine
I am Impressed with your knowledge and the why you communicate. Great job. Keep it up.
I saw when you tried to cut the acrylic and wonder if you get a better result of use climb milling instead conventional milling. I'm sure that you will get better results.
every few months i'm considering getting a small cnc machine, then I watch a video like yours, and remember that the noise level doesn't go well with a rental apartment.
You can go overkill with soundproofing, but i bet the main problem will be vibrations.
I did a lot of circuit board on a cnc. I always used a scrap of wood and did a surface cut to get a flat level surface. Adhere the board to this scrap using double sided tape over all the surface. Any hardware fixtures cause the board to bend slightly.
I did something similar. I milled a piece of HDPE on my machine then just glue PCB to it with hot glue. A couple beads on the edges holds it down.
Thank you! I've never been interested in CNC, but your video is well done, gives an interesting insight and such a small, inexpensive device is certainly suitable for educational purposes! 👍😃
You can learn CNC/CAM on it, which is the best part.
I've put a 5.5W diode laser on mine and that works excellent for cutting cardboard and wood engraving.
I'm going to be trying to upgrade mine over the next few months.
You can learn CNC/CAM with just a PC. You don't actually have to run a job. There's simulators available anyways. CAD/CAM is why I don't use my CNC machine. I just don't like doing it.
I have a 3018 that just has an arduino nano style board on top of the mainboard, which exposes the A5 probe pin nicely.
Small PCB for my drone is good idea! Great video! Thank you! USA 🇺🇸
When cutting acrylic i would suggest removing the protective film since it will melt and stick to your router bit ruining your result
Spray a bit of alcohol will cool the acrylic to make it brittle again.
The alcohol trick works for acrylic and aluminum.
Just don't over do it.
You need to use the clamps correctly. They should be parallel to the table.
Wouldn't it be an idea to have a probe instead of a flute while in the "debugging" phase? With a sensor that detects when sideways forces would break the flute due to G-code issues that unexpectedly move the bed or drill too abruptly.
I've had the exact same one and threw it out, even for learning its crappy you just spend a massive amount of time trying to make it work but it never does. You're better off just buying a $200 SLA 3D printer or you can get PCBs professionally made and shipped to you for $25 in 3 days.
Not sure what board that is or what firmware you're using, but I wound up using the Z limit switch pins for probing on a similar machine. I did have to reflash the firmware, but the vendor for my machine did provide all the configuration and firmware files. Some controllers will let you reassign input pins without flashing.
I don't understand why you would fix a machine parallel issue with a probe and z stepper tweaks. Seems like a good way to make more potential problems in the future. Then again it's cheaper and people already have enough issues with manual bed leveling on 3d printers.
Cnc aside, I'd keep wearing the safety gear mate because the way you have it clamped is wrong and the job may move. The hold down bolts have to past centre (closer to the workpiece) that way their is more down force on the job.
off to the right on my computer screen is an ad for plans to build a cnc for less than 900 dollars.... all I could think was "why?" if I can get one prebuilt for under 200....
Wow! Your step down is 1mm deep to engrave things? I was doing aluminum really well on a full size CNC with 0.002" - about 0.05mm.
This would explain why you broke your bits engraving.
What are you using? Tormach? Haas?
Add some coolant and a carbide tool. You could probably mill your own lowers.
A laser grade plywood is checked for missing pieces of wood which made air pockets. These pockets can start a fire.
I have had my cheap CNC for several years now, I just finished adding end stop to it earlier today. Not tested yet, as I have not decided how I want to add the Z stops to it. I think I will just glue the microswitches on, however that for me is not a great idea.
I should be able to test it with in the next few days, depending on what else I need to get done.
What software did you say you used for it?
PCB are my goal, though I may make a few molds for a mini injection mold machine.
The largest mold will be about the size of your tray you cut with it.
Bought one about a year ago. Have not done shit with it... 3D printer is just too convenient, compared to the amount of preparations you need to do with CNC, and the time it takes is quite long with hobby CNC, that makes a lot of noise. I have a noise proofed enclosure now but.. the hassle is too much, when 3D printer is just too easy and convenient..
