CNC Acrylic with 3018 - Cutting and Engraving a Raspberry Pi Case
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- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- A 3018 CNC Acrylic guide.
All measurement values are in mm of nothing else stated.
In this tutorial we will show you how to engrave, mill and cut acrylic plastic with the 3018 CNC. This guide applies for most compact CNC mills / budget CNC. We are going to make our own Raspberry Pi Zero case.
When cutting and engraving acrylics it is important to use the correct tools (bits), materials and feed rate.
The 3018 is small CNC engraver / cutter. It can engrave and cut a surface of 340x160x40mm.
1:57 Materials (Acrylic glass, Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite, Lucite, Perclax and Perspex) cast and extruded areylic
3:09 Bits / end mill
3:54 Feed Rate / speed
This guide CNC mill and CNC engrave acrylic / plastics.
This is how we make our Acrylic Raspberry Pi Zero Case.
Links to products (Affiliate links)
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Banggood (3018) - www.banggood.c...
Banggood (3018 Pro) - www.banggood.c...
End mill - www.banggood.c...
End mill - www.banggood.c...
AliExpress (3018) - s.click.aliexp...
All measurements are in mm if not stated!
this video has such an odd vibe. in a good way.
I just got a 3018 and am learning what I can with it. This video was very helpful.
Excellent Video content...but please you guys cracking me up while standing next to each other reading scripts and looking into the camera xD
Hehe... the humor element is included for free 😀🙃
But thank you for the feedback, we need it (as you might have noticed).
I was about to comment the same thing 😂
That's what make DIY Tech Bros
😂
Hello! I really enjoyed this useful information! I have a channel in the same niche (but in French) and of similar size! I'm definitely following you from now on! =)
I have the 3018 as well and when trying to engrave onto some acrylic, I get different problems on each attempt. It's really frustrating. Sometimes it seems that the bit doesn't raise by enough to clear the engraving, gets snagged and then the rest of the engraving is offset sometimes but more than a centimetre. Do you have any tips for this particular problem?
Thanks for the info. I bought the machine for cutting 2/3mm acrylic. So far i've had a couple lasers and 3d printers, this is the next logical step.
Very cool!
Shall I pinch you to have a smile ? Happy new year though.
Hehe... message received 🤣😀
So you go 1000 mm/ min and 2mm stepdown for each pass?? That's super fast
Are there any special bits for encraving acrylic or these bits can be also used?
When you are engraving you can stay very shallow, so less heat is generated and less will stick to the bit. So you can use most bits. But a bull nose drill (rounded end) bit is very effective!
Melting plastics is always annoying, no matter how expensive the machine. Something I used to is a retract the tool above the material to get rid of unwanted long pieces of polymer that wrap around the tool. Do that with every pass.
In your experience, what tolerances can you achieve with the machine?
Well, we use it for milling PCBs cutting only 0.1 mm deep - so for the price I would say amazing! Check out our PCB videos :-)
Veldig hjelpsomt! Takk!
Excellent , can you tell me please , what is the program you used to generate g code for cnc ?
Hi!
If you are new to CNC I would recommend Easel by Inventables. It’s web based, free and easy to use. I have mixed results using it as a Gcode sender, but as a easy CAD it works great! easel.inventables.com/
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing!
Great video bros 👍
Thank you :-)
For an acrylic sign, do you just slightly engrave the acrylic, cut all the way through, or cut half way?.
Just engrave the surface!
@@DIYTECHBROS Thanks for your help!
Excellent video! Your 3018 CNC is working so smoothly. I recently built a MPCNC to get the extra workspace of about 320mm x320mm. I am totally new to CNC and began testing and learning how to create tool paths using EstlCam and then plotting it out using a pen. I just tried cutting a 40mm x40mm 3mm thick Acrylic piece as my very first real test :) It didn't go too well. I followed mostly your settings for Feed Rate and Speed. The acrylic I am using is similar to the one you used with a blue plastic film. I am using a single flute 1/8 inch 3.17mm bit. I am using a Demel like rotary spindle and set the speed to 15000 rpm. The finished job did not go as smooth as in your video. I used a plunge rate of 1mm, i think it is too deep and was curious to find out what you depth you were using? And also I wasn't sure whether I should be choosing 2D Engraving or MIlling when designing in Fusion for making say an Acrylic case like the one you were machining?
Hi! When you say it did not go too well, what was the problem?
Depending on the problem, but if you are running it at 15K rpm a faster feed rate would in many cases be desirable!
The edges are very rough and it appears as though there is some melting. Big chunks of plastic were removed. Unlike how in your video, the same sized bit was cutting, very smoothly with tiny bits being removed in each pass. I think the problem might be my step down rate, i set it to go down 1mm so it would do 3 passes to cut through the 3mm depth. Please tell me what did you set the step down rate. Was it 0.25 or maybe 0.5mm?
yours rpm is too fast you melting it
Hi Guys,
I've been looking for a while for a video about cutting an acrylic case on a CNC.
That's a fantastic example.
I tried on my CNC which ended pretty much in frustration and broken bits. Ideally I need to use 2 mm bits as some of the holes are small. I have extruded acrylic and that's the only one I can find from my supplier.
I don't seem to find your links for the bits.
When trying different things I managed to do all the drilling and some cut circles perfectly but the main contour cut ended melting the acrylic on the bit at exactly feed and speeds.
do you have a link for the lube you are using?
do you happen to have the .tap file for your case. I would like to try it to demonstrate myself I can cut acrylic on my machine.
I see they way you did it and it's a beauty:)
Adrian
Excellent video! What spindle speed did you guys use? Can't seem to keep the acrylic from melting onto my router bits! Using a single flute 1.0mm router bit.