Also the workspace is very, very limiting, mainly in the Z axis. You have basically 40mm of room to work with, minus your bit length.. Over 30mm is difficult. I do plan to extend the Z axis one day, basically i'll drop the bed down by 20mm (quite easy, only needs two pieces of 3 or 4 slot alu profile). I don't need to hit the bed with the bit, i can always put stuff in between but the other limit, height.. i can't do anything about it. From that point of view, this is AWFUL design to anyone who isn't basically just carving sheets. It can do more difficult tasks but the height.. just is awfully designed. The way to see what height you can work with it is:
Max Z - 5mm for safety before you hit the stops - 5mm safety margins for moving the head above the piece - bit length. So, 45mm becomes 30mm, max and even that is difficult as you are NOT working with a coordinate system where home is at a safe location... There are no end limits in any axis, it will run to the end and skip steps.. and if it does that, then it will run the bit to the piece, or worse, to the bed the next time it comes down again.
Accuracy is quite decent, if you do a slow final pass. And you can put any length piece thru it, as long as it is not more than 300mm width. That is VERY nice feature that is not mentioned anywhere..
Hi Niko thanks for the viideo YES please a flatcam video on Dual sided PCB's and maybe to make it even more challenging how about taking out solder mask?
Amazing bargain/learning-tool.
Dumbfounded as to how the supplier can manufacture these parts (including electronics, tooling and tools!) and ship it to you for $200!
WOW!
cant wait to see the upgrades
I bought the same thing, but purely just for its upgrading and tweaking potential.
Out of the box it's meh, but with just some creativity and cheap parts, you can do a lot more with it! :)
Indeed! I feel like especially for PCB prototypes with just a few upgrades it may be an amazing machine
pls... could you elaborate a bit? what kind of upgrades could be advisible to it? ... I plan to get one of those...
the plastic parts are the weakness of these machines but for $60 you can upgrade the z axis. the steppers are too weak and the 775 spindle motor is a joke.they need to have the spindle upgraded to atleast 500 watt spindle. i put the bigtreetech closed loop motor upgrades on 92ozin motors. then after all that is upgraded you need to go through every wire and install ferrites to help cut down on EMI. then get a new powersupply the powerbrick supplied will not handle the bigger motors. after all of that you have a machine that if you use it at slow speeds to where youre burning bits you can carve but the resin uprights always have that springy tendencies and will break bits. for me i used it as a basic learning machine to see if i liked the hobby which i did even though i had well over $1k into the $239 original purchase machine to make some small signs. i got it to be extremely reliable as a laser engraver. i went with a 9014 frame and professionally outfitted electronics rig for it and im still assembling it now.
Are you renting a space to make your workshop in? Is it like a garage away from your house?
I really no nothing about CNC milling but I want to learn. I am interested in making custom RC car parts from plastic. Would this be a good beginner machine for that?
Awesome video! I'm looking forward to putting mine together!
Epoxy granite is a very interesting material for DIY'ing your own CNC equipment.
So is pine and plywood.
@@1pcfred What metrics are you using?
@@dieselphiend I don't use metric. I am a US Customary shop here. My CNC is better than a thousandth of an inch repeatable. My only real complaint is I need a better spindle for it. I have one of those "500W" Chinese air cooled electric spindles. Which is more like a 100W spindle. I measured it loaded up and never saw it draw more than that. I had a 600W router on it and that was very powerful but the noise drove me up the wall. One drawback of my design is the Y axis is a large piece of plywood and it acts like a soundboard. It really amplifies spindle noise.
@@1pcfred Nice.
@@dieselphiend it was a fun project.
Thank you < That bit that broke look like it was not turning ...
What is the runout of the spindle? I have been tempted to buy one of these cheap mills for PCB milling. I have a home made CNC with a Dremel style rotary tool (cheap brand - not Dremel or higher) - the "collet" (a generous word to describe the tool holder) and bearings leave much to be desired. I dare not mill PCB traces less than 2mm wide and need to leave at least 1mm between traces to ensure the end result is usable.
I have a similar machine and my run out was terrible. They seem to be super inconsistent regardless of where you get them. Some have almost no run out and others you can see the wobble. I got mine to learn and for what I spent vs. what I learned, it was a so so deal. Good luck.
I'm a CNC machinist and the tools your using for wood isn't the right choice you should go with a 3 flute
Sir, it will be good if you make tutorial for PCB milling using flatcam
Thanks!!! I am making your CNC Dremel. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
It can also be a laser engraver and a drawing machine.
My diy cnc has slightly bigger work field, but it costs me 10 times more to build it. I'm using grinded beefy steel tubes and plates together with cheap linear rails, cheap ballscrews, cheap nema23 4.2a motors and cheap 2.2kw water cld spindle.
It is tough to stay on budget with a home build. It sounds to me like you bought all the pricey stuff. It can be tricky to get peak performance out of stepper motors. Just because they're running doesn't mean they're running as good as they could. You're better off with too little current rather than too much. Best off with just the right current. Although with cheap motors there's not much confidence in specs.
@@1pcfred I didn't say "home build", I said "diy". Huge difference, unless you have machining shop at your home together with set of measuring tools that worth like a new car. I make and sell cutting-bending CNC machines since 2009, made conveyors also. I've recently started the channel and uploaded few videos of machines that I've made in the past, you can see what I mean. I have heavy milling, grinding and many other machines for working with steel in the shop, so "home build" isn't the right word. Budget of machines that I make depends on the customer... What I wanted to say in my message is that $200 machine and $2000 machine and $20K machine can have the same work field, and solid 20K machine will work 24/7 during a century, 2K machine made of steel will work tens of years, while $200 machine made of recycled beer cans will work for a month, then you'll feed it to the garbage can. Actually I really don't understand why this toy is called a "machine", and why they're calling a "spindle" that cheap motor with ER11 collet attached to the shaft. Educational cutting toy for $200 is the correct word.
@@covad7686 While the machine here certainly has shortcomings it actually does work and would likely do what it is doing for a fair amount of time. I am not going to argue the semantic difference between DIY and home build as there is none. There is no set amount of tools involved in either.
@@1pcfred Yes, English language is quite poor, I'm glad that it's not my native. Rubber/wooden hammer is also a hammer, but can a blacksmith use it for forging? Can you use these hammers for nails? RC toy truck also has some properties of a truck, but can you use it to move cargo like a real truck does? Printer prints paper and has stepper motors, linear rails and so on, some of them are far more rigid than this "$200 cnc tool" but we don't call them cnc machine, don't we? From such position any motor can be called a spindle, while that 400watt motors doesn't even has properties of the spindle... it's engraving tool. Regarding DIY and home build... Any house has a kitchen, from some point of view every kitchen is a chemistry lab, you can continue thinking about it and will get to the point where some complicated DIY projects will require tools and equipment that won't fit not only in the kitchen but also won't fit in the house. So maybe i'm wrong, and word "machine" is good and fits for all types of mechanisms, and this word can also be used for toys like the one in this video... Some people can fly to other galaxies in their dreams, they've seen different planets there, but can we call them astronauts? :)
@@covad7686 if you fly in your dreams then you're an astralnaut.
Can I just get a file with default settings cause mine does not work
Nice Video, thanks for your description of this small budget machine.
Nice video, one question: what do you do to level the pcb and have perfect cut, which kind of bit do you use? Regards.
Tutorial for make PCBs please 🥺
Hey mate is it possible to make this mashine 4 x the size sorry I'm very new to this. I want to beable to cut shapes out of foam board
Does UA-cam not allow for question marks in video titles?
Nice video :)
I bought the exact same machine few years back. Then I broke the usb slot of the arduino and lost any connection with the pc. I have an extra arduino but I don’t have any idea of how to take the old code from the old arduino and use it on the new one (if that makes any sense). Any ideas? Thanx
It should be designed so that a long object (maybe 5 feet long) may be mounted to the bed.
I have this CNC! The motherboard burnt out during the first cut!
Can I put a diamond bit on it and do it to stone?
4 flute that small into the wood? that's half of the problem... try single flute a higher feeds - it will go lot better
Sometimes when the image is flipped the motor cable just needs to be flipped around.
Can this machine be modified to increase the distance between the bit and the table, to allow for milling of taller things like project boxes?
You would have to make new machine side plates. This would also reduce machine rigidity.
Thanks for the demo.
Would this cut out foamboard?
If i can cnc a les paul guitar body I want it im starting a stringed instrument business i need something big enough and cheap i really don't want to use a router on my own
Hi, I want to order the parts for your indymill from your website. Do you know when you will have the plates back in stock? Also what Z axis travel does the indymill have please?
Hi, worst case scenario is that plates will be back in stock within 3 months, hopefully sooner. Usable space on the Z axis is about 115mm
Thank for the information, great video
Can I Make a phone case from aluminum with it
Great video can you help setup firmwRe
It supported mastercam?
Could you please share the settings what you used for different materials?
Check out the description :)
Thanks mate!
Is can you machine harden steel or built aluminum
Nice little machine!
There are 200$ CNCs with the probe pin connected. I got one of those.
You are doing well, but you have to study what parameters to use and what tools for plastic, wood and iron are not the same furthermore, with such a small milling cutter, the revolutions should go up to 10,000, with a 5 cm one up to 6,000, but as I write, be careful about which tool you have for which type of material.
To jak w końcu podłączyłeś tą sondę? Lutowałeś przewód do nóżki kontrolera? Rysuję płytki w KiCADdzie, wiesz może jak tam wygląda z generowaniem gcode? Pozdrawiam Marcin
Tak, przylutowałem przewód do nóżki i zabezpieczyłem klejem na gorąco żeby nie odpadło.
Też teraz robię płytki w KiCadzie, możesz wygenerować pliki produkcyjne a następnie na ich podstawie przygotować Gcode w programie Flatcam
@@nikodembartnik do tej pory wysyłałem pliki gerber do jlcpcb. Zacząłem się interesować frezowaniem płytek i teraz stoję przed dylematem czy kupić frezarkę CNC do tego celu, czy może wykorzystać drukarkę Ender 3 i kupić tylko wrzeciono. Masz z tym jakieś doświadczenia? Pozdrawiam Marcin
Yo, dude! I see you like Arduino, electronics and stuff. Why don't you look into CPU architecture and try building things like that, I think you'll like it. Maybe you could make an Arduino from scratch and build projects with your own hardware! Love your stuff by the way.
Explain please
@@MudMotorsMax I see that Nikodem likes building things from scratch to find out how they work. In this video ua-cam.com/video/EXIOdyvGQQg/v-deo.html Nikodem builds an Arduino using pre-bought parts( Atmega328p as the main part). I suggested that he could further his knowledge by trying to build a CPU from scratch using transistors and using that to build a microcontroller that could be used as the Atmega328p and that could be used to make a simple Arduino
Where I can find that machine I want to buy **
"A niechaj narodowie wżdy postronni znają, iż Polacy nie gęsi, iż swój język mają". Ale za film szacun.
Zasięg filmu nieporównywalnie większy :)
can you program with Vcarve ?
can it machine steel or aluminium?
Thanks for video keep going 🤠 greeting from Morocco*
Fantastic video!
How about Aluminum?
How long do these engraving bits last when cutting FR4 fiberglass PCBs? I know they use diamond tip drill bits for PCB drilling, but for cutting?
I think this is why they cut fiberglass and carbon fiber with water-jets. These materials wear-out any bit real quick and eat into any profit.
Hard to say as I am not cutting PCBs that often. So far I didn't face any problems with dull bits but often it's easy to break those engraving bits
Do płyteczek idealna :D
Thank you for the video.
What if you can stretch that cnc, And make it, Longer and wider?
They do sell versions that are longer and wider. That probably increases the instability that causes rough cuts, though.
It looks better built then the Ender-3
Now make it 3d printed 😎
Ok thanks
But there's no any ok to mill pcb without heightmap
For small PCBs it's totally fine
So buy the $300 one the?
Thank you, ist a Good Video !
Did you seem my 1500x1250 cnc I made my self
thank you
I like your version on thingiverse better.
What is name program cnc
How much did the standard DREMEL CNC cost you?
Mine cost 300€ with 90% made in EU parts