Hi! We are using the 24 V power supply that was in the kit, so about 7000 RPM.
Just make sure you are using actual acrylics.
I have never tried cutting acrylic with such a tiny bit, only 1 mm?
I some times use spray lube for drill bits when I cut softer plastic, and it works great! So thy that or just use CRC multilube :-)
😁👍
Whoa that's cool!
Interesting accent. May i ask where you're from?
Norway 🇳🇴
What happens with 4 flutes? I have a diy machine with a Chinese 500W DC spindle. It says 12K rpm but I wouldn't believe it even if it is spinning at 5K at 48 Volts.
Would it really make a difference if I used a 2 flute end mill? Thanks.
Hi!
Very simplified, 4 flutes is often for metals. So in most cases 2 flutes will be better!
@@DIYTECHBROS you mean hard metals I guess. Aluminum is almost at the same category of hard plastics that need 1 or 2 flutes, 3 maybe if the spindle is not too powerfull. The logic is the more hits at the material the more heat produced. Hence melting and warping.
CNC 3018 mirror image cutting problems what should I do
Not a problem! See the command $3 on this site github.com/gnea/grbl/wiki/Grbl-v1.1-Configuration
What is the maximum depth of acryl this machine can cut?
Each pass or in total?
In total it is about the depth of the bit or workheight.
How well do you think this 2018 machine will handle the white cast acrylic and the laser engraving in this transponder project?
cessna172sim.allanglen.com/docs/avionics/bendix-king-kt76c/
Milling acrylics, yes, no problem! What is it you want to engrave?
@@DIYTECHBROS If I do this project I will need to engrave the lettering onto the faceplate and buttons of the transponder project in the link. The faceplate will be painted black after the milling and prior to engraving. The laser only needs to remove the paint for the acrylic to show through. Wanted to be sure that the laser has good enough resolution for the small text. For reference, the faceplate is only about 1.6" (41mm) high by 6.5" (165mm) long. The smallest text is .075" (1.9mm) high.
@@kaellis8250 I have a 3018 pro (cnc mill + 5.5W laser) and I'm trying to do backlit front panels as well (I want to make a custom controller for Kerbal Space Program).
While I'm waiting for the cast acrylic to be delivered, I tried to experiment with laser engraving the text on the black-painted panels and the 5.5W blue laser works like a charm (I use lightburn).
I'm still experimenting with the CNC milling, but I got some results using Fusion360 and Universal Gcode Sender.
Terimakasih sarannya👏
No problem :)
are you two partners?
Bros in the channel name is referring to the fact that we are brothers!
What is the recommended feed rate and step down for MDF?
It's dependent on the bit type and MDF quality/type. Try searching for CNC feed tables on google :-)
:)
Thanks! Love those smilies of yours!
How long did it take to cut all the pieces?
Hi Martin! I don't remember exactly, but about 20 minutes. It all depends on how aggressive you want to be on the feed rate and depth, as well as the bit you are using. After switching to a single flute bit (link in the description) we were able to run it deeper. Since it's only cutting once every turn it gains the needed speed.
You gave the feed rate without units. What are they please - mm/minute?
Hello,can you help me please telling me what have you used as a CAS CAM software? This thing I can't do it in Fusion.Thank you
Hi!
We just used maker cam for this one.
@@DIYTECHBROS thank you very much. I didn't t find a better solution and I used a Contour path but it was a lot of work.
Hello,
I keep melting the acrylic :(.
Rotation? 7000? 9000?
And how much do you put in advance in min / min and plunge ?
It's only 7000 RPM.
But depth is very dependent on your bit. Single flute, double flute, bull nose and so on. A single flute allows the drill to build up needed speed for better cuts and less "filing". Filing will heat up and melt your materials. But, I would make sure that you are using proper acrylics. With a good bit it's hard to melt. You can use a cooling spray on the piece before milling - it will also help. Even CRC or WD-40 can help so that any heated material will not melt into other surfaces (kind a protective layer).
Did you publish the plans on your case too somewhere? Looks like a nice project to try :)
Hi! I'll get you the link to the pi case we modified. Searching for it, we'll post an update!
This is the file we used! BUT, we you have to scale it up to 133.3% (says so in the description, but we did not see that the first time). Also, making the CPU slot bigger is also a good idea. www.thingiverse.com/thing:1642636
Also, remember to rearrange the parts so that you can add tabs!
@@DIYTECHBROS Thanks for the update and heads up on the scaling. I probably would've missed too :)
"bros"
+1 :) nice video, but i've some questions:
- it seemed you placed a spoil/waste board (MDF?) below the workpiece is that correct?
- what is the 2 rods that you use to hold down the workpiece, it seemed those are self made?
- it seemed the machine is sitting in an enclosure ? the videos are zoomed in hence it isn't apparent if it is working within an enclosure.
(but i'd think an enclosure is useful as the milling would generate a lot of chips/dust and noise)
- what is the software used to generate the milling instructions? it seemed the software does it well by leaving bridges at the bottom layer so that double sided tapes is not needed to hold down the milled center piece
Hi Andrew!
- Yes, a spoil board is always a good idea. We use whatever we have closest to the machine. In this case we just used some plywood.
- You can just use the supplied clamps that come with the 3018. We had some left over angel aluminium pieces from a fence... It makes sliding the Plexiglass easier.
- We have not had the time to build an enclosure for the CNC yet. So it's just sitting on a work bench. But we are building one very soon. Just trying to figure out a good solution that allows us to film the CNC as well.
- We just used MakerCam for this. Adding tabs is often easier than removing double sided tape.
thanks for the response! :